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
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!
For the past few months, we have been reviving this green radical Bugeye beast for the new owner. This is perhaps the most powerful Bugeye we have ever had in our building, and certainly the widest. The car is not for sale, although it might be in the future. But while it’s here, we thought we would share some pix and video, as well as the specs of this Bugeye variant.
The car has been sitting for roughly the last 15 years, so, as is common, we had to drain the fuel, change the fuel pump, clean the injectors, rebuild the calipers and replace all the stuck hydraulic components. We changed the front tires since they were cracked and not holding air. We had hoped that the monstrous rear tires would still provide some grip even though they are old (at least to test drive the car) but, as it turns out, the rear tires are so old and dried-out that my test drives were like driving on ice. There is so much power that the old tires just can’t hook up, even when warm. So new rear tires are on the way.
The car is a beast, with tons of power and will certainly be even more fun to drive once we get the new tires mounted! Come for a test drive in the video below:
If you are wondering about it’s components:
It was built as an autocross/track car & it was a contender for the national SCCA E Modified title. Equipped with a 250 horsepower Mazda 13B Bridgeported Rotary engine, & a Saenz Racing 5-speed transmission. Has a fiberglass tilt 1 piece front clip with nice flares + an integral air dam + the “BugEye” headlights shaved off. It has a Halon Fire-X system, Fuel cell with a Cobra filler neck that is centered on the rear deck (similar to how it would be located on a Shelby Cobra), Electromotive Tech II engine management & ignition system, Haltech programmable fuel injection, power steering with a narrowed Corvette steering rack, adjustable coil-over suspension with Fox adjustable racing shocks on the front & Koni coil-over shocks on the rear, 5-link rear suspension with Watts-linkage, 4-wheel disc brakes, JFZ 4-piston front brake calipers, Tilton pedals & master cylinders, braided stainless hoses. 13×10 & 13×12 alloy wheels.
Above you can see the video tour of the car we posted a few weeks ago. Notice the immense exhaust channel in the passenger seat area-it’s a true one seater. The car has two large mufflers and it is still pretty loud!
There is little in life more satisfying than removing a 948 manifold and exhaust system in favor of a relatively massive header and larger center exhaust pipe. Breathing is good. And even if this improvement adds just 3 or 4 horsepower to your little 948 engine, it just feels so good to do this, you may want to give it a try.
In the case of the photos below, you can see the 948 engine in our Bugeye “Mikki,” which we are upgrading before it departs for a new life in Ohio with new a new dad (Rob).
Above is the stock set up. You can see the tiny original exhaust pipe mated to the manifold. That joint between the two is a chronic problem (always leaking) and this is another benefit of fitting the header you see below. You can also see how much more gracefully the gases will flow out of your engine once the header is fit as shown below.
This car is also got larger HS2 new carbs as part of the package of upgrades we’ll do to this car before it leaves our shop. This is an awesome upgrade, as the new carbs are not worn out like most SUs out there in the world, and they are also larger than the stock H1s. So here we will put more fuel in, and more gas out. We cap that off with K&N air filters, so that all this breathing happens unobstructed.
This is our Spridget sculpture of the week!
Indian summer top-down Bugeye nights are that much sweeter with powerful headlights. Last night was just such a night, and out testing “Willis,” I was happy to capture the power of our new LED H4 headlight combo. This is our brightest yet, and with the low amperage draw of LEDs, no add-on relays are required.
Modern cars have become firestorms of light, and these bulbs are the best thing we have found to compete in the modern world.
Thus we have a plug and play headlight and bulb combo that is super bright and easy to use. If you want this kind of brightness when your high beams are lit, click here to order a set for your Sprite (or any other British classic that uses 7 inch headlight bulbs).
Below you can see these bulbs mounted in “Willis,” where you can see the nifty Cibie-style lens. The LED light is white hot and modern-looking on the road at night. The lens is vintage looking and nostalgic by day! It is nearly impossible to see the LED bulb inside when the lights are off… only when lit do these come alive!
Here’s one of the more radical Bugeyes we’ve seen yet! This car has been completely transformed into a purpose-built racer for SCCA Solo 2. I don’t have the records-it’s not our car, it’s here for us to make it work once again-so I don’t know how it performed. But the build is impeccable, with dozens of modifications. The suspension and rear end bear little resemblance to an original Bugeye. And the rotary engine is of course an amazing compact yet powerful upgrade!
Take a good look at the underside pictures… the builder cut out a space for the new exhaust and ran it through the passenger seat area, and built a custom braced box to allow this modification without compromising frame strength. There are numerous custom features.
The new owner has wanted to make this a street legal car… but it is so dedicated to speed and handling, I am not sure that will be possible, and it would seem to be smartest to keep this machine a dedicated racer.
We’ll get this rocket running in the coming weeks, once we change the master cylinders and fuel pump, to get all the systems operational again. Stand by for great driving video!
