Austin Healey 3000

1959–1967 · front discs from day one · 91.5% exported

The big Healey at full size — and a car where the body code tells you more than the mark number.

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Window SealsWindscreen · Rear screen · Quarterlight Door SealsDoor rubbers · Pinchweld · Bailey channel Boot & BonnetBoot seals · Bonnet rubbers · Buffers Body & TrimPanel rubber · Mouldings · Bumper fittings Brakes & ClutchCylinders · Kits · Hoses · Pedal pads Suspension & SteeringBushes · Ball joints · King pins · Idlers Engine & GasketsGasket sets · Mounts · Seals · Bearings CoolingHoses · Thermostats · Caps · Senders Ignition & ElectricalPoints · Caps · Rotors · Coils · Leads Fuel & FiltersPumps · Hose · Filters · Exhaust mounts Axle & GearboxSeals · Mounts · Bearings · Universals

Not listed? Plenty of parts suit several marques and never get the model name in the title — ask us and we will check the books for you.

About the Austin Healey 3000

Announced on 1 July 1959 with the C-series six out to 2,912cc and, for the first time on a Healey, disc brakes at the front. Rear drums stayed to the end. The marks run Mk I (BN7 two-seater, BT7 2+2), Mk II (BN7, BT7, then the BJ7 convertible), and Mk III (BJ8 only). The trap is that BN7 and BT7 each exist in both Mk I and Mk II form, so the body code on its own will not tell you the mark and the mark on its own will not tell you the body. BN is the two-seater, BT the 2+2, BJ the convertible; there is no two-seat Mk III. Carburettors wander about: twin HD6 on the Mk I for 124bhp, three HS4s on the Mk II for 132bhp and a reputation for never staying in tune, back to two larger HS6s on the BJ7 for 131, and twin HD8 2in on the BJ8 for 148 to 150bhp. A genuine triple-carb Mk II is a rare thing.

On a Mk III, establish Phase 1 or Phase 2 before ordering anything at the back of the car. Phase 2 came in May 1964 at chassis 26705, and it changed the rear chassis frame rails for more clearance around the axle, replaced the seven-leaf rear springs with softer six-leaf ones, and deleted the Panhard rod in favour of radius arms. Roughly 1,360 Phase 1 cars were built, so most BJ8s are Phase 2 — but the springs, the Panhard rod and the rear frame parts are not interchangeable and the split is the chassis number, not the year. The BJ7 is worth knowing for its own sake too: a proper convertible with a wrap-around screen, wind-up windows and swivelling quarter lights, where the earlier cars had side curtains.

Austin Healey 3000 — specification & changes within the model

Mk I: July 1959 – April 1961. BN7 two-seater, 2,825 built · BT7 2+2, 10,825 built. Twin SU HD6 1.75in, 124bhp @ 4600rpm.
Mk II: May 1961 – 1962. BN7 two-seater, only 355 built · BT7 2+2, 5,096. Three SU HS4 1.5in, 132bhp @ 4750rpm — troublesome to keep in tune, and rare.
Mk II convertible: BJ7, 1962–64, 6,113 built. Back to two SU HS6 1.75in, 131bhp. Wrap-around windscreen, wind-up side windows, swivelling quarter lights, quick-action folding roof. Permanently replaced the two-seat BN7.
Mk III: BJ8, 1963/64 – December 1967, around 17,000 built (sources differ by about 1,400). Twin SU HD8 2in, 148–150bhp @ 5250rpm. Walnut fascia, centre console, Ambla upholstery, servo brakes standard.
Body codes: BN = two-seater · BT = 2+2 · BJ = convertible. BN7 and BT7 exist in both Mk I and Mk II. BJ8 is the only Mk III code.
Brakes: Front discs from launch, 1 July 1959, and rear drums on every 3000 ever built. Servo standard from the BJ8. Disc diameter is given as 11in by one source and 11.25in by another — measure before ordering.
Phase 1 vs Phase 2 BJ8: Phase 2 from May 1964, chassis 26705. Revised rear chassis frame rails for axle clearance · seven-leaf rear springs replaced by softer six-leaf · Panhard rod deleted, radius arms fitted · tucked-away exhaust. About 1,360 Phase 1 cars. Split every rear-end order at 26705.
Engine: 2,912cc BMC C-series overhead-valve six, carried over from the 100-Six and enlarged.
Export: 91.5 per cent of 3000s were exported, mostly to North America. Many New Zealand cars are ex-US left-hand-drive imports — establish which before ordering anything handed.
Why it ended: Production stopped in December 1967 because the car could not be made to meet the coming US safety and emissions rules, and North America was almost the whole market.