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It is indeed a '74 1500 rubber bumper MG Midget! As I said one of the very first. Before cutting the sills it had on it off, it was interesting to note that it had two jacking points on one side, and only one on the other. However on removal it was revealed that there was little left of the rear end of the inner sills on either side, but more interestingly there was no sign whatsoever of the rear jacking points, as though it never actually had any!. However the rest of the shell is defiantly Normal 1500,... MORE
A '74 1500, Stewart? I did not know this! Was it a rubber bumper car? Or 1500 running gear in a '74 chrome bumper type machine? Wait a minute, here..."ntlworld"? You must be in UK, right? Chrome bumpers! One of the prototype Mk ll Sprites (not production) consisted of a Spridget front end and Frogeye rear end. In the picture I saw, it looked pretty good. Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 24212... MORE
Hi guys: I am still in the process of repairing my 1979 midget 1500.got my new carpet kit in and since I do not have any carpet in my car, could someone recommend a site for good, clear pictures of the interior of a later midget? I want to make sure I get the carpet pieces in correctly. If you did carpet kits, what did you use for adhesive? Did you also use snaps or just the adhesive? Parts car: I just bought a parts car its an early 70's or possibly late 60's (I have no title and... MORE
G'day Brad I am not aware of production oversize cam bearings. I guess you could go hunting other makes for something that would fit, but I doubt it would be productive. Find a machine shop with a lathe and a knurling tool, grip each of the bearings in turn in the lathe with the camshaft inside so that you don't crush the bearings, and lightly knurl the outside of the bearings. Then fit them with Locktite. Betcha they don't come loose. You might need to relieve the ID of the bearings once fitted, as the knurling will tend to... MORE
Hey!! I go down to a "shoot" in NYC, get back, do a little work on the carbs, get back home for some dinner and tune in on the list to find.....what the hell is going on?! :) But just to let you know...IMHO you have your priorities in order! :) If my cat attacks you or your kid, you definitely have my approval to kill the cat, obviously. And if you are starving and need to kill an animal to live, I'll load the gun for you. Dogs are great animals. I'd have a German Sheppard (and my... MORE
Well, Don May... I just had a fibreglass BE bonnet enter my life by coincidence. I just had my steel one overhauled in terms of new metal strips, etc. It's got cooling louvres (they work beautifully, BTW) and pretty soon will have a nice smooth finish between the grille and parking lights... no more "unsightly" horzontal seams!! :) Some guy refused a fibreglass one that just came in to S&C up the road from me so it became available. Might be a good time to convert over to save a little weight...give it a tilt front end treatment, etc.!... MORE
G'day Brad The valve stem diameters are the same. You can squeeze 1275cc valves into a 1098cc head (12G295) if you want to, but you will need to open the combustion chamber up quite a bit to allow gas flow around the valve, or you are defeating the purpose. Really no great advantage. 1275cc head will fit on 1098cc block, but if you have a high lift cam, and/or 1.5:1 rockers, the exhaust valves will hit the top of the block face. You will need to machine a crescent out of the block, up to .100" deep (I just... MORE
with regards to understeer, this may be of interest, I swapped the front springs on my 1500 for 400lb 8 1/4" springs with poly bushes all round and a 3/4" ARB with nylatron bushes (i have a freeling the old ARB was 9/16ths) its a '75 UK car btw. Now, this tightend the front end up no end and felt great, however, ther rear still had the standards springs and was lowered 1" on blocks. After these mods it had a tendency to snap oversteer mid corner (after initially understeering) , I was going to play with the tyre... MORE
The overdrive is a seperate unit on the rear of the gearbox so in theory could work on all 4 gears, but there is no point in having an overdrive first is there ;-) !! There is a lock-out to prevent it selecting overdrive when in first or second. The "snatch" on the ratio change would be too great at the lower ratios and probably end up in stripping something. Guy "Guy Weller" 24084... MORE
"Spridgfire Over-Drive" Thanx, Guy... I understand. Very nice to have. My older brother had a '52 Merc. with O/D on second and third (top). It was a mechanically controlled unit. He used to street race like most kids did back in their high school days and he used this to advantage. Unit wasn't made for this at all but he never had a problem with it. Very tough! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 24086... MORE
I need the top bar that secures the intake and exhaust mechnisim together. Thank You. I will post a picture of my engine later. "ooohaynow1" 24081... MORE
I know a lot of you saw this on other lists today, but some how i forgot this list.. FOR SALE 1979 Midget Great shape! 79' Midget with just over 20,000 original miles, this car was always garaged and it shows. The Previous owner kept this car at her Cabin in Michigan for her weekend jaunts to the golf course. No fooling little old lady only drove on weekends LOL This car has a weber carburetor conversion (Im told it's a $500.00 upgrade) Cd stereo system that I paid around $300 for I have new front floor mats that... MORE
David, Guy is correct about the spacers (except it would read better if you fit the spacers before tightening the rack mounting bolts!) What you don't mention is whether you replaced the levers (the arms that connect the trackrod end to the stub axle) with the older type as well as the rack. They should match together with the equivalent rack. This might have altered your steering geometry - the Ackerman angles/toe-in on turns but I don't know if this would affect the self-centring effect. Regards David "David Jacobs" 24075... MORE
Well, Nigel... Your searching for something here but it's not about the 1500 or a correct way to modify or sort the handling on a car. With respect to the 1500, It's mostly all add-on stuff to the original type so the mfgs. could extend the life of the type while meeting later day safety standards. As such, all "earlier" prior specs and parts are available so it's not as though one is dealing with a new type. So, none of this is really rocket science as I am sure you know, though some bending here and there may... MORE
Good, Guy Weller! You're "the man", then! Rob sure will know where to go for the right answers in this respect, for sure then, should he have further questions. Before Rob mentioned it, I didn't even know Spitfires came with an overdrive transmission to begin with! :) This a single overdrive or is it like others in that it is effective on the top three gears? Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 24076... MORE
Cap'n They don't weigh 100lbs each. I'm afraid that was me muddying the waters a little, and being a little lazy. What I should have said in my post and made it clearer, was that the addition of the energy absorbing bumpers AND the bodywork modifications, as I detailed in a previous post added about 200lbs to the weight of the car. I would assume that the bumpers contribute significantly to this weight, but the additional 200 lbs is not soley the bumpers. Also, the 1500cc engine is heavier than the previous 1275cc engine, so that means the front... MORE
Brad... Those sleeves are machined to a press fit, just like press fit piston wrist pins. So I don't think they should be movin' before the pistons do, as in your case, but I'll let Gerard, Frank and the more experienced and "current" engine guys speak for me..they know a lot more about it "hands-on-wise" than I do. The only disadvantage of a "sleeved" block as far as I know is in the area of heat transfer, wherein the sleeved application is at a disadvantage in this respect. The CC blocks are of the stronger variety (as you already... MORE
Pilot Bob, I can testify from direct experience, those rubber bumpers weigh a ton! They can't have done the car any favors for handling or performance especially with the ride height raised an inch. My car in addition to losing the bumpers is running 1275 front springs with an unaltered rear. Haven't pushed it much yet but I imagine the front/rear height differential will be a problem. I'm also running 165/70 x 13 tires on 5.5 inch rims. The 1500 does vibrate a bit as the revs climb but a bag of nails? The roughest range is 3000 to... MORE
Dave C. The 7/8" bar was actually an upgrade as Guy Weller replaced the thinner stock bar which his 1500 came with from the factory (5/8"?).....I had simply misunderstood a post of his mentioning a 7/8" bar. This came from last week's discussion which originated with a lister asking whether it was worthwhile converting a 1500 rubber-bumpered car back to chrome bumpers, attendant handling issues of same, etc. I had no idea these rubber bumpers weighed in at about 100lbs EACH? Their protective qualities notwithstanding that's quite a bit of weight to carry around for a car with relatively... MORE
David, my understanding of the spacers on the steering rack are that they are there to help alignment withthe steering column. Column and rack need to be pretty accurately at 90 degrees to each other or the steering column wants to describe an arc as you turn the wheel. The rack should be fitted with loosened bolts first so that it can rotate around its own long axis in its alignment to the chassis. Then fit the steering column. Spin the steeering wheel a few times lock to lock to lign it all up and then tighten the rack,... MORE
I have owned both. The 1500 was more torquey but rattled like a bag of nails when the revs climbed. It had a 7/8" front bar that controlled excessive oversteer and could be driven through corners quite nicely so long as you didn't loose nerve and lift off. I drove with and without the bumbers and the only noticable difference was it felt more "lively" with them off. It was definately faster. The 1275 is without a doubt the nicer engine. When the revs climb it roars through the K & N and howls at over 5000 throgh the... MORE
Wow, Guy! The 1500 came stock with a 7/8's front bar. Nigel really did predict it right, then...more right than I even gave him credit for! :) Then again, you'd be taking a similiar amount of weight off both ends by removal of the "5mph bumpers", of course. Still, the 7/8's front bar as stock tells the tale with respect to the factory production 1500's tendency to oversteer....or did the factory simply want to make the later car's more "stable" as many think the "understeering" car is more "safe" for the average driver in view of the emphasis of... MORE
David... The swipe of a cat's paw is sufficient to open up your tonneau cover? Really? Dave, with all due respect my friend, get yourself an "el cheapo" Tyvek lightweight cover and your problem is solved...really, end of story. Keeps sap and bird droppings off the paint as well and can be hosed off in a heartbeat. Saves the top, tonneau, plastic windows from the sun, etc. Thing can be rolled up into a small ball and thrown in the trunk easy. Carry mine around all the time. Put it on, take it off in a heartbeat. And.....kill your... MORE
Neil Well first off the bumpers weigh approximately 200lbs, the rear springs were recambered to bring the ride height up to 1 inch to bring it up to the correct height for the bumpers as a result of this - roll stiffness at the back end has been reduced and there is more tendency to oversteer. Couple this to the fact that the throttle on the 1500 is a lot more sensitive than before, add in the extra power of the 1500 engine, take the bumpers off making it a lot lighter, push that car hard into a corner... MORE
Things at work have finally settled down from the past few months. We have gotten a second weekend off in a row, and I was able to get the mechanic from the truck shop to come over to my house this a.m. at 8:30. Some of you know, the 68 Sprite locked itself into first gear a while ago. It also had the original engine it rolled out of the factory with still in it, all smoking and original. If I am to repair the tranny, I will replace the engine, if only temporarily, to fix the original one.... MORE
