With supply chain issues and pandemic closures, it sometimes feels like the world is broken right now. But we had a jump on everyone else… British classic car world was broken long before the pandemic arrived. Our day is spent with broken things, and our job is to figure out efficient ways to keep everything moving forward nonetheless.
[Read more…] about Broken things scoreboard
I call this display our Rusty Swan Manifesto.
These are quarter elliptical springs from Greg’s Bugeye, which, as you might remember from last week’s post, were found to be sagging and rusty. Here’s how they look on the floor once Terry extracted them. One great way to make peace with messes like these is to call them art.
We cleaned out the spring pockets, rust-proofed them and loaded in new springs and shims. The photos below show the result. The available springs are all too tall but our wedges fix that issue, so Greg’s car now looks and rides right!
[Read more…] about Bugeye SwanPinion seals, (like everything else in our world), leak.
We change a lot of them. And while the $2.49 seal this is often a great solution (click here if you need one), we all need to be very aware that there is often more to the story. The seal is only part of the battle. What rides on the seal is often the issue.
[Read more…] about Pinion Minion
Quarter elliptical leaf springs on Mark 1 and 2 Sprites are an integral part of any restoration, and a frequent part of the upgrade work that routinely goes on in our shop. Many of the original springs are fanned out or “exploded.” Road dirt seems to get jammed under each leaf, which contributes to this issue, and can lead to a need for leaf spring replacement.
Add to that the recurring load of (usually) a single driver and a lot of miles over 60 years and you might find a pair of springs like what you see here. In this case, the driver side spring is starting to invert, as you can see in the picture below. This causes the car to sag on the driver side. So the remedy is a new set of leaf springs, (which you can find by clicking here).
We try to avoid removing the springs because we prefer the ride quality and ride height of the original. But If you want to level a car which is sagging as shown, you have to change the springs and then lower the rear end of the car with our shims (which are sold in our kit).
Here’s another installment in our Sprite video owner’s manual. In this edition, the focus is weather equipment, which applies to all mark one and two Sprites.
Above is my white Bugeye “Cole” rigged with our red soft top and side curtains, as shown in the video below. This Sprite is my “winter workhorse” (at least when the roads are dry). Meanwhile, my wife has her blue Bugeye “Iris” set-up with an original blue hardtop, so we can use both cars through the winter. Both cars have good working heaters and blowers, which makes a difference too.
We don’t take them out if the roads are salty, but in our region, we enjoy many perfectly good driving days with temperatures in the 30s and even 40s, with dry roads. We used both Bugeyes extensively through this November, for example, and even if a big storm means a break from driving, we’ll often get a rain storm to wash the roads clean once again, for another few mid-winter weeks of salt-free driving. Thus we never have to put the cars “away for the winter” and can keep them exercised periodically all winter long.
Your climate may not be as favorable to such “shoulder seasons,” but if you live in a place that has mild winters, the weather gear shown here can make a big difference and extend your driving season dramatically.
We sell new tops, new side curtains, new top bows, top bags and window bags, all at your site. We also sell fitting templates and fittings in our parts catalog, so you can be sure to get all the fasteners in the right location on your car. There’s no better way to run holiday errands than in your Sprite!
You might not have looked an original bias ply tire for a stock Bugeye Sprite recently, but they were thin. And slippery.
They didn’t put much stress on the original caged ball bearings that came on the Bugeye Sprite, no matter how hard you drove ‘em, because the tire was the weak link and slid before the forces exceeded the design limitations of the original wheel bearing.
Fast forward to the modern bug eyed driver (like me) who is ripping around turns flat out with 165 series (wider than stock) tires with maximum adhesion and soft radial rubber and you’ll begin to understand why this post might be particularly important for you. These modern tapered wheel bearings are significantly stronger and a superior design which will help your hubs manage the bearing stress you are regularly dishing out. That’s why on just about every car that comes to our building gets these tapered wheel bearings as shown. It’s a really smart thing to do for your car.
Over the years we’ve had one caged bearing lock-up on one car (fortunately at a slow speed) but for my money I think this is one of the best upgrades any Sprite owner can do. These will fit every Spridget from 1958 through 1980. Click here to get yours today and give your bearings a break!
