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Ed I appreciate your feed back but I do know how to get in and out of my Midget. Im 27 years old and Im very nimble and athletic (former amateur sponsored skateboarder) but my 72 round arch Midget is lowered quite a bit. With the Air Ride suspension up front completely deflated the car sits about and inch off the ground so its a little different getting out of my Midget compared to others. Alan Gram "Alan Gram" 31460... MORE
Hey Everybody Please forgive my ignorance but was this an option on any of the Austin Healey Sprites or MG Midgets? Im guessing not. Is there a tilt wheel steering column that would be compatible in the Spridget? The reason Im asking is because Im slightly over 6 feet tall and I would like to make it a little easier to get in and out of my 72 Midget. Thanks in advance for any info. "Alan Gram" 31439... MORE
Last year when I removed the rear suspension to send the body off to be painted I discovered a broken spring, so I ordered a new set. After I have installed the new ones I get a wheel base of 79.25 instead of 80 and it is riding very high, so high that I cannot attach the rebound straps. I'm out of ideas so I hope someone has some. The snow is almost melted so I need to get in gear with this project. Thanks Steve Quandt "Steve Quandt" 31329... MORE
I love it when a plan works out...so far that is. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my new 175/70x13 Yokohamas on the new 5.5 inch Dayton wires were rubbing on sharp bumps and right hand turns. It was scraping the RWArch, and I was a victim of the dreaded driver side droop, not to mention the extra lbs I carry...hitting about 260 at my last weigh in. So, shopping at my handy Checker Auto yesterday, I find a "helper spring" in the trailer parts. Two leaves about 16" long, one for each side. I just installed the... MORE
Just a couple of tips about adjusting rear brakes and handbrake. Firstly, you MUST totally back off the handbrake before you attempt to adjust the rear brakes. Preferably, remove the clevis pin where the handbrake cable is attached to the compensator mounted to the diff housing. This ensures that the adjustment at the wheels is not interfered with by the handbrake being partly on. After you have adjusted the brakes, you can then re-connect the handbrake and adjust it. You will often find that the clevis pin will no longer fit, and you have to back off the handbrake... MORE
On the 68, I had been having some trouble with the brakes. I had a new master, rebuilt the rear slaves, new hoses on the front, yet recently, I was losing a trace amount of fluid. Every week, I had to add a small amount of fluid to the master. I also had to pump the brakes to get them to grab well. Only once, but still. It finally occurred to me, DUH, that the E brake lever was coming up alot more than it needed to. So I spent some time cleaning the rear drums and shoes. Then... MORE
Bill, the normally transverse fwd engine is fairly do-able - the K series transplants popular in the UK are mostly from fwd applications - it's the rwd gearbox to match up with it that is then the tricky part; or more precisely, how you adapt the gearbox to the engine. If it's not a popular conversion, it might need some advanced engineering skills to make the adaptor bits. Not quite sure what you mean by the front portion of a fwd drive assembly, but I assume you mean the complete engine/gearbox/final drive/driveshafts? if so, that'd be quite a bit... MORE
I tried to post this earlier today from work, but I think it got lost in cybersomewhere.... Still looking at alternatives for my'69 Sprite, with bad trans. Maybe adding a bit more horsepower in the process of fixing the transmission. I have found some sites with Toyota engine and trans combo swaps, and a few Datsun engine and trans swaps. Of course, the most common dats 5 speed trans, using spridget engine and rear end. I also saw giant engine transplants, big honkin V8's and some V6's with variable combinations. Oh, and one electric conversion. Do any listers know... MORE
Nelson - Know exactly the stuff your talking about, a freind had the exterior of his brick building blasted and had about a dozen bags left over, I grabbed them before they went into the dumpster and have them gathering dust in my garage. I wasn't sure if it was too abrasive or not to use on the MG, but if you already have used it, guess I'm safe. I only plan on doing from the firewall forward, the interior floors, trunk interior and the bottom of the car anyway, I too have a small compressor and will have... MORE
Well Friday night I charged up the Midget battery and took it for the first spin of spring. The new Yokohamas are great and I live the wider chrome wire wheels! The tires stick out past the fenders (wings Nigel) about an inch or so, or just enough for that "hod rod" look I'm going for. Of course, I'd forgotten the fuel guage only goes a little below half a tank when it's empty, so I had an unexpected walk this morning, only about three blocks, but I've gotta boil out that tank I bought and see if the... MORE
"Progress" good to hear, Nigel. Weather here in NE USA has also been cold and rainy. Lousy Spring thus far. Finally began warming up a bit yestereday but still rainy. This "bites"! :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 31026... MORE
hi all, as for progress so far, i have got the head of and am going to check the valve seats as the exhaust ports are looking wet! and i am sure this shouldn't be the case! I should have striped the head down last time but i don't have a spring compressor usually borrow a M8s so will be doing that over the weekend. One question. Last week when i put the head back on i used a new HG i started the car twice there was a problem so thats why i have striped it down, is... MORE
Ben, My 1500 has Peco exhaust, oil cooler but no magnetronic ignition or kenlowe fan, from Nov 2002 until Oct 2003 it was in daily use and i covered 15000 miles in that time as well as several large jouneys includng Le Mans and back which all told was 1000 miles in 4 days. (I'm in the UK) My car is far from perfect but regular and pre-emtive maintainance is the key to reliablility. Once you've ironed out all the faults that the previous owners failed to take care of (in my case my own brother!) its pretty easy... MORE
Thanks for the suggestions. As several of you have stated, the new foam may not "collapse" quite like the old stuff. I am going to speak with an interior shop to see what they would do. With respect to a smaller steering wheel, I doubt that would help. It is my knees hitting the underside of the dash that is the problem, not the steering wheel (although a smaller wheel would really help with ingress and egress!!!!). I am currently eye level with the top of the windshield frame. Paul '73 RWA (almost 5 speed) "dfwip" 30939... MORE
Paul... Chris West and Bob Houston make an excellent suggestion with smaller diameter steering wheels, most especially of the "flat" rather than the "dished" type wherein you'll get a little more "elbow" as well as "leg" room....kills two birds with a single rock so to speak. :) Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30930... 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
Paul, I've got an original brochure (actually from a '72 RWA, but it's close enough) and that shows interior space dimensions and guess what? The height from steering wheel to seat top is 5 inches exactly! Put a bit more weight on and you'll soon sink down enough ;-) Regards David "David Jacobs" 30901... MORE
depending what car the rear axle came off, it will only be a bolt-on fit one or the other of your cars - the quarter elliptic rear suspension of the frogeye had slightly different spring mounts on the axle casing when compared with the later semi elliptic springs. David "David Jacobs" 30900... 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
Finally got around to restoring the seats. Got covers from England and components (webbing, foams, etc.) from M*ss. Everything went together nicely and the seats look great. Installed the driver's seat last night. Maybe I am used to the old worn out seat, but it seems I am really "high" (insert joke here...). The seats are very firm with almost no "give". From the bottom of the steering wheel to the top of the seat is five inches. I feel as though I am looking over the top of the windshield, rather than thru it. Is this all just... MORE
I have a pair of front stub axles and complete rear axle with tube shock conversion with a set of wirewheels. In need of some TLC. My RWA midget, under restoration, has Rostyles also in need of TLC. I believe my Frogeye* also has pressed steel wheels, in need of TLC. When restored, the midget and frogeye will both be useable but not concours. However, The frogeye will be more of the show car and used for runs etc. The midget will be used for fun 'driving'(read hooling around , commuting to work, having a blast etc) So, which... MORE
Jim, The red wire "would normally" go to the plus (+ or SW) connection on the coil and the black wire to the negative (- or CB) coil connection. It's either gonna work or go pufff. A LU142 (positive ground) & LU142A (negative ground) are the spridget distributor units for positive and negative ground cars in that order. One might "Ass-u-me" that the LU143 "might" be for a positive ground since there is no "A" as the last letter, or then again, since it's for an aftermarket distributor it might well be for a negative ground car? If the... 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
Well, no luck with Pertronix tech support or the 800 number. They are always too busy to answer phone, and I cannot have them call me at work phone during day, yada, yada. However, from responses by listers, and the internet research I have done, it appears the Pertronix unit in the Aldon dizzy is either a LU143 or 144, one being 'fixed points' and the other 'sliding points'. Both units work fine in the Aldon, so I think I am okay with installing the whole unit. The Pertronix unit has 2 wires (1 red & 1 black).. I... 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
