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Me Too . . . Bought my mig welder and Portable garage there and lots of other things. The Portable garage is great and on sale now. Gave me a much needed dry space for the winter and . . . makes a great paint booth. Don "Don May" 28746... MORE
Hi guys, I am looking to start my paint job soon :-) I am not that versed in paint types but I believe that lacquer is my only real choice for a home job. Is this correct or are there other better choices? Also if anybody can recommend a good supplier in the US that keeps the original colors, tartan red in particular then it would be much appreciated. Thanks Duncan "Duncan Sinclair" 28730... MORE
Maybe, but most of my car work is done outside these days. It was only whilst I was in the (extended) rebuild period that it was limited to he confines of a small garage. (= closet, for our American friends) Removing axle seperately from springs is easier! Guy "Guy Weller" 28718... MORE
If you go to http://www.bmh-ltd.co.uk/p62f.html (or http://www.bmh-ltd.co.uk/ and click on the 'products' link then 'Sprite & Midget front/centre') you'll find all the bits separately with part numbers and suggested prices. I suspect you might have to order them specially rather than them being in stock anywhere, though. Regards David "David Jacobs" 28697... MORE
Abestea I think it depends a little on which bits you want, but the whole of the front chassis is available as an 'assembly', but I'm sure you can get the individual bits of the assembly, specially as Heritage are remaking the body shells. It really is useful to get one of the Moss 'Parts Manuals' which contains part numbers and prices for every single part you would ever need. Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 28698... MORE
Well..I dunno...but... if all have worked well together since they came from the factory, why would you want to change such a good working relationship, for literally no reason at all? :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 28714... MORE
Hi Vince Welcome to the list amd congrats on the work on the Sprite. I can't help you with the dizzy, others can. Regarding the Carbs, have they been rebuilt? Serviced? Twin HS2's are notoriously tricky to get right, even more so if the condition of them is 'unknown'. The first job if you havent done so already is to determine the 'condition' of them and see if any parts are worn, because if they are you'll never get them tuned correctly. Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 28681... MORE
Stewart Well it's certainly a very early 1500. My records show it as having been built in January 1975. The first GAN6 car as built around November 1974 with GAN6 154101. There is a slight outside chance your car was built very late in December 1974. Teal blue was used on Midgets from June 1970 on, but wasn't a Gan-6 colour. Having said that, the factory were notorious in using up old parts on new model cars, so theres a chance your single jacking point was one of those, perhaps they were also using up old stocks of Teal... MORE
My God, how old is the U-2? It does not seem practical to keep something that old in the air. I can't remember the year but it is so long ago that I can hardly remember good old Frances Gary Powers. Seriously, to keep it up and safe, do they have to completely re build them, like replace all wiring, rivets, panels, new Heritage shell, etc? Are they still building them new? Bob in San Diego "60 is not old.........if you are a tree!" "Robert D. Gardner" 28661... MORE
I seem to remember a question being posted about marking the holes to be drilled for the 'MIDGET' letters on sills. this is how I did it. Found a firnd with Midget with the badges fitted. Take badges off sill. Take a sheel of cartrige paper and tape it flush to the botom flange of the sill Fold paper round sill to cover the holes for the badges Push badges back on pearcing through the paper. Meauer the distance front the front fach of teh sill to the paper. Take off car now move it to the new sill,... MORE
Hi Ed- Yes.....stock carbon bearing........new. Thanks for the help. Paul "dfwip" 28631... MORE
Good thoughts. Clutch fork is stock, unmodified. Pushrod is new. I think I am getting maximum clutch travel. When the clutch is not depressed, there is NO PLAY at the fork. As soon as pressure is applied to the pedal, the fork begins to move. That is why I think it is set up right. It is not a matter of it taking a stiff "pop" to get it into first. It grinds, and badly. Same for reverse, but less so. Also, WAY too much force is needed to drop it into second. Sure does act like SOMETHING is... MORE
Got everything hooked up, but since it is below zero ouside with 8" of snow, I decided to give the car a bit of a test inside the shop. Am able to shift into each gear, but considerable force is needed. There is a very distinct "crunch" shifting into first and reverse, less so in reverse. The take-off in each gear is smooth, but when the car is in gear with the clutch depressed, there is a substantial amount of noise coming from the tranny area. The clutch begins to engage right as the pedal is being released. The... MORE
Hi everyone Can anyone who may have worked on the gagues on our cars tell me if the cable/sender for the WATER TEMP portion of the dual gague can be removed/fixed? I see that they can be rebuilt and some rebuilts look like they have a new water line attached. I just wonder how this can be done. Any help or info on sites is appreciated. Mike "mk2sprite2000" 28585... MORE
Roger I have a 65 and a 66 Sprite (both MKIII Sprites) the 66 had no cowl when I acquired her (she had an aftermarket leather cloth thing instead) I fitted a new cowl and painted it black in line with Horler's bible. I have just checked my 65 ( which is a basket case I am rebuilding) and to my surprise it has a red cowl. I even scratched some paint off (hell it will need a respray anyway) and can find no layer of black between the red and bare metal, so you may well be correct.... MORE
Guy Well the original supplying dealer was University Motor's - a very large MG dealer at the time, sadly they no longer exist. Yes they were, which is exactly why I said you cannot rely on the factory making a constant number of cars per day for dating purposes! N "amukdigiphoto" 28565... MORE
Guy I'm not all that bothered as to the 'exact' date my car was built either, but there are questions relating to my car I'm curious to see answered. Why for example have they said my car was built between May and June 1970, when they can estimate to within days most other cars build dates? Why did it take so long for the registration to take place in July 1971? What was it doing for that year? The more I think about it, the more curious I am to find the answers! I'm beginning to wonder whether it... MORE
G'day Alan And thank you Nigel. But this time - YOU'RE WRONG! "I'm sure Colin with all his records can give you a better estimate" Thanks Nigel, but actually I don't think I can help very much. All the 948cc and 1098cc cars brought to or built in Oz, were badged as Sprites. All the 1275cc cars were Midgets. As a consequence, it is VERY rare to see a Mk1 or Mk 11 Midget over here, or a Mk IV Sprite. They have to be private imports. And so, our Registrar has very little info on these cars. The... MORE
Dave, It sure is the same. I still remember the smell today. I was at the vintage races in Coronado CA a few months ago and some old UK iron trundled by and that great smell just grabbed me by the nose and transported me back to my early days of racing. Great stuff. It is amazing how powerful the brain remembers certain smells. Bob in San Diego P.S. How have you been. I have been thinking about Narrowboats lately, maybe next year. "Robert D. Gardner" 28533... MORE
Nigel, Some while ago I used the production figure / date tables in Clausager's book to check against my car's first registration date. Making the assumption that daily production rate was fairly consistent gave me a production date for my car at about 3 weeks before registration - which seemed to me to be about right. So maybe it isn't that bad an assumption to make. I have never applied for a BMIHT certificate, but I did send of my fiver to DVLA for a copy of all their records for the car. These included photocopies of the V5... MORE
Nigel, Some while ago I used the production figure / date tables in Clausager's book to check against my car's first registration date. Making the assumption that daily production rate was fairly consistent gave me a production date for my car at about 3 weeks before registration - which seemed to me to be about right. So maybe it isn't that bad an assumption to make. I have never applied for a BMIHT certificate, but I did send of my fiver to DVLA for a copy of all their records for the car. These included photocopies of the V5... MORE
Gee Nigel, I don't know whether you mean to be or not, but you really can be terribly offensive sometimes! To address your specific "you're wrong" comments: I have a BMIHT Certificate for HAN9/85286 (we paid for it) stating this car was built in October 1969. Ditto, a BMIHT Certificate stating that the first Austin Sprite, HAN10/85287, was also built in October 1969. Perhaps you have a better source of information than the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust? If so, please share it with us. Please re-read my email - I said "Now if they built the same number... MORE
G'day Alan (and Nigel) As Registrar of the Sprite Car Club of Australia, I am custodian to all our production records. I can tell you that the last Austin Healey Sprite produced was HAN9/85286, build in October 1969. The exact date was not recorded by the factory. HAN9U/84968 is 318 cars short of that last one. There were 20,552 Mk IV Sprites built between October 1966 and October 1969, an average of 18.77 per day. So on average, that's 17 days of production. "Your" car would have been built late September or early October 1969. The first Mk IV... MORE
Colin Well you're wrong. The last HAN9 car was HAN9 85286 and was built in August 1969. The first HAN10 cars were built in September 1969, so I don't know how you work out a HAN9 car was built between late September to October 1969! You're also wrong in your assumption that the factory made a constant number of cars per day, they didn't and you cannot 'date' a car on that basis. You're also wrong by saying that you can get an 'exact' date by getting a trace certificate done, the best build date I could get on... MORE
Guess y'all must not believe in convertible tops. Let me ask another way.....I want to install a gun rack in my back window. Are there any soft tops made of sufficient quality to support this VERY important modification? What top would you suggest? If I want to install the gun rack myself, can I also install the top? Paul '73 "dfwip" 28417... MORE
