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I perceive, David... So when Mark said he was using regular unleaded, he meant "premium" or 95RON? And when he switiched to Shell Optima, (and his engine "appreciated" the change) would I be correct in assuming this would be "super" (2-3 points higher)? Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 31294... MORE
I don't think so, Tom. Considering what you paid, if it's in the decent mechanical shape claimed, I think you did OK for what you paid, personally. I owned a de-smogged '72 until a certain girl ran a Stop sign one night and her insurance co. put me into a new Fiat 1/9. Pull the head and shave it to bring the Comp. Ratio up to no more than 9.5-1, (mine was 10-1 but we had "manly" gas available at that time!:) and purchase a set of 1.75 HS4's suitably calibrated as in Stage 1 of the Special Tuning... MORE
Jim I'm not sure on this one, but as I've been reading the comments it suddenly came to me. I used to have a Ford Mondeo over here and I'm pretty sure you had to lift that to put it into reverse. Now, as I said, I may well be wrong, but that Mondeo box I think is the same basic 5 speed box as used in the Ford Sierra that preceeded it -and I'm pretty sure that Sierra box forms the basis of a lot of 5 speed conversions. But I was under the impression you'd need to... MORE
Ben, My 1500 has Peco exhaust, oil cooler but no magnetronic ignition or kenlowe fan, from Nov 2002 until Oct 2003 it was in daily use and i covered 15000 miles in that time as well as several large jouneys includng Le Mans and back which all told was 1000 miles in 4 days. (I'm in the UK) My car is far from perfect but regular and pre-emtive maintainance is the key to reliablility. Once you've ironed out all the faults that the previous owners failed to take care of (in my case my own brother!) its pretty easy... MORE
hi people, just want some advice, the engine on my 1500 has just given-up! i need a car as a daily driver- must also beavble to make long trips of 300 =3D=0D miles plus easily if i buy a new engine, ehanust system, magnetronic ignition, oil cooler, ke =3D=0D nlowe fan, overhaul carbs, do you think a 1500 midget will be up to this? I have spent loads on the car so far and i don't wanna spend =A31500plus a nd=3D=0D have to buy another car 6months down the line. So spent money on the Midget or get some... MORE
Hi All, Got a car in with an A+ engine in it and a coolant leak out the dizzy side. Nothing unusual there. It had a head gasket that's a very hard type of material, blackish dark grey, something I've never seen before, It also was installed upside down and backwards!!!!!!! But the question is: Is this a preferred head gasket material over the nice Payen copper gasket? That one I've learned to put on so it doesn't leak coolant. Head is at the machine shop being trued. Later, Paul A "Paul Asgeirsson" 30960... MORE
Jim, The red wire "would normally" go to the plus (+ or SW) connection on the coil and the black wire to the negative (- or CB) coil connection. It's either gonna work or go pufff. A LU142 (positive ground) & LU142A (negative ground) are the spridget distributor units for positive and negative ground cars in that order. One might "Ass-u-me" that the LU143 "might" be for a positive ground since there is no "A" as the last letter, or then again, since it's for an aftermarket distributor it might well be for a negative ground car? If the... MORE
Brad, I don't know of any ready made double zerked A-arms, surely if there are any, someone here will know. If not, I did my own setup, and it was fairly easy - as follows. I first knocked out the penny sized blank plugs from behind. You might be able to do that without dismantling the assembly, if you can come in through the grease hole in the pin with a long solid metal rod, maybe a nail. Would not suggest doing anything there with a drill that would leave behind metal shavings for obvious reasons. With the plugs... MORE
Well, no luck with Pertronix tech support or the 800 number. They are always too busy to answer phone, and I cannot have them call me at work phone during day, yada, yada. However, from responses by listers, and the internet research I have done, it appears the Pertronix unit in the Aldon dizzy is either a LU143 or 144, one being 'fixed points' and the other 'sliding points'. Both units work fine in the Aldon, so I think I am okay with installing the whole unit. The Pertronix unit has 2 wires (1 red & 1 black).. I... MORE
I put one in my Bugeye, aftermarket, plastic with two screw mounts, on the passenger side of the heater box, above the panel, out of sight because of the dash. You have to know it is there to find it. There is a brown, always hot wire, that comes through the firewall and goes to the ignition switch. There is a "Lucas" conector right after it comes through the firewall. I changed that to a dual plug and plug the "non usable for heat" cig. lighter into that and grounded it through one of the mounting screws. Bob, Troutdale,... MORE
Bill, Fairly common fault. The selector fork wears and the result is that the 1st / 2nd gear moves a fraction too far along its splines and allows the spring loaded plungers to pop out, preventing the gear cluster from moving back as it should. Sorry, that is probably not too clear until you have dismantled the box to fix it! Cause is likely to be from "crawling" in first gear with your hand resting on the lever. One can often get it back out of 1st by pulling REALLY hard on the gear lever whilst driving. As you... MORE
Could any listers with Pertronix ignitions please take a look at the serial number on the little black box and let me know what they are & which Pertronix kit they have? This would be greatly appreciated. I just bought a brand new (or at least never used) Aldon distributor for my Bugeye. The dizzy has a Pertronix ignition installed also, but I can't tell which one. Collar is marked LU143/LU144, and black "box" is has a small label reading 20V-4X and 2 wires (red/black). Gentleman I bought it from had a bunch of parts that he new nothing... MORE
Upon more progress on my 1500, I have discovered the keys have gone missing.. Last time I know I had them was just over 10 years ago now.. The door locks and the boot locks have been easily taken care of, as the number is stamped on them. The Ignition key lock is slightly different, although I do note there is a number stamped under the lock assembly, as opposed to cast into it, would this be a key number? or will I have to take the whole steering column assembly to a lock smith? if a real one... MORE
I do not know the definitive answer to these questions for a frogeye, but - on my midget, which is pretty much the same as far as engine compartment painting is concerned, 1. left unpainted.2 ditto. 3 Painted. 4 Painted, except for starter nose inside clutch bell. 5. unpainted 6. unpainted 7. painted 8. Painted. water pump, painted. Cooling blades? (Cooling fan? if so, yellow) Hopefully this answer will stir the relevant persons into action to correct any misconceptions, but I think that these are correct from memory. R. "Roger Stinson" 30761... MORE
I just received my catalogue from Moss. I must say I'm quite impressed with the exploded view diagrams and the tuning content. Not a sales plug as I don't know how their prices compare. Alan "Alan East-Jones" 30760... MORE
Hi Kevin Welcome to the group. This group is for all 'Spridgets' and many here are Frog owners, but you may like to try the other group specifically for Frogs - http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/bugeye/ Yeah I don't know why those nutty Americans call them Bugeye's either ;) You may also want to check out Terry Horler's excellent book - Original Sprite and Midget, published by Bay View Books, ISBN 1-870979-45-1 This book has an excellent restorers section on Frogeyes and many of your answers will be found there. I'm not an expert on Frog's - there's many here you know a... MORE
Hi there, Just signed up to this site. Last year got myself a '59 frogeye for a groundup restoration (definately not a runner!!). I think it spent its initial life in sunny Houston Texas before being repatriated to uk. It then apparently stood sometime before I got my hands on it. Anyway thats the history lesson. Taking it steady with the bodywork last year but getting there slowly (taught myself to TIG weld - a very neat way to weld!). I am spending time on indoor work because UK garages in the winter aren't fun - and I'm getting... MORE
Hi there, Just signed up to this site. Last year got myself a '59 frogeye for a groundup restoration (definately not a runner!!). I think it spent its initial life in sunny Houston Texas before being repatriated to uk. It then apparently stood sometime before I got my hands on it. Anyway thats the history lesson. Taking it steady with the bodywork last year but getting there slowly (taught myself to TIG weld - a very neat way to weld!). I am spending time on indoor work because UK garages in the winter aren't fun - and I'm getting... MORE
Bill, I drilled pilot holes, one where the roll-pin hole is and one in the other "corner". I then opened them up and used an ordinary hand tap (taper, then plug) to thread them to take 3/8" bolts. The holes mustn't be too deep or you will break through into the cylinder bore and ruin it. The cylinder then fastens firmly in position with two short bolts through the backing plate. It is actually a very easy modification to do. But not for those with an "original" fettish. Guy "Guy Weller" 30642... MORE
Bill, A couple of points that may help: The "E" -clip goes on with the open gap towards the bleed screw. There is a very slight groove between the axle casing and the back plate that allows the edge of the clip to fit the space between the wheel cylinder and the axle casing. There are various techniques. I have found that if you can get the edges of the 3 lugs just against the edge of the wheel cylinder casting and then put a large socket against and give it a "light tap with a heavy hammer" it... MORE
I've also recently had no end of problems with new electrical items failing after only about a weeks service, coils, plug leads, dizzy caps, rotor arms condensors etc across a whole range of classic cars Regards Chris Valentine Dunlop Motorsport David, Capn Bob also suggested the same things, the only area I have not looked at since I got this midget is float bowls. I change the fuel pump six months ago and the fuel filter one month back. I know the issues with getting the correct fuel pump, mine came from moss motors for a midget. Checking the... MORE
gave it new plugs wires, cap & rotor, new fuel pump about six months ago and fuel filter one month ago. Guess there is a lot of areas to rule in & out. Thanks for the input. Sunday was a nice day, with the top down we enjoyed driving around the lake, only bummer to the day was going up the one grade. later, Mark "MARK" 30577... MORE
Loopy Chris says .Not quite sure if I can get the ariel lead underneath the car as I think( could be totally wrong though and I've got the wrong end of the stick!) to be legal in this country, it has to be a certain distance ( im talking a fair space here , not a couple of inches) from any fuel tank or line , in case it causes a spark or something. Chris, Put some old jeans on and look under you car at the back. Look just in fron t of the fuel tank and you... MORE
Mark... Running rough can mean anything, so not really enough to go on. Usually an engine which runs "rough" under load is either overadvanced in terms of ignition or suffering from an ignition system which requires attention in that the spark is breaking down under load. This could be a bad coil, wires, cap or any other individual component not quite up to snuff. It could also be a combination of worn items, as well. Lastly, there is the fuel supply. Float levels set too low, inadequate pressure (old or bad pump) or inadequate supply (clogged filter, line or... MORE
Chris, I don't know what a Din is but if you take the size of your radio opening to the store with you just ask for a radio/cd player that will fit. I am sure any store will open the package and show you the paper template to see if it will fit. Usually there is a bezel of some sort that allows the same radio to fit many size openings. Make sure to measure how much distance you have to the rear of the radio also, not just the front opening. Actually, several interesting options. Most radio/CD combo... MORE
