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With Spring, and the Pate Swap meet, coming up soon: I am finally getting out the old Popular Mechanics I have. I have a spot at Pate to sell my 70 Impala, and I figured I may as well sell the old car related ads from these magazines while I am there. BUT, I have lots of friends on this list that won't be at Pate. So, if you collect adverts, send me an email, possibly even what type you collect, and I will see what I find, and offer them to interested list members first. FWIW, the range... MORE
Now that's funny !!! I'm divorced and that is pretty much what I felt like. But my lawer was so good, now I gotta keep my kids and my ex owe me $600 a month. So far she managed to rack it up past $15K. As soon as she pay me I can finish up my Midget. :-) Pat Pat S 30442... MORE
G'day Jim Thanks for the update. Now it becomes clear to me. It must be the fact that we are Down Under and you are Up Over. You ask the purpose of the elephant's trunk. Well of course, it's to breath, or inhale. Well just under the rear end of the Sprite or Midget, (call it trunk or boot as you will) we have a pipe, a round hole anywhere between 1.25" and 2.5". Down Under, it is to breath out of. Clearly, Up Over it is to breath in through - hence the reference "trunk" - to breath... MORE
Hi All, Some of you may have seen or remember the Ginetta that my friend Chuck has built over the last couple years. It is a G35 and only one of two I know about. This car is also on the official Ginnetta (UK) web site as " a V8 Ginetta in the USA". This car has extensive modifications that tremendously improve the design of the car and can easily state not only has the car a one of a kind (most are built with 4 cylinder Ford Pinto engines), but the quality of everything is top notch. Much... MORE
One of my earlier cars was a 1932 Rolls Royce with Mulliner coachwork At the back was a Boot with a lid that could be opened . Fastened to the outside of the boot was a large fold down luggage rack. On the luggage rack was a- - - TRUNK! So this archetypal British car had a Boot and a Trunk! It also had wings, running boards,quarter lights, dumbells,a bonnet and trafficators. It didn't have fenders (they belong on boats) and it didn't have a hood because it was a Saloon Guy "Guy Weller" 30306... MORE
A "clip" is a common term in auto salvage yards...breakers to the Brits, and wreckin' yards in Texas. A front clip would be the front fenders, hood, (wings, bonnet) and grille bumpers, lights etc, to replace a whole front end damaged in an accident. A rear clip would be the rear fenders, deck lid (wings, boot) and connecting bits with the bumpers and lights to fix a vehicle that had been rear ended. A bugeye clip would be added to a spridget that had been prepared by sling off the appropriate parts and welding or in the case of... MORE
Guy, Great stuff. Thanks for your time. I will definitely check into all these matters. FYI-the carbs are separated and the linkage in pieces. Rob C Webfoot Leisure.com rob@... 630-841-6077 robbiesg@... 30223... MORE
Robbie, I think the start point is to loosen the little pinch bolts on the throttle and the choke connecting rods, so that the two carbs can move independently. Then check that the piston in each will lift and drop back down again cleanly, without catching or sticking. If not, then loosening and re-tightening the two screws that hold the piston chamber on may help to centre it. More likely you will need to centre the jets. There is a special tool but it realy isnt necessary. Just loosen the larger (upper) nut on the jet by a half... MORE
Yep... Had one of Jon's rear clips, as my '67 came with a BE bonnet and I was going to do the rear end BE-wise but the car met it's demise pre-maturely. My rear clip finally went to a guy in CA. It was good (heavy) quality. Cap'n. Bob '60 :{) PilotRob@... 30184... MORE
David By safety I was more refering to driver saftey than car strength, in that a hard top offers more protection from low flying tarmac than a soft top, it always shockes me how many (even top level competitors) press against the roof when they roll a car, this being a thin piece of tin or even canvas between you and 100mph tarmac. There are also several rules about drivers arms/heads not being able to get out of a cockpit in the event of an accident Regards Chris Valentine Dunlop Motorsport maybe in general, but in the specific arena... MORE
Don Yeppers, working in there aint easy! Which is why I was desperate to get the suspension re-fitted to the car so I could at least roll the car out of the garage while I worked on other things. And yes I do suffer from 'mild' claustrophobia, but not in the garage - only on the trains ;) Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 30062... MORE
Alan Oooh ta! What is that a Lenham rear end? Whne can I pick it up - very kind of you :) Nigel "amukdigiphoto" 30048... MORE
Jim, - I agree with Nigel, I would not have called those the Fulcrum Pins, but then I am also in the UK. But, now we agree what we are talking about.... The pin part itself is shouldered so that you cannot over compress the rubber bushes by overtightening. The nut needs to be tightened until the large washers contact that pin shoulder. The nyloc nuts are a good idea so that they don't work loose. The large washers also have a step in the outer edge which must fit snugly into the hole in the chassis brackets, otherwise... MORE
Jim Not with you on this one. The fulcrum pin is the threaded pin that screws into the narrow end of the A frame (Wishbone) through the stubaxle kingpin. There is no nut holding it in place, and no there isn't a torque limit for it. Do you mean the inner wishbone pivot pin? This holds the arms of the A frame (wishbone) to the car and these do have a nyloc nut, but I'm not sure if there is a torque setting for them, I didn't torque them up on mine. Otherwise I'm at a loss to understand... MORE
Help!! I have some torque figures for suspension fittings on my Alfa, but they are given without any units. Just figures!! And they don't seem to be in any sensible range that I recognise. e.g. M10 bolt 3.8 - 4.7 M12 bolt 10.8 - 13.2 M10 bolt 8.1 - 9.9 M14 bolt 11.0 - 13.6 M8 bolt 2.6 -3.2 They are clearly not in ft lbs! My torque wrench also has Newton Metres in the range 40 to 210 so its not that either. I assume its some metric unit. Do I just X 10 ??? Italian cars!! Frank,... MORE
I am fitting new seels to my dual master cylinder and are wondering which way the end bit in the clutch cylinder goes. At the very far end of the return spring is a metal cup and inside this cup there should go a smaller rubber cup (shaped as a cup). The one i took out had turned around on its side thats why i am wondering which way to fit the new one. Is the bottom of the cup facing forward (ie towards the firewall) or backward, it looks like it will fit either way. Jens Jens P.... MORE
Margaret (and others) I am pretty sure that this alsao has something to do with wear in the pivot points and hinges of the frame. This is why I think this... When you operate the clamps on the header rail it has the effect of tilting the front hood rail backwards so that it contacts the metal of the header rail rather than sitting squarely on top of the rubber seal. This is aggrivated by overtight hood fabric, but more significantly by worn pivot points, particularly in the short metal arms that screw to the header rail. I am... MORE
I forgot to mention, The impact beam and front bumper really create a safety barrier on your car.(they really work) By removing these you will risk injury in the event of a frontal impact. Now having said that, the Winners circle "fat" flared 1500 nosed kit really looks good when both the front and rear are flared and larger 16" rims are used. Grrrrrrr! I always prefered the one piece front end to the seperate fenders and bonnet. I have used fiberglass panels for decades and never gave it any thought, Just my preferances. Just dont get hit. Best... MORE
Neil, The thing it will do is lighten up your front end by over a hundred pounds and make your car feel more like the way it was intended to be like. The first thing you will notice is that it accelerates faster. There is alot of stuff to take off and change to do it but it is well worth the trouble, but then you will be driving a "bastard" Bugeye, not a midget. Go for it......happy trails. Rex Urban "Rex Urban" 29884... MORE
Hi, My gas pedal often sticks (does not return all the way back). I can usually fix it by tapping it a bit but sometimes I have to quickly hook it with my shoe to get the revs back down to idle speed. I have determined that this problem is caused by corrosion on the floor hinge rather than a problem with the throttle springs, cable or the bent rod between the cable and the pedal. I have improved the pedal's action somewhat by applying oil and wd40 to the hinge and by excersizing the pedal to try and... MORE
Hi, I'd like to fit my 1500 midget with a fibreglass front end but was wondering what (if any) difference this makes to the overall rigidity of the car. My (totaly baseless) opinion is that it won't really make any but I thought i'd ask before I went ahead and bought it! Thanks, Neil '75 1500 (with various go faster bits bolted to it) "Neil Rouse" 29859... MORE
When the tip of my key broke off and got left behind in the cylinder of my 78 Midget, I learned that getting it dissected and fixed by a locksmith would cost roughly the same (or more) as a whole new assembly at Moss, so I went for the new set. Now I have two original brand-new keys and a reliable cylinder. Pulling the steering column to access and replace the unit was fairly simple. There are maybe 6 to 8 bolts that hold the whole thing together. If I did it, I suspect you can too. Steve www.1978mgmidget.com... MORE
You have forgotten something important.. A '62 Sprite will be a quarter elliptic car, it can't be reshelled with a M kIII shell which will be built for a semi elliptic car, unless the shell is modified. Stewart "Ford Prefect" 29845... MORE
Richard I am restoring a 65 Sprite and originally intended to use a new shell or at least the basic tub (no front wings, doors, bonnet or boot lid) to do this I would have had to modify the rear deck to suit the roadster hood. When my local supplier quoted me 1750 for the tub I changed my mind and set to work restoring the old body. All the panels are available and at least the Sprite will retain more of it's original metal (maybe not that much more) this way. If you re-hell a car you are... MORE
Jens, look in the photos section . In the RESTO SHOW album. Two Frogeyes , the blue one with the supercharger is not actually Iris blue, but everyone thinks that it is **. I think its as good as if not better. ** All Is this how the confusion over BRG came about, people using a generic name to describe what they got, I don't know what Leaf green or Aintree green is but if you said British Racing green I'd have a good idea of what you meant.? Alan "Alan" 29793... MORE
