bugeyeguy – Page 23

From mild to wild! The many different flavors of Bugeye

May 3, 2024 by bugeyeguy

One of the most exciting parts of the day in our workshop is that every one of these cars has a different personality. They’re such simple cars, and you would think that they’d all be pretty much the same, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, here are two cars that are radically different from one another; there’s a very strong community for each one of these flavors!

*“Fiona” is a perfect example of a stock Bugeye in a factory Sprite color. Click the photo above to learn more!*

Some of our clients just want to noodle around town, and for that application a stock 948 Bugeye is just perfect. Pictured here is “Fiona”, a 1960 Bugeye that was a California car its entire life, and is an older restoration. It is pretty much completely stock and drives how a Bugeye would have rolling off the show room floor in 1960. If you would like to learn more about Fiona, you can watch the driving video below or click here for more information!

Some of our other clients are enamored exhaust note and horsepower, and want a car that’s pushed out towards the limit. For these clients, “Sweet Spot” would be the car for them!

*“Sweet Spot” is an example of the radical, tire-squealing performance machine a Bugeye can become! Click the photo to learn more!*

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Screaming 1380cc five-speed Super Sprite for sale! Long list of mods!

April 26, 2024 by bugeyeguy

NOW SOLD to James in New York! Congrats on taking this fantastic Bugeye home! #410!!

NEW driving video! Vroom!

The NEW walk-around video below showcases the many custom features on this car!

Bugeyes were cheap when new, so it’s easy to find one online that needs a long list of upgrades… here is a car that has just about every upgrade we have available. This car is “in the sweet spot,” with tons of improvements for reliability and performance. Spot is ready to go now with no wait! Ready for your Spring!

Sweet Spot has returned to our shop and is now for sale!

We have owned this car three different times and for each owner, the car has jumped-up several levels. Spot is now set-up perfectly, with all the best stuff. This is a rare opportunity to buy an extremely well-modified and sorted Bugeye Sprite. It would take a lot of money and time to build a new car this good so if you are looking for a hot Bugeye, check this one out.

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Revisiting our 150th Bugeye Sold!

April 26, 2024 by bugeyeguy

The Blue Bugeye we called “Marsha” was a milestone, our 150th out the door (now we’re up to 408!). Here’s Cici, the proud new owner of #150, united with her car at home in the Lake Tahoe area.

When I bought my first Bugeye “Gumby” back in 1979, I never would have guessed that one car (and the passion that ensued) would one day result in such a robust Bugeye business.

*Gumby in current livery. This car (and our business) has come a long way!*

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Sweet 1966 MGB GT for sale, new interior and thorough service!

April 25, 2024 by bugeyeguy

NOW SOLD to Gordon in Minnesota! Congrats on taking home this awesome MGBGT!

Hey British car lover… this is a very special car, and if you’re unfamiliar with these, we hope you’ll take a close look!

I have my own so I am biased… but I believe this to be one of the best classic cars that I have owned. Here’s why… it’s very comfortable. It holds a lot of gear. It has tons of style. It’s really fun to drive. It cruises well. It looks like a million bucks. It has a very sleek and sexy shape (much more novel than the roadster).

The pre-68 cars are the ones to have because of their superior metal dash and vintage period gauges and feel. They have more power than later cars, better ride height, chrome bumpers, no backup lights for a cleaner vintage look, best badges, best grill, no side reflectors, etc!!!

We did a massive amount of work last year on this 1966 MGB GT for the prior owner. We put in an all new leather interior and carpet kit to make the interior strikingly nice. We installed period-looking three-point retractable seat belts when we restored the interior, which are mounted on custom brackets we fabricated, and entire interior is now beautiful. We also went through and replaced any perishable mechanical items, such as new rubber hoses and oil cooler lines, as well as new rear wire wheel splines and brakes, so the entire car has been refreshed. This one is easy to drive, and beautiful!

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Overridden

April 20, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Bugeye rear bumpers aren’t so much bumpers as they are decorative chrome for the rear of the car, but nevertheless they serve as a very important buffer between the rear sheet metal of the car and the general driving public. While uncomplicated, there is still a right and wrong way to install rear bumpers on your Sprite. In the video below, I explain how to fit rear Sprite overriders for accurate alignment and maximum protection!

In addition to proper alignment, having the bumpers installed incorrectly can cause an interference issue with the exhaust, discoloring the chrome and ruining an otherwise perfectly nice overrider.

With the upper brackets installed upside down, the overriders sit too low on the car, which on the left-hand side can cause an interference issue with the exhaust and discolor the chrome, especially if the tail pipe is a little shorter than stock.

*With the upper bracket installed correctly, the bumperette sits higher on the car, making exhaust interference much less of an issue. A muffler with a longer tail pipe is also helpful for this.*

Should you need to replace or upgrade your Bugeye’s rear overriders, we offer a full line of parts to do so! Click the photos below to learn more or click here for our complete catalog!

*Rear overrider (Bugeye only) (sold individually)*

*Complete Bugeye rear bumper kit with new chrome overriders*

*Rear bumper lower bracket (Bugeye only)*

*Rear bumper upper bracket (Bugeye only)*

*Overrider stiffener bracket (Bugeye only)*

*Rear bumper upper bracket isolator pad (Bugeye only)*

Tub talk

April 19, 2024 by bugeyeguy

It is no small feat to restore any automobile from the ground-up. The Frogeye Sprite unibody tub (or monocoque for our friends across the Big Pond) is a stout little foundation, but that doesn’t stop these little buggers from taking abuse. After roughly 65 years, one accumulates lots of scars.

This car featured here is no exception. It looked like a pretty sound car with its peeling paint attached, but once we blasted the structure and removed all the paint and filter, we were left with quite a massive project. Most of these cars need floor work and other structural work to the floor pan, and this tub was no different. Several layers of floor were present on this one and they all needed to be removed before the repairs could commence.

Many of these cars also need rocker panels, as this one did.

*Here’s what the inner structure of a Bugeye looks like at the rocker panel.*

This car also needed a lot of gap adjusting to make sure the doors would fit nicely with uniform gaps. The pictures below show how one of the door gaps was massaged into position; this has to be done for both gaps on both doors.

*First, the door edge is built up with weld, then ground down until the desired gap is achieved.*

This car also had a massive hit in the right rear corner that dislocated the license plate depression in the back of the car. Filler was used to fill the void from the prior repair, so we cut out everything. We cut out the crumpled up trunk floor in that area as well, and then welded in all new sections to bring this car back into spec. Click “read more” to see the process in action!

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