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noomg Member
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It's pretty clean with a nice paint and interior combo, a late model with Dellortos, and a lot of original things like door speakers. It'll be interesting to see what this one brings, especially following so closely on the heels of the last one. It's currently at $3900, I don't think that's going to get the job done. |
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noomg Member
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The bid is now $6500 with 4 days to go. It 'll be interesting to see if this one gets the same money as the white 4sp, which was also a clean machine. What I found baffling is on both of these cars the PO glued the floormats down, what were they thinking! Seriously, gluing down floormats on British convertibles in general and the J/H, with it's history of corroded floor boards, in particular is a really bad idea. Even if you don't get caught in the rain with you're top down, ragtops still leak. When this happens you have to open up the car, pull up the carpeting and dry everything out if you want to avoid corrosion. I think the reason the J/H is famed for rotten floor boards were those damned rubber floormats. While they were really nice HD floormats, the problem was they trapped water underneath them which could sit on the floorboards for months unless you pulled everything out to dry which obviously most people unfortunately didn't. |
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noomg Member
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It sold for $11,750, considering the earlier 4sp netted $15,250 I'd say this buyer got a very good deal. While prices do seem to be on the rise, at $10,000 to $15,000 for a Jensen-Healey in excellent condition it's still an excellent value when you consider what you have to pay for anything else in it's class. You'll have to pay that much for a Spitfire! |
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discogodfather Member 
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Looked like a nice car, I thought it's body was a little better than the previous car that went for 15. I think the guy didn't do the comp test right, because 100 psi on all cylinders is too low. I think he forgot to hold the throttle bodies open. Might have hurt the price. |
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noomg Member
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Both were nice cars, I think some just prefer the metal bumper cars, which could also account for the price difference. Personally I prefer the green one, 5sp and color combination, the rubber bumpers don't bother me. You're probably right about the test being done improperly, the fact that the readings are all right together tells me this motor is in good shape. |
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Jh092 Member
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I purchased the green car on BaT. When I got the car home, it was as good as in the photos and description. I am in the process of replacing the timing belt and cleaning up a previous owners rework of the wiring harness and it will be good to go. |
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noomg Member
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Jh092, Congrats on your acquisition. From what I could see it looks like you got a solid car for good price. It doesn't even look like the floorboards have been replaced, don't see that very often, even in CA. Sounds like you're off to a good start by replacing the timing belt, it's really cheap insurance. I'd be sure to note the mileage and date. It's up to you as to interval change, I do mine every two years or 12,000mi which ever comes first. I recently replaced my wiring harness, hopefully you won't have to go that far to correct the PO's modifications. Keep us updated on how things are going and any questions you might have, we've got some really knowledgeable dudes on this board. |
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Jh092 Member
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I do have a question. Somewhere along the line a dash cover was installed and the VIN number is not visible. Where is the VIN located? Could it be under the cover or was it a plate closer to the windshield like on my Europa? I need it visible for a state inspection. If under the cover, can the cover be removed or will i destroy it and need to buy a new one? |
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redracer Member
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the very earl ones had a metal plate with nthe number stamped in, located on the passenger side engine bay rail. Then they moved this plate to the driver's side rail, and finally, they put it in the driver's front side seat rail near the tm. tunnel(which shpould be your car based on the rubber bumpers). Also, the later cars had that 5 digit # stamped into the driver's side frame rail itself, just below the front part of the brake pressure differential switch. I would imagine the previous owner left the one on the dash, which is likely below your coverall one. And of course, the aluminum plates on the radiator cowl and the driver side door jam |
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discogodfather Member
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My 73 is on the passenger side engine bay rail, stamped on a welded plate. It's only a 5 digit number, which makes the local DMV go crazy for some reason. It's not really a "VIN", I don't know what year they went to a standard VIN number. |
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redracer Member
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Chris: you have a VERY EARLY J-H. The 5 digit # for the U.S. would have 1110- before the 5 digits on your plate. You should have the same # on the aluminum radiator and door jam plates. |
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noomg Member
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Jh092, If you're talking about an aftermarket plastic dash cap that covers the original dash you may be able to trim it back to expose the VIN split pinned to the dash. On mine the VIN plate is located 1" above the bottom windshield frame and about 9 1/2" from the left side frame. |
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Jh092 Member
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Noomg, Thats the vin number i need to get exposed. That helps me locate where it should be located. Any photos of the plate relative to the windshield. The alumnum plates are installed and I'm still looking for the stamped chassis number. That`s later this week. The timing belt is first. |
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Jh092 Member
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Noomg, Thats the vin number i need to get exposed. That helps me locate where it should be located. Any photos of the plate relative to the windshield. The alumnum plates are installed and I'm still looking for the stamped chassis number. That`s later this week. The timing belt is first. |
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redracer Member
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If the pictures were correct, it looks like the blue timing belt was installed, which does NOT stretch. Contact the previous owner to se when it was installed ,as the blue belts(I recently did a follow up on them after Tim Engel's original write up; use the SEARCH box at the top) will last MUCH longer than the origianl black ones congratulations on what seems to be a good car, bruce |
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noomg Member
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Jh092 Those measurements are for the bottom and left end of the VIN plate. |
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Mondial1 Member 
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never paid much attention to the VIN# on my old gal, she is showing 11001, on the stamp pad. I know she is an early model, but any idea how early as far as the US models go? Attachment: vin pic.jpg (Downloaded 147 times) |
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redracer Member
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The books Richard Calver put together might have that info in it. I met a man from Louisiana in 1989 at the first Jensen National in Lake Tahoe. He said his was the earliest imported to the U.S; it was yellow and supposedly a '72, which he said was not supposed to be allowed in yet. Don't know how true that is , but good luck searching. |
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noomg Member
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Bruce, Considering how problematic Brit cars were in general at their launch, I'd say having a first one is at best a dubious honor. |
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redracer Member
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noomg: I agree with you, but he did drive it there(i.e.-not trailered).. Have no idea what happened to him or the car |
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noomg Member
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There is yet a third J/H on BaT, seems like they're almost becoming common. It's a steel bumper car and looks like a solid driver. It's not quite as nice as the first two so I don't think it will bring the same money. It's pretty stock and what I like most about this car are the floorboards, they look solid and original. Good bones. |
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noomg Member
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It sold for $8300, I'd say both buyer and seller got a good deal. It seems like not too long ago you could get a car like this for $3500. The value of these cars does seem to be on the rise after many, many years. I wonder why now? |
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discogodfather Member
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Not a bad car but it was one that needed both nothing and yet needed everything, so to speak. A driver for sure. |
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noomg Member
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Disco, Well it's no where near as nice as yours, but it is a nice, stock driver that you can just drive and enjoy for a couple of years while deciding how you want to restore it. |
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noomg Member
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And yet a fourth Jensen-Healey just sold on BaT for $5700, it was a black & tan steel bumper 4sp. This one may have been the most interesting of the bunch. It was a solid driver in pretty original, unrestored condition, right down to the original jack and boot cover. It also had fiberglass floorboards which would suggest they were fixed back in the day when it was still a daily driver to keep it on the road. But the most interesting thing was the seller claimed it had the 2.2L stroker crank installed. The funny thing was the engine looked absolutely stock right down to the original goofy muffler looking air cleaner. I'd be curious as to how guys here have done the 2.2L upgrade and absolutely nothing else to the motor. I think if you do this you'd naturally add some complimentary performance upgrades like Dellortos, hotter cams, and maybe some head work. They didn't even upgrade the air cleaners! The seller said it was done in the mid '80s at a cost of $8000! That seems like an awful lot of money to install only a stroker kit, especially considering it was done 30+ years ago. I hope the buyer got what he paid for. |
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noomg Member
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Here we go again, a fifth one just popped up on BaT, you'd think there were a lot of them still around. One thing I haven't seen before, it had a 4sp with rubber bumpers. I always thought all 4sps had steel bumpers. |
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subwoofer Member
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They started building the 5-speeds in November 1974, IIRC. 18711 is built in October and is a 4-speed with rubber bumpers. -- Joachim |
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redracer Member
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The rubber bumpers(all 74 1/2 year cars; had to be good for 5mph impact) started at 18320 to 18950 with the 4spd tm. before they started putting in the 5spd Gettrag. (we refer to these as 74 3/4, which is just before the '75s with all the pollution stuff, air pump, injectors, etc.). These numbers are actually listed in the PARTS manual. |
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noomg Member
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Well, as they say, you learn something new everyday. While this looks like a really original car it seems like rubber bumpers with a 4sp would be the worst of both worlds. |
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noomg Member
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Well it seems the rubber bumpers and 4sp didn't negatively affect the sale price, it sold for $12,300. A good price I'd say, maybe the originality and the fact it's a one owner car offset the less desirable items. |
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discogodfather Member
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Pretty expensive but very original 31k original mile example. https://www.ebay.com/itm/174843883601?hash=item28b581f051:g:G-gAAOSwdDVg8gFm |
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Jh092 Member
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Does anyone know how they numbered the cars at the end of 1974? It doesn't appear to be sequential. The one currently on ebay is #19768 and has a build date of12/31/74. My car #20092 has a build date of 12/29/74. Even without the crazy dates, it appears they built a lot of cars in a few days |
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Tom Bradley Member
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Jh092 wrote:Does anyone know how they numbered the cars at the end of 1974? Probably hurriedly and chaotically. One problem was that the JH was Jensen's attempt to go from being a low volume producer to high volume manufacturing, which apparently was not going smoothly. Second was trying to "make" as many officially 74 models as possible before the 1975 US catalytic converter requirement kicked in. My guess is that different people were stamping out the VIN plates and had different ideas about what to use as the official build date. I have read that some 74's had 1975 dates printed, which I think might be a problem if one was trying to get the car newly registered in CA: 74's don't need to get smog tested, but 75's do. If the person inspecting the car at the DMV is a stickler, they could require it to be registered as a 75. |
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noomg Member
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Disco, That is indeed a very nice stock J/H, but expensive as you say. As can be seen on this thread alone, you can get a very nice J/H for 15K or less. I don't think this guy will get his price. Jh092, If it's any help, my car is VIN 19661 built 30/12/74. As pointed out by some of our more knowledgeable members there was a big push to get as many cars as possible assembled before impending smog regulations. |
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noomg Member
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A silver Jensen GT just sold on BaT foe 10K, a very good price I thought. It was sold as a project but it was very complete and didn't look like it would take much to get it running. And the interior was very clean. I remember when Jensen took over the Jensen-Healey I always thought they should have gone all in and installed a Rover V8 which would have brought it more into line with Jensen, luxury V8 British sportscars. |
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