MAIN
Restoration
Previous Page | Next Page
with regards to understeer, this may be of interest, I swapped the front springs on my 1500 for 400lb 8 1/4" springs with poly bushes all round and a 3/4" ARB with nylatron bushes (i have a freeling the old ARB was 9/16ths) its a '75 UK car btw. Now, this tightend the front end up no end and felt great, however, ther rear still had the standards springs and was lowered 1" on blocks. After these mods it had a tendency to snap oversteer mid corner (after initially understeering) , I was going to play with the tyre... MORE
The bugeye bonnet is going to kill me also. You have my utmost condolences. It is not that we are going mad . . . we were mad to start in the first place. I am tempted to spray paint over all of it and sit it in the corner of the living room as a decor conversation piece, or buy one of those cute bugeye cookie jars for the kitchen. mercy, mercy, mercy. Don "Don May" 24098... MORE
I know a lot of you saw this on other lists today, but some how i forgot this list.. FOR SALE 1979 Midget Great shape! 79' Midget with just over 20,000 original miles, this car was always garaged and it shows. The Previous owner kept this car at her Cabin in Michigan for her weekend jaunts to the golf course. No fooling little old lady only drove on weekends LOL This car has a weber carburetor conversion (Im told it's a $500.00 upgrade) Cd stereo system that I paid around $300 for I have new front floor mats that... MORE
Well, Nigel... Your searching for something here but it's not about the 1500 or a correct way to modify or sort the handling on a car. With respect to the 1500, It's mostly all add-on stuff to the original type so the mfgs. could extend the life of the type while meeting later day safety standards. As such, all "earlier" prior specs and parts are available so it's not as though one is dealing with a new type. So, none of this is really rocket science as I am sure you know, though some bending here and there may... MORE
Cap'n They don't weigh 100lbs each. I'm afraid that was me muddying the waters a little, and being a little lazy. What I should have said in my post and made it clearer, was that the addition of the energy absorbing bumpers AND the bodywork modifications, as I detailed in a previous post added about 200lbs to the weight of the car. I would assume that the bumpers contribute significantly to this weight, but the additional 200 lbs is not soley the bumpers. Also, the 1500cc engine is heavier than the previous 1275cc engine, so that means the front... MORE
Brad... Those sleeves are machined to a press fit, just like press fit piston wrist pins. So I don't think they should be movin' before the pistons do, as in your case, but I'll let Gerard, Frank and the more experienced and "current" engine guys speak for me..they know a lot more about it "hands-on-wise" than I do. The only disadvantage of a "sleeved" block as far as I know is in the area of heat transfer, wherein the sleeved application is at a disadvantage in this respect. The CC blocks are of the stronger variety (as you already... MORE
"Surely more weight at the front..." Well usually but depends on some other factors such as ride height and spring rates, damping, etc. Some BE's rode fairly higher at the rear than the front...not sure about the 1500's though...just don't "know" them. Fr'instance: as an "extreme" example.... In Rob's case he's got a lowered front end but the rear is stock ride height with the stock 86lb. 6 leaf springs...pretty stiff rear set-up with higher roll center than the front to boot. So.....:) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 24069... MORE
Well, Rob... Vicky B. offers a rear spring lowering kit at a very reasonable price so you wouldn't be out much if this approach didn't work. I think the Ford Sierra 5 speed is what Guy Weller has used or is currently using....and.... .....refering to fellow spritester Daniel's handy, dandy informative book, we find (Pg. 63) that "Frontline Spridget, Ltd. has a sseparate kit, with special adapter plate that allows conversion to the Ford" Sierra 5 speed gearbox. On Pg. 144 Daniel further kindly provides: http://www.mgcars.org.uk/frontine Also, if the lowering blocks don't work you might try Motobuild, Ltd. for... MORE
We put the pan back onto the 1275, but cannot go further until I have the proper gaskets. I will not make them out of silicone!! So, in the interim, we took the 1098 apart. The problem we found, in the removing the frozen pistons, is that there are sleeves on the back two cylinders. One of the sleeves was moving when I was trying to pound the piston out. What holds the sleeve still? I want to build a motor for the Frogeye, to get it on the road, until the 1275 is built. I have two guys... MORE
Well, Rob... The one I drove was a '75 with about 30K on it at the time. It ran 50psi and ran pretty smoothly right up to 4.5k...I didn't take it any higher....not my car! Most engnes have a "vibration period" or two within their rev ranges. Nothing to worry about usually...they just normally run more smoothly at some rpm's within the range than they do at others. Turbine engines are the same way. My own '74 had been lowered 1" all around (quite the street rod!) so I really felt the height difference but the handling of this... MORE
Dave C. The 7/8" bar was actually an upgrade as Guy Weller replaced the thinner stock bar which his 1500 came with from the factory (5/8"?).....I had simply misunderstood a post of his mentioning a 7/8" bar. This came from last week's discussion which originated with a lister asking whether it was worthwhile converting a 1500 rubber-bumpered car back to chrome bumpers, attendant handling issues of same, etc. I had no idea these rubber bumpers weighed in at about 100lbs EACH? Their protective qualities notwithstanding that's quite a bit of weight to carry around for a car with relatively... MORE
Are you sure? I replaced the front bar on my 1500 with a much thicker one which I am sure was 7/8" I cannot check now as I have long-since sold that car. I recycled the original bar off the 1500 to my 1275. It measures as a 5/8" and is thicker than the standard 1275 bar. Maybe for different markets...? Guy "Guy Weller" 24052... MORE
Ah....I see what happened here, Guy. Apologies, for I obviously misinterpreted your prior post on this, not knowing you replaced the 1500 factory bar with a heavier bar (7/8") on your 1500. I interpreted your prior post mentioning the 7/8" bar as your 1500 had come stock with this size bar from the factory. I see now from your most recent post that this was not the case, evidently. I know very little about 1500's except what I get from fellow listers who own or have owned them, so I have no clue what size bar they came stock... MORE
Wow, Guy! The 1500 came stock with a 7/8's front bar. Nigel really did predict it right, then...more right than I even gave him credit for! :) Then again, you'd be taking a similiar amount of weight off both ends by removal of the "5mph bumpers", of course. Still, the 7/8's front bar as stock tells the tale with respect to the factory production 1500's tendency to oversteer....or did the factory simply want to make the later car's more "stable" as many think the "understeering" car is more "safe" for the average driver in view of the emphasis of... MORE
David... The swipe of a cat's paw is sufficient to open up your tonneau cover? Really? Dave, with all due respect my friend, get yourself an "el cheapo" Tyvek lightweight cover and your problem is solved...really, end of story. Keeps sap and bird droppings off the paint as well and can be hosed off in a heartbeat. Saves the top, tonneau, plastic windows from the sun, etc. Thing can be rolled up into a small ball and thrown in the trunk easy. Carry mine around all the time. Put it on, take it off in a heartbeat. And.....kill your... MORE
Things at work have finally settled down from the past few months. We have gotten a second weekend off in a row, and I was able to get the mechanic from the truck shop to come over to my house this a.m. at 8:30. Some of you know, the 68 Sprite locked itself into first gear a while ago. It also had the original engine it rolled out of the factory with still in it, all smoking and original. If I am to repair the tranny, I will replace the engine, if only temporarily, to fix the original one.... MORE
Here are just a few pictures of the recent 4th Pennsylvania LBC Car Rally put on by the Valentine clan. My cameras flash (batteries) didn't want to work the flash so I didn't get any pictures of the awards being given out! I sent them to the spridgets list but failed to send them to these groups. Pics are at http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?collid=95833387903 Biff Jones '59 Bugeye 'Kermit' '61 Sprite 'Ole Gray' in "The Healey Book" '71 Midget 'Freebie' under restoration http://sprites2.homestead.com/ "Biff Jones" 24007... MORE
Don Please don't do it. It's rediculous to convert a RB Midget to a Chrome bumper one, they simply are not interchangeable. I highlighted the main bodyshell differences in my previous post on this, and I hope you can see that many of the modifications to the bodyshell were made specifically to take the larger heavy impact resistant bumpers. The amount of work involved in doing the conversion, to create a weird 'handling unpredicatable' hybrid car would be as much I'm sure in getting an older Chrome bumpered car back on the road. Please leave the Rubber Bumpered cars... MORE
Don There were quite a few modifications made to the Rubber Bumper (RB) Midget over and above the obvious ones, which im sure everyone will point out to you. I'm sure you're aware of the history behind these modifcations, but to recap the RB Midget came about to meet the ever more stringent emission and control regulations imposed in the relatively large North American Market. It was also felt at that time that the A Series engine had pretty much reached the end of it's useful development cycle and as Triumph were then part of the BL stable, it's... MORE
Nigel, I certainly respect your desire for originality and admire the effort you are putting into the restoration of your car. The propensity over here to modify these cars, perhaps more so than the British, I am sure is influenced by the fact they are still relatively plentiful on this side of the pond. Rubber bumper cars in particular are very inexpensive here in California because many collectors dislike the rubber bumpers and see them as a bastardization of the original design to satisfy auto laws in the US and the stringent smog regulations in California. Also seeing that... MORE
Don, I currently own a 1500 and have done for about 8 years but only driven 1275's (in various states of tune) so I don't know how objective my observations are but here goes... For standard vs standard the 1500 certainly has more torque and IMO is perhaps easier to drive around town in traffic althought at pretty subective i guess. It also has syncro on 1st. However, although (well mine at least) is silky smooth even at unadvisably high revs the 1275 always seems to me more comfortable reving very high. not to say the 1500 won't but... MORE
Thanks for the information . . to all who have responded. Has the underlying frame changed? In other words I have a very rust free, dent free, complete front end of a 69 midget, can those fenders, front cowl, and hood be bolted on in place of the metal work that was modified for the rubber bumpers? That does leave the rear end to deal with. Don "Don May" 23963... MORE
Interesting thought. I had not considered anything like that. I was going for looks. The stock box looks "boxey". I was thinking of a bit of chrome flash. "Michael " 23925... MORE
Brad, Good luck on your first road test. I just got my 75 Midget running semi-properly this summer after 4 years of effort. If it's any comfort my list of needed parts is now two spreadsheet pages; engine, tranny, radiator, compete brake and clutch rebuild, tube shock conversion, new interior etc. etc. etc. I have also discovered I need to pull the engine.... again. I used the original clutch as it looked fairly recent but failed to consider the effect of time on the springs. Car runs fine but slips in higher gears when I put my foot down... MORE
Hi guys, Whats the best way to re-finish painted wire wheels back to their former glory? I know most of you will say - grit/sand blast and epoxy coat them, but that's too easy and too expensive. When you consider that will pretty much cost 50 GBP per wheel, to be done properly, I can buy a brand new painted wire wheel for 80GBP, and probably sell the old wire wheels for 10GBP each, so for an extra 100GBP, I can have a set of brand new painted wire wheels - not very economic is it. I am very... MORE
