Modified Bugeyes

Flip-forward basics

April 12, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Bugeye bonnets are notoriously heavy and cumbersome, and as such can be hard to open, especially if you have a bad back. By adding our flip-forward nose kit, you can not only make the engine compartment infinitely more accessible for service (all but eliminating the painful bonnet “head bonk” inherent to Bugeye ownership), but also make the nose much easier to open and close!

The above video explains the ins and outs of flip-forward Bugeye noses; how to open and close them securely, how you can add rigidity to a floppy nose, and a basic overview of what comes in our flip-nose kits. All of the parts mentioned in the video are available for purchase, which you can do by clicking the photos below, or click here for our complete parts catalog!

*Bonnet “X” bracing* *(1 kit does both sides)*

Flip Flopping Fiberglass

January 26, 2024 by bugeyeguy

We spend a remarkable amount of time working on Bugeye noses. One cannot handle more than 500 Frogeyes without becoming a nose master… none of them fit. All of them need help. All of them have had some form of trauma. We are forever adjusting and refitting them.

The flip forward option is a delightful innovation, especially for our aging lower backs that enjoy the relative ease with which flip-forward noses flip. It’s a lot less work to flip a nose than hoisting one with conventional hinges. And with flip nose conversions come a set of new challenges… frame horns have to be parallel and we are frequently re-aligning those too.

In the pictures here or you see another unique nose challenge. This is a fiberglass nose (on the teal car “Priscilla“) with minimal structure, which made for a very floppy taco shell. We are gifted to have Ken on staff who is a master fabricator, and he constructed a gorgeous inner superstructure to give this droopy nose much more rigidity. In these photos, you can see the initial templates he made for the panels he cut to make a new radiator shroud, thereby adding structural integrity to a nose that was pretty much just flapping in the breeze.

I am beaming to see this innovative repair… we faced a complex challenge to add more rigidity to a wiggly piece of fiberglass in order to better control the nose fit. And now, with Ken’s help, we forged a solution and thus now have the means to fine tune this nose and control its movement. Now, this nose has a fan shroud structure to add much-needed rigidity.

Another Bugeye has now been transformed!

Superb Super Sprite Bugeye build with wire wheel conversion

January 19, 2024 by bugeyeguy

We are building a very special stock-looking Bugeye that is superbly modified, and I wanted to take this opportunity to give you a video tour of some of the nifty upgrades.

This is “Jesse,” a car that was already a top-shelf car, that we are upgrading to the highest level. In particular, we are converting the car from minilight wheels to chrome wire wheels. We now offer a kit to accomplish this properly. We are not fond of the bolt-on kit that we encounter on cars that come through our building, but this new kit is just like the original, with the proper press-on splines. Watch the video below to learn more!

Stay tuned for more Jesse updates, this car is also getting front tube shocks, new Connolly hides and a very fancy sound system!

Looking to convert your bolt-on wheels to wire wheels? Check out our ALL-NEW wire wheel conversion kit by clicking here!

We can transform your Bugeye! Give us a call or shoot us an email to inquire about sending your car to our shop for all the upgrades your heart desires!

Bugeye as Sculpture

December 29, 2023 by bugeyeguy

What’s your sculpture?

Most of the cars we receive are waiting for their finishing touches. In fact, almost every one of the 400 Bugeyes we have shipped has had some form of custom build-out with personalized accessories. Sprites lend themselves to customization, and so each car represents an opportunity to build “the ultimate.”

In the case of “Ozzy,” which is currently for sale in our inventory, we wanted to explore what could be done to add more zing, so we tried black wheels first as you can see below.

Then we went further with a chopped windshield and blacked-out chrome. You choose… these are just photo shop mock-ups to test the appeal.

You can choose any car in our inventory and add Stripes, or colored components, or any features you like. Which do you like best? Give a call if you would like us to build your personal sculpture.

1960 five speed 1275 Bugeye driver for sale!

December 22, 2023 by bugeyeguy

NOW SOLD to Barb in North Carolina! Congratulations on bringing home our 404th Bugeye sold!

This is a very thoroughly worked-over Bugeye and a great opportunity to own a very well-sorted classic car that has enjoyed generous spending from prior owners!

This is “Bucky” (AN5L 18013). We first met Bucky in September 2018, when we picked it up for a client in Wisconsin and brought it to our shop for a five speed upgrade along with multiple other improvements totaling about $19,000, including:

Rebuilding the entire front end
New disc brake kit
New swivel axles
New rack boots
Repaired parking brake
Replaced pinion seal
New steering column bushings
New hanging gas pedal
New header with our twin-tip muffler
Aluminum Radiator
Six-blade fan
K&N Lifetime air filters
New leaf springs
New flywheel ring gear
Upgraded rear view mirror
(there are lots of other items we addressed, ask if you would like to see that build sheet)

We shipped it back to him with about 20 miles indicated on the new GPS speedo in 2018. He put about 1500 miles on the car, then his priorities changed, and he sold us the car in late 2021. In March of 2022, we sold the car to Roy in Oklahoma, and before it departed for Oklahoma, we added another extensive list of roughly $15,000 worth of upgrades.

That round of improvements included:

New master cylinder
New hard brake and clutch lines
Upgraded later Sprite rear drum brakes with new wheel cylinders and shoes
New front shocks and shock bushings
New radius arms
New fuel tank and fuel pickup line
New solid state fuel pump and end-to-end hard fuel line
New wiring harness
New dummy regulator
LED light conversion including LED headlight bulbs
New electronic distributor and coil
New spark plugs
New battery and battery cables
New oil pressure line kit
New radiator hoses
GPS speedometer
Electronic tach
Full dashboard restoration including welding up extra holes, smoothing and recovering with new vinyl
Recovered dash bar
New dash grab handle
All-new dash knobs
New choke cable
Rebuilt fuel gauge
New door liners
New black bikini top
And more!

Roy has decided to get something different, so we have the car for sale again, and now we are able to offer an extremely well-sorted Bugeye that’s been impressively upgraded and maintained with about 2300 miles showing on the clock. It’s too bad it never got a repaint, but it remains an awesome experience to have an ultimate driver with a five-speed transmission and all the other correct improvements and make these cars so special.

If you are not cosmetically picky and love the idea of a five-speed overdrive-equipped car with a fully synchronized gearbox, Bucky could be the perfect Bugeye for you! Click “read more” below for a full compliment of photos, check out the driving video above for a taste of what Bucky is like to drive, and give us a call if you’d like to make Bucky your own! Click “read more” below to see the extensive photo album.

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Striking 1275-Powered and upgraded 1959 Bugeye Sprite for sale!

November 23, 2023 by bugeyeguy

NOW SOLD to Ian in New York! Congrats on taking home our Bugeye #405.

Ozzy is an incredible Bugeye we brought in last month after spending the past 10 years in the Pacific Northwest, where it was completely restored. Since we got it here, we have done a HUGE number of upgrades intended to make Ozzy into its best form, including all-new hydraulic parts including a new master cylinder, wheel cylinders, and new brake and clutch lines, a new fuel line from front to rear including our solid-state electric fuel pump upgrade, new front tapered wheel bearings, and so much more! This is truly the epitome of what a well-sorted, great driving, great-sounding Bugeye should be! Give us a call if you’d like to make Ozzy your own!

If you like tastefully modified Bugeye Sprites, here’s a wonderful modified Bugeye for sale called “Ozzy.” The car has all the right modifications and is painted in a striking color scheme with broad appeal. This one ticks a lot of boxes! The car shows 3039 miles on the odometer, I am guessing that’s the total mileage put on the car since the restoration about 10 years ago. The car still feels freshly restored.

We owned, upgraded and sold this car in 2013, (around the time that it was restored by another enthusiast) and then sold to a collector in the Northwest, who drove it sporadically during his ten years of stewardship. He sold it back to us in October of this year.

When we received the car this year, we spent 40 hours going-through it… we performed a major service and also made additional upgrades to make Ozzy even better. Ozzy now has all the most desirable performance upgrades, including front disk brakes, sway bar, strong 1275 engine, aluminum radiator K&N lifetime air filters and a performance exhaust, so you have a sweet little package. This is a nice car…. solid, straight, well-finished, rust-free.

Ozzy makes all the right noises-we’ve just installed our twin-tipped muffler, and the sounds great. Seats are nearly new too, with new firm seat base foams and new covers. Ozzy is easy to love. The flip-forward nose makes for easy engine bay access too!

Here’s a list of the service work and modifications we made just this week:
New stainless steel header and exhaust including our twin-tipped muffler (hence the great sound in the video)
New hard brake and clutch lines throughout
New rear wheel cylinders
New rubber brake hoses
New rear wheel bearing on passenger side
New master cylinder
New solid state electronic fuel pump,
New fuel tank pick-up line and rubber fuel lines
New water hoses
New heater valve
New dip switch harness
New rubber oil pressure gauge line
New front tapered wheel bearings
New tank to carbs metal fuel line
New easier to use T handle locking choke assembly

These were the pressing items to make the car better than ever. The car runs and drives wonderfully, as you can see in the driving video below, which we made earlier this week.

As with all these classic cars, there are still some issues that the new owner may choose to have us address. For example, the tachometer and speedo both read too high… this is easy to fix… we sell a GPS speedometer and matching electronic tachometer and that will get the new owner more accurate readings, if so desired.

Also, first gear whine is a bit louder than on the rebuilt ribcase transmissions we sell… (they all whine and I would leave it, synchros are excellent, the car up and down shifts without complaint)… but this could open-up an opportunity to install a five-speed conversion… the car is well-worth investment in a five- speed upgrade. That said, I drove my Bugeye “Gumby” for 20 years with first gear making a lot more noise than this one, so it’s an issue you should know about if you’re thinking about the car, but it’s not something that needs immediate attention. If it bothers the new owner, a five-speed would be a nice opportunity while the car is still in our possession.

The seat belts currently installed are a vintage racing lap-belt variety belt, but I much prefer three point retractable shoulder belts, and we have those in stock in red or black-again, the new owner gets to choose.

The dashboard is perfectly nice, with a handsome fat wood steering wheel that feels right. I would refinish the dashboard and change the dash and dash trim bar covering to red and I would also put on a red tonneau because the silver and red color combination is quite striking and I would like to emphasize those strong colors. These are opportunities that we can address (while the car is here) before it gets shipped to the new owner.

The engine bay is stunning all new hydraulic hard lines, premium aluminum radiator and lots of upgrades. If you’re interested, click “read more” below for the full assortment of photographs and give us a call!

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