Healey Customer Restorations.htm

On this page you'll find photo's and comments from our customers who have fitted our parts in their restorations.

....The most important thing about your panels is that they actually fit very, very well. My body shop that did the work was more than happy with them.

Magnus Karlsson of Boras Motor Corporation AB was commissioned by it's current owner Robert Petersson, with the restoration of the first Healey to be imported into Sweden.

Magnus chose to use KAS rust repair panels - supplied by Bart van Tiggelen of KAS Europe on this important restoration.

With kind permission, we have published a selection of photo's highlighting the range of KAS parts used in this restoration.

Door skin repair panel that fits	Door frame repair panel that fits	The boot is beginning to take shape	Welded permanently in place
Front shock plate	Now have to be reamed	Perfect fit after reaming	Spring hanger bushes being pressed in place
Spotwelding the rear tunnel to the rear bulkhead	Fitting the gearbox tunnels	The metal master craftsman Hasse Syrén	Gearbox and tunnel extension panel
Gearbox mounting points	Engine and gearbox temporarily fitted	The inner wing seen from the boot	Spring hanger. Rear right outrigger
Spring hanger. Rear left outrigger	Crossmember with spring hangers	Lots of parts removed	New rear cross member
Boot floor removed	Inner wing repair panel	Inner wing repair panel	Looking good
Replaced firewall	A-post bracing	A-post bracing	Footwells and A-posts
Repairing rusty area of inner wing	The front is almost finished	Australian sheet metal is very well made	Everything is coming together beautifully
It´s a revelation to work with parts that fit	Side panel that fits	Side panels	Everything fits without modifications
Footwells in place	High quality metal	Complete footwell	Footwell
Rear outrigger and inner sill	Complete inner sill	Front floors	Front floors
Discarded metal	Inner sill fitted	Inner sill	The majority of new sheet metal parts have arrived.

"..... I think that Bart is doing a great job in distributing your parts and he is very helpful and friendly too. I think it's great that you now have a distributor in Europe. I used to buy some parts from you directly in the past. Then I dealed with your brother, please send my regards to him. It's much more convenient now when Bart is stocking your parts here in Europe.

Last but not least it's very satisfying to work with your parts as they fit very well and it's obvious that they are made by people who care and understand these cars. Just that you go to the lengths to produce parts for the very first 50 cars shows your dedication.

Best regards,

"Greetings; We have over 500 pictures of the restoration of this car which took about 18 months. Many Kilmartin parts were used including the front frame section.

Car is now almost done and we will send pics of the finished product when it leaves the shop. Please ask any questions for clarification."

My BN4 chassis number 76762 came to me from Arizona and via The Healey Factory. She was built on February 11^th, 1959 and left the Abingdon factory in glorious black paint with red trim, overdrive, heater and fast road tyres. As one of the last hundred of these models made, she sports the mammoth power of a twelve port head.

I am, and always have been, an ardent amateur restorer and I will have a go at almost anything. This is a wonderful hobby. Time consuming? Yes; Expensive? Sometimes; Rewarding? Always! For me, every aspect of the car is an individual project and I really believe that is the way to approach restorations. The only work I don’t undertake is the machining of engine parts. I have been restoring cars for about 30 years: initially more interested in vintage marques: a 1923 Overland; a 1926 Bullnose Oxford and a 1927 Morris Empire Oxford, which I still own. I made the mistake of buying an MGB and really, it was all downhill from there. I descended into the morass of addiction to British sports cars. Having just finished the complete restoration of an MGA and vowing “never again”, I got itchy fingers and saw the Healey for sale. I had always wanted one (who doesn’t?) but they have always been out of my price range. This one wasn’t, so I bought it! (sounds easy if you say it quickly).

The car turned out to be a good buy. The dry Arizona air, while depositing a great deal of dust inside the chassis, had also protected it. Apart from pitting in some of the usual places the chassis is very straight. Of course the sills, bottom of the A and B pillars, floors and boot floor needed replacing, but anyone who doesn’t expect that in a restoration is a cockeyed optimist, to say the least. I managed to get the engine running and even the overdrive worked: a tribute to British engineering I believe! Anyway, I set about dismantling the car. Everything was bagged and labelled (it’s amazing how soon you forget how it went together). I built myself a somewhat suicidal rotisserie out of timber. I was sceptical, but it worked well and allowed me to get into places that would have been otherwise impossible.

Then. . . armed with my domestic and trusty MIG, and a quantity of replacement panels from Kilmartin’s emporium, I set about losing blood. The work progressed well. Greg and John, as you know, your panels fit beautifully and make the work of the amateur and professional restorer alike, a joy (almost)! I knew this already, having used them on my MGA.

That was a little under twelve months ago and in that time I have repaired all the chassis, rebuilt the front and rear suspension; rebuilt the gearbox: new syncros, bearings and seals; rebuilt the overdrive: new springs, seals, thrust washers; rebuilt the engine: 40 thou overbore, new pistons, rings, bearings, valve guides and springs, and cam bearings; rebuilt the generator and starter; rebuilt the SUs; fitted a new loom and the list goes on! I decided against painting the Healey the original black, and as the car had been repainted white when it came to me, Old English White seemed a good choice. Actually, the colour is a new Mini Cooper tone called Pepper (Old English) White, and I think, with red trim the Healey should look glorious. So, a year has passed. I have learned much, become obsessed with Healeys, worked hard and with passion, sworn often, bled occasionally, enjoyed myself hugely. I am very happy with the progress so far and can’t wait to start on the body panels, Greg, John, I’ll be in touch!"

We invite all of our customers to share photo's and experiences of their restoration journey by sending them in to us at

Last modified: 28-Apr-2017