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hey children,.. i just ran into a pretty decent 67 midget for sale in berkeley (calif),..the pict is in my folder (62 midget), its red with wire wheels, factory hard top,. good interior, roll bar, and the advert on the windshield said it had a new eng and trans...i don't have the phone number in front of me but if there are any interested parties i can happy forward it to you...he wants $3500.00 for it, but you never know what a little haggling can do.. cheers. samuel "modernlmi2000" 25681... MORE
Chris I's probably not worth swapping engines. I would put a Weber DGV on the 1500 and enjoy. If you really want to work on the car you can put a double row timing chain, new thrust washer, a rocker oiler and you can fit 1275 cam bearings to a 1500. A lot less work than swapping engines. and a perfectly respectable engine. And you could recover part of the cost by selling the 1275. I take a lot of crap from the MG orthodoxy, but I race my '76 1500 "Spitget", No major failures yet, knock on wood.... MORE
Chris, Welcome to the MG world. I have a '75 Midget witht the 1500 Triumph drivetrain so I can shed some light on the subject. The 1500 motor is strong and torquey. It gives reasonalbe performance even in the gutless, smog-choked years it was installed. For most uses of the car, the 1500 is great. The 1275 is an MG engine and a pretty good one. It revs higher, snarls instead of rumbling and is very eager to accept upgrades and really become a screamer. For semi-serious and serious performance driving, autocross, road racing or balls out engine building,... MORE
Robert, someone will help you out with your question, ie ... can it be change to be like the 948 cc '59 Sprite engine? Where are you? Tell us more about the car. Where did you get it? Why no engine? Racer? Trany ? Condition? Bill French Hilton Head, SC '59 Bugeye '73 RWA frenchww@... 25596... MORE
I am having a bit of a clear out. All the following items are from 1972 1275 Midget which I have rebuilt for Hill Climbing Pair of Seats with head rests new covers serviceable but really need refurbishing 5 Rostyle wheels original distributor pair of SU on manifold with air cleaner original steering wheel front brakes callipers, new discs, hardly touched green stuff pads anti tramp bars complete kit effectively unused Make me an offer Based in Leeds UK "Peter Whittle" 25549... MORE
Okay, ED - Here's the story: Grades 5, 8, etc are American designations which were never used in England. I don't know, and you don't either, what strength bolts and in which applications were used in cars of long ago. Maybe some of them were not very strong, but I can assure you that some were very strong. They were often not marked since their use was controlled by part number, and one would have to refer to the parts drawings and the old British Standards to find out exactly what they were. That said, bolts in critical safety-related... MORE
Hi, Bill.... Jegs, Summit or Racer Wholesale offer some nice 4 point systems with 3" webbing that really holds you in. These are usually top brands like Simpson. They sell the mounting kits as well. The Spridget is small inside so get "pull up" types rather than "pull downs" when it comes to the seat belts (it they still offer a choice in this respect) whether you order/use the shoulder belts or not. As you already know....VB, Moss or any of the other usual suspects for the stock OEM type stuff. "Performance shops" also carry generic types that will... MORE
Jeff Holmes states: "Naw" Could be, Jeff. But I know a guy who raced a Spridget up at Lime Rock that had the exact problem I speak of....now this isn't a racing application as far as we know...but we don't know otherwise either....this could be a street tuned motor for all we know...lister didn't say and probably doesn't know.... excessive rocker clearances with otherwise good bearing clearances reasonably good oil pressure which could flood the valve area in a hearbeat. That's why I asked this lister if he had oil going by the lower engine seals and out the... MORE
Bradsky... Milling the head slightly will have no ill effect upon anything, considering how little you are removing, assuming it had stock 21cc chambers to begin with. As a matter of fact, milling the head rather than going to flattops is the preferred way of raising the compression ratio moderately according to Dave Vizard, this having a more salutory effect on combustion/flow characteristics than a piston configuration change. For racing, the factory goes to 16.4cc chambers before they start raising compression by changing piston configuration so I guess this is the safe limit before head strength is compromised. What... MORE
Yes depends on how much 'severe' is. As David said, you can rebuild the front end with the bushes of the top trunnion behind (inboard) the kingpin as opposed to in front of it. This gives the sort of negative camber (top of wheel further inboard than bottom) that even the lariest of race cars don't run with. "Jeremy Cogman" 25361... MORE
Thanks for the reply Gerard, It looks like I'm going to go with a contoured to fit airdam from spridgetech.com. I like the looks of the spoiler better but the ones I've been able to find are either generic (not contoured) or they are contoured but are too thin because they were made for racing applications. There is an image of the airdam that I'm leaning towards on the spridgeteck web site (Kendall.jpg an H-production car, #40) but it doesn't do it justice because the owner didn't trim the corners to make it look more appealing, it's also hung... MORE
Drew, I'd check some Spridget racing web sites. Mike Gigante usually has has some good stuff. Gerard "gerardchateau" 25201... MORE
Don... "Sounds" (excuse the pun:) like you've got a glasspack (free flow) on there, maybe a Thrush or Cherry Bomb. These are "straight thru" designs (as opposed to the "baffled" stock (or Midas/Meineke/ Walker, etc.) system. It may also be the optional "GEX" straight-through type I've see advertised by MiniMania. "Straight thru" design with sound deadening packed around the "open" core allows for perfomance and/or gas economy along with allowing for a cooler running engine due to the easier trip the hot exhaust gases have outbound. allow the engine to run a little cooler as well as the exhaust... MORE
Thought that's what sprigets were supposed to sound like! Although I am only going on my Ex racing frogeye and the 1500 I last drove 12 years ago.. and the exhaust fell off this when I layed it up IIRC Stewart "Ford Prefect" 25175... MORE
You can anticipate the changes by working it out in terms of percentages. Changing a 4.22 diff with a 3.9 diff is about a16% change. Revs in any gear for a particular road speed will reduce by 16%. Or road speed will increase by 16% for the same revs. In theory (but not in practice) acceleration will be worse by 16% which sounds a lot but is barely noticable. That said, acceleration changes are not quite so straightforward as it depends on how well the gearing is matched to your particular engine torque and power characteristics. And these depend... MORE
Seems the PO's of my purple 73 wanted that race car sound, well its not modified to be a race car and the sound level is annoying especially out on the freeway, like riding on top of a WW2 buzz bomb. It's a fairly new muffler and pipes so its not loud because of age. The question is, what are the considerations I should keep in mind when choosing a new muffler? Don't care if it is stock as long as it fits and is correct for the engine which I suspect is bored out a bit but otherwise... MORE
Nigel, Hmmm. 8/39, that would make it a 4.875:1 ratio and a new one on me. I see from the link David J. provided there really is such a thing. As David says, quick acceleration but soon high rev's. Stock Bugeyes and early Spridgets were 4:22, later Spridgets (post 68) were 3.9 and the last Midgets were 3.7. 4.55's were used in Morris Minors and loved by racers. Gerard "gerardchateau" 25140... MORE
Gerard Thank you, that was most helpful. It was an 8/39 which I guess is a ratio of 4.8 - is that good/bad? I'm afraid it doesn't really mean anything to me! Bearing in mind, these diff's were given to me by a guy who used to race Spridgets in the 60's. Thanks, Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 25136... MORE
Works Sprites competed at the Nassau Speed Weeks so they've definitely been there - in the1964 International Nassau Trophy, Clive Baker finished 15th behind such luminaries as Roger Penske, Bruce McClaren, Phil Hill etc and was only beaten by various exotica like Ferraris, McClaren, Chaparral. He was only 2 seconds behind a 250GTO at the end of the 400 odd Km race!) but I dunno if there's any there now. None of the people on our members list are down as located there. Regards David "David Jacobs" 24975... MORE
Drew, When looking for replacement shocks for the rear of my Morris pickup, I thought finding a replacemnt for the Monroes that were on there would be a piece of cake. Turns out there a very few shocks made with an eyelet at bothe ends, which I an assuming is what you need. After much difficulty locally, I went through Summit racing, but again ran into the dual eyelet problem ith what the carried. I ended up getting some very good assistance taking directly to KYB and was able to get the correct length gas shocks for the pickup.... MORE
I remember seeing something in one of my books about this bonnet (hood) but I can't for the life of me find it now. I think it may be in the Chris =3D=0D Harvey book on Sprites and Midgets which I've lent to someone. Actually that 'someone' was a sprite racing driver in the 60's who happens =3D=0D to be the last owner of a special coup=E9 Sprite featured in that book and in Mo=3D=0D re Healey's - Frogeye Sprites and Midgets by Donald Healey, number plate 1411 =3D=0D WD an ex-Stirling Moss works car! Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 24747... MORE
Nigel is most likely wishing he is having a nightmare and will wake up to a world without pinstripes, racing stripes and other so called auto adornments. What I find offensive are all those things "tacked on" to an "original" design to satisfy American auto safety laws. First the side markers and lights . . . tacked on, breaking beautiful clean surfaces and lines. Then those awful rubber boxes "tacked on" the front bumpers of the 74 looking like the car had hit a UPS truck full of black boxes. Then, followed by even worse crimes against automotive design... MORE
"I could never do that now". I, too, thought I had finally "grown up", Don May. Guess this comes at 70 rather than 60? ...the triple racing stripe goes on momentarily and now I am thinking of a "MARK I" windshield banner in tasteful silver with black block lettering. Both of these additions should make the insurance company most happy. Actually, such additions would have made the airplane a bit faster as well....but the Company frowned upon personalizing it's aircraft....they were no fun at all. Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 24570... MORE
SAUCON VALLEY TEASE RALLY Philadelphia Region SCCA - Brandywine Motorsports Club - South Jersey Region SCCA Saturday, September 13, 2003 Start at Copperhead Grill along Route 378 south of Bethlehem (Due to football games at both Lehigh and Moravian on September 13, we have had to make this an early rally, so that we will be finished before the football crowd.) Time/Speed/Distance rally of approximately 60 miles through the historic Saucon Valley of Lehigh County, PA. Only paved roads will be used. The rally is designed to be first-time friendly. It will include easy route following instructions, basic TSD... MORE
Hi Drew, I don't know if this is a help or an answer to your question, but I think I would approach it this way. You want your tie rod ends to be as straight (horizontal) as possible at rest. This is for something callled "bump steer". The more angle you have to the tie rods the more toe-in/toe-out you will have as the cars rises or drops. You'll know your upper limit (chassis rising- wheel drop) by your bump stops. Racer's (at least Chuck's blue #50) had adjustable bolts used as bunp stops to limit travel. Lower limit...... MORE
