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Guy My god your garage is even narrower than mine! Mines about 8 foot 6 if I remember right. I was also 'given' some of those castors by a friend of mine, but sadly 4 of them are being used to wheel the engine around, and I can't do much with the other two. What our American friends over in the good old US of A don't seem to realise is that space here, unlike in the US is at an absolute premium and to even have a garage at all is a luxury, and only millionaries ever seem... MORE
Bob wrote " Funny you mention the TR-4, I see many more Bugeyes than TR-4s. Did they all rust out or something? Just never see one......." Faster, yes, BUT not so much fun to drive .... Not so good around corners .... not so 'chuckable' or so tuneable.... Engine not so 'bullet-proof' .... Oh, and it cost more. I'm sure others would disagree, but it certainly wasn't quite my style. R. Flame suit on :-) "Roger Stinson" 28287... MORE
Steve Woohoo! Many congrats. I don't think I am ahead of you Steve, I'm just finishing off the final primer coats on the passenger side wing ready for colour - that will be the last 'bit' on the car that needs to be colour coated. I still have both doors, bootlid and bonnet to colour coat as well. I don't know if you have this book or not - 'Restoring Sprites and Midgets - an Enthusiasts Guide' by Grahame Bristow (Brooklands Books) but it really is a very useful book in terms of reassembly. It's been written with the... MORE
Alan I remember that Bakers Soldering Fluid - wonderful stuff, it was kinda hard to get the solder to stick unless you used that Bakers stuff. I haven't seen it around for ages either sadly. N "amukdigiphoto" 28236... MORE
On my 74 the hard top mounts with the soft top still attached. There are two clamps on the top of the windshield (same the soft top uses) and a bracket on each side of the hard top bolts to a bracket behind the rear seat mounted at the same location as the soft top frame mounting bracket bolts. Don "Don May" 28244... MORE
when you turn on the ignition. tach, fuel pump, wipers, brake stop light, reversing lights, heater fan..... The fault must be on the "downstream" side of the fuse for it to blow, so it is likely to be one of those, or the wiring to them. Some of these are switchable: lights, wipers, fan etc so if they are switched off when the fuse blows then it may be one of the non- switched items although it could still be a damaged wire between fuse block and switch. Guy "Guy Weller" 28195... MORE
G'day Paul I'm not certain why you would want to fit tapered roller bearings. This has been raised quite a number of times in the past (perhaps before you were on the list) and see below for one of the more recent comments. avagoodday Colin We have had many discussions on the differences between the use of angular contact ball bearings, as used originally in Spridgets, and the use of any type of tapered roller bearing. Without launching into a complex and boring diatribe on the rights and wrongs of either type of bearing, the simple answer is that... MORE
Bloke at work has put one of frontline ones his rubber bumper midget. Very well made. You get a substantial welded plate bracket that goes where the old lever arm goes. Uses the three holes plus one other you have to drill. Telescopic goes on to top of new bracket and bottom goes to new bit held on by the anti roll bar fixings using longer bolts. He says wonderfull, positive steering and suspension. But then his lever arms were totally shot. He would have got an immediate improvement with good lever arms. Terry "terry.isherwood" 28162... MORE
At that time the pound was valued at $2.40. I bought my Sprite in England in January 1962 and still have the price lists for the Austin Healey line that Donald Healey Motors , Ltd. gave me at that time Nelson "Nelson Wittstock" 28161... MORE
Mark, I fitted the Frontline kit a year ago. It came with AVO adjustable rate (10 clicks) dampers. I am pleased with the end result, but the kit was not easy to fit. The upper end is fine, but on the bottom end, there were several iterations of grinding/filing/fitting to get the lower shock mountings to properly nest into the underside of the A-arms. It was a lot of detail work, with the risk of "screwing up" the A- arm, thus requiring a new one, or a repair to fix what wasn't broke in the first place. (I hate... MORE
can't be certain, but I suspect it should. The late ital 1275 engine (also an A+) will fit. I know the MG Metro turbo cyl head fits! Still looking for one of them to turbo my Mk1 Sprite with. (along withe the pistons, manifolds carb and complete ignition system.) anyone know of a rotten but running Metro turbo? Stewart "Ford Prefect" 28144... MORE
A buddy of mine, living in Germany during March of 1963, got the following quote from the Austin Motor Car Co., Ltd., Motor Export Corporation, Ltd. of Piccadilly, London on a new AH3000... A-H 3000 Sports Conv. L865.00.00 (Mono or DuoTone) Prod. Line fitted extras: Heater 15.10.00 Overdrive 50.00.00 Wire Wheels 25.00.00 Adj. Steering Col. 2.00.00 Tonneau 10.00.00 Knockoffs (ea. wheel) 1.06.00 Servo Ass't. Brakes 10.00.00 *Steering Lock 4.10.00 *Wing Mirror 1.11.04 * = Compulsory in Germany A hardtop is not currently available thru the Personal Exports Divison Anyone care to do the exchange rate math at "yesterday's" prices,... MORE
Turbo Metro Motor Daniel Stapleton over in England has one but of course, it's going into HIS Spridget ASAP!! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 28148... MORE
G'day guys A recent posting from Alex on the MidgetSprite list mentions that: "Most BEs don't have a front bumper, and I personally think it makes the car." Well, front bumper bars were optional extras on the Bugeye. So I guess if you take a restored Bugeye to a Concourse, and you have no front bumper bar, then we can't deduct points for "item missing". About 10 years ago, I was a Concourse judge at our National meeting, and there was a magnificently restored Bugeye, complete with front bumper bar, and a proudly framed Certificate from the British Motor... MORE
David, Thanks. It's the windshield/windscreen that I'm addressing, and not the side windows which are okay. I have the complete assembly off the car, and as you noted, I removed the two securing bolts located on each side up under the dash. What a pain they were to get at. The top moulding retaining screws were removed, providing access to the glass encased in the bottom and sides. The seal around the glass was pulled out, and the glass removed. The frame to body seal seems crimped in place on the bottom (in the groove), and is a real... MORE
Which glass are you talking about? It sounds like it's the windshield/windscreen, so you need to take the complete assembly off the car then dismantle it. The securing bolts/nuts are hidden away up behind the ends of the dashboard. I'm not exactly sure how this looks on a late US spec car as the dash is definitely different from my 1974 UK car but the 'screen itself is the same. Don't foget the plate at the bottom of the centre rod, either. Once you've got the 'screen assembly off, you can remove the frame to body seal and you'll... MORE
Hi Colin- 1/2" travel at slave? Is this true of an early 70's 1275 model as well? Would like to make sure mine is "up to spec". Thanks much.....Paul "dfwip" 28044... MORE
Good lord this is a cold natured 8itchy car until she gets warm. I was finally able to take her to the mechanic today for the cracked slave cylinder boot. It's 30 degrees in Memphis, TN which doesn't make me happy because she has no top on. I bundle up, go out and crank her up. I'm sure she was cussing me because every once in a while I could almost understand a few words coming out of the engine compartment and certainly a few from the exhaust. I forgive her considering how cold it is and that I'd... MORE
OK Gingerino...here we go.... The amount of choke (in terms of manual cable/jet travel) that is required to... 1. get the engine to "fire" to begin with 2. allow it to continue running smoothly (decreasing amount) as it warms up to normal operating temperature. Fr'instance: On 40-45F+ mornings, no choke is really needed at all. A couple of turns of the motor with the starter button is all it takes. We let the oil pressure come up and fast idle it for a minute or so (1200-1500rpm) using our right foot, then drive it gently 'til it comes up... MORE
So has anyone heard of an MK Powered auto battery. They are a non-spillable lead acid gel battery, made in Anaheim, CA. These don't even have the purchase date and month popped out on them!! They have the top posts, with a hole through it for a bolt on connection, and round enough for a clamp as well. The dimensions are 9" wide x 5.5" deep x 8" tall. I have no idea what the cold cranking amps are, but they sure do spin up a Sprite engine well. And for $10 each, new, I HAD to buy two.... MORE
David Having an Old Holborn moment there The engine has 2 crankshafts rotating in opposite directions. Crankshft gears are in mesh - the idler drove the camshaft. The square four overhead cam engine was made in the mid-30's but overhead valve models were made from '53 to '59. The manufacturers described it as "Whispering Wildfire". Alan "Alan" 27997... MORE
Thinking about engine geometry and your final comment prompts a question about Ariel Square Four engines - how was that crankshaft and rods arranged for two pairs of cylinders side by side? David "David Jacobs" 27995... MORE
An interesting discussion . Thanks for your input guys, I guess a lot of people were also under the impression that the Up movement counteracted the Down movement in terms of volumetric displacement. To sum it up then, 1) thethe crankcase does breathe a little.2 ) Most of its pressure is caused by blowpast the piston rings. 3) If required the original (GWO) charcoal cannister should be used.4) alternatively a pipe can be fed to a ventilated container and regularly emptied. I like this as I don't believe that an engine enjoys eating it's own smoke !!! Alan Ariel... MORE
OK Geri, NOW I understand. With the engine at 1/2 stroke, and the crank journals at 90 degrees to the vertical, the con rod is at an angle, and the piston has therefore moved more than 1/2 way down the bore. Yep, I got that! Similarly, the one on its way up will have moved lesss than 1/2 way, so the two together will have pressurised the sump. If you were to draw a verical line from the piston centre down through the axis of the crank shaft and a second horozontal line at 90 degrees to this through... MORE
Hi, Guy and David, There are varying degrees of symmetry and our engines are not symmetrical vertically. I also no mathematician, but I am an engineer! The simplest way I can describe it is to say that:- when the crank is at 90 degrees from TDC, the pistons are not half way down the bore! At this point in a 1275 motor the piston is at 57% of its stroke. Hence when the crank is in this position all 4 pistons are at 57% stroke. Compare this when the crank is at TDC or BDC, you will have 0%... MORE
