Bugeye maintenance

Steering rack slop

April 12, 2024 by bugeyeguy

This week, we have been hard at work putting the finishing touches on a Bugeye that came to us for an extensive mechanical restoration. Part of this restoration included doing a front disc brake conversion with new front lever shocks, new outer tie rod ends and camber-adjusting control arms, which we used to adjust asymmetry in the front end due to prior crashes. You can see these new components installed on the car below in the photo of the suspension taken earlier this week.

*All-new front suspension components have completely transformed this Bugeye into a great driver!*

While performing our typical final test drives, which we do to work out any “bugs” we encounter (centering the steering wheel, for example), I noticed a looseness, or “flutter”, coming from the right front wheel. The video below helps to explain this feeling and what can cause it:

Worn steering rack!

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Done-for driveshafts

April 5, 2024 by bugeyeguy

A Bugeye’s driveshaft is a vital link between the transmission and rear axle. Without it, you’re going nowhere. It is important to make sure your shaft is in good working order, which means checking the universal joints for play.

*An exploded view of a Bugeye driveshaft.*

A customer’s car came to us recently with a “clunk” coming from the drivetrain- watch the video below and you’ll immediately understand why!

Ideally, you want your driveshaft to be free from any amount of play in the joints. This way the power from the engine and transmission can get transferred to the rear wheels with the least amount of lost motion.

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Owner-tested, owner-approved!

March 22, 2024 by bugeyeguy

It’s pure bliss for me to be able to test drive a client’s car on a meaningful 60 minute outing because it allows me to confirm that we haven’t missed anything in our restoration process. It also allows me to enjoy the satisfaction of driving a very well sorted classic sports car that can compete in the modern landscape.

I wish there were more business owners who thoroughly tested their products like this… customer service in the world would be at a much higher level if this were the case. Be that as it may, at least in our little world, all of our cars are owner-tested and certified before they go home.

Click “read more” below to see a video tour!

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Suspect suspension: have you checked your king pins lately?

March 15, 2024 by bugeyeguy

New Kin pin bushings are nearly useless unless up/down play is properly shimmed (not so here!)

Most Spridget front suspensions have excess play (they’ve had a hard life). Tightening things up pays immediate dividends, both in performance and sure-footedness. Spridgets (and lots of other cars of the era) ride on a solid king pin. The swivel axle that rides on the king pin has bronze bushings pressed in place, and those bushings are prone to wear, especially if they are not greased regularly, as the pair of videos in this post can attest.

Lower swivel axle bushings need frequent greasing

King pin suspension systems have a lot of parts, many more than a ball joint system does. That means many more opportunities for wear, and for part failures. The threads on the fulcrum pin, constantly turning in the control arm as the car goes over bumps, hills, and around curves, wear out, creating slop in the control arm. The repeated vertical motion wears the thrust washer, creating up-and-down slop. Years of constant contact with the road and turning wears the upper and lower bushings, creating lateral slop. The lever shock, which also serves as the upper control arm on Bugeyes, wears internally, creating a harsh ride and affecting the suspension geometry.

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How to break a Bugeye Sprite Windshield

March 1, 2024 by bugeyeguy

This is a Bugeye public service announcement.

Don’t push your car by the windshield frame, and when removing yourself from the cockpit, don’t use the windshield frame to pull yourself up, or you can break the glass as shown in the photo.

This particular car has a dried and rotten glazing rubber anyway, so it was overdue for a change, but this breakage was completely avoidable.

When pushing your Bugeye, the safest places to push from are from the rear edge of the cockpit and the front edge of the cockpit. These are some of the most rigid areas on the car and no damage will result from pushing in these locations.

Should your Bugeye windscreen need restoration, we can help! Send us your windshield and stanchions and we can repair your windscreen frame, re-tap any stripped threaded holes (a common occurrence after almost 70 years of steel screws in aluminum frames), powder coat the frame and stanchions in silver, and even install new glass for you! We offer this service in our catalog, which you can view by clicking the photo below or by clicking here.

Should you want to tackle this project yourself, we offer all of the parts necessary to do this job. We even sell the glass for the windshield! However, as this is a complicated and expensive item to ship, we do not list it on our website, so call us if you would like to order the glass. Click on the photos below for more information on each component or click here to view our full catalog!

*Windshield glass glazing rubber with lock strip (Bugeyes with 2-stud windshield through 1962)*

*Windshield-to-body gasket (Bugeyes with 2-stud windshield frames through 1962)*

*Windshield post pad set (Bugeye through 1962)*

*Windshield stanchion to frame screw kit (Bugeyes through 1962)*

*Windshield stanchion to body hardware kit (Bugeye through 1962)*

*No-drill windshield post mirror set (takes the place of the rearmost stanchion screw) (Bugeye through 1962)*

How to care for the gears inside your Bugeye Sprite gearbox

January 30, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Here’s a video we first posted in 2014… it’s worth revisiting to help preserve Sprite gears worldwide!

Bugeye gear boxes last forever if well cared-for, but many people are heavy handed with their shift levers and grind going into first or gnash going into other gears. A slow hand helps! I like to think that every old gear box I meet draws my shifter into gear rather than me forcing the lever (and potentially creating wear). This is true when driving all old cars. Double clutching also helps on down shifts, and we have other videos that describe how to do this.

In the video above you can see the carnage from sloppy shifting. Fortunately, a rebuilt gearbox for a Sprite is far less expensive than one for a late model car, so even the most smashed gears can be replaced. But with good care, they are very stout and will last the life of the car and beyond!

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