Don’t do this to your Bugeye Sprite!

Check-out these cracked/broken control arms, the likes of which we have never seen before. Please take a minute and run-out to the garage to look at yours to make sure you don’t have this issue. Every Sprite and Midget should be checked.

This is likely an isolated incident… was this Evil Knievel’s car? Did she roll off a tow truck? Or were these parts somehow damaged by excessively tight straps in a transport truck? Maybe these arms were already broken when removed from a crashed wreck for this disk brake conversion some time ago. Regardless, this is a serious issue that we hope is isolated to just this one particular car. Please let us know if you find any cracks on your car.

This Bugeye was brought to us for sorting after purchase in an online auction. Auction pictures don’t always tell the whole story, and the peanut gallery watching and commenting on the auction doesn’t always catch serious issues.

It’s a nice looking car but there are multiple mechanical issues… the fuel line is run improperly, the calipers have no lock tabs (one caliper bolt is walking-out), the brakes lines are not to code… the fuel sender and tank pick-up is leaking. There are more issues that we will address for the new owner while the car is here, which you can see in the video below.

The swivel axles also need replacement. The bushings are badly worn. I’ve never heard one squeak like what you see below (grease them often). And the wheel bearing surface is also worn. You can’t just take a used disk brake assembly off a parts car and throw it on a Bugeye unless you check it all for cracks and wear first. We sell new swivel axles in our parts catalog, which will tighten things up nicely.

This swivel axle came off of the same car. Never encountered such noisy and worn king pin bushings either (don’t forget to grease these regularly)! The wheel bearings were worn. The swivel axle bearing races were worn. New swivel axle assemblies were required.

If you must buy an online auction car (we’d prefer you buy one directly from us), please consider having us (or another specialist) pick-up the car for you and give it a comprehensive inspection, no matter how much the car wins the affection of the auction audience. We have retrieved four Bring a Trailer cars from all around the country on behalf of new owners, and all four of them needed significant repair in spite of “a clean bill of health” from the auction audience. Crowd-sourcing has its limitations.

This car also had a leaky fuel gasket and a pinion seal leak, creating this stain on the top of the fuel tank.

The fuel line run under the engine makes it the lowest part in the front end of the car and makes it vulnerable to rupture.

An… interesting way to run the brake line.

Is your Spridget’s suspension subpar? Visit our catalog by clicking here or click on the photos below to get the bits you need to get back on the road!