Bugeye Restoration

What happens when you don’t use ZDDP oil additive

March 4, 2021 by bugeyeguy

These are the worlds’ most hammered valve tappets. They came from the white 1971 MGB in the another post. It didn’t run right, and we started with the obvious culprits, but when carbs and ignition didn’t bear fruit, we measured the displacement of the pushrods, which revealed quite a range of different numbers, so we suspected a worn cam.

Next we removed the side covers and cam followers, only to find this array of ugly lifters. Clearly, the pitted lifters were grinding away the cam lobes, or vice verse.

The cam has been munched on these three lobes, and the abrasive pitting shown clearly is abrading the lobes even further. The tappet on the right is fine, for comparison. Take a look at the notes below, and you can see the lift we measured on the worn cam lobes, which happen to coincide with the hammered three tappets shown above.

If you are unfamiliar, these little lifters are riding on the cam lobes, metal to metal. If you don’t run ZDDP additive in you oil or some other classic car-friendly motor oil that already has this additive, you run the risk of wiping out your lifters and making them look like these, and your cam will suffer, and you will be rebuilding your engine soon!

Not all oil is the same. Make sure you are running an oil with zinc additive, or you can purchase ours by clicking here!

Making shavings

March 4, 2021 by bugeyeguy

MGB overdrive screen, full of bits of various gears

We have said it before, but it is worth revisiting. Don’t grind your gears. If they are grinding, seek help. Modify technique or repair your clutch or transmission before you ruin the rest of the gears. Simple advice, often disregarded.

Above is the overdrive screen from a 1971 MGB we are restoring this week. This screen was so covered with bits of the other gears that we replaced the overdrive with a rebuilt unit straight away. Overdrive cars share the same oil reservoir with the rest of the gearbox, so if you grind up your first gear, for example, your overdrive will ingest all the shards. Big Healeys have the same challenge, as do classic Minis, which share the engine oil with the gearbox. Basically, any metal bits you shower into your oil while shifting will cause problems elsewhere.

So go easy. Keep the grinding in your mouth, not in your gearbox!

Rattle hunters

February 26, 2021 by bugeyeguy

As a unibody car, the Bugeye is quite tight. With just three body panels (two doors and a nose), there are fewer openings and fewer moving pieces. So once these cars are well-sorted, they don’t rattle very much.

In fact, many of the rattles we eradicate are loose items in the boot, clanging exhaust pipes, wiggly door latches and handles, and occasionally a buzzing hydraulic line improperly secured to sheet metal.

This particular car had a noise caused by something we have not seen before. A prior owner welded a cross bar under the back deck, perhaps to keep the body straight while restoration was in progress, and no one ever bothered removing that bar once the car was back on the road. So this rattle has persisted, until we found it this week, and cut out the bar. Thus, another rattle is eradicated!

Zero punch-list Bugeye Sprite w/Ashley nose… sorted!

February 18, 2021 by bugeyeguy

This week we offer big thanks to Patrick of Kansas City, who gave us a chance to make another good Sprite into a wonderful and fully-sorted classic car. This one is now done, and in an enclosed trailer heading west across America back to Patrick’s garage!

We picked up this Bugeye (with an Ashley nose) at Patrick’s house a few months ago and have just completed an extensive mechanical restoration and sorting of many broken and worn things. The spreadsheet for this job lists about 150 repairs… this is the way of our hobby now, most of the Sprites we encounter have many broken and worn components. The fleet is aging, and the cars usually need a number of components refreshed when we see them for the first time.

People have been living with their issues, nursing their cars through their jaunts and tolerating the maladies. We are fighting back by tirelessly pushing each car toward perfection. This car was lucky to go on vacation at our shop and will return home unrecognizable to the loving owner.

It is so rare to have a zero punch-list classic British car. Patrick says he was never quite comfortable taking this car very far from home, for fear that he wouldn’t make it home. Now, she drives better than new, without any needs. Now, Patrick can enjoy his classic car without worry, and the fun begins (I would drive this one from our shop to Kansas City, if weather allowed).

The video below will give you a sense of what we have done. All the parts used to make this one special are available in our catalog at the links below, so you too can make your Sprite spectacular!

Want to sort out your car and make it as reliable as possible? Here’s a partial list of the parts we used to make this car spectacular, all available in our parts catalog:

Aluminum radiator, battery hold down, alternator kit, high output starter, ring gear, pertronix distributor, GPS Speedo, Heater valve kit, tachometer, LED light kit, license plate mount, electric fuel pump, battery cut off switch, ignition switch guillotine, locking choke assembly, laminated wood wheel with billet horn push, washer pump, ammeter

If you would like to inquire about other upgrades made to this Ashley nosed Bugeye (or would want to ship your car to us to have some – or all – of these upgrades installed) feel free to shoot us an email at david@bugeyeguy.com.

Worn Austin Healey Sprite Radius Arm bushings, Video!

February 12, 2021 by bugeyeguy

If you have played with Sprites at all, you’ve encountered these worn bushings shown above on the upper link of the rear axle. You can see the bushing has parted from the rubber. Thus, the axle assembly will clunk as it loads and unloads when releasing the clutch in forward or reverse, or both!

It’s fairly easy to fix… all you need is new bushings, which you can press in place if you have a press, or you can just buy an entire arm with two new bushings already installed. If you hear the clunk in the video above, you have found your solution right here! (Note: In the video, I am backing up… each time I drive the wheels by letting out the clutch, the bushings clunk)

Below are photos of a new arm with the bushings already installed. Click here to order new complete arms. Feel free to call if you would prefer to have bushings and to press them into your old arms.

Correct original Bugeye Sprite touch-up paint for sale!

February 5, 2021 by bugeyeguy

Finally! Here’s a solution for anyone looking for the original paint color for their Bugeye Sprite. We now sell spray cans and touch-up bottles of the original colors used on Austin Healey Frogeye Sprites. You can purchase paint by clicking here.

We’ve handled more than 300 Bugeyes and had a chance to get intimate with a lot of Sprite paint. Did you know that Bugeyes were only available in eight colors? Should be very simple, right? Actually, very few of the cars out in the world have been repainted in the correct original colors primarily because all the old paint codes do not translate into modern chemistry. If you bring any of the published original paint codes to a paint shop and get a blank look from the vendor, you understand what I am talking about.

To make matters more challenging, most Bugeyes are painted red and white. I would guess we have seen 25 different version of each! Take a look at white and red late model cars on the road today and you will see there are hundreds of variations!

Thus we have reverse engineered the correct colors from un-molested original cars to come up with the closest color match. Our colors are as close as we can subjectively say are the correct originals. These are the colors we use when we restore cars in our shop back to the original colors.

NOTE: If you are using our paint for touch up purposes, there will be slight variations and it is unlikely our paint will match your car exactly. Paint weathers and changes over time, and so our new paint may not be a perfect match when applied on your car which might have been repainted 25 years ago. All we can do is provide the correct original color and you can work from there. You can also ask your local bodyshop to help tint our correct touch-up paints to ensure our product is a perfect match for your existing paint job.

Each touch-up bottle comes with a built in applicator brush attached to the lid. Touch up bottles are made to order and have about a six month shelf life, less if frozen. Spray cans should last longer. Paint is single stage quick drying modern acrylic. Original lacquer paints are not available.

Colors we have available include: Olde English White, Cherry Red, Leaf Green, Iris Blue, Dark Green
Coming soon: Primrose yellow, Nevada Beige

All PAINT IS MADE TO ORDER, SO PLEASE ALLOW 5-10 DAYS FOR OUR COOKS TO MAKE-UP YOUR POTION.

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