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Ken I'm not familiar with "Heritage." Can you pass along info on how to contact them? Nelson Wittstock '62 Sprite under reconstruction "Nelson Wittstock" 13611... MORE
re carpet etc. can't say about a mkiii but just had a complete set done by heritage in canada for my '60 BE. twasn't cheap by a long shot, but the quality is outstanding. they give you several options as to what you have made, wool, acrylic, etc, and they have all the patterns down pat. mine slipped right in. very good service too. ken horner '60 BE "pblock4x4" 13610... MORE
It's not always where you expect. Having an erratic running problem I had checked points, timing, the carbs, all without success. Got the engine running fairly well but still not great. The engine seemed to be erratically cutting out, very briefly, not enough to die just enough to act like the timing, points adjustment, or the carb adjustments might be off. Turned the engine off, went inside, came back out to go on a road test, and the engine would not start. Because I had just adjusted the points I checked to see if perhaps I had not tightened... MORE
Brett, A couple of things from my experiences with my 76. First you say there is very little fluid movement when the pedal is pushed. Did you rebuild the master? and could you have put a seal in backwards? The little fluid flow indication is what I experienced when I put a seal in backwards on my brake master. With the seal in backwards, it did push any fluid, but it sure sucked. To bleed my clutch, I remove the slave from the bell housing, insert an old rod into the slave, open the bleed screw and push the... MORE
I'm guilty here. I've done about 110 - 120 thousand miles in my mk2 Sprite and have never changed the drums. Goodness only knows how many miles they had done before I got the car, they may well be the originals and I think the car had been round the clock when I got it. Yet every time I put a new set of shoes on I curse the fact that I have to screw the adjuster half way in. When I get a job again my first pay packet will be drums and a long overdue diff rebuild.... MORE
My slave looks like it has the longer style piston. The frustrating thing is not being able to isolate the problem to either Air, Slave function, OR Master cylinder function. I figure it is cheaper (and easier) to rebuild the cyliders and bleed like crazy... to make sure that it is not a hydraulic problem... before I pull the engine again to look for a mechanical problem. Thanks, Brett "Brett LaCroix" 13568... MORE
I have rebuilt and replaced a few slave cylinders on bugeyes. I have noticed a difference in the length of the piston within the slave cylinder. The short pistons work fine while the longer ones do not. As far as bleeding the slave, all I do is drive the car up ramps, fill the M/C, cap off, open bleeder on slave slightly until I can see a drip of fluid, let it drip for about 30 min, keeping M/C full, close bleeder, put cap on M/C and it WORKS. jerriemarc@... 13564... MORE
Mike, I went through this a few weeks ago, and couldn't find a key anywhere so made one - it was quicker to make it than continue searching. I think these plugs are some archaic British pipe standard. Assuming your plug square recesses are not stretched or tapered ( they should be perfectly square and not "dovetailed"), you can make a key from any 1/2" square drive tool - e.g. short extension bar. Needs to be made from good hard steel, not mild steel. Dimensions: 0.445 to 0.450" square by 0.350" deep. If you make from 1/2" extension bar... MORE
Nelson, Thanks for the information. I wish you the best of luck with your restoration. Thanks again, Chas Boodro 59 Bugeye RE: Subject: Re: Disk brake rebuild kit Chas, I picked up the set from Eric Jones of Riverside Motors in Delaware, Ohio. His phone is 740-363-2203. I paid $550 for them ready to install including even the hoses. I know he has a set ready for wire wheels but I don't know if he has any others for solid wheels which is I bought. Give him a call and find out. My only wish at this time is... MORE
I have been looking for parking/storage space to relieve soem of my garage congestion. I have just heard from a guy who is putting a cooperative together in a 20,000 sq.ft. facility in South San Francisco. 24-7 access/security guard and a common work area will be included. He's looking for vintage car/race or vintage race people to occupy the space. If this interests you or if you know of something else interesting, please contact me offlist. pixelsmith@... Thanks. Gerard 13498... MORE
Nelson, Could you be kind enough to tell me where you got the rebuilt front disk brake conversion kit and what you paid. I agree that if one can get it all rebuilt and complete a better job is done with far less frustration. Thanks, Chas Boodro 59 Bugeye boodrochas@... 13479... MORE
"So, if they need a rebuilt, who would you recommend"??? (BG) Ghostbusters? (:)-< (heh,heh, heh!! Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 13470... MORE
When toothpicks and cotton swabs are not enough, or you wish to save a bit of energy, here is a good restoration tool . . . your electric tooth brush. A lot of my restoration work has been with antique radios but much applies to auto detail. A Sonicare or Braun Oral B tooth brush are great tools for fine crevice dirt removal. For those with spouses I do suggest not using their heads and clean the handle of grease stains before sneaking it back into the bathroom. I don't suggest using your own either . . . there... MORE
Thanks to all of you who responded to my query about the drum to disc conversion. After weighing all the input I decided to go with a ready to install rebuilt setup. I took the recommendation of Peter C. on a rebuilder and yesterday I drove a couple of hours down the road and brought them home all ready to bolt into place without having to scrounge up used pieces or visit a machine shop. Today I had the difficult task of trying to gain access to the car to be able to do any work on it. After... MORE
Here's a probable cost estimate, assuming you rebuild almost everything: Used parts from a disc brake car $150 King pin kits 60 Caliper kits 15 Wheel brg kits 50 Hoses 30 Rotors 40 Pads 20 Shims, cotter pins, new bolts, etc 30 Machine shop fitting king pin bushes 40 Total $435 "tloutrec" 13436... MORE
"Ready to install rebuilt set-up" smart move!! Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 13446... MORE
I'm running an SU HIF44 which is basically the metric version of the 1.75 (1.75" = 44mm) with an integral float chamber. It's on a titan manifold which comes ported for a 1.5 but has enough meat to grind out to 1.75. The carb came off a Metro and is running it's original spring, not sure what colour this is, it has a bit of a yellow tint but that could just be years of muck, standard Metro spring is actually a red! Needle is a BCV with a slight flat filed for all but the last half inch,... MORE
I am about at the end of my rope with my clutch problem. I just put in a rebuilt master cylinder... inspected my recently rebuilt slave cylider... bled... bled... and rebled my line... The clutch still will not release. Is there something that can be jamming the release bearing so it is not sliding forward? Is there anything you can do, when the slave cylider is off? How much force should be needed to disengauge the clutch? Is there a way to test it from below the car? This is a MAJOR disappointment. Everything else about my car is... MORE
Thanks, Jeremy. There IS a yellow spring (so that's valid) and you are running a modified BCV on a modified Titan. I'll "save" this message for reference when I get going on this upon hearing from APT. I assume you previously ran the motor with the twin 1.25 set-up, Jeremy, then converted over to the single 1.75? If so, what sort of difference in torque and response did you note? My new 1293 is a Cooper "S" tune, having the cam, allum. head, distributor, etc., do I am interested in your observations. Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 13426... MORE
Stanley- I can't speak for the Morriservice kit but the early Rivergate kits did involve some cutting and fettling, however..... These kits get better over time. Rivergate has made improvements galore over time (as they ennumerate on their website) and I am sure Paul has done the same with the Morriservice kit, as well. All are aimed at making the transition just as easy and painless as possible. There is very little these days that has to be done to install these kits. They are pretty much bulletproof, though there will always be a little "fettling" to be done... MORE
Yo, Jeremy!! I am about to go over to a single carb. set-up on my new 1293 engine. Whether it will be a 1.5 or 1.75 remains to be seen...as soon as I hear from Dave or Jack at APT, I'll know more. Meanwhile, if you get the chance and it is no imposition, would like to know the single carb you are running on your's and the needle profile and color spring you are using. TIA! Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 13416... MORE
I was able to get some custom business cards from Gerard Chateauvieux. I have my standard card format laid on top of a photo of a Bugeye (the one on his website for the luggage tags). It looks great, and adds a little bit of me to an otherwise boring card. It is not overtly noticeable, but it is there and I have gotten nothing but compliments on them. It is my hope that with this on my card, when the sales reps are out driving around, if they see a Spridget here and there, they will think of... MORE
To clarify my original post, I was looking for a "vintage" center lock of some sort. I'm aware of the VB solution, also aware of the added weight. (I'm looking for a street car application, not one of my race cars.) I've never seen a vintage spline drive for sale anywhere... just wondering of anyone else has. WST "Wm. Severin Thompson" 13397... MORE
Ian, Yes that was my 1275 engined Mini that I used for rallies and autotests. However the rust got to it and I eventually sold it to someone who broke it up. There's a picture of the Mini autotesting at www.blackpalfrey.co.uk Also on that site are pictures of another Arkley that a friend ran in sprints and autotests back in the 1980s, and there's a Sprite Mk II that I had in the 1970s.. Andy '65 Arkley "Andrew Gibson" 13350... MORE
Hi again Andy. Great history of your GT. One more question. Is that your Mini in the background of the GT pics? It is shown at the beginning and end of the restoration. Ian "Ian & Cathy" 13344... MORE
