Recent Events

April 6, 2024 — First Annual “Start of Driving Season” Breakfast
Attendees: Jon Hanson, Sue Hall, Henry & Chris Morrison, Bo Hall, Dennis and Cay Walkingshaw, Victoria & Pete Davies, Jim Thornton

Ten BAHC members met at Ruth’s Diner in Emigration Canyon for the first “Annual Breakfast Get Together”. We met at 8 AM when they opened so we  could all be seated together at the same table. 

It was a little challenging getting to the diner as a storm front came in early this morning and it started to snow pretty hard in parts of Salt Lake City and the surrounding areas. Dennis and Cay Walkingshaw had to use 4 wheel drive mode to get out of their driveway this morning but everyone arrived safe and sound. It was fun teasing each other as to why no one drove their Healey’s in the snow.  That brought back some memories of the crazy times we had with our cars during our much younger years and a few stories were told about driving in the winter months during our youth which were fun to hear.   It was wonderful to see members in such a jovial mood that early as no one had had their morning coffee yet, but we were all wide awake. Probably had something to do with cold weather.

There was plenty of interesting conversation about Healey’s and plans for upcoming trips that members had scheduled. Henry and Chris Morrison are heading out to California in a couple of weeks to race their Triumph TR3 at the Kastner Cup race which this year is taking place in Sonoma Ca., the heart of the wine country. Pete Davies will also be in California during that time and plans to go and watch Henry race on race day. As breakfast came to an end, about 10am, we all got bundled up once more and headed out the door to our warm and comfy cars but not before we said our “Good Bye’s”. 

Next year we are going to plan it a little later in April or early May when the weather is better.

Thanks again to everyone that showed up and to those that couldn’t make it, we hope you will be there next time. —Pete

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March 24, 2024 Tech Session
Attendees: Darin Graber, Dennis Walkingshaw, Bo Hall, Glen Schimmelpfennig, Pete Davies and Tony Duffin
Today started off with 2 inches of fresh snow on the ground as well as rain at the lower elevations. I thought that maybe we wouldn’t get much of a turnout for the tech session, but I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the bad weather we had six members show up to help Darin get his car ready for the driving season. Members are really coming together to help one another and to me that is a sign of the continuing commitment to growth and good health of the club.

Thanks to Darin for hosting us at his home as we had a nice warm garage to work in along with donuts, coffee, yogurt and snacks.

Darin had laid out everything that we needed to do the job, so we got started . Pete jumped in and replaced the slave cylinder on the passenger side front brakes while Glen held a flashlight. There wasn’t much room for an extra person or pair of hands as the passenger side of the car was up against a wall and a bit dark. Dennis got busy replacing and packing the wheel bearings on the driver side front hub assembly. Bo was busy asking questions about what was being repaired and was genuinely interested in learning, proving that one is never too old to learn new things. Pretty soon everything was back together, and we were ready to bleed the brake system. This proved to be a bit troublesome as we had quite a bit of difficulty getting all the air out of the system. After making a couple of trips to each wheel and much pumping of the pedal, thanks to Darin and Glen, we had really good brake pedal and everything was back in working order. As always there was an abundance of good humor, a lot of ribbing along with resulting laughter. A good time was had by all, and another car was ready for the road.
Happy Healeying to everyone!
Pete

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Christmas Party
The Christmas party was a great success and if you weren’t there you missed a wonderful time filled with camaraderie, laughter and cheer. Hope you can make it next year. The party started at 5:30 and almost everyone arrived at the same time, there were seventeen of us in attendance. Henry stepped behind the bar and we were served our favorite beverage. The conversations started and pretty soon everyone was telling stories. Discussing things about the past year, what we had done both to and with our cars and significant other. Holiday cheer and merriment were in abundance. Chris and Henry had done a beautiful job setting a very festive table and decorating their home
for the Christmas season.
After about an hour we all sat down to dinner, wow, it was great. Larry Jensen had offered to supply the meat and he smoked a beautiful prime rib roast. It was done to perfection and was without a doubt the best prime rib we ever tasted. Everyone told Larry how good it was, fantastic job Larry! We sat down to dinner and it got quiet as we consumed a fabulous meal of prime rib, potatoes, salad, enchiladas, rolls and a glass of red wine. The main course was followed up by desert which consisted of an apple pie and a cherry pie that was home made by Victoria Davies, yummy!
As dinner progressed we were asked to pick a number from a bowl. We each took turns
choosing a gift from the presents that everyone came with. Chris informed us of the rules which let each person “steal” a gift from someone else, but the gift could only be stolen three times. Interesting enough was the fact that no gifts were stolen so I can only assume that everyone was quite happy with what they had chosen. After the gift exchange was over, conversation resumed and coffee was served. Cay Walkingshaw and Theoni Evans assumed dish duty while all the left overs were wrapped up and put away. By the time dinner was over it was almost 9:00 and some folks had a long drive ahead of them. Keith and Liz Mott had traveled all the way down from Logan, thank you for making the long
drive. Most members started to gather up their coats and hats, said good bye to each other and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
To Henry and Chris Morrison, on behalf of all those in attendance, I would like to thank you for opening up your home once again and hosting another wonderful Christmas party.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
Pete Davies

Tech Session at Dill Strassers
Attendees; Tom Leavitt, Dennis Walkingshaw, Henry Morrison, Jim Thornton, Glen Schimmelpfennig, Don Hughes, Dil Strasser and Pete Davies

We had another successful Tech Day on Saturday as we got another Healey back on the road. We all met at Dil Strasser’s home at 10 am to begin working. When Glen and I arrived Dennis was already under the car hard at work. He’s a real animal when it comes to attacking a Healey with problems.

Dil’s BN4 had been out of commission for some time with clutch hydraulic issues. The master cylinder has started to leak externally and was completely out of fluid and the bottom of the reservoir was full of what looked like a black mud. Tom removed the master cylinder while Dennis was underneath the car struggling with removal of the slave cylinder. Eventually Henry jumped in and removed the seats and the transmission cover to provide better access to one of the bolts and then the slave cylinder came right out. Henry was a real trooper as I have never seen anyone that tall, 6’2″, get under the dash of a Healey to remove the connecting pin between the foot pedal and the master cylinder rod. He was flat on his back with with his legs sticking out over the top of the tonneau cover, he is quite the contortionist. I’m considerably shorter at 5″9″ and I have trouble getting under there, of course I’m a bit thicker around the middle than Henry. Since there was only room for three people to perform the work the rest of us stood around looking for a sunny spot to stay warm, provide comic relief and moral support while Glen started taking pictures.

Refreshments were provided but most of us continued to move around to keep our blood moving as it was fairly cold on Saturday morning. Glen got some good pictures of a– holes and elbows sticking out everywhere as the work continued. The master and slave cylinders were cleaned out and proved to be in good condition and were deemed reusable. They were both lightly honed out and rebuilt with new kits.

During the rebuilding and assembly process there was a bit of poking fun at Dennis as he kept throwing the assembly grease into the garbage can and had to retrieve it several times. Apparently he likes to clean up after himself as work progresses. After a short battle with the master cylinder, space was really limited, Tom was able to reinstall it while Dennis and Henry finished up the rest of the work on the slave cylinder. The lines were flushed out and the system bled and everything appeared to be in working order once more.
A couple of other small issues were addressed and the car was started up with a little help from a can of starting fluid, choke was missing a few parts and couldn’t be hooked up.
The old Healey engine roared to life and Henry put the transmission in reverse backed out of Dil’s driveway and roared off up the street. We all stood around for a few minutes as we heard the sound of the Healey fade away. Someone questioned if the brakes still worked and the rest of us wondered if we would ever see Henry again?!. A couple of minutes went by and we heard the horn blow as Henry went flying by on a cross road at the end of Dil’s street. A couple of more minutes went by and Henry came back with a big grin on is face and gave a thumbs up of approval for a job well done. Clean up work was completed and everyone went there separate way as we all headed home.
What a great day spent with fellow members and the appreciation and thanks that Dil expressed to everyone as one of his cars is back on the road. If you need some help with your car let the club know as these tech sessions are a lot of fun and we all have a vested interest in keeping our cars on the road.
Until next time! — Pete

Tech Session for Tom Leavitt’s Sprite
If you weren’t there you missed a great time!! The tech session went really well as we had six members and a new prospective member, Brooke Steel, attack Tom Leavitt’s Sprite with great enthusiasm. The weather was perfect on Saturday morning in the mid 60’s with clear skies and no wind. We all gathered at the pre-determined time at the storage facility where Tom kept his Sprite. There was discussion at length as how we should go about performing the task at hand. Of course everyone has there own way of doing things and there were lots of thoughts and ideas on how to tune the HS4 carbs on the 67 Sprite. Some wanted to go by “the book” while others had learned from practical experience. While the discussions were going on coffee and donuts were being consumed the camaraderie and humor started to surface. At this point Henry received the brunt of the jokes.  With his wonderful sense of humor and thick skin, after all he is the club president and he has to put up with all of us, he took in all in stride, “Way to go Henry”. So after everyone settled in a bit Henry led us through the procedure from the practical side gained from many years of working on these type of carbs. The Sprite was started and brought up to temperature and the procedure began as Henry talked us all through what he was doing. The car was indeed running extremely rich as a spark plug was pulled and inspected, it was covered with soot. The carbs were set to their base line adjustments and then we went from there. One of the best things in the arsenal of knowledge and tools that we had was a set of SU carb adjusting tools that Henry had brought with him as well as two types of air flow measuring devices which simplified the job immensely.  So after much tutoring and adjusting, the Sprite was running really well. Tom took it for a spin and was delighted with the results and after the session was over he decided to drive it home and park it next to his Mk-2 tri-carb to keep it company.
End result was a well schooled group of members, a well running car and a happy owner. 
Those present were Tom Leavitt, Henry Morrison, Glen Shimmelpfenning, Larry Jensen, Don Hughes, Pete Davies, and potential new member: Brooks Steele. Thanks to Glen for capturing the event in photos which are available on the Photo Album Page.
—-Pete Davies

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Cache Valley Cruise-In 2023
Glenn Schimmelpfennig (1969 Sprite), Henry and Chris Morrison (1956 100M), and Keith, Matt and Liz (1962 3000 and 1959 Sprite) attended the Cache Valley Cruise-In on June 30 2023. With nearly 1000 cars in the show there was a lot to look at, but our British cars attracted a lot of attention. Afterwards, everyone went to Keith and Liz’s house for a barbecue. Photos on Photo Album page. –Keith Mott

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British Field Day 2023
British Field Day 2023 was a huge success with hundreds of British cars and bikes including 16 Healeys total.  Cars of note this year were the Morrison’s 100M, and the presence of TWO yellow Bugeyes.   Club members that I remember seeing there include Jim Thornton, Dennis Walkingshaw, Henry and Chris Morrison, Tom Leavitt, Glenn Schimmelpfennig, Larry and Melissa Jensen, Darin Graber, and of course Keith and Liz Mott.   I’m sure others were present; send me names and I’ll amend this post.  Pictures on the Photo Album page.  -Keith Mott

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Chris’ Birthday Road Rallye
The first annual BAHC-WMJR Chris’ Birthday Road Rallye was held Saturday, July 9^th.   Ten cars started the Rallye at Sunset Coffee in Sandy, and ten finished at Billy Blanco’s in Park City.  The starting and final check-points were manned by Henry Morrison and Dil Strasser.  The middle check point, at Brighton Resort, was manned by the birthday girl herself (Chris Morrison) along with Glen Schimmelpfennig, and Keith and Matthew Mott.  At the Brighton checkpoint, Chris provided a seemingly endless supply of cupcakes to participants, checkpoint workers, and pretty much anyone else who happened by and looked hungry.   After the Rallye, everyone gathered for a boisterous lunch at Billy Blanco’s, where Henry announced the winners and awarded the prizes.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, and thanks go to Henry and Chris Morrison and Glen Schimmelpfennig for organizing the event.  Participants and scores are shown below.  Pictures on the Photo Album page.

Rally to Walkingshaw’s in Springville
Saturday’s (06/25/2022) drive down to Dennis and Cay Walkingshaw’s Hobble Creek Canyon digs had a great turnout. Hobble Creek Canyon is due east of Springville and our destination was about 9 miles up that canyon. We had five Big Healeys and a Bugeye Sprite leave the staging area at the Park and Ride at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon at 10am. Attendees included Chris and Henry Morrison, Pete and
Cash Davies, Dennis Walkingshaw and his long time good friend from Moab, David von Zastrow, Larry Jensen (Bugeye), Darin Graber and Jon Hanson. Unfortunately, on the way and near the summit of a pretty long and steep push up a mountain, the Bugeye gasped its last and Larry arranged for a tow truck to come out. I hope the diagnosis of the issue was not fatal but sounds like the tow truck was an appropriate solution.
Driving through Orem and Provo had a lot of stop and go and traffic at times was thick. Dennis did an admirable job leading the pack. It was very easy to get separated from the group at stop lights and Dennis kept a close eye in the rear-view mirror for stragglers.
I think I can speak for the group that we all were very glad to arrive at the final destination… a truly spectacular setting in the canyon, complete with babbling brook (Hobble Creek), expansive lawns in a park-like setting, and a beautiful house with room for all of our Healeys to be in the shade of the portico. I am also told there are black swans there but I never checked that out. David von Zastrow was official Burgermeister (in this case, word usage means the official “mayor” of the grill) and Cay had set out an extensive spread of goodies in the kitchen – salads, chips and dips, burger fixings, and drinks as well as desserts. We had a leisurely lunch and good conversation outside in the shade on the veranda. The food was great and we certainly did not leave hungry!
Darin had a gig to make back in town so he left early and did the freeway all the way back to make good time. The rest of us went the way we came following Dennis and David.
Thanks so much to Cay and Dennis Walkingshaw for organizing this event! (photos on the Photo Album page)
–Jon Hanson

British Field Day 2022
Despite dire weather predictions, British Field Day turned out to be a pleasant day with a good turnout of Healeys.  Club members with Healeys at the show were:  Darrin Graber, Jon Hanson, Dill Strasser, Keith, Liz, and Matt Mott, Pete Davies, Jim and Dave Thornton (2 cars), Dennis and Cay Walkingshaw, and Tom Leavitt.  In addition, Henry Morrison brought an Elva Courrier, and Chris Morrison came in a 1968 TR250.  Other members present were: Don Hughes, Jim Revel, and Larry and Melissa Jensen.  Henry’s runs through the slalom course in his Elva provided some entertainment for club members.  Everyone was having such a good time that no one except Jon Hanson thought to take pictures.  Thanks Jon!  (pictures on the Photo Album page) –Keith Mott

Tech Session at Joe Morley’s
Saturday, April 9th, was another great tech session for the Bonneville Austin Healey Club. The order of the day was to resurrect Joe Morleys BJ7 that had been hibernating for the past 3 years or so. With Plenty of donuts, cookies and soft drinks, the crew consisting of Joe Morley, Jim Thornton, Jon Hanson, Darin Graber, Don Hughes, Don Colman, and Dennis Walkingshaw dug into the basics of breathing life back into a Healey that had been stored for the past few years. Jim Thornton Joe Morley drained gas and refilled, fluids checked and topped up by Darin Graber, fuel pump operation was checked and starting fluid was liberally employed by Dennis Walkingshaw. With a little coaxing with the choke and gas pedal from Jim Thornton, the car came to life, and after letting it warm up and settle in with a little carb adjustment from Dennis, Joe’s BJ7 was purring like a tiger and ready for a first drive in 3 years to a local spot with an air pump to top up the tires. I think Joe is still smiling as I write this. Todays session was an easy one, and even though no other Healeys made an appearance, Don Hughes brought his Healey doors to talk paint prep with Darin, Jon Hanson brought a non-functioning battery cut-off switch for Darin’s switch rebuild project, Don Colman came by to chat and mention he still wants to sell his Bugeye for a lucky motorist to use this summer, and everyone got their hands dirty – either on Morleys car or the donut box. Coming soon might be a session to re-hang the exhaust system on Jon Hansons BJ8 and maybe a little work on Joe Morleys exhaust as well. Stay tuned for more sessions as the club ramps up this spring! (Pictures on the Photo Album Page) –Darin Graber