healeywerks.com: Company News And events

(September 9, 2008, Lawton, IA) Serving the Vintage Auto Industry for more than 21 years, Restoration Specialist The Healey Werks announces their invitation to Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance 2008. The Hilton Head Island Concours d'Elegance and Motoring Festival is an annual event that showcases over 150 vintage vehicles, many of the finest in the world, by invitation only. The world's finest antique and classic automobiles will line the fields of Honey Horn, a historic Southern plantation under the spreading oaks and flowing Spanish moss, characteristic of the South Carolina Lowcountry, to compete for the coveted title of 'Best of Show', and other awards.

The Healey Werks owners, Craig and Shari Hillinger, will be attending the concours with two of their most accomplished works and their respected owners. Sioux City, Ia. native Tim Hassenger has been invited to show his acclaimed 1960 Maserati 3500 GT which was restored by The Healey Werks in 2004. Though rarely shown, Mr. Hassengers 3500 GT won the award for "Most Outstanding Maserati" and "Best GT 6 Cylinder Open & Closed" at the 2005 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance. Chicago Il. resident Thomas Cooper will be displaying another terrific example of The Healey Werks' Premier Restoration Services, a 1965 Austin Healey 3000 BJ8. This 2006 restoration is widely regarded as the top ranking Austin Healey in the world, and holds the distinguished honor of receiving the highest judging score ever awarded at a National Healey Conclave. Craig and Shari Hillinger have been invited to show their historically preserved 1955 Austin Healey 100-S, affectionately known throughout the industry as "Millie" for her performance in the 1955 Mille Miglia Italian road race. Millie has the distinction of being the first Special Test Car, then factory rebuilt as the last production 100-S, and undoubtedly the highest decorated racing history of any Austin Healey ever produced. Believed by many Concours d'Elegance judges, exhibitors and enthusiasts, to be one of the top four events in the country, Hilton Head Island will celebrate automotive excellence Sunday November 2nd, 2008.

About The Healey Werks: The Healey Werks was founded in 1987 near Chicago IL. with services for vintage European motor cars. The Healey Werks moved to its current location on Highway 20 near Sioux City, IA in 1997. From its greatly expanded location, and over 100 years of combined experience on staff, they now serve a global clientele with a complete range of European, classic, and sports automobiles, specializing in Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Austin Healey. The Healey Werks has established itself the Premier Automotive Restoration Specialist and a leader in the industry.
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The Healey Werks Announces Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance 2008 Invitation

(July 22, 2008, Lawton, IA) Serving the Vintage Auto Industry for more than 21 years, Restoration Specialist The Healey Werks announces their invitation to Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance 2008. The Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance is an annual event that showcases the world's finest antique and classic automobiles, displayed in a lavish outdoor setting. Held on the grounds of automotive royalty, the Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance represents a total embodiment of the sophistication, grace, and opulent lifestyle that surrounds classic automobiles.

The 2008 Concours marks the 30th Annual Event, with a special tribute planned to the cars and people that have made it a success. The Healey Werks has been invited to display a significant Ferrari, a fantastically preserved 1968 Ferrari 330 GTC. Often referred to as the perfect Ferrari for the perfect gentleman, the 330 GTC has been revered as a truly timeless Ferrari, this being SN 10825. Legendary Ferrari World Champion Phil Hill called the 330 GTC "the best road going Ferrari ever built."

This example of Ferrari perfection and timeless preservation is currently undergoing The Healey Werks' prestigious Historical Preservation Service and Ferrari Classiche Certification Service. These services cover nearly all facets of preservation including mechanical, cosmetic, and documentary. Owners Craig and Shari Hillinger plan to attend with SN 10825 August 3rd at the Meadow Brook Hall on the grounds of Oakland University in Rochester Michigan.

The Healey Werks Announces 2008 Fire Training/Education Grant Awards

(April 22, 2008, Lawton, IA) Restoration Specialists The Healey Werks announced today $1,095.00 in direct assistance grants to 3 Woodbury County Volunteer Fire Departments through company's Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Fire Training/Education Grant.

Having recently celebrated their 20th anniversary, The Healey Werks proudly announces the results of the first annual Healey Werks Fire Training/Education Grant. As a small business The Healey Werks believes in giving back to the community and helping programs that serve the community at large. In effort to help with fire prevention and protection within Woodbury County, this training grant aims to provide small volunteer fire departments with the supplemental funding needed to accomplish these and related goals.
Receiving grant funding are the following Fire Departments:

Anthon: Tuition reimbursement, as requested, for 7 personnel attending Northwest Iowa Regional Fire School ($420)

Cushing: Tuition reimbursement, as requested, for 3 personnel attending Northwest Iowa Regional Fire School ($210)

Lawton: 4 fire safety video DVD's to be used for community awareness ($465)
The Christmas Tree Fire
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
The Living Room Fire
Home Fire Safety

Additional information can be requested at info@healeywerks.com or viewed at www.healeywerks.com/grant.

The Healey Werks Announces Fire Training/Education Grant

(December 12, 2007, Lawton, IA) Having recently celebrated their 20th anniversary, Restoration Specialist The Healey Werks proudly announces the first annual Healey Werks Fire Training/Education Grant. As a small business The Healey Werks believes in giving back to the community and helping programs that serve the community at large. In effort to help with fire prevention and protection within Woodbury County, this training grant aims to provide small volunteer fire departments with the supplemental funding needed to accomplish these and related goals.

The training grant amount is set at $1500 to be awarded as single or multiple awards based on the Volunteer Fire Department's application. All decisions will be made and funding awarded by March 31st 2008. Awards are based on review of the grant committee.

Applications can be requested at info@healeywerks.com or downloaded from www.healeywerks.com/grant.

"Bringing vintage cars back to life" - Sioux City Journal

LAWTON, Iowa — As sparks flew from his grinder, Healey Werks fabrication assistant Travis Hartz stripped corrosion from the bare chassis of a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTF PF Cabriolet.

On an adjacent hoist sat the frame of a 1960 model of the Italian-made convertible. Only 202 of the Cabriolet Series II, known for its conservative body style, were ever built.

"To have two of them sitting next to each other is kind of unheard of," Healey Werks' owner Craig Hillinger said as he led a tour of the shop, which also currently houses a third rare Ferrari.

At any one time, as many as two dozen vintage automobiles — like those you might expect to see in a James Bond film — are in various stages of restoration at Healey Werks. For a decade, the rich and famous from several continents have been sending their prized autos to the business, located just west of Lawton, Iowa.

"They actually seek out Healey Werks and wait in line, sometimes for quite some time, because they know the level of quality and the history of the service we provide here," marketing director Dan Thompson said.

Currently, the shop has a 24- to 30-month backlog of work, meaning some cars currently under restoration won't be delivered until late 2009.

To accommodate growing demand for its services, Healey Werks last month broke ground on a major expansion. By tripling its total space, the business hopes to eventually cut the waiting list in half or more, Hillinger said.

Second City roots
How did a world-renowned restoration shop end up at a rural Woodbury County site, surrounded by soybean fields, self-storage units and a John Deere dealership?

Healey Werks' story began two decades ago in the Chicago area, where Hillinger, was born and raised. At age 4, he began spending time in the family garage with his father, who owned a vintage Austin Healey. Two years later, Craig attended the first National Austin-Healey meet in northern Indiana, now known as the annual Conclave. At the meet, he met legendary auto engineer and race driver Donald Healey, igniting a lifelong passion for vintage cars.

In 1987, Hillinger opened a two-car garage in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove, Ill., where he serviced Austin Healeys and various British-made cars. The customer base steadily grew and the shop expanded two times over the next few years.

Hillinger met the former Shari Pearson, a Bronson, Iowa, native, while she was working in the Chicago area. After marrying, the couple in 1997 relocated Healey Werks to its current location to raise a family and build the business in a region with a strong work ethic, character and community.

Today, Shari manages the office, while Craig oversees the restoration work at the business, about five miles east of Sioux City along U.S. Highway 20.

Healey Werks specializes in the restoration of high-end European speciality and sports cars, including Aston Martin, Austin Healey, Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes and Porsche. To a lesser degree, it also works on North American models, from pre-war to vintage muscle and luxury vehicles.

Doing little paid advertising, Healey Werks relies primarily on word-of-mouth testimonials. In vintage auto circles, it's developed a reputation as one of only a handful of premiere restoration specialists.

About 85 percent of its restoration business comes from outside the Siouxland, primarily throughout the United States and other parts of North America. But it also has done work for customers in nearly every European nation, as well as Argentina, Australia and Japan.

Its clientele includes celebrities, business tycoons and billionaires, some with their own tropical islands. The value of their vintage autos range into the seven figures.

Some historically-significant autos are family heirlooms. Most others consider their prized vehicles as long-term investments.

"For these customers, these are their babies," Thompson said. "Some of these cars are never driven. They become art to people."

Some other owners turn to Healey Werks to prepare their prized for classic car shows or driving events, like the Colorado Grand or New England 1000.

Healey Werks does as much, or as little work, as owners want, from a new paint job to a complete restoration. The business also offers routine maintenance and service, which is popular with local owners of foreign models who otherwise might have to travel to a larger city.

Depending on the vehicle, the average cost of a complete restoration — tearing down the original vehicle and remanufacturing a new one — can be in excess of $100,000, Hillinger said.

"While cost is always in the balance quality is paramount." Thompson said. "We put as much passion into the project as it takes to achieve perfection. That's what is most important in the end."

Healey Werks regularly keeps its clients abreast of work on their cars, taking several thousands of digital images of each one. It's also not unusual for some out-of-town owners to fly into Sioux City, and stop by the shop to check out the progress in person, Thompson said.

Jay Brosten, who has known Hillinger since he opened his first shop in the Chicago area, recently had Healey Werks completely restore his 1957 Austin Healey 100/6. At its first competition, the Antique Automotive Club of America show in Lake Forest, Ill. in July, the car captured a first-place award.

Brosten said Healey Werks is now bringing back to life his 1957 Jaguar XK140, which he predicts will "surely be another award winner."

Marrying craftsmanship, and technology
What sets Healey Werks apart from other shops that do similar work? While it can restore a vintage auto completely to its original specifications, the business is one of the few that offers an expansive use of technology that help cars perform better and become more user friendly.

"It really doesn't make a lot of sense for us to restore a 40- or 50-year-old car with 40- or 50-year-old technology," Hillinger said. "We've been able to make improvements at an engineering level that allows that product to be enhanced without changing its originality. We're really integrating the old-fashioned craftsmanship with as much of today's cutting-edge technology as we can."

For example, the business recently developed a new multi-port fuel injection that improves the performance of older carburetor engines for European models like Austin Healey, Ferrari and Maserati.

With a vertical milling machine and computer software program, Healey Werks also can replicate parts. That comes in handy for older parts which are hard to find or no longer available.

By scanning the old part, a three-dimensional image can be created in a Computer Aided Drafting or CAD file. With the touch of a button, a new part then can be milled out of various materials, from plastic to a hardened grade of steel. Hillinger said it creates a more durable and better performing product than the original.

Besides its own use, Healey Werks makes parts for sale in the automotive aftermarket.

Among the shop's other technology: a 1,500 horsepower all-wheel dynamometer, used to perfect the tuning of vehicles without taking them out on the road, and a state-of-the-art draft and baking booth that uses the best primer, basecoat and clearcoat products money can buy.

The shop also offers to incorporate such 21st century features as GPS systems, digital video and high-fidelity sound in vintage cars.

Crowded quarters
Healey Werks is one of the few restoration specialists of its kind that does most everything in-house. Some shops, Hillinger said, outsource work as painting, upholstery and engine work.

"All of a sudden, restoration facilities become kind of a glorified assembly house, he said. "They're putting together everybody else's components."

To eliminate cross contamination, Healey Werks' complex is divided into separate rooms, including tear down and fabrication, engine and transmission, paint and final assembly. "For example, we don't have a guy standing here assembling final chrome next to somebody grinding on a frame or assembling an engine," Hillinger said.

In their current cramped quarters, employees value every inch of the 12,000 square feet of space. Hillinger estimates his staff now spends about 10 hours a week simply moving vehicles from one spot to another to get them out of way for another project.

"Being in a building this size has forced us to become very efficient with our space," he said. "When we do move into this bigger facility, we will be able to do a greater volume rather efficiently."

The 25,000-square-foot addition, under construction just east of the existing complex, is scheduled for completion next spring. At that point, the main operations will move into the new structure. The older facility then will house support functions like upholstery and a machine shop.

The added space will not only help the firm clear a backlog of projects, but also expand its concept engineering and prototype services.

Dave Dreeszen can be reached at (712) 293-4211 or davedreeszen@siouxcityjournal.com
This story was originally published Sept. 9, 2007, in the Sioux City Journal. Reprinted with permission.
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The Healey Werks Announces Groundbreaking of New Restoration Facility

(August 22, 2007, Lawton, IA) Having recently celebrated their 20th anniversary, Restoration Specialist The Healey Werks celebrates the ground breaking of a new 25,000 sq.ft. state-of-the-art facility at their current location near Lawton Iowa. The new facility is designed to increase efficiencies, expand in-house capabilities and accommodate additional restoration demand. In addition the new facility will allow The Healey Werks to continue growth of their Concept Engineering and Prototyping services.

Owners Craig and Shari Hillinger explain that years of growth within the confines of the current facility have influenced efficiencies and practices required for the scale and range of work being done. Integrating these business practices within the new facility will allow us to reach the next level of excellence, accommodate the growing demand for our services, and keep the all-encompassing workmanship within our campus. Completion of the new facility is estimated to be spring 2008.

Ground breaking ceremony is planned for 10am Thursday August 23rd 2007, with plans and information available, on the campus located at 1821 Hwy 20 Lawton Iowa. (4 miles East of Sioux City)

The Healey Werks announces revolutionary new multiport fuel injection upgrade for classic carbureted vehicles.

Lawton, IA- July 14, 2006- Noted restoration specialist The Healey Werks announced today a highly advanced and tunable multiport fuel injection for all Austin Healey, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati and a wide range of other classic vehicles.

"Major revolutions in fuel systems may come along only once in a decade," said Craig Hillinger, president of The Healey Werks. "But a new era has dawned and through extensive dynamometer testing, our multiport fuel injection kit has proven its potential to provide smoother, cleaner, and more powerful motoring in classic cars. Our new fuel injection systems with electronic management enable us to reach levels of performance that quite simply aren't possible with older carburetor technology."

Over the course of many years it has been identified that stock carburetor and distributor systems cannot give access to full potential engine efficiency and power at numerous throttle and RPM ranges. After numerous years of research, development, programming and testing, The Healey Werks is ready to offer this highly refined and unprecedented product in both kit and installed packages.

“Extensive testing on our AWD Superflow Dynamometer has allowed us to extract the most horsepower, torque, fuel economy, and drivability possible from a multiport fuel injected Austin Healey 3000,” said Hillinger.

“We use multiple reference points for razor sharp ignition and injector timing, and dwell. Multiple optional features include traction control, multiple cooling fan outputs, A/C mode, live telemetry, and a host of others.”

• The system can provide a different timing point for cranking to relieve stress on the starter.
• If the vehicle cooling system begins to fail and coolant temperature begins to rise, the ECU will go into a limp home mode by adjusting fuel and ignition.
• The system facilitates a safe way to add rev limiter. It does not cut fuel at rev limit. (This would rapidly lean out the combustion chamber and create massive amounts of dangerous heat levels) By intermittently cutting ignition, RPM can be maintained at a safe level.
• Healey Werks can tailor systems to nearly any application, utilizing either custom distributors or systems that are distributorless.

“Through significant and exhaustive dyno testing, we have built multiple fuel maps that maintain a perfect air fuel ratio from zero to full load and idle to maximum RPMs,” said Hillinger.

“By operating the car at exact load and speed ranges for extended amounts of time we have created a reliable, safe, intelligent, and powerful conversion.”