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August 12, 2003
Adam
This really isn't an easy question to answer, which is why I suspect you
haven't had many replies!
I read this last night and I've been pondering it ever since!
The first thing I think you need to do, is really decide what it is you wan
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t, and
what your priorities are because many of your requirements seem to conflict
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with each other.
To be honest, I think you need to forget about Frogeyes, they just are not
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within your budget of =A33,000, you can get Frogeyes for that money, but yo
u'=3D=0D
re
going to need to do a lot of work/restoration to get them driveable and th
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at
would go well beyond what your budget is, which is pretty small as it is.
The other thing I'd throw in (going to incur the wrath of many people here
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I
think) is that in my opinon (all of this needs to be caveated with 'it's my
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opinion') Frogeyes are not really 'daily drivers'.
So what have we got, we've got =A33,000, requirements for a daily driver,
possible sprint/hill climb, got to be usable daily from purchase, don't lik
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e the
look of later type Spridgets.
To be honest, I think whatever you do, you're going to need more than =A33,
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0,
but its possible you may be able to 'add' to your car as more money becomes
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available and improve it for sprint use.
If I were in your shoes, this is what I would do - go one of two ways.
I'd start looking around for an Austin Healey Sprite Mk II or III, or a MG
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Midget
MKI or II both with the 1098cc engine. You can pick up sound useable
examples of these for under =A33,000 but you need to look carefully.
I'd change the front end to something like the fibreglass Lenham front end,
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one currently on auction on ebay.co.uk -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&item=3D2427381219&category=3D27380
And also look around for a genuine Austin Healey works hard top. This is pa
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rt
of the reason to go for the MkII III Sprites or I, II Midgets rather than t
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he MkIV
Sprite, MkIII Midgets as this hard top would not fit those later cars due t
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o the
longer cockpit area to fit the folding hood.
The 1098cc engined car is very tuneable, and you can certinaly squeeze more
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power from it, remember, this is the engine the works cars used in the 60's
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.
I think with the lighter Lenham (or Ashley, Sprinzel) front end with the wo
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rks
hardtop would make this a very distinctive car indeed and in my mind easily
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as pretty as the Frogeye, possibly more so. You could go the whole hog and
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paint it racing green with a white hard top, wire wheels or minilites - wou
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ld
make it look a very 60's works car.
With the addition of the Hard Top, this would be an easy daily driver, and
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benefit from a bit more oomph from the 1098 over the smaller engine the
Frogeye uses.
There are lots of options to think about in terms of fitting fibreglass pan
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els,
there's also the Le Mans panels as well. Try and get hold of a copy of Geof
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frey
Healey's book - 'More Healeys, Frogeye Sprites and Midgets' which will sho
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w
you a lot more 'works' cars as well as some of the history behind them.
I think the other option, if you don't fancy going this route would be to l
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ook at
Mini's, you won't get a genuine Cooper, you may get a Cooper replica for th
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at
money, but I can't advise on Mini's I just don't know enough about them.
Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
Nigel
"amukdigiphoto" < amukdigiphoto@... > 24341
Posted on August 12, 2003 11:25 AM
Posted to category(s) Body | Braking System | Drive Train | Electrical System | Engine (external) | Engine (internal) | Exterior | Interior | International | Miscellaneous | Racing | Restoration | Suspension & Steering | Technical Info | Tuning | US States | Wheels
