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. K.A.S. KILMARTIN AUTOMOTIVE SHEETMETAL Pty Ltd. Austin Healey - MG - Triumph . |
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Click on a link below to see our extensive range --------------------
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An Austin Healey is truly a beautiful car - but as the saying goes, " Beauty is more than skin deep "
The aim of this page is to showcase the efforts and talent of KAS Chassis Customers in turning usually a very tired Austin Healey, into one that is of equal to or better than leaving the Showroom floor back in the Fifties and Sixties. We invite our customers to share photo's of their restoration journey by sending them in to us at - info@kas-kilmartin.com.au
Each flag above represents a country to which a KAS Austin Healey chassis has been sent to. If you have a KAS chassis and your national flag isn't shown above, let us know and we'll add it.
The seeds of a complete KAS chassis were sown in the early 1980’s when KAS started to manufacture a lot of the chassis components including chassis outriggers, cross members, inner sills, chassis rail repair lengths etc. As time went on it was realized that the demand for a complete chassis was increasing – the cars were obviously getting older and many had suffered badly in this area over the years with neglect and the perils of weather.
The average age of an original Healey chassis is now over 50 years, and most original chassis will now be certainly showing signs of fatigue if not corrosion and damage. This will be evident by a careful external inspection. Some of the areas where fatigue and cracking may show up include the front and rear shock mounts and around the engine mounts on 6 cylinder chassis. What is not easy to discover is internal corrosion – often only discovered when a chassis outrigger is removed or a chassis rail is opened up for repair.
Much time is spent in fine tuning the components and developing jigging to ensure KAS can offer a chassis that is an accurate copy of the original and can provide optional improvements in certain areas to rectify inherent shortcomings on the original chassis.
- Click a thumbnail image to enlarge that image. Lennart Persson - BJ7 -
BJ7 Chassis - AH401 with
Restoration by - Bengt Larson
"Hi John, Just want to inform you that our restoration has been completed. And, as you can see from enclosed pics it has been very successful. I enclosed one showing it from the start. Much thanks to your chassi! It has been perfect all through the work. No problems or quality problems of any kind. It has been a pleasure to work with. Most important of all it has a perfect ride. It feels almost as a Mini Cooper on the road. And, of course no scuttle shake! Not even a hint! I am very pleased with my decision to go Kilmartin on the chassi. If you are interested in a reference car please free to refer to this one. Good luck in the future to you and your company. Kind regards Lennart Lennart Persson " - 27th May 2011
Martin Dispoto - BJ8 -
BJ8 Chassis - AH364 with
Restoration by - Engel Metal Craft
"Hi John & Greg, It's about time I updated you.
Ellery is very close to being finished with the metal work." "Made my deal with the painter (Old English) and hope to have the frame and substructure home in a few months to start re-assembly. The rear shroud will be mounted but all else will be re-mounted towards the end. I've seen the painters work on other Healey's using this method and am confident in taking this course. As dependable and strong as my power train was (Bruce at Healey Surgeons had re-built the gearbox and overdrive a few years ago) the engine is being completely rebuilt by Eric Grunden at Absolutely British in Santa Maria, CA. Did not intend to go that far but.........................."
Will send another note later. Best Regards Martin Dispoto
Richard Carr - BJ8 -
BJ8 Chassis - AH364 with
Restoration by - Sportscar Parts Calgary Canada 403-640-4411
Peter Linn - Ausca Bodied
Car -
BN1 Chassis - AH562 with
Restoration by Peter Linn
"Hi Greg, As you're aware, my chassis was not for a restoration per se, rather for the construction of a car from scratch. The modified 100 chassis I purchased from you is the basis for an Ausca-bodied car, which represents in part the earlier version of my other special-bodied 100, the Ward Special coupe, which wore an Ausca body (not this one) in the '50s and early '60s. My replica will differ in having an Alfa 1750 twin cam motor and gearbox, rather than the Healey drivetrain, mainly to avoid unsightly bonnet bulges, but with the added advantage of about half the weight and half as much again bhp. Some photos of progress are attached. Cheers, Peter Peter Linn"
Added 7 Dec 2013
"Hi John
Paul Lennon - BT7 -
BT7 Chassis - AH401 with
Restoration by Paul Lennon
"Hi Greg Yes you have my permission to publish photos. I can put a montage of photos together for you attached is a photo of the Healey just sprayed in Colorado red, VERY shiny (the horn brackets in this picture are upside down, this will be rectified later). Spending the next few months putting it together and then off for the rest of the painting look to have this completed within 2 years, can't wait.
Regards
Paul" Contact details witheld.
Robert O'Neil -
BN2 -
BN2 Chassis - AH563 with
Restoration by Robert O'Neil
"Gents,
Anthony
Xerri - BJ8 -
BJ8 Chassis - AH364 with
Restoration by Anthony Xerri & Callanish Restorations
"As per my usual practice the restoration was to take only 12 months. The aim was to attend the Adelaide Rally the following year. I’m not one to drag things out as another project is always beckoning. Discussions with Nisbet Marshal indicated that the time frame could be met, and I was to deliver him a stripped car for repainting." "As I dismantled the car ( 10th April 2010) it became increasingly obvious that my plan was floored. I delivered the bare chassis, body parts to Nisbet ( July 2010). He looked at the car and indicated that I should sell it. It was a very bad restoration job previously done by some guy in Adelaide. Plus the Chassis was rusted and dangerous, and I agreed having seen the poor welding and filler used." "We got the car back and immediately commenced the reassembly process, bare in mind that during the period that the car was with Nisbet we did all the other things, Engine, Transmission, suspension etc etc and only had to put it together.. One week before the Rally Lesley and I were getting very close, and the only thing that we did not factor in was due to the body being considerably altered that the Hood, Tourno, did not fit, were possibly I reused original fittings that were in good condition." "The restoration was completed in about 16 months, and the final tourno to be done next week, have been driving it any way, never have the top up normally." Tony.
Contact details witheld.
L & J Dickenson -
BJ8 -
BJ8 Chassis - AH364 with
Restoration by Callanish Restorations
"Dear Greg, structural components as well. The restoration was carried out completely by Nisbet 'Marshall of Callanish Restorations. The end result is a stunning car with nice firm handling characteristics. The car had serious frontal damage in1978 and was never repaired until we started in 2009. I could not be happier with the end result.
Best wishes, Lyn Dickenson, Hobart."
Tom's Import Toy
Sales - BJ8 -
BJ8 Partial Front Clip Chassis - AH611 with
Click here to see more more photo's of this restoration. "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." All the best, Tom"
Tom Taylor - BJ7 -
BJ7 Chassis - AH401 with
Restoration by Tom Taylor
Hello Greg, A few words to add to the photos on the chassis page....... "Before I bought the BJ7 I spent some time on the phone with both John and Greg discussing the options available for the chassis and inner body restoration. When I bought the car and got it home, I still thought it may be possible to repair the existing chassis, however on close examination it became very obvious that the holes in the chassis rails were the visible rust and that most of the chassis was almost as badly rusted internally. Rebuilding the car on a weak frame was pointless, so a new chassis was ordered and was dispatched along with inner body repair panels for the floor and rear tub. The chassis arrived securely crated, and I was most impressed with the quality of the work and with the attention to detail, both in accuracy and in finish. Aligning the front and rear sections proved to be quite a challenge, but Greg's assistance in providing measurements and advice on the assembly sequence made the process a lot easier. The inner body is now almost complete and the outer panels have been fitted, but now require fettling and final alignment before stripping and assembly of the mechanicals." Once again Greg and John, thanks for all the help." Regards, Tom
Noel Gorn - BN2
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BN2 Chassis - AH563 with
Noel taking delivery of a BN2 Chassis at Kilmartin Automotive Sheetmetal.
- Excerpt from Tony Ash, Healeys West Magazine Nov 2011
From the (far) Shed-
I slipped into Perth in time to attend the AHC October meeting this week, and to enjoy the company of those present. There is usually a laugh or two. I learnt a few regulars are OS and touring the USA. Nigel is in aircraft school in Cairns, but has finally sold his BN1 to a new member. I would guess all three are happy. And so it goes.
Everyone felt confident when Noel arrived too late to buy any raffle tickets, but he did capture our attention by entertaining us with his story on the collecting of a new BN1 Chassis from KAS in Victoria. Who else would spend $500 on an old Suzuki 4WD, change the plugs and leads and then head across the Big Paddock to go shopping? Apparently, for the return trip the chassis was strapped onto the roof over a couple of strategically placed spreader boards (the mind boggles) and with a red rag tied to the copious rear overhang, Noel was off. There just had to be photographic evidence so I called Greg Kilmartin (of KAS) who advised that Noel arrived about 1330, the chassis was loaded, he had a drink and brief chat (I find this hard to believe! - Ed.) and then departed, camping at Bordertown SA that night. On ya Noel, who needs a new Healey? I look forward to the new car being on the road, mate.
--------------------- Sunday Feb 1st 2015 Greg, Hi, finally got around to taking some photos of the car. Really pleased with the way that the paint job has come us so far. Thanks again for all your help. Looking forward to be being able to show you the finished project. Kind Regards Noel Gorn (pp: Louise van den Einden – Noel’s Daughter & Social Secretary)
Bill Denning - BN2 -
BN2 Chassis - AH563 with
- Excerpt from Austin-Healey Magazine 28 July-August, 2013Bill is a member of AHCUSA and lives in New Bern, NC A couple years ago I received an e-mail from a Healey owner I met at a National show in, North Carolina. He told me of a Healey 100 that may be for sale in NC and who to call. I called and found the car was still for sale. I asked the price. When the owner told me, I said “do not sell the car I’ll be there tomorrow”. So a friend and I went to see what treasure awaited. When I first saw the loosely assembled pieces of the car my heart sank. The frame was a disaster and at first glance the rest didn’t look all that great either. But as I continued to look around I figured the value of the parts was worth several times more than the price of the car. The engine and transmission were in a separate garage, I confirmed that the transmission was a BN-2 four speed. One bright spot was the engine. When I removed the valve cover the valve and rocker train and top head surface area had no sludge and looked to be in great condition. This car had begun to be restored about 25 years ago. Who knows what was done. I decided to go for it and buy the car. For one I hated to see the car deteriorate any further. One doesn’t find a BN-2 everyday. Our son, Mike, lives 3 hours away and he came to meet the car when it was delivered. He must have felt sorry for me and volunteered to put some of his own cash and labor into the restoration. Since he had restored a 1962 MGB he was already familiar with rust, oil leaks and Lucas. Now that the car was home our plan was to see what shape the engine and transmission were in. If they were OK then we could move on to the next phase. The engine and transmission were separated and taken to Craven Automotive, a local machine shop. They had experience with Healey engines. The head was removed where we found it only needed valve stem seals. Everything was cleaned and hardened valve seats were installed. When the oil pan was removed there was no sludge and the oil pump wire mesh strainer was nice and clean. The pistons were 0.002” over and looked almost new. Since the engine appeared to be in great shape and was all apart new piston rings, cam, crankshaft bearings, and all gaskets were installed. The transmission was taken apart and inspected. A new second gear synchro ring, overdrive oil pump strainer, accumulator piston ring set, gaskets, and new rear transmission mountings were installed. Once we felt confident the engine and transmission were sound we ordered a new frame from Kilmartin Automotive sheet metal (KAS) in Australia along with other sheet metal parts on the sage advice from Rich Chrysler. While the machine shop was completing their work and while the frame was en route other components were tested/overhauled. The engine and transmission assembled, painted and awating installation in the frame. The two carburetors were in good shape. They were rebuilt and polished. The starter and generator were tested in a local automotive electric motor repair shop and found to be in good working condition. Brakes were rebuilt and operate OK with no leaks. The steering box was tight and without any excessive play. It worked fine with wheels on the ground. The windshield glass was bad so new glass and glazing rubber were installed. All the windshield pieces were there including the two stanchions and feet. Believe it not the chrome was flawless. When it was reassembled it looked very well. For now it looks great in my bedroom closet. T h e steering wheel rim was rough. It was cracked in several places, but the chrome was good. We used a kit from Eastwood to repair the damage. The two part epoxy filler worked very well. Now the wheel looks practically new. The two front fenders were OK but needed work. The right front fender came with a new Kilmartin front guard repair section which was sorely needed. The left side was in pretty good shape. The two rear fenders that came with the car were for a BN-1. We bought two used BN-2 fenders on eBay which were in quite good condition and reasonably priced. Four doors came with the car plus four sets of hinges (8) and door lock We pulled the gear carrier off the differential to look at the internal works and found everything looking fine, at least to our untrained eyes. Everything was very clean with no sludge, metal fragments or chipped/missing gear teeth. Both left and right front suspension components were disassembled and rebuilt. New fulcrum pins, lower link bushes, rubber bushes and gaskets were installed as well as a top trunnion kit. The lower ends were loose and needed to be corrected. Once all cleaned, POR-15 was applied. PowerPlay - BN1 -
BN1 Chassis - AH562 with
We are starting to get a few enquiries from customers, regarding what we can do chassis wise with builds and repairs of Healey’s. They know we do all other aspects of car building and preparation as quite a few fast Healey’s have now come out of our workshop over the last ten years or so. Some of these include Brian and Linda Dermott’s 3000 Targa car, 3rd outright Targa Tasmania Classic 2003 , John Moore’s 3000, we believe the first Healey to complete 9 years of Targa Tasmania and completing every stage. Johns Healey then went to the USA in 2005. We have done the build and maintenance on Peter Jackson 3000 Group SA car, which has lap records at most tracks, Vic and NSW state championships and many race wins under his belt. We are frequently working on chassis and body repairs for all other types of classic cars but have as yet done much with complete Healey chassis/bodies. As mentioned a few customers are now enquiring so it is time for us to look more seriously at the level to which we put one together. We have also sorted suspension, chassis and engine dyno tuning on many cars including some 30 odd Healey’s. We have become involved both 4 and 6 cylinder Classics and had the opportunity to be involved in many customers projects. We have decided to build this 100/4 to show case what we can do with a 4 cylinder Healey much along the same lines as what we have achieved with Peter Jacksons 6 cylinder car. I have attached some pictures of the various Healey’s we look after and also some other chassis/body projects so you can see the level we operate at. Both Simon and I have competed and regularly compete in many motorsport events. We have run tarmac rally's in the past winning Classic Adelaide Heritage Tarmac rally in 2004, together we won Targa Tasmania Classic outright in 2005, Simon currently runs his marque sports MG Midget at circuit race events and is very close to the fastest car whenever he competes, I currently run a MK2 Escort in Classic gravel rallying and have won many events and have often finished in the top five outright against 4WD’s at state championship level, we have also in the past run this car in NZ. Hope this helps with you decision on pricing for us and what we are trying to achieve with the car, every dollar saved for us helps with promoting our products for both company's Regards, Mike Conway
Roy Pinder -
BJ8 -
BJ8 Chassis - AH364 with
You can view Roy's journey on YouTube by clicking on the links below -
and remember to click on the back key when you finish watching the video to bring you back to here!
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 1
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 2
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 3
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 4
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 5
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 6
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 7
Roy's 1967 Austin Healey Restoration - Part 8
Hi
Greg,
Chris Sainthill -
BJ8 -
BJ8 Chassis - AH364 with
Hi Greg, Happy New Year It’s been a very long process, 31 months. Our basically brand new Healey was delivered a couple of days before Christmas and the snow. We were lucky to have one day of driving, top down and a little chilly, now we wait for the spring to come.
Best Regards Chris Sainthill
See more Photo's of our customers restorations on our Customer Restorations page.
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Last modified: 28-Apr-2017 |
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