Bugeye Basics

Lift the dot

January 31, 2025 by bugeyeguy

We have mounted more than 100 Sprite tonneaus in our shop over the years, and you would think we had seen it all… yet we keep discovering new configurations of the wrong top and tonneau hardware on the cars the come through our building. Here’s a new video about the latest variant.

Lift dot fittings on the yellow car are hard to unfasten when they are under lateral tension, and that is one reason why twist fittings are used; they are more cooperative when fastening the tonneau on the B pillar of your car.

*This car has the incorrect lift-the-dot studs installed on the rear deck, which are difficult to undo under lateral tension.*

*This car showcases the correct arrangement for the rear deck of a Bugeye, two Tenax fittings (left and center) and a “Common Sense” twist fitting (right).*

Regardless of your Bugeye’s rear deck arrangement, we have all the hardware in our parts catalog to make your unique setup work. Hopefully this video and photos will help you get your car right if you are working on a restoration; if you need to locate new hardware, we have templates available to help you get their location correct! Click the photos below for more info on tonneau hardware or click here for our full catalog!

*Long tonneau/soft top deck fitting kit, MALE (fitted to body of car)*

*Long tonneau fitting kit, FEMALE (fitted directly to tonneau)*

*Chrome top/tonneau rear bar retainer (two required)*

*Top/tonneau rear deck fitting template (Bugeye only)*

*Dashboard tonneau fitting template (Bugeye only)*

Bugeye Sprite video owner’s manual-Bugeye operation basics

December 20, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Here’s a new series of videos recorded to walk new owners through proper operation of their Sprite. The car featured here is Righty (pictured throughout this post), a superb RHD Bugeye we sold recently to its next home in San Francisco, and I made these videos for the new owner… I thought you might enjoy them as well. These videos are useful for anyone wanting to learn the basics of Sprite operation and driving.

Right-hand drive Bugeye controls may seem daunting at first, but in reality they are no different than a standard North American Bugeye! Did you know that the vast majority of Bugeyes were LHD for the US market? It’s pretty rare to find an original home market RHD car in the USA.

In the videos below, I pay special attention to how to be kind to your original gearbox, and how to double clutch, too. Enjoy!

Hosed

October 18, 2024 by bugeyeguy

The flexible hoses in our braking systems are often overlooked. The original hoses had a herringbone-type pattern and haven’t been manufactured in many years, so we know all those should be discarded. They tend to swell from the inside and can block the smooth flow of brake fluid, or worse, can rupture, and then you’ll lose ALL braking power.

This one is an extreme example of what can happen if you allow your rubber brake hoses to age without replacement. Swelling like this will allow brake pressure to travel TO the brakes, but not FROM them, basically creating a check valve and making your brakes stick.

The hose pictured below had an age issue, and was also badly chafed.

Take a look at your hoses; they should at the very least be from this century! All the current generation of hoses are date stamped, and I would change them if they are more than 8-10 years old.

*Modern rubber brake hoses are stamped with their manufacture date. This one, being 21 years old (and also damaged) means its time for replacement.*

Should you need new brake hoses, we have a full range of hoses available to suit your Bugeye or Spridget’s needs. Click on the photos below to order, or click here for our full catalog!

*Brake hose kit – all Bugeyes/Spridgets with front DRUM brakes* *(rubber hoses)*

*Brake hose kit – all Bugeyes/Spridgets with front DRUM brakes (stainless steel braided hoses)*

*Brake hose kit – all Bugeyes/Spridgets with front DISC brakes (rubber hoses)*

*Brake hose kit – all Bugeyes/Spridgets with front DISC brakes (stainless steel hoses)*

Battery Fires made easy

October 4, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Please take a look at your battery hold down… we too often see what is shown below, which is a flat metal strip on a slippery plastic case, begging to slide into the terminals to make sparks and then fire.

*A battery hold-down like this is just asking for trouble. The only thing worse than this is no hold-down at all.*

We suggest that you get a sealed battery with the terminals on the backside against the firewall. Typically a Bugeye with the original positive-ground configuration takes a group 24 battery, whereas with negative ground cars, we use a group 24F. We also strongly suggest using an angled battery hold down (which we sell here) for the leading edge of the battery. Secure it with nyloc nuts so it can’t loosen. And you will have a nice insurance policy that your Sprite won’t ignite at the wrong time.

We have only had one fire in nearly 20 years, and it came from a sliding battery on a newly-arrived car with no hold down. The battery hot lead hit the unshrouded (and grounded) heater cable and sparks lit the plastic battery box on fire.

Don’t do that to your Bugeye Sprite!

Bugeye Sprite emergency brake

September 13, 2024 by bugeyeguy

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!

*Bodhi says be sure your handbrake is in tip-top shape!*

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.

*An example of compromised rear brake components… gear oil leaked inside this rear brake system, oiled the shoes and made rear braking non-existent.*

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!

*“Wet” rear brake rehab kit for leaky axles (All Spridgets)*

*Sprite/Midget rear brake spring kit (EARLY rear drum brakes only)*

*Handbrake/emergency brake cable (thru 1976)*

*Premium Sprite Rear Wheel Cylinder with boot – Early Type (sold individually)*

Tonneaus: a Bugeye’s most important accessory!

July 26, 2024 by bugeyeguy

We’re working on Milano this week to get it ready for its new owner. In particular, we are addressing its long tonneau that was fit over short tonneau fittings. In the video below, you can see why we feel that a new short tonneau is the correct remedy for this situation.

Of course, we could remove the short tonneau fittings and put in metal plugs, but the little dimples left behind in the vinyl are probably going to be there for life since the vinyl has gone through many heat cycles in its current configuration over the short nipples.

*You can see in this photo the row of short tonneau studs poking into the vinyl on the long tonneau, which is incorrect and damages the tonneau.*

Tonneaus are vital to the enjoyment of all open-cockpit classic cars of this vintage, so we’ve installed hundreds of them, and the short tonneau distinction continues to be an issue for many people who don’t know the difference, thus we felt another post might be helpful.

If you need a new tonneau, long or short, feel free to give us a call or order one by clicking on the photos below! Click here for our full catalog!