When was the last time you inspected your water pump bypass hose?

Please take a close look before you attack the roads this driving season, because this little hose will ruin your day if it fails on the road. Don’t leave yours unattended, like the one shown here.

If you are unfamiliar, this little hose bridges a port on the water pump to the engine head. You can see it in the top center of the photo below, its the corrugated hose that is horribly cracked.

This one is all done, and needs to changed ASAP. Corrugated is popular, since the hose is hard to get in place and the corrugations allow you to compress the hose to get it between the two nipples. We find that straight hose if far more durable. So if you order one of our bypass hoses, that’s what you’ll get.

You’ll find this repair a lot easier with the radiator removed. And while you are at it, now is a good time to upgrade your cooling system for hot weather driving ahead. Nothing is worse than waiting on a long line to get into a car show while watching your temperature climb to dangerous levels. These are easy to install when the water pump is removed.

We recommend a new six blade cooling fan and, aluminum radiator. We change water pumps proactively too while all this is apart, since the seals can fail and cause coolant leaks. I suggest you fit a deep impeller pump even if you have a 948 engine. You might have to remove a tiny bit of cast iron inside the water jacket to get it to fit, but you will move more water with every revolution. Of course a new thermostat is a good idea too while the cooling system is drained.

There is no such thing as too much cooling on your Spridget. The products listed will help you enjoy the hot weather that lies ahead! The heater valve is a common leak point, so you might want to carry a spare.

This is “Suzy,” a 1959 Bugeye we recently sold to Jim in Virginia. This is the 245th Bugeye to pass through our shop (I still can’t believe that number. Gumby, thank you for finding me back in 1979 and starting it all!).

If you are wondering what is the latest and greatest we can offer to make a nice Bugeye even better, check out the pile of goodies below that we will heap into this car, to make it as reliable as possible and to give this little car quite a 60-ish anniversary celebration.

By the way, thank you Jim and all of you who take home our cars, visit our website and frequent our parts catalog. You help us grow and help us keep these cars alive.

Save the date-June 2, 2019 I will be at the British by the Sea car show in New London, CT, with our Green electric FrogE called “Sparky.” I look forward to thanking you in person if you can make it!

Let’s go to the video tape! You can see Suzy’s upgrade shopping spree below. All these goodies are available in our parts catalog, which you can access by clicking here. Just type the name of the particular product you fancy in the search window on the catalog home page for more details and information. And we have several great cars in stock at the moment, let us build/modify/upgrade one just for you!

Why are Sprite door knobs so varied? Just when we think we have fondled every variety of Home Depot drawer pull, a new variant arrives. Whether brass or wood, Bugeye owners have been creative over the years. Almost every Bugeye comes to us needing some sort of knob-job. So what gives?

Early cars had it made. Cars up to AN5L 10343 had solid bars to operate their latches, as shown in the photo above. No knob was needed. These worked splendidly, and for some unknown reason, the factory went with a shorter handle with a hole, designed to receive a knob.

The knobs were held onto the latch with a splined twist rivet that was pressed into the latch from behind. This was not one of the best designs to come out of Britain, because these have mostly vibrated apart. Bugeye knobs are almost universally missing. I am betting they came loose, fell into the door pocket, and, as the masonite pockets rotted away, fell onto the roadway, and joined all the other British car parts found on the side of the road.

Industrious owners were not to be defeated, and made custom knobs in wood turning class, or stole the finest knobs in their kitchen (while their spouses were not looking) and cobbled together their own custom Bugeye Sprite door pulls. The world used to be that way. Things would occasionally fall off of cars and people would make things to fix them.

Life was good.

Now, we are getting a little more serious. And so we demand a proper knob that looks like the one that came from the factory. Only this knob is better than ever, and comes with a nyloc nut on a machine thread stud that will withstand whatever vibration you throw at it, even if one of your SU carbs stops functioning at idle, or two of our spark plugs become fouled with oil. These things will stay on through the next dinosaur age.

The correct knob is shown above. Click here if you would like to order a pair.

At the risk of beating this point to death, aged-out tires that still “look new” are a bad thing. I’ve bought a lot of cars with tires touted by sellers as brand new with very few miles. Make sure you ask the age. This week, I put some old “new’ tires to the test.

I have been to Connecticut’s gigantic tire pond tire dump and it is a horrific site, disposed tires make a big mess, so I had previously been reluctant to discard tires when they have few miles, regardless of their age. But I have recently become quite a convert, primarily because supple rubber on Sprites dramatically improves ride quality.

We restored the 1954 MGTF shown above for a customer from Alabama. We changed the wiring harness and completely rebuilt the suspension and brakes. When it came to final road testing, I was surprised to see just how poorly the car stopped. The tires seemed to skate on the asphalt when I applied the brake, and lock-up at a surprising rate. Further inspection of the tires revealed the cracks between the treads, as shown below.

When rubber dries out, the tread blocks can’t engage the texture of the asphalt as well as softer new rubber. Don’t be fooled if no cracks are present… some tires age without cracking but have still hardened with time and lost their mojo. I had a selling dealer recently tell me his Sprite’s tires were perfect because no cracks were present. But the date stamp was more then 19 years old. He will not have the benefit of experiencing the difference once we put new tires on that car. It’s quite noticeable, and about the best thing you can do for your Sprite (and your butt).

I am sure some classic car owners justify keeping old tires because they never travel more than 30 or 40 miles per hour. But new tires dramatically reduce stopping distance, and optimal panic stops are required at every speed.

Needless to say, this MGTF will get new Sprint Classic tires this week. New Spridget tires are available by clicking here. Email if you want 13 inch Vredestein Sprint classics, which are available, although a bit more money than the Kumhos we stock.