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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
Hi, The PO of my car damaged the hood hinge arms and tried badly to repair them. I have now repaired them to a better state but they are both different sizes. If somebody has their arms removed from a MK4 could you please measure the distance from the hinge pin point to the fwd mounting bolt. This will let me see which one is correct and which one I need to tweak. Thanks Duncan "Duncan Sinclair" 30926... MORE
Alan..(IMHO) I would go with the WW on the BE as this car will most likely be less hard driven than the Spridget and most likely, will go out on nice days and not be driven in the wet. IOW, the wire wheels will last longer and give better service life on the BE, then the "daily driver" Spridget which will be subject to inclement weather. Just remember to grease the splines every six months and they should last a good, long time in view of the "limited" driving you'll be doing with the BE. The stock BE rear... 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
Hi Guys, Well, I went back and rechecked my fuel filter, a new one installed only a month or two back....it was full of rust. Took the filler tube off and saw my gas tank was full of rust. Local radiator shop was going to charge $130 to clean and coat my old tank, decided to spend a few more bucks and got a new tank (and another filter). Test drive went fine, wife is happy and so am I! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and advice Mark "MARK" 30877... MORE
I had a bit of a windfall hit me yesterday. I would like to use this money to purchase a pair of A arms with the kingpins already attached. I know that true happiness if found through the application of heat and curse words on the original A arms as one attempts to remove the badly worn fulcrum pin with cobbled together tools. But, with the extra funds, I have discovered that I have become even more shallow. Does anyone have a source for what I mention, that would be of good quality. Anyone that might even offer a... MORE
Could someone please tell me what a 1098 core is worth? When I say "core" I mean block, rods, crank (2"main) oil pan, and back plate. I tried trading if for a 1275, but that deal fell through. Chris "redfisher001" 30853... MORE
Bob, Guilty as charged. On my BE, all of the slots on the screws that hold the aluminum tub trim have to be dead on horizontal. In places where nobody can ever see, I might use an odd fastener that doesn't match the others... but it will bother me when I do. Places that can be seen - I've written down on my shopping list to get one more stainless 1/4-28 bolt so that they all will match. Cable tie tails on wire bundles have to point in the same direction - even though they're cut off anyways. Hose... MORE
Thank you for your responses By Modern driving I am assuming that they are talking about fast road and motorway driving 60-80 mph. I'm not sure exactly what rpm she'd be doing at that speed but I would imagine that it would be around the 4000+ mark. Given what has been said then in 90F summer heat an oil cooler would be very beneficial for fast use. However I wouldn't take the Midget onto the motorway for the same reasons that I wouldn't take the Cooper onto the motorway 1. It is too small and vulnerable 2. It is... MORE
"Any advice or caveats"? Just one.....remember to remove and grease the splines every six months for a long, trouble-free service. They're gonna look cool, man! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30810... MORE
Oil cooler.."to be, or not to be?" Pretty much agree with Alan on this unless by "modern driving" they are referring to any highway travel, for even the shortest distance at 3.500rpm or so (especially in ambient temps above 60F or so) will immediately show up on the oil pressure gauge (lower pressure), most assuredly when you exit a freeway and come to a stop and look at the pressure at normal idle!! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30796... MORE
Hi, Snakeperson... The stock (rubber) diaphragm is "good" if you can remove the filtered (containing a "graduated" orifice) cap and the idle increases about 200rpm. The first sign (usually) of a worn out rubber diaphragm is, of course, an exhaust suddenly smoking and an enigne suddenly using a helluva lot of oil, both for apparent no good reason at all. Not familiar with the "quacking duck" type of PVC valve! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30795... MORE
How can you test and see if the PCV diaphragm is good? I have two, one I KNOW will allow the car to smoke, when I gently blow on the tube that connects to the oil separator, it passes air out of the hole on the top plate. Another one that I just got, when I gently blow in the same orifice, it makes a sound like a quacking duck. Does either one of these sound like they are ok? I finally have the correct intake for the 68, as well as all the smog stuff. Call me paranoid,... MORE
Hi all I have just received an excellent Spridget catalogue from MOSS that not only lists all of their parts but is also a tuning guide as well. In there they recommend that for modern driving a 1500 would really benefit from a thermostatically controlled oil cooler, uprated relief spring and a supplementary rocker oil feed kit. This is apparently due to the Spitfire engine being mated to the "wrong gearbox" and subsequent over revving leading to the oil thinning and thus pressure dropping. As I am not flogging mine down the motorway at 80mph all day is this... MORE
James... Anything you can do to "cool" a motor which is otherwise running at a normal temperature extends service life. Yesterday's petroleum oils got by on viscosity more than film strength. Today they get by on both, more or less, while synthetics go more with film strength than viscosity for superior lubrication, inclusive of their ability to maintain superior film strength at higher operation temperature than the most modern of petroleums. Oil which is "overcooled" does not perform as well as oil running at "proper" temperature...thus the oilstat. However, one must monitor the oilstat for proper operation and thus,... 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
Colin Thanks for that. Thats weird then, Moss must have sent me the wrong size clevis pin, because there's no way that clevis pin would fit the smaller size hole on the brake cable and the compensator - and I double checked that the part number on it was correct. hmm! How annoying, I needn't have drilled out that hole then! Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 30714... MORE
Jim Well according to the book I have (Grahame Bristow's) the felt washers are there to stop the rods from rattling, he doesnt say anything about installing them with grease, but I still feel that it will help lubricate that mechanism. N "amukdigiphoto" 30707... MORE
Jim Not sure to be honest, but I'm sure I read somewhere they should be reassembled with grease to help lubricate the movements, otherwise they just wear out. I can't for the life of me remember where I read it! I replaced all the clevis pins as a matter of course, partially because some of the original ones were worn. I also found that the clevis pin supplied for the connection between the handbrake compensator unit and the handbrake cable wouldnt fit! I double checked it was the right clevis pin, and tried it in the end of the... 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
How is it done? I have read the method in the Haynes, and I am not certain any of the 4 bolts on each side will survive being taken off! or even if they will come undone at all. tried one and it sheared immediately, another is just turning and it looks nearly impossible to get a spanner of the upper side of it on the inner two bolts. The inner two wishbone pins are loose which is to be expected after years of being covered with oil and grease. 4.5 inch bolts threaded all the way seem a... MORE
Oil "justbrits" 30680... MORE
