Sometimes things get so busy, and our total concentration is on creating progress for each car in our shop, that we let the finer details of cleaning and organizing get left behind temporarily, like we see in this picture! So, we all gathered one Saturday and cleaned, downsized and organized the used parts room and it turned out magnificent! We have already gone looking for a used part and found it right away. 

Another way to increase efficiency is to invest in the right tools that make the job faster, easier and that can deliver better results. When doing a carb rebuild, one of the steps that takes a lot of time and effort is cleaning all the parts after the carb is disassembled. Our newest tool addresses that nicely, a sonic cleaner. Long used in the hospital/jewelry industry, they are now sized big enough for our use. The secret is sonic waves created and sent up through the cleaning solution, attacking any organic debris. We can now fill the trough with the proper solution, turn on the on-board heater, turn on the agitator and let it work. The results are wonderful! 

Speaking of being busy, this newsletter will now cover September, October and November! 

Dennis`s TR250 had the final touches of driving and adjusting done and has been able to go home this month!

Ron`s Healey continues to progress, lots of small details that are coming together now. Like beautiful dash, amazing steering wheel and handmade gearshift knob! It is now in the upholstery shop getting its` convertible top installed. 

Les`s Healey is getting close to the finish line. His alignment is done, and final details are getting handled. 

Rob`s Healey is running and sounding nice for a long-stored car. It is also getting the brakes finished up and preparing for the test drive phase. 

Craig`s MGB is getting attention on the wiring harness and the install of the dash, gauges and switches. 

Don`s TR6 came back into the restoration room to have Chasen remove all the body parts, so it will be ready to transport to Tony for painting.

While Ron`s car is in the upholstery shop, we brought in Mike`s Healey to begin assembly. Nice progress and it is looking more and more the classic that it is.

Summer changes to fall, and we are starting the process of receiving the cars for the fall schedule.

Eric`s TR6 is here to get its assessment and work list.

Snow, rain, fog and dark, winter is here for sure! We have had the Cub Cadet out twice already to clear the driveway, and test driving has been dramatically reduced, but the shop is warm and bright and has a fresh layer of Christmas decorations to cheer us up, not to mention the number of classic cars we have lined up and, in the shop, to enjoy.

First, let’s look at a couple of reminders to help encourage frequent maintenance.

Randy and Sherree brought their TR6 for its` first post restoration maintenance and checkup. Obviously, it was a success!

Roger`s MGB is in to get it running after a long storage and then assess for total needs.

Dave`s Healey is in the shop getting its` yearly maintenance.

Steve does his own work on his MGB and needed help diagnosing some overdrive issues in addition to an overall assessment of needs. He now has a clear picture of what to do and what order to do it in.

Cal`s Healey is currently in the body shop and having the rust removed and sheet metal work being done, in preparation for the fresh paint job. This pix shows Cal`s car, and it also shows Scott coming by for a visit and getting to see the restoration process in person. His Healey will be coming into the shop next year for that process! 

Steve`s Healey made great progress this month, front and rear brake work, new rear shocks, front steering and suspension and a new steering box.

Maryanne`s TR6 came in for its` appointment for yearly maintenance.

Gary`s TR250 arrived for its` appointment

Mark is thinking ahead for his Healey and dropped it off this month for over the winter work.

Long time client, business consultant and friend Dave stopped by to check in on us and drop off some goodies, always nice to see him!

BRITISH CAR RANCH NEWS FOR NOVEMBER 2023

Next is another car with corrosion build up in the carb. This indicates the fuel filter has not been changed frequently enough and also sat long enough for the fuel to convert to sludge.

Bob`s MGA is also ready to go home, but for a different reason.

Here at BCR, we are not just repair and restoration specialists, we are first and foremost an advocate/consultant for the owners. Every car that comes in gets a thorough assessment, so we know not only what the owner wants, but what the car wants most of all. This information allows a conversation on the suitability of the car for the vision the owner has for it. In other words, do the needs of the car match the budget imagined for the car!

After applying this process to the MGA, the owner was able to make the decision to sell this one and focus on his second MGA! This MGA is now available as a project car for anyone interested.

Dave and Robyn`s Healey also came in for its` yearly maintenance and got to go home again.

Roger brought his MGB in for a thorough assessment so that he could have a blueprint of work needed for his car and set to work on it himself at home. Another example of our passion to help the owner fulfill the vision he/she has for their car.

Cal`s Healey is in our expert Tony`s body and paint shop, undergoing a frame up restoration. While that was going on, we went to work on some of the mechanical parts of the car, cleaning, painting and restoring things so when the body comes back to us all painted and perfect, it will be ready for assembly.

Owner Mike has sent his chrome off to the chrome expert and we are doing a high performance rebuild on his Healey`s engine while we wait for the chrome. Here Mike gets to get an up-close look at the process.

Eric has his TR6 in for assessment and resulting work. The first thing we did was replace the aged tires for safety! We do all our business with the local Discount tire store and have access to a great selection of tread design`s and performance tires in a wide range of prices!

And on deck, is Randy`s Bugeye Sprite. We have done the assessment and created a custom repair plan for his Bug, which includes the installation of a rebuilt engine and installing a supercharger on it. Watch out for this one out there on the road!

It is very important to have an annual check over on our classic cars, things like this failed rear wheel seal can be caught and repaired before they create even bigger problems!

Another excellent reason to have a yearly checkup; to check the tightness of the shock absorber mounting bolts. They are the anchor point for the entire front steering /suspension and are very prone to coming loose gradually and if not caught in time, can quickly lead to broken mounting bolts.

Mark`s Healey got work done this month, including king pin thrust adjustment.

New into the shop this month is Randy`s Bugeye. He had his engine rebuilt at Action Machine and delivered the engine and car to us to assemble, install a supercharger, and perform assorted maintenance projects on the Bug. In this pix Chasen has mounted the engine in our test sled, getting ready to start it and begin the break-in process for the cam and rings.

Steve`s Healey is now here in the parking building. The Healey is caught here peeking out of the trailer, deciding it might be ok to come out.

This pix is of a cooling system joints on a car. It has been too long sitting and suffering from lack of system flushing and new coolant.

Maryanne`s Rudy is looking so fine and is ready for the driving season. Rudy has had his yearly maintenance, checkup and oil change and now all we need is the weather to cooperate so he can go home.

Work continued on Rob`s Healey this month. We applied our special solution to poor brakes to this car. Drum brake Healey`s are often hard to create good braking results with the 67 years of wear on all the system pieces. New brake adjuster parts are not available, but we have found a supplier for rebuild kits for those pieces, and then we send the drums and shoes off t be machined to a perfect circle and then the shoes relined to the correct thickness and then arced to that perfect circle. On this car we also installed a power brake unit. The results are terrific!

Mark`s Healey came in for yearly maintenance and some differential work. In the past we have had to take the differential work to another specialty shop, but Chasen has the knowledge and experience to do that work in house and save that time and transport process.

New into the shop this month is Steve`s Healey. After the thorough assessment and consultation to create a repair plan, we started in on the brake system. Here we see the before and after of the brake caliper rebuild. We have had problems in the past with the “brand new” calipers that are available, so we now do all our own complete rebuilding to ensure top quality results. I know, the books say, “never separate the caliper halves”, but that's only if you don't have access to the rare small rubber seals that go in between the caliper halves, and we must separate them to thoroughly clean by sandblasting. Then new pistons and piston seals, dust boots, bleeder screws and paint to complete the job.

We hope that your holidays are filled with love, laughter, and joy.

BRITISH CAR RANCH NEWS FOR DECEMBER 2023

A great Christmas, right? And now a Happy New Year from all of us!

It certainly has been a great year here at BCR! Our two apprentices progressed and transitioned into full-fledged, full time quality mechanics, Christopher assumed the mantle of owner, I assumed the new position of general manager and with your help, we all moved BCR forward even more! And now we are poised to take it even further in this coming year!

The traditional fix is to pull the engine out, remove the steering and suspension parts, cut out the shock tower and weld in a new mounting plate in exactly the correct position. We have developed a less invasive fix. It involves cutting open the front of the shock mount area, and welding in our custom repair plate with new threads for the shock bolts to mount to.

And leads to a better than original repair and return to service in less time and effort ($$).

Ron`s Healey is very close to the completion of its restoration, but we must pause and wait for dry, salt and sand free roads to do the final test driving and vetting process. Meanwhile, some of the details are getting handled, like the cosmetic touch up`s on the bonnet and fitting of the new tonneau to the car.

Craig`s new camshaft arrived from back order and is ready to be installed in the engine.

Chasen had a wall poster made of his favorite saying and it is up for all to remember now.

Eric`s TR6 made big progress this month, including a new gear reduction starter, new water pump and tune up adjustment.

Rob`s Healey arrived at his finish line this month. The goal was to take a car that has been partially put together and stored for a long time and turn it into a road ready Healey. The finishing up of the brake system, fuel system and tune up made that possible.

Cal`s Healey is in the body shop and Tony has the rusted steel removed and new panels fitted into place.

Also new into the shop is Bob`s MGA, and it happened in an unusual way. Bob also owns an MGA hardtop and had it in the shop for a possible restoration assembly. After a careful check of the frame and body condition, it was decided he would switch cars and bring in his MGA convertible and have it freshened up instead.

The first order of business for the MGA was to cut out and remove the roll bar.

Next up to come into the shop will be Scott`s Healey. It will get a careful inspection of frame and body work first to confirm it is a good candidate for the restoration process Scott has in mind.

On deck is Don`s TR6 to go into the body shop as soon as Cal`s Healey comes out.

And now to reveal a project we are working on in our off time. BCR has several videos available on our website and on Facebook. We consistently receive positive feedback on them and ask for more, so we will be ramping up to produce a new string of them and then publish all of them on both our website and on YouTube. You can be a part of that project starting this month! We have created an online survey that will be available on our website and a direct link here in the newsletter. Just look over the choices and check the one that interests you the most right now. If you have a pet one that isn`t listed, write it in! We have chosen the topic for the first one, but going forward we will rely on that survey, and the topics to choose from will change each month too.