MAIN
Gauges
Previous Page | Next Page
Paul.... "Thin flange" refers to the thickness of the actual wall of the block, this thickness being most apparent in the block's lower "flange" which borders the oil sump. As far as I know, the company went to thicker wall ("thick flange") 1275's by '68. For stock bores, the thin-flange was not a weak engine. I tested a Judson blower on a stock bore thin-flange '67 for many, many runs at 4-6psi to 6,000rpm and while we did not retain the blower, there wa s no apparent engine damage as the motor continued to run just fine for man... MORE
When converting to neg ground the only concern is the tach, oh, and radio, if so equipped Brad "" 37632... MORE
Only the syncro has a short life span, the box itself will normally go on for years. The same can be said of the rib case!. One other thing, it should be filled with engine oil, not gear oil, only the later 1500 midgets have gear oil in the transmision. Stewart "Ford Prefect" 37588... MORE
The Haynes manual is ok for the gearbox, but not really adequate for a complete rebuild of the diff. You need all the crown wheel and pinion setting information, most of which is in the factory manual; however, even this source has a couple of critical bits of info missing, which are the sizes of gauge blocks for setting the crownwheel and pinion positions. However, you can easily go some way to taking up some of the slack and at little cost, too. The thrust washers for the spider gears can be replaced without too much difficulty. Let me... MORE
Let's see, You are saying that last year when I was driving My Bugeye, and the gauge worked just fine, then a month ago when I filled the tank, so it shows "Full," but I drove it 70 miles (6 gal gas tank) and it stills says "Full", it is a "discontinuity" problem that I should look for.... That sounds like a "Lucas wiring" problem. :() Bob, Troutdale, OR So, should I Ground the tank, or start chicking the wire to the tank connections? "Robert Webb" 37532... MORE
Thanks for the info Colin. The problem was a bad earth through the tank. Problem now resolved with a gauge that reads the contents! Happy motoring Mike "Mike Ross" 37524... MORE
G'day Mike You have a discontinuity somewhere in the power supply, which will cause the gauge to read full. Read this: http://www.spriteparts.com.au/fuelguage.htm avagoodday Colin "Colin Dodds" 37519... MORE
G'day guys Cooler air is denser, denser air picks up more fuel and carries it intot he combustion chamber, and you get a bigger bang. So a little more power. Something you would notice at speed not on a dyno. Correctly positioned, the intake will also provide a ram air effect - a mini blower. Note: more of each, fuel and air, so it's still at the correct fuel/air ratio, not "more fuel" as in running richer. I do like your idea Robert, a little lateral thinking going on there. If you set it up correctly you might actually... MORE
A great idea - except for one thing - it doesn't work. For those of you who DO want to know how hot dogs are made: I drove around for a good while to make sure everything under the hood (er, bonnet), was up to normal op temps. Air temp 82F Water temp 180F (you metric guys will have work out C, or K or Under hood temp 130F whatever for yourselves) Then made 8 runs, 2 East and 2 West with underhood air intake and 2 East and 2 West with wheel well air intake. WOT @ 2000... MORE
Im having a spot of bother with a '59 Sprite. The fuel gauge always registered about a third full so while I had to remove the tank, I carried out some resistance tests. The sender unit came up as faulty so was duly replaced. Now that the new sender unit is in place, I am getting full on the gauge when the ignition is on. I have checked the wiring to the sender unit and it is not earthing anywhere. The owners handbook has some tips regarding testing of the fuel gauge which I have tried but I am... MORE
Mike, You have the two green wires (Green & Green/black) reversed. Swap them and see what happens. The green wire is the 12 volt source wire and goes to the "B" post on the fuel gauge and the Green/black wire from the sending unit goes to the "T" post. Biff Jones '59 Bugeye 'Kermit' '61 AH Sprite 'Ole Gray' in "The Healey Book" '71 Midget 'Freebie" http://sprites2.homestead.com/ "Biff" 37504... MORE
Well... I forget which part of the world you live in but in the Northeast US, we get all temperatures from 15F to 90F or so. I can tell you from experience, the motor is lot peppier at lower end of th e ambient air temp scale than at the high end....and there is absolutely no doubt about this. Anything you can do to cool the air before it enters the induction process WILL be appreciated to one extent or another for sure. :) Cap'n Bob Basic Frog "Robert E. Shlafer" 37494... MORE
I've got it on my A series' LCB, but that was mainly to keep exhaust heat away from the carb float bowls before I had a proper heatshield in place. Can't say I noticed anything other than not getting fuel vaporisation. David "David Jacobs" 37441... MORE
I have heard insulating the exhaust manifold can improve performance significantly. Both from keeping the exhaust hotter for longer and keeping the incoming air cooler. Have many other people done it? I have a unmodified (apart from an oil cooler) 1500cc Midget, would it improve my Horse power and or MPG? I ask cause I have been reading the Vizzard book and it does not seem to mention any benefitt from keeping the exhaust hotter. "gav_newman" 37423... MORE
Hello Colin, Getting upper and closer personal, I am 62 (and dipping in the Social security till), have also owned Spridgets since age 19 (bought a new '60 Bugeye), same wife for 40 (OhMyGod) years, but one child only, now age 40, but who is a lawyer, and who left home a long time ago, having produced three chirrens of her own. You're right about Spridgets - some (many, actually) years ago, I bought a very nice, straight and rust free '67 Midget, 43,ooo miles, for $465. It needed new carpets, but that's all. We're always glad to hear... MORE
Since I have/Drive one of those un-civilised frogeye's, W/5 speed, I will take a stab at two of your questions, the RPM shouldn't be one of them because yesterday I was doing 70 at about 3500 RPM's. Your Oil Pressure sounds ok for a used engine. If during the 16 years it was down, you rebuilt it..... Not good. You might want to check the crankshaft bearings for excessive wear or the crank being oval. My 1275 runs 60-70 at 2-5,000 RPM, 50-60 psi at idle, but mine was rebuilt 1700 miles ago, not just the engine, the whole... MORE
I finally have my 1500 back on the road and am able to drive it agian after 16 years of having it in bits. I have a number of questions, some are 1500 only and some will be relavnt to late 1275. First one, What RPM is 60MPH? My car is alagedly giving 60MPH at 4K RPM in 4th gear, given I was on the motorway keeping up with traffic and overtaking some of it I am not convinced it is reading right! at points it was reading close to 70, others lower than 60, but the revs remained... MORE
David.... ..the "tubes" are not necessarily a tip off to fixed or biased needles on the HS2's.... Fr'instance.... my carbs have the tubes (which I have blocked off since I am running well v ented as I prefer not having oil vapors in the combustion process to the extent p ossible) and yet.....use fixed needles. Cap'n Bob Basic Frog "Robert E. Shlafer" 37336... MORE
G'day Jeremy Your car probably had a PVC (Positive Crankcase Ventillation) valve on the inlet manifold, connected via a rubber hose to the engine breather. When you had your foot off the throttle, the partial vacuum in the inlet manifold helped to reduce the pressure in the sump, thus (in theory if seldom in practice) minimising oil leaks out of the rear main bearing. This PCV valve was later deleted, and the hose from the engine breather went to a plastic Y-piece and then via two short rubber tubes to these pipes on the carbies. You have two options.... MORE
Jeremy, Just had a go-round with my carbs which are earlier with no vent tubes. If my experience is any example the carbs will "Y" off the valve cover and provide negative pressure in the valve train. This is a good thing. If my understanding of the setup is correct you need to hook this up or you will leak oil from strange places. In my case out of the dipstick tube among others. Rob C-75 Midget on the roand and running fine. Webfoot Leisure.com Your Local Pool Store-On the Web rob@... 866-530-9801 toll free " robbiesg@... " 37329... MORE
Jeremy... these "tubes" feed graduated (specifically sized) orifices through which crankase gasses are fed into the combustion process in a measured amount, off the "flame arrestor/oil vapor separator (through appropriate hoses and plastic "T" fit ting) mounted on the timing chain cover. These make up the "exit" or "exhaust" side of the PCV system on engines so equipped, the "inlet" side of the equation being a filtered plastic oil filler cap on the "early" cars or a feed tube into the valve cover (again, through a "graduated orifice) from the charcoal cannister on later emissions vehicles equipped with closed... MORE
"Fuel pressure adjustment" Cured that! Good thinking, Will. :) Cap'n Bob Basic Frog "Robert E. Shlafer" 37305... MORE
re: Rich running after installing weber. Well, I didn't touch the Weber DGV, but I did lower the fuel pressure regulator down from 2.5 to 1.5 and the idle is MUCH better - remarkably so. After doing this, I remembered reading that these were low pressure carbs, but I had no idea it would make such a difference. Thx to all those that replied. "Will and Lyudmila" 37297... MORE
Just some off the wall thoughts. $3000 is a lot of money, and unless your engine is already in perfect condition, you would probably want to do an engine rebuild too, so you're at maybe $4500 ready to rock 'n roll. You could do a reworked head, cam, bigger carb, overbore, have less money in the job, just as much HP, and probably better bottom end torque. It like like a stock engine with the Moss SC should produce something like 90 HP. Lot of money for that, say $180 per HP, and that's without any clutch or rear... MORE
Better off with a proper exust maniaflod allegedly with the 1500. Has yours got an oil cooler?, I have given in to the doom sayers and bought one! out of interest what is your oil pressure at idle? With regars tothe carb, is it leak from the top or bottom of the float chamber? or from the botom of the jet? Stewart "Ford Prefect" 37258... MORE
