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Bruce, Just completed an "as original as possible" rebuild onto a Heritage shell - 700 miles later and nothing has fallen off yet. My original but tired 1275 was rebuilt by me - with the aim of extracting a few more HP and some extra torque 2500 - 6000 rpm. My spec is a.. 020" rebore (1293 cc) b.. 9.75 :1 CR pistons c.. MG Metro large valve cylinder head with mild port and polish d.. MG Metro single HIF44 carb "Vizarded" (butterfly knife-edged, spindle trimmed and waisted, screws trimmed and Loctited, bridge lowered) e.. Titan Motorsport inlet manifold,... MORE
A trailer queen is a car that has been restored by a "cheque book mechanic" i.e. the owner never touches it, not even to check the oil. Someone else k eeps the car fluids monitored, keeps the paint looking bright, and has new tires put on it when the old ones dry rot from not being used. This is also the car that looks great, sells at auctions for $25,000 U.S., and is NEVER driven. It would drop the value!! Thus, it is trailered to every show it i s shown at, thus, "trailer queen" Brad who owns a... MORE
Hi all, just bought a complete but knackered 1275 74 model and am starting to look at what I am going to do with it mechanically (apart from the necessary reshell) I bought book on A series tuning as I have only rebuilt MGB engines before and have decided that althogh I want to keep the car as original as possible the air filters and exhaust manifold were non standard so these will be replaced with K&N's plus a complete stainless exhaust and manifold. These parts seem to be the only non original parts on the whole car. Is... MORE
I'm selling my AH Sprite MKII and all the bits I've built up over the 45 years of ownership. Spare 948cc spare smooth case gearbox etc. Spare Diff (long ratio) etc. The car is in Chester UK and fully taxed & MOT'd rallied two weeks ago and came 3rd in class on the HRCR Leukaemia rally. All metal, no rust, sensible money. Pictures available. "gerald_r_simpson" 37765... MORE
This can be a problem, but in California, you can get a mechanics lean title with out too much trouble. I did it on a '59 Mercedes 190 I bought for $50. As is, rod through block, no rust, not bad interior and of course no paper or plates. First I did a DMV search and stolen car search with no results. Then I told DMV that a friend brought it by for me to work on 10 years ago, I did $1,000 of work on the car and he never paid me or never came back. Last I... MORE
How 'bout this: We've all got a box or two or three full of parts which are "Not Good Enough to Use, But Too Good to Throw Away". If we all cleaned out our garages, we could prolly come up with a few tons of stuff which we could box up and send to Bree. Somebody would probably also have a shop manual with most of the pages in it, and she could knit herself an LBC. For example, I've got a half dozen cans with an inch or two of paint in the bottom. The cars which belonged... MORE
G'day Joe The standard trick Down Under is to turn up the radio. Or fit one. Or take a nagging wife with you. If you don't have a nagging wife, borrow one from a friend - he will be grateful. My 1380cc race engine is a little worn. It was worn with rust marks in the bores when I first used it 12 years ago, and it hasn't improved by use. I'm not prepared to bore it to 74mm just yet, and so pistons are a little sloppy. Even new pistons aren't much tighter than the old used ones,... MORE
Thanks, Colin. All the experts seem to agree on knurling. I've had it apart enough times that it's no big deal to take it apart again. There's an ancient but good auto machine shop which I'm certain will have a collection of knurling tools. In fact it's so old that when a friend took a generator in for rebuild, the machinist there took one look at it and asked, "Where did you get a '39 LaSalle?" On the other hand, my daughter thinks I need all the latest gadgetry, so presented me with an iPod for my birthday last... MORE
Piston slap, #4 cylinder only. Cylinders 1, 2 and 3 are worn almost none, but #4 measured .006 oversize. I rebuilt it with std size pistons, assuming that they were worn more than the bores, and were the source of the tonk - tonk piston slap noise. Didn't work. It's still there. Compression is good, 155-160 psi. Doesn't smoke or use any oil. Goes away when fully warmed up, but... Questions - 1) Is this anything to lose sleep over? 2) Any "tricks" to lessen the noise?...uh, rebore and new pistons doesn't qualify as a "trick". "joe blxfstz" 37648... MORE
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
G'day Andy, and congratulations on the freeby. We have a US improted car on the Australian register. It is HAN9L/68345 with body number 58676, and was assembled on 20 April 1967, leaving the UK factory on 24 April 1967. I would bet your car was built during the last few days of April 1967. avagoodday Colin PS: Visit the web site www.SpriteParts.com.au, click on Links, and go the the Sprite Car Club or Australia Register. "Colin Dodds" 37639... MORE
Don't know whether there are any records. The engine in my car, according to serial #, is early '68 and has the EN40 crank and Cooper S rods. I'm sure it came from the factory that way. "joe blxfstz" 37623... MORE
Mostly restored, mint interior, low miles, Brooklands Green, new tires, brakes, SS braided brake lines, clean, 1500 engine, been de- smoggedm has Weber 2 bl. side draft(DCOE) headers, clean tight tranny, new top/boot cover, NO RUST, NEVER WRECKED, wood steering wheel & MG shift knob, Clairon AM-FM cassete deck, drives great. $3900. In Arizona U.S.A.see photos section hdsteveg@yahoo. "hdsteveg" 37585... 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
I hate to be doing this, but I own a 1962 Sprite and I am looking for a a good home for it. I got it in 1970 and in 1975 the rear axle broke. It has sat in a garage up until 5 years ago and is now under a tarp. I do not have the time or place to restore the car myself and having a pro do the work is out of my budget. The car is still in pretty good shape. but the longer it sits the worse it will get. I am willing to... MORE
Great photos and a great bunch of mods to the car. Good stuff. Cheers, Bob in San Siego "Robert D. Gardner" 37556... MORE
Hi Phil,. The correct ones are readily available, just a tad spendy. The old ones are not usually worth rebuilding as you won't be doing anything to correct the rust and pits on the 2 steel pistons, and likely the pits in the aluminum are way deep. It also costs more to sleeve than to get new ones. Again, you'll do nothing about the 2 steel cyls when sleeved! Just buy new and get it done right. These wheel cyls are the same as on the Morris Minors. Later, Paul A Hi Phil, I believe rear cylinders were specified... MORE
Now here's engenuity. This guy has bought a DYMO kit and in just 90 seconds is producing labels for your dashboard. And only GBP 9.99 per set! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43122&item=4555511983&rd=1 Also Bugeye for restoration, with really nice glass front and hardtop - bidding starting at $0.01. Surprise - reserve not met yet. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4555657670&category=6023 avagoodday Colin "Colin Dodds" 37492... MORE
G'day Mark Jon is correct - that's pretty much the way they are. However, it isn't pretty much the way they WERE. First gear will be a LITTLE bit noisier when the gearbox is in good condition, but certainly not a LOT noisier. Added to the symptom of jumping out of gear (which it should NEVER do) you should budget for a greabox rebuild really soon. If you don't, the bits of metal coming off 1st gear will get tangled in the bearings and other gears, and your repair bill will be higher when you eventually get to it.... MORE
When they stopped making them I think they must have sold all the left over container stock to one of the jam makers. I always wondered why that brand was a bit smokey flavoured ..... R "Roger Stinson" 37478... MORE
G'day all Let's start with a definition. Those non-standard tubular pipes that bolt onto your cylinder head to let the exhaust gas out, and eventually join into one "collector" for the exhaust pipe, are called "extractors" or in some languages "headers". "Exhaust" includes these plus everything down the line, past the muffler to the chrome tip on the tail pipe. I guess we are talking here about insulating the extractors, not the entire exhaust system. We run in all our engines on a calibrated engine dyno. It lives in a 10ft x 15ft brick room with a huge fan... MORE
My friend's 73 Midget was outfitted with stainless steel brake and clutch lines during his rebuild. (FInally nearing completion after 2 decades plus). Finally got the car on the ground again two weeks ago and were all hyped to see it move under it's own power for the first time in ages. NO GO. Stainless steel clutch line had a leak. I'm not nearly as sold on them as I was as this line was relatively new and completely unstressed. Rob C Webfoot Leisure.com Your Local Pool Store-On the Web rob@... 866-530-9801 toll free " robbiesg@... " 37440... MORE
Well for what it's worth 32 years ago I flipped a 62 sprite by running off the road skidding sideways. Front wheels were in the ditch rear wheels were up in a yard ended up hitting a rock on the passenger side rocker panel which in turn put as airborne and we ended up in the middle of the road upside down. No roll bar I was sore without a scratch my friend ended up with seven stitches to the back of his head from the support bar for the top. I personally think in this case a roll... MORE
I think you'll find them in stock at Advance Auto Parts - if memory serves, they're the ones with the red color-coded fittings, but take an old one along to be sure. "joe blxfstz" 37414... MORE
G'day Jeffrey, and thanks. Now we all know how to pronounce "blxfstz" - just like "Holmes". My first Bugeye was purchased for $500 in 1970 when I was 19 years of age and ian impecunious Uni student. The brakes failed on the way home and I had only one week to get the rust repaired so that I could renew the registration. But then I wanted a sports car, and this was the cheapest one on the market at the time. I would love to come visit, and might do so one day. I'll even try the Rolling Rock,... MORE
