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Several people I know, who have been driving/working on Spridgets for many years tell me that half shaft breakage is very common. One of them has broken 13 half shafts in twelve cars. My first experience with a broken axle was way up in the mountains, 11 PM on a Saturday night, on a deserted back road. Fortunately, just behind me on the road was the owner of a British car repair shop, who kindly drove my wife and me home, returned to next day, picked up the car and towed it into his shop. He replaced the broken... MORE
Hi Bree, Just a couple of things- Rust. You mentioned the doors, but the most important places to check are the sills (rockers, panels below the doors, whatever you call them in Texas) the base of the A-pillar (theh pillar the door hinges attach to) and the rear bulkhead, behind the seats, where the front part of the spring attaches. These are really awful spots to repair, and are also teh first places to start rusting. If you find rust in these places, RUN AWAY FROM THE CAR.... You can change an engine in a day. you can change... MORE
Yes they do. All Spridgets sag on the diver's side. I wonder if LHD spridgets sag more than RHD ones? Due to the weight of the pedal box, gauges etc being on the left as well as teh usual wiper motor, manifolds etc. Not to mention the stereotypical American tendency to porkiness... ;-) Growler I'm with Gerard - at some point in my life, I want to know, definitively, whether right-hand-drive spridgets sag to the right!! "Grant Bowyer" 8173... MORE
Mine LHD also sags........although Im jockey size.....70 Kg................. Jorge Dimitrakis BA.Argentine pedal box, gauges etc being on the left as well as teh usual wiper motor, manifolds etc. Not to mention the stereotypical American tendency to porkiness... "Jorge Dimitrakis" 8184... MORE
Go for it I say. As you said the dashboard (we call them that too) on a mk2 is great and is a completely flat panel with 'crash pad' fixed on. There must be plenty of spares over there as they nevre rust. I don't see why a dash from an earlier car couldn't be persuaded to fit. Jeremy mk2 Sprite "Jeremy Cogman" 8159... MORE
Then how could you think that the generator and starter would weigh as much as: cast iron exhaust manifold intake manifold w/ 2 carbs and air cleaners exhaust pipe w/muffler pedal box, pedals and master cylinders w/wiper motor steering column, steering wheel, gauges, most of the wiring harness. and various other small items... ... not to mention the driver, some of whom brag about being in excess of 250 lbs! (??) I guess the question is, do RHD cars sag on the right side instead? Gerard "gerardchateau" 8143... MORE
Gerald- With no intent whatsoever is being a wise guy; if it is not as intended by the manufacturer, it ain't good. As to whether "it" is "dangerous", the foregoing precludes this question. You don't even want to have to "go there" to find out. ("Oh, gee whiz, my left front wheel just folded and I am losing control, sliding across the highway and head on into a car occupied by a guy, his wife and three kids". Yeah, rrriiight~~). IMHO: If it's got to do with steering, brakes or suspension (vehicle "control") it's GOT to be fixed RIGHT... MORE
A day or so after I put my Midget up on 4 jack stands, a puddle of "mystery" fluid/oil appeared under the L rear portion of my car. It was yellowish in color. Because I had my tire ramp still underneath the car, the fluid dripped onto that and flowed to a different location. Not sure if it was brake fluid, since I did remove the drum and possibly pushed the brake pedal causing a leak or overflow from my brake cylinder (soon to be replaced). It does not appear to be the same color as the fluid that... MORE
Listers: A Midget owner here in Akron has asked me to post her car for sale to the list. 1979 Midget, metallic green with gray interior, no rust, excellent condition. Engine just totally rebuilt, new everything in engine, new clutch, Weber carb, new exhaust, new springs, new brakes, wiring harness replaced in 2000. Top is four years old and in excellent condition. Also includes tonneau cover and boot cover. All mechanical work was done by members of the local MG club with receipts for all work done in the last three years. All new parts came from Moss Motors.... MORE
Matt, Apparently, no one saw your question. To fix or broken axle, you'll need to remove the brake drums and axles from both side and pull the differencial. Drain the housing first. Once everything is out, you'll need to make sure to flush out all the metal from the diff and housing. Reinstall the diff and replace with a new axle. Make sure you replace the one good one on the same side it came from and if you get a used axle, get one from the same as your broken one. You'll need new paper gaskets and new... MORE
Hi Chris, I'm not sure I understand your question. If you mean the axle housing, you must use the quarter elliptic housing from the earlier cars. A semi-elliptic from a later car will not work without a lot of modifications to the chassis and not easily done. You can mistake the two, they look very different in their attachment points. The axles (half-shafts) are interchangeable between early and late as long as you don't cross disc and wire wheel axles. If you acquire used ones, you need to examine the splines and determine which was on the right and... MORE
Cressa, I have the exact same MG! Mine currently has the engine completely torn apart, with much of it soaking in cleaning fluid ready for a rebuild. The reason a clutch replacement is so expensive is because you must remove the engine to replace the clutch. I live in Newport, Oregon. Which part of Oregon do you live in? Email me directly at Brett@... and let me know. Thinking of selling it? Hmmm... I have my midget almost done... maybe I will be ready to start a second. Contact me and we can chat. -Brett '76 MG Midget "Brett... MORE
Not really... the weight of the driver will offset that. Best that the car is level with the driver in the seat. There is also more weight on the left side with carburation, manifolds, exhaust, pedal box, steering column, etc. Beats using washers to shim one side. Gerard "gerardchateau" 8003... MORE
My Sprite, 1275 cc, bone stock, has always tended to run hot. The original radiator was in the car and was in poor shape, so I replaced it with a Singapore made repro. Still ran hot. Replaced that with a China made repro. Still runs hot in hot (85f) temperatures. Engine is in excellent condition, timing and carburation correct, block clean, water pump, hoses and thermostat new, and yes, the temp gage is correct. Is this a common problem with 1275 engines and downflow rads? I've tried various antifreeze mixes and "water-wetter". No help. "tloutrec" 7955... MORE
One of the pre-purchase road tests recommended by Lindasy Porter is to "In second gear at about 30 mph accelerate hard, then decelerate hard: don't brake. (If car veers to left or right, the rear axle is loose or the springs are faulty. For Frogeyes - the radius arm bushes have deteriorated or the radius arm itself has lost strength through corrosion. Required - New U-bolts, New Springs, or New radius arms. Brent "Brent Wolf" 7954... MORE
Stanley Had the same problem. Turned out it was loose u-bolts on the springs that hold it to the axle. Tighten those down and it should fix the problem. You might look at replacing the springs pads also. Doug MG Midget 77 "Doug Pletcher" 7947... MORE
I have a MkII sprite which I use for Rally work, Following a minor brush with a bridge parapet in the Alps I have the opportunity to rebuild the suspension. I was thinking of using the Frontline rear telescopic kit, anyone have any experiance with this? On the front I was going to use the 340LB lowered springs from Moss with a full race ARB. Otherwise standard wishbones & lever shocks. The car has drums all round and only 948 cc of raw power so I'm more concerned with maintaing good cornering and turn-in than anything else. I would... MORE
Agree Tim. Recently find that on my 1500 bypassing the cut-off tap (it was leaking) made a big difference, re-routed the hoses and removed it completely. End result one toasty warm SO. AW "Andrew Worley @ Mi-King" 7806... MORE
Hello, I am searching for a set of Wolfrace slotted alloy wheels for my Frogeye. I've seen them on photo's in the Internet on Frogeyes and I think they look better than Minilites. What is the correct size ? Are they still sold new or should I look for secondhands ? Are there replica's as there are for the Minilites ? Where can I get them ? Bart Oosterling The Netherlands Member Dutch AHOC Apple-Green previously Flame-Red previously Goldmetallic previously White now getting back to White '60 previously Texas now Dutch previously some other's now mine Frogeye Bart Oosterling... MORE
Not that I need one right now, knock wood, but I'm looking for recommendations for a good repair shop in southern NH. My regular mechanic is strictly a chevy/ford/dodge man, and I figured some one on here would be able to suggest somebody. Another question: on my '79 1500 there are two heater hoses coming from the block. One of then seems to go thru some sort of valve ( which is frozen, BTW). Any clue what this valve is? and does this explain why it takes 20-30 minutes to get any heat out of the engine? On 9... MORE
The valve is a rotating cylinder valve that either opens the heater core to coolant flow for winter operation, or bypasses the core for warmer months. It is NOT generally available in M*ss or other brittish auto suppliers. It can however be freed up with some sort of penetrant. Usually it gets stuck with calcium deposits that get deposited over years of sitting or non-use. It might be stuck in the Closed or partially closed position causing very little heated coolant to flow thru the heater core thus causing your toes to freeze to the pedals. It can be... MORE
Ole, From the VIN number, your car is a '61 MKI Midget. It would not have come with disk brakes or wire wheels, but the conversion is easily done (all bolt on) from a later model. If you want to find out more about the car, get Terry Horler's book, Original Sprite and Midget. It's now out of print buy can be found used. For picture, here is a '62 I restored last year. Not strictly original though. http://www.gerardsgarage.com/GarageContent/62midget.htm Gerard "gerardchateau" 7740... MORE
Hi, I'm new to this list. I recently bought a Midget restoration project. Its history is unknown but as far as I can read the car number is GAN1L5175. I has no roll-up windows, but it does have wire wheels and disk brakes on the front. At first I thought the wire wheel/disk brake combo would make it a 1963 model, but does the GAN1 code agree with that? Where can I look for more info on that number? Is there a web-site or a book with exhaustive info like this? Also, I'm looking for pictures of early Midget... MORE
A A neat way to do this is to run a breather pipe from the rocker cover vent to a fabricated aluminium catch tank which can be fitted to the panel on top of the passenger footwell (you can get them from Demon Tweeks). You then run the K&N oil breather filter on the catch tank. If you use braided oil hose and aeroquip ends it looks dead good (although its not a cheap set up)... (You could always get the old man to flog the Aston). Running oil fumes into the induction system is not a good plan... MORE
Andrew, By blocking of the vents from the engine, you run the risk of pushing oil out your rear crank seal and anywhere else it can escape. A-series engines have a fair amount of bore flex and a worn engine will have a fair amout of blow-by. The vacuum from the manifold helps manage the situation. Buy some new hoses and a PCV valve and save yourself some aggravation. Gerard "gerardchateau" 7483... MORE
