Earlier this month, we sent Cloud to its newest loving home in Ohio. Prior to its departure, we created a quick-start video to assist the new owner in getting to know the controls on their newest acquisition. This video will be helpful to anyone new to Bugeyes, and to all Bugeye owners that are looking looking for a refresher course on operating their car! Check out the video below!
I love old British transmissions. While the lack of synchronizers in first and reverse may dissuade some drivers from them, in practice, when shifted correctly, non-synchronized first/reverse gears are just not an issue. So what is the proper way to shift a Bugeye or Spridget transmission to keep from grinding the gears?
The easiest gear to grind is the unsynchronized first gear. It is perhaps reflex for some drivers to attempt to engage first gear while rolling through a stop sign, which invariably results in grinding. The fix is to come to a full stop and engage first. Alternatively, you can roll through while staying in second, which I do much of the time when driving my own cars. In the video below, taken earlier this year, I discuss a little bit about not only how to shift your Bugeye, but what RPMs to best shift at.
Another thing I have noticed from riding with a lot of new classic car owners is that they will sometimes accidentally catch first while shifting from second to third. The gates are pretty close together and the shift pattern is tight, and if you aren’t careful when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, grinding is the result. It’s easy to avoid doing this; simply keep a tad of pressure to the right as you push the lever forward, and the shifter will jump over slightly so it easily aligns with the synchronized third gear.
The other cardinal rule is to be gentle with the shifter, and to use light pressure. With good timing, the gear box will almost draw the shifter into gear, instead of the driver applying excessive force. The goal is to shift quickly, but gently. Challenge yourself to be 100% grind free.
If your Bugeye’s transmission is grinding, seek help! Either your driving style needs a small adjustment, or something is wrong with your driveline. A failing clutch slave cylinder or master cylinder can cause you to grind in multiple gears, as the hydraulic pressure isn’t enough to fully disengage the clutch. An improper or worn slave push rod can also cause this, as can a bent clutch fork. Each transmission only has so many grinds in it before they fail. If you keep grinding, your gears will (sadly) come to look like what you see in the above video.
Of course, the best way to avoid grinding a non-synchronized first gear is to install a fully synchronized five-speed Ford gearbox, which has the added benefit of an overdrive gear for an improved highway driving experience! Click the photo below to order one today!
Should you wish to retain the original feel of your four-speed gearbox but need to fix or replace the gearbox or any other related component, we carry a full line of driveline components to get your Bugeye back up and running! Click the photos below to learn more about some of our products, or click here for our full catalog!
More important than perhaps any other system on your Bugeye, the braking system is one that requires constant attention in order to operate at peak efficiency and prevent catastrophic failures. Nothing is more frightening than a car that cannot stop. In addition to the traditional shoe adjustments and leak hunting, there are other, harder-to-spot issues that can create just as big of an issue, like in the photo below, taken during a recent inspection.
Next time you get under your car, take a good look at your brake lines, particularly over the rear axle. On “Marvin,” the car shown here, we noticed a compressed segment, perhaps from an old tie-down strap that had compromised the steel line.
We replaced it for the new owner, to ensure optimum strength and integrity of this all important piece of safety equipment.
As our fleet ages, it’s worth taking a serious look at the overall quality of the hard brake lines on every one of these classic cars from this era. The old steel lines are looking more and more corroded these days, and we’ve been changing many hard lines in our building. The kit that we sell works well to remedy this need and you can find it linked in the photo below. Our hard brake line kit is made from a copper-nickel alloy that is easier to bend and flare than steel, has a higher burst rating, and most importantly, is corrosion-resistant!
And if you prefer to have us rebuild your hydraulic system, please give us a call. We’ll be happy to retrieve your car anywhere in the country and bring it to our shop for a spa session!
This week, we had a client of ours ask us about which rear axle ratio he had installed in his Bugeye. On a normal classic, determining this would involve jacking the rear wheels off of the ground and counting rotations on your driveshaft per 1 wheel rotation; however, on Bugeyes and Spridgets, it’s as easy as looking at the side of the differential carrier!
On each differential carrier, near the top above the hole where the rear brake union mounts, there is a flat boss; on that boss, there is a stamped number. This is the number of teeth on the pinion (the lower number) and the number of teeth on the ring gear (the larger number). In order to determine what ratio you have, just divide the larger number by the smaller number, and you have your ratio!
Bugeyes and Mark II Sprites/Mark I Midgets came from the factory with 4.22 axle ratios. Over the years, a lot of people have swapped in optional ratios from later years in an effort to keep RPMs down at higher speeds; 3.9 seems to be the popular swap as they were available for longer, but later 1500 Midgets could have 3.73 or even 3.55 ratios installed. The video below (shot all the way back in 2011!) explains how to tell what ratio is in your car, as well as some examples of RPM ranges for the different ratios.
If you find yourself swapping your differential, we offer other parts you will need to finish the job right! Click on the photos below for some examples or click here for our full catalog!
Stuck float bowl needles can stop your car from starting.
A carburetor fuel bowl works a lot like a toilet. As the fuel level in the bowl lowers, a float needle lowers along with it, allowing fuel to flow in from the fuel line and fill it back up as the carburetor uses it. Once the fuel level is full, the needle is pushed up into a tapered seat, where it will rest until it needs to allow fuel back in.
While not a problem inherent to storage of your Bugeye, long periods of rest can certainly contribute to a stuck float needle or two. What generally happens is a small amount of “gunk” gets on the tip of the float needle (the source of this gunk is unclear but a lot of people connect it to ethanol in today’s fuels) and makes the tip sticky, which makes it hang up in its seat.
Slave cylinders are perhaps the most common maintenance item on a Bugeye sprites (and on most classic British cars). Of the more than 400 cars we have moved through our building, most have had leaking slaves. As a result, we have changed more than we care to admit, to help keep hydraulic fluid off the ground and to keep Bugeye clutches moving.
The root cause, by the way, is moisture… hydraulic fluid absorbs moisture, and that moisture corrodes the cylinder bores, and then the leaks are soon to follow. Inexpensive slaves made from inferior components and metals seem to corrode faster, with more frequent and pronounced pitting in the bores, and thus they fail faster.
Over the years, we have tried multiple slaves in an effort to find the best one that lasts the longest, and we prefer the slave we offer for sale in our catalog. There are cheaper cylinders available, and it might be tempting to purchase a $20 or $30 slave, but if you value your time you’ll buy the best slave you can and do the job once. Bleeding slaves is never fun, and if you go cheap, you’ll be back under your car again in no time flat, doing the job all over again. Trust me, I have field tested all of them, and the inexpensive ones are just plain junk.
The other thing about changing a slave (whether you do it once or multiple times) is the challenge you face removing the top bolt. Because the frame is so close, you can barely get a wrench on it, and you certainly have limited swing. Thus a lot of the time for this job is spent wrestling with that one fastener.
What we do, which you can see in the video above, is a slotted slave system that allows you to save time. This way, you slide the slave under the top bolt without needing to completely remove that time consuming bolt. This is a Bugeyeguys exclusive that makes the install and removal of your slave that much easier. And if you have any reservation about the strength of this item, we have field tested dozens and they work great!
This is a premier European-built slave, the best we have found to date, modified to enhance for your install experience. If your cheap one hasn’t failed yet, it will soon! Get one today by clicking the photo above or by clicking here! And don’t forget to change your hydraulic fluid annually, to get the moisture out.
Click the photos below for other important components in your clutch system, or click here for the complete catalog!
