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We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes; but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes. One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese, yet the plural of moose should never be meese. You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice; yet the plural of house is houses, not hice. If the plural of man is always men, why shouldn't the plural of pan be pen? If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet, and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet? If... MORE

G'day Jim Thanks for the update. Now it becomes clear to me. It must be the fact that we are Down Under and you are Up Over. You ask the purpose of the elephant's trunk. Well of course, it's to breath, or inhale. Well just under the rear end of the Sprite or Midget, (call it trunk or boot as you will) we have a pipe, a round hole anywhere between 1.25" and 2.5". Down Under, it is to breath out of. Clearly, Up Over it is to breath in through - hence the reference "trunk" - to breath... MORE

Hi All, Some of you may have seen or remember the Ginetta that my friend Chuck has built over the last couple years. It is a G35 and only one of two I know about. This car is also on the official Ginnetta (UK) web site as " a V8 Ginetta in the USA". This car has extensive modifications that tremendously improve the design of the car and can easily state not only has the car a one of a kind (most are built with 4 cylinder Ford Pinto engines), but the quality of everything is top notch. Much... MORE

G'day all Just to show we are completely bi-partisan Down Under - we call it a firewall. But the hood is still the soft bit that covers the occupants, the bonnet covers the engine, and the boot is where you put the luggage. How can a trunk, which is at the front of an elephant, be at the back of a car? avagoodday Colin "Colin@SpriteParts" 30256... MORE

A "clip" is a common term in auto salvage yards...breakers to the Brits, and wreckin' yards in Texas. A front clip would be the front fenders, hood, (wings, bonnet) and grille bumpers, lights etc, to replace a whole front end damaged in an accident. A rear clip would be the rear fenders, deck lid (wings, boot) and connecting bits with the bumpers and lights to fix a vehicle that had been rear ended. A bugeye clip would be added to a spridget that had been prepared by sling off the appropriate parts and welding or in the case of... MORE

Try running a Lotus Elite (the real one, 1200 FWE), multiply the problems of a spridget by about 2000 and your are still only halfway there!. regular piston meltdowns, Headgasket failure, an electrical system that is the worlds only true 'random event' generator.. err the list is endless, but for about 5 mins every decade it all works, this is not a good thing as it only does it to taunt you and force you into spending even more money.. who says cars don't have souls.. pity most of them are evil! Mind you at least the elite does... MORE

Don I only do it out of sheer laziness! Everyone knows who I am! Indeed, I'm a bit like you, I think everyone is to a certain extent, certainly when it comes to your own money. However, I know why this happens and so do you if you think about it, I've seen the same thing happen over here time and time again, and yes it's annoying. But its symptomatic of the society we live in, labour costs here, I'm sure like those in the US are astronomical - what are good mechanics making over there now - 50... MORE

Hi folks, I just joined this list. I have two Midgets, a '76 and a '70. The '76 is my daily driver. The '70 is not running; I bought it from a guy cheap, he said the engine was frozen. The back plastic window is cracked on my '76 although the rest of the top is in good shape. Is there any way to repair or replace this window without having to replace the entire top? Thanks, Evan "eaje91" 30227... MORE

Robbie, I think the start point is to loosen the little pinch bolts on the throttle and the choke connecting rods, so that the two carbs can move independently. Then check that the piston in each will lift and drop back down again cleanly, without catching or sticking. If not, then loosening and re-tightening the two screws that hold the piston chamber on may help to centre it. More likely you will need to centre the jets. There is a special tool but it realy isnt necessary. Just loosen the larger (upper) nut on the jet by a half... MORE

G'day TJ Remove the float bowl lids and, with a compressed air gun, blow the sludge out of the sump at the bottom of the bowls. Remove the carby dashpost and blow air into the bottom of the float bowl to ensure the fuel supply jet to the carby is clear. We had a car in the shop recently with a similar problem - idled fine but wouldn't go up a hill. Plenty of fuel in the float bowl, but the fuel supply jet was 90% blocked and nothing was getting to the carby. And if the car has... MORE

Well I have too admit after much soul searching and observation I do like the new midget I bought. I am eating alittle bit of pride here when I say that it is better built than my beloved X -19. There Its out and I can move on now! I have since sold the X and I am concentrating on the MG only. What an amazing car. Alot of fun to work on and drive. Am I just lucky? my Mg has alomost no rust drives well and seems to need little work, all of the electrical functions but... MORE

Rob C. "Stickyness" IS usually the sign of a jet (or slightly bent needle) not exactly centered. SU makes a "Tuning Tool Set" ($15?) which has a jet centering tool which will line this little critter up perfectly. If this doesn't free things up, most likely a slightly bent needle, then. It is important to keep the same suction valve with the same suction chamber. I am told these are "matched" at the factory. There should be no sticking between valve and chamber when these parts are clean of all varnish/fuel deposit which may have accumulated over use/time. Cap'n.... MORE

Hoods, bonnets and boots. I'll never get used to the fact that they use funny names for stuff on the other side of the pond. Jim- Your post earlier got me wondering. I called my mom (home ec teacher for years) for some ideas. So, at lunch, I went down to the local JoAnn fabrics, and sure enough, they sold automotive headliner by the yard (in about 6 different colors as well) for about $7 per yard. On the roll above it, they had an insulation ($4 yd) that looked as if it would work well sandwiched between the... MORE

I have 2 main mechanical issues I will need to fix before doing any real driving. (I have many other non-mechanical issues, some even just mental). 1. Brake pedal needs "pumped" to build up pressure. Once I pump it a few times I can hold it down and it stays firmly (doesn't go all the way to the floor no matter how hard I push). Before I pump it, it goes all the way to the floor. When I let off the brakes, and drive for a bit, I need to go through the whole process again. I don't... MORE

Downloaded in PHOTOS section 2004 resto ALBUM The black & white Midget& Sprite club stand 150 bhp from an 1100cc engine, 0-60mph in 4 secs. Bree or Chris in an MG 2 race cars one rally RB car Innocenti midget "apjones72mg" 30024... MORE

hey unfortunately a relocation out of the country is frocing me to sell my 75 midget. the car is in good body shape with one small dent behind the license plate and a small tear around the jack hole on the drivers side. i have the title. the engine is all there but we took it apart and it needs lots of work. i was going to get another engine and put it in there but lack of time does not permit. the interior is there but its dirty and the head rests have no vinly on them. this... MORE

Alan, I would tend to agree. The list posts everyday are mind-boggling! It's been a typical Midwestern winter and my car is in winter storage for the first time since I've owned it so I haven't been able to go out and putter on it. I've spent my time annoying people with emails. I hope to get the little beast home in a few weeks and start pulling the engine for my clutch job and other things. That should bring back some measure of sanity. Rob C Webfoot Leisure.com rob@... 630-841-6077 robbiesg@... 29961... MORE

Jim Don't really know what you mean by notches?? but the hollow part of each piston should face out, ie. against the back of the pads. I just retighten about the same as it took to get them loose. I can't remember but pretty snug. You should replace the small fluid seals when doing this. I hope this is of some help. Mike mk2sprite@... 29941... MORE

I am fitting new seels to my dual master cylinder and are wondering which way the end bit in the clutch cylinder goes. At the very far end of the return spring is a metal cup and inside this cup there should go a smaller rubber cup (shaped as a cup). The one i took out had turned around on its side thats why i am wondering which way to fit the new one. Is the bottom of the cup facing forward (ie towards the firewall) or backward, it looks like it will fit either way. Jens Jens P.... MORE

Hi Dan, Sounds like you are making good progress on car. My 62 Sprite is also in multiple pieces and is an ongoing project. Haven't got to the engine yet this time but I have completely rebuilt it many years back. All of the hardware was standard American threads except my SU's that have Whitworth. I am curious as to what you were referring to when you said "I did the rear main modification to it (the one using JB Weld)." That's a new one to me. My current activity is sorting hardware as I just bought replacements nuts... MORE

Duncan I've just finished renovating my hood frame. I decided not to strip it back to bare metal like most of the other parts I've done, but to just give it a thorough rub down and coat of primer. The joint areas were the biggest pita, with paint not adhering correctly, but I fixed that with rubbing them all down again and spot priming them with etch primer. Then finished it with 3 coats of gloss black - looks pretty good now. I then spot riveted back the upper hood material 'stays' and the inner 'pop studs' - looks... MORE

The 3.7 diff was used in the later 1500 and in the riley 1.5 and wosley 1500, and AFIK not a fragile unit at all, well your 1500 engine is more likely to break than the diff, given its liking for throwing rods in standard form. One thing to note though is your speedometer will need recalibrating as it will read slow. Stewart "Ford Prefect" 29875... MORE

Nigel, I hadn't noticed there was one... but if you are interested maybe we could share the cost of a container. Or perhaps you ought to finish that 1275 of yours first? ;-) Guy "Guy Weller" 29886... MORE

Hi, My gas pedal often sticks (does not return all the way back). I can usually fix it by tapping it a bit but sometimes I have to quickly hook it with my shoe to get the revs back down to idle speed. I have determined that this problem is caused by corrosion on the floor hinge rather than a problem with the throttle springs, cable or the bent rod between the cable and the pedal. I have improved the pedal's action somewhat by applying oil and wd40 to the hinge and by excersizing the pedal to try and... MORE

Hi, The diff on my 1500 needs replacing and I've the option of a 3.7 (recon) if i want it, i've heard this is a weaker diff, is this true? THe engine is stage 1 an the moment but im slowly aquiring bits to take it further. As I'm seriously thinking of a 5 speed conversion later this year (most likely autumn) maybe it isnt that important. I know the later 1500's came form the factory (so i'm told anyway with a 3.7) but is the difference noticable, both in reduced revs at cruising speed and the slight loss... MORE