MAIN
Drive Train
Previous Page | Next Page
This happened to me at a junction,in such a rush to get going, behind the usual dope in a Rover, that I stalled and like you ended up with a jammed starter.Solution : stick it in first gear, jump out and then try to rock the car forward and backward, after a couple of decent shoves loud 'click' and I was back in business, still caught him up (Rover ) and lost him.(doing the legal limit of course), and by the way this was on an upward slope as well, will help if you can take your handbrake off... MORE
Can you push the car up the drive as well as down? Release the pressure between the starter and flywheel usually frees them up. If you can't, brakes on and keep the clutch pressed down (release the pressure imparted from the drive train) and smack the starter motor with a medium sized hammer. To further that method you could take the spark plugs out to relieve pressure from the engine as well (but I've never had to do that - a smack from the universal thumb squasher usually allows them to separate -) ). If you look through previous... MORE
Bob Thanks for the kind words. Car back in 1986 was around =A35000 fully built. In 2000 the last cars, Type Approved, K Series sold for =A318000. So what's it worth today ? Hard to tell, on average more than a steel frog. Very few of the original 150 odd made ever come up for sale. One of the ear ly 1275's was advertised recently for =A37500. The later cars change hands for =A312000- 15000 ! They tend to be purchased by people who want a Geoffrey Healey Original, it s a broad church. Airline pilots (hello Capt. Bob),... MORE
Doug (and all), Watch out going above 6000 rpm. My engine was built by a reputable (race) engine builder, included fully balanced bottom end (inc clutch), and he only took the motor up to 6250odd once it was run in. I seem to remember he recommended a 6000 limit. Having said all that, I know I have over-revved it a few times when having a good blat (inc missed gears, over-euthusiastic overtaking etc). This includes seeing the needle well past the 7000 mark - I am pretty sure it hit the stop at the end of the scale. But... MORE
Hi, Mike: You are the first and only person I know who has one of these! I hear now, the Company is out of business(?) or is it simply up for sale(?). Would you mind telling me something of this "modern Frogeye" such as engine and driveline spec.? What sort of gearbox and rear axle ratio has it? And, of course, your subjective opinion and feeling as to what it is like to drive as compared to, let's say, a regular Frogeye with possibly a stock 1275 or something like that, provided, of course, you've had that sort of... MORE
Is the starter motor drawing excessive current because it is trying to turn a seized engine?? Not a nice scenario! See if you can turn the engine by hand using the front pulley or push the car in 4th gear, maybe remove the sparkplugs to make the job easier by removing the compression, put some oil in to reduce friction once it does move. If it won't move put some more oil down the bores and leave over night, then try again. The noise in the back is the electric fuel pump presuming you have a 1275 'A' series... MORE
Hi all, Near me in Nottingham (UK) is a Midget that not only has the Frog(bug)eye front end, but also has a bug(frog)eye back end grafted on. The present owner told me, after coming back to a confused stranger (me) peering under the back end of his car (looking for type of springs), that the work was done by a fireman in his spare time. From the brilliant seemless quality of the work I think he should have been a bodyshop man instead. Cheers, Phil '79 1500 nearly back on wheels & '71 1275 buried under assorted automotive 'treasures'... MORE
To Da Group and all, Reading all the messages about radios and tunes, I thought back to my problems with my Bugeye many years ago. I built a console out of Mahogany plywood over the tranny tunnel and up to the dash that included switches etc. I wanted to mount a stereo am-fm on the face of the console with speakers on the side. The big problem was, (ofcourse there is always a big problem), the car was a pos ground and all of the radios for sale were neg. ground units. I just insulated the radio from the... MORE
Hi, I'm new to this group. I'm preparing an Arkley Midget (originally was a 1965 MkII) for competition use - Autotests, Sprints and Historic Road Rallies. I've posted a couple of photos of the car, taken in June on the day I bought it - partly dismantled, with several boxes of removed bits. Can anyone offer advice on how to level a front cross member that's almost an inch higher on the left side than the right side? It appears to be left over from long ago front end accident damage that preceeded the Arkley conversion and I didn't... MORE
thanks Allen also That explains one other thing I saw today (maybe) heres an add that confused me more "FOR SALE AUSTIN-HEALEY: 1969 Bug Eye SPRITE, project car, roll-up windows with Bug Eye nose, Nissan running gear, fun little car, $3,500; we covet the rare and unusual, whether pedigreed or proletarian. Cosmopolitan Motors LLC, 206-467-6531, FAX: 206-467-6532, WA; sales@... " Was trying to figure out how they got a "69" bugeye Willy "Wm. Thompson" 4865... MORE
Just so that everyone who responded to my plea for help, I have to remove the entire hub assembly in order to replace the stud because the stud fits behind a recess in the hub. Do you need the special hub puller to get the thing off or will it come off like all of my other cars with a little tug? What is the deal with the inner bearings? I've never had anything good happen when I've had to take the inner bearings off, usually it turned into something really expensive. John Poynton 79 Midget Yellow Fever teachjp@...... MORE
Roadtest of rebuilt prop shaft seemed great at first. Then I tried some full throttle,and on lifting off I got loud clattering noises from underneath.Following previous logic is this diff.bearings breaking up? Any advice would be most welcome. Steve 72 midget "Steve Cowling" 4795... MORE
Dear all, For the technically minded among you I wonder if you can help with my current project? I have an extremely rotted 1968 1275 Spridget & a good bare 1500 shell which I'd like to transfer all the 1275 running gear & trim onto. What modifications need to be done to the 1500 shell in order to fit all the 1275 gear ? I have already changed the front wings / nose cone to chrome bumper & removed the reinforcing box sections from the front inner wings & boot floor. What is the easiest way to bring the... MORE
Rick, I still have the scabs on my hand from bleeding our clutch. Couldn't get pedal no matter what until I levered back the piston in the slave cylinder to empty it. Out came a heap of air. If starting from scratch now I would bleed the system before installing the slave cylinder - just connect the hose into the slave, tie something into the other end to keep the piston right back, pump the air out of the line with the pedal, close the system, install the slave cylinder. The pro's assured me Midget clutch bleeding was no... MORE
I'm hearing lots of advice to "just pop the new stud into the hole".. Apparently these gurus havent tried that with a rear stud. If its on the rear, you'll have to pull the hub. An unbroken stud is juuust a little too long to get between the hub and the brake backplate. My Sprite had a couple of short studs from an A30 in the rear- looks like the DPO was too lazy to pull the hub. Dont fit short studs. While the hub is off, here's a simple modification to make changing a stud easier in future;... MORE
Just pack the gears in the pump, not the pick-up pipe. If there other ways to fill the 'un-oiled areas' use them. Before you start ruinining in the engine at 2000rpm leave it to get warm for 5 mins first! Try contacting the maker of the cam and see what they say yourself. Don't forget to let them know it is going in a re-built engine, not just a replacement cam in an 'old/used' engine. Hope it helps Outcast A-H Sprite IV grday@... 4747... MORE
Bob, Took your advice and added the gear oil at the right side damper on the steering rack while squeezing the boot and it worked fine although it took some time to fill it. The oil got all the way across to the steering gear and the left ball joint. No leaks so far!! Thanks . CFickmour@... 4740... MORE
Outcast Good info this will really help. I think I will go with the starter and hope the pump works. I will prime the pump so I hope that works. As you sa y it may be tough to keep your foot out of it. I milled the head .080 put in a TSI275 cam and over bored it .020 so I need to run it in correctly and overcome the temptation to mash the loud pedal. It=92s also running a Webe r with headers. Doug 77 "Doug Pletcher" 4730... MORE
I am still very much a novice in trying to fix my LBC, a 79 Midget. Last night, while changing a tire, I broke a wheel stud. Where can I get one, Moss does not list them in their catalogue. What is involved in taking out the old one, it broke off even with the hub, and what is involved in putting a new one in? Like I said, I'm pretty new at this and so I'm afraid that I will screw it up and then have the expense of having the car towed to a repair shop. John... MORE
I've been reading through the messages (about halfway through.. Wow, that's a lot of messages in the archive!) trying to get some basic info. I just acquired a 1979 Midget for a VERY reasonable cheap amount. I know the previous owner, so the information I have on it is accurate. Here's the info, and here's the question: The original manifold and carb have been replaced with a Weber and I'm told that the performance was greatly increased. However, it was 'fudged' through the California smog check that last time it was registered (1989). My understanding is that it would... MORE
Bill, The switch to wire wheels is technically not that difficult. The correct wire wheel axle housing is slightly narrower than the steel wheel axle housing. Put another way, the steel wheel axle will be slightly too wide for the wire wheel axles. This, apparently, is not a big deal as long as you're just using the car on the street, not track. The splines of the axles have a little less area at the differential. In theory, this could lead to failure at the splined end of the axle, but list members have stated that they have had... MORE
Hi people, Driving in the lovely sunshine at the weekend, I returned to find my brake pedal dripping with brake fluid (I guess from the master cylinder above it). Question is: do I repair the existing master cylinder or should I go for new. Its a 1980 midget 1500. Cheers, Jim. jim.wyper@... 4602... MORE
Hi chaps, My ignorance here - is machining the drum a good idea? Seems like...err... a bit of a 'olde worlde' cheap repair (like re-lining brake shoes and skimming discs). If machined slightly oval wouldn't that make it hard to set the rear adjusters, and lead to long pedal travel? Just a thought - I accept I could have it completely wrong... :-) Cheers, Phil FilMidget@... 4577... MORE
Chris, Can you differentiate between a LOW brake pedal and a SOFT brake pedal or do you have both? They are two very different problems and require different answers. Do not want to sound alarmist but was one of the brake fluid colours red (mineral based) and the other straw yellow (glycol based)? If so - please flush the system yet again and replace ALL seals BEFORE further use, (including clutch if a common master cylinder reservoir) you will probably find that they have gone soft and have started swelling. If they have, they can (will) cause brake failure.... MORE
Good day,all, My car still has a really soft brake pedal. On advise from the list,I have flushed out all the dot5-and replaced it with dot4. That was done using one of those clever pressure bleed thingys-also the fluid is a different colour-so I know the "old" has been replaced with the new. My car does not have any adjustment at all with regard to the pedal position as far as I can see.My workshop manual shows adjustment at the brake light switch____-my switch is in the brake lines at the distribution block near the master cylinder. Other suggestions... MORE
