It’s the start of a brand new year and with that comes New Year’s Resolutions… almost everybody resolves to get in shape and stay in shape.
I plan to do the same with my 1961 Corvette Stingray and my brother-in-law’s 1967 Austin Healey 3000, which I store and maintain for him. December 31 brought unseasonably warm and sunny weather to the midwest, so I took out both cars for some roadwork.
My Corvette started right up, and once it warmed up it, ran well – as well as a 306,000 mile 51-year-old sports car should be expected to run.
The big Healey was another story, its SU carburetor float valves were stuck, and I had to pull the tops off the carbs and clean them up. Once started, the big 6 cylinder Healey purred like a kitten, a kitten with a lot of power and not a lot of brakes.
Both cars got lots of road time, a maintenance plan, and a workout regimen to keep them in shape during 2012!
