Checked your dog bones lately?
We run the cars through their paces to get them ready to depart, and here’s our car #420, at rest and at speed in preparation of departure for California.
On “Tate” this week, we had a minor rear end rattle and traced it to a sloppy dog bone joint. The dog bone rubber perishes and the joints can get sloppy. Check out the video below, to see the floppy bone in action! This was a satisfying fix!
If you need your own new bones, click the photo below to order!
NOW SOLD to Nils in California! Congrats on taking home car # 421!
Meet Scotty (AN5L 29291). Scotty is a 1960 Bugeye that came to us from Arizona, where this car enjoyed an engine rebuild and Ford Five-speed conversion just about 1000 miles ago. This one has been sitting for about four years, but we have brought it back to life this past week and it drives great.
Power and oil pressure are excellent. Disk brakes, wire wheels and Ford five-speed transmissions are our favorite!
The car has a nearly new five-speed conversion, roll bar, and nifty LED third brake light. Tires are aged out but we have new ones in stock, and wire wheels are quite popular. Scotty also has a single Brooklands windscreen on the driver side, so you can remove the four screws that hold the windshield to the body and strip down for hot weather mini windscreen fun! (we’ve removed the screen and left the two brooklands support stanchions in place, in front of the steering wheel… easy to fit that little windscreen with allen set screws)
This car needs some more refreshing, which we are happy to do for the new owner or you can do it yourself if you want to do some tinkering. Nothing major is needed, the hard stuff is already done. But for example, the radiator is ugly. We have good used ones, or maybe you want an aluminum radiator, depending on your home climate.
The steering hub horn push is missing. The prior owner has a dashboard button that works just fine. But we are happy to restore the horn to its original glory. Rear wheel cylinders and slave cylinder should be replaced. You have lots of choices. The value here is a freshly rebuilt 1275 mated to a great Ford five speed. And wire wheels. The floors have been restored with new sheet metal. So you have a great foundation.
The car drives great! Check out the full collection of photos by clicking “read more” below and please call if you are interested!
[Read more…] about 1960 Bugeyed Sprite for sale, with all the right upgrades!Tate just got a makeover! We removed the stock carbs and distributor and upgraded the car with the kit shown here.
Every Bugeye and Sprite mk2 needs this kit. Tate was a completely stock bugeye (with H1 stock carbs) and this kit really woke up the car, and made it much more peppy. More air and fuel in, more air out… and consistent, accurate ignition timing and spark was just what the doctor ordered. With this kit, you can transform your 948-powered car into a mover!
Even if you have a later Spridget that already has HS2 carbs, it is a good idea to reset the clock on your carburetors with this kit. Most of the carbs we see in the field are pretty worn and/or mismatched, so new carbs can really make a difference. Give us a call if you have any questions, or click here to build your own “Bugeye runs better” kit today!
Handbrakes matter. Most of them on cars of our vintage do not function as they should. This is a post to remind you to keep yours in top shape. You never know when you might need it!
They don’t call it an Emergency brake for nothing… if you drive a vintage car, you should find a big empty parking lot and go practice stopping by downshifting and using your handbrake. It may one day save your butt (and your car).
We’ve got more than 400 Sprites out in the world and have had zero loss of brake issues. But should a hydraulic hard line brake on your classic car, you’ll bleed out the fluid and loose your brakes. Or maybe you haven’t checked your hydraulic fluid in too long and it has been leaking out your wheel cylinders… but you didn’t realize it… classic cars do not have the redundancies and warning lights found in modern vehicles. If you lose hydraulic pressure, a good handbrake can make a huge difference.
I made the video below so you can go out and practice, and should you ever have a system failure, at least you will have practiced safely bringing your car to a halt with the handbrake. Remember to start slowly and get used to the greater braking distances when you practice a handbrake stop. The front brakes do the lion’s share of braking, so it will take a lot longer to stop with just the handbrake. But a good handbrake can still stop your car effectively, as shown in this video. And one day, that good handbrake may just keep you safe.
Your handbrake is also an important diagnostic tool. Pulling the handbrake is the fastest way to determine if your rear brakes are functioning properly. I have purchased hundreds of classic cars over the past 20 or so years and a shocking percentage arrive here with non-working rear brakes. Pulling the handbrake has been a quick way to ascertain if the rear brakes are working or not.
Brake Shoes get wet with oil. The wheel cylinders leak or the axle seals leak (or both). Sometimes, the shoes are not properly secured to the backplates. Any and/or all of these things can diminish or destroy rear brake performance. It’s always smart to remove the drum and make a visual inspection. But if you pull the handbrake and nothing happens, you’ll need to make that inspection sooner rather than later.
We carry a full line of parts in our catalog to restore and optimize your braking system. We encourage you to make your rear brakes work perfectly! This will shorten your braking distance and make your car safer. Click the links below for more information on some of our brake components or click here to view our complete catalog!
People still think that straight water is fine for car cooling systems; this is a big mistake. There are multiple different reasons to use proper antifreeze in your Bugeye. Antifreeze lowers the freezing point of the liquid inside your cooling system, preventing cracked engine blocks.
Additionally, you need the anti-corrosion properties of antifreeze. The photo above was taken down inside the thermostat recess in a 1275 head that was run on water, perhaps for a long time. Freezing is not the issue in this case… the engine shown is in Florida. But you can see a remarkable amount of corroded metal has collected under the thermostat, all because water was used without antifreeze.
We were able to vacuum it all out (the pieces all seem to have collected in the pocket under the thermostat) and there should be minimal lasting damage. But please don’t make the same mistake. Regular old green 50/50 antifreeze is all you need to keep your corrosion down and your engine happy!
NOW SOLD to Alan in Florida! Congratulations! Great choice!
The more one looks at this car, the more it grows on you. These Alfas have a very seductive shape (and driving does not disappoint!) It’s not surprising that GTVs have become quite valuable.
I bought this car to keep and drive, and I am so busy driving customer cars to get them ready, I have no time for the Alfa, so it’s time to send the car to a new home. We have all loved having it in our Bugeyeguy “living room.” It’s art. Each time I walk past this beauty, I have to look and admire… It’s hard not to salivate over the style and elegance of this design.
Click read more (below) for a photo album!
