New Parts Available

Keeping your Bugeye’s belly from getting all jacked up!

August 16, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Almost every Bugeye that comes to us has been improperly jacked at some point in it life. If you find yourself needing to use a floor jack to raise your car, please do so on the frame rails, rather than the center of the front crossmember. The front crossmember is hollow and a single layer of steel, meaning if you put a jack on it and lift, it will cave-in. The car shown here came to us with this exact issue, you can see the dents and scrapes from repeated attacks with a floor jack.

*Damage from jacking up the car by the center of the crossmember.*

In the video below, you can see how we employed one of our newest products to address this issue…

Our crossmember support plate is a simple thick steel plate intended to fortify the front crossmember of your Bugyeye and to give agressive floor jacks a durable contact patch. And they make the crossmember look a lot better too!

*After installation of the plate!* *Stronger and won’t dent when jacked!*

If you would like to strengthen the underside of your Sprite or Midget, click on the photo below to order your crossmember support plate today!

Wind-up Healey

August 16, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Dash vinyl is vulnerable. Twisting nuts on the fabric can lead to wrinkles and imperfections. Make sure to use a flat washer to ensure your vinyl doesn’t get in a knot. Here’s a short video about a big Healey with a twisted nut, and fortunately, once repaired, all we had was a few stretch marks.

For many British cars of this era, you need this nice pin spanner to properly secure the switches on your dashboard, which you find in our parts catalog by clicking the picture below:

Horn brush hijinks

August 2, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Once in a while with antique British sports cars, life is very simple. Something that isn’t functioning sometimes just needs to be taken apart and flipped around, then actually works just perfectly. This is one of those special moments… so, please watch the video below and enjoy.

We are putting the finishing touches on Penny Lane this week, which will be headed to Ohio very soon. As a part of the final checklist, we noted a squeaky steering wheel. As it turns out, the fix for this is an easy one.

Bugeye horn brushes are a vital link between the horn push and the horn. Without them, your Bugeye will not “beep”. In this instance, the horn push had been installed upside down so that the soldered end (see the photo below) was touching the brass contact ring on the horn cone, creating a squeal. Turning the brush over solved the issue.

Should you need to order our special horn brush (that you can now properly install), or new barbed clips for your horn push, or a new horn push, or of course a special new steering wheel that’s a delight to fondle through your own personal million miles of turns, please click the photos below to order today, or click here for our full line of steering wheel products!

*Improved horn brush for stock steering wheel (Sprite MkI/II-Midget MkI*)

*Horn Push with 2 factory-correct Barbed Clips (948 cars)*

*Bugeye Sprite Horn Push Clip (sold individually) (948 cars)*

*Horn Dash Cone (Sprite MkI/MkII & Midget MkI)*

*Steering Wheel Nut & Star Washer (Sprite MkI/II & Midget MkI)*

Why tube shocks rock

July 5, 2024 by bugeyeguy

This week, we performed a tube shock conversion on this cool Bugeye called ‘Cinnamon.” We did this because this is a performance car with a performance driver, and the lever shocks were not keeping the tire on the road uniformly while going over bumps, particularly during spirted driving. It’s really hard to have two mated lever shocks (they often have different damping left and right). Tube shocks are always uniform so you get symmetrical performance left and right.

The tube shocks will better dampen the bumps and ensure the tire contact patch is always optimized, and the increased negative camber will also improve handling. Reliability and longevity, as well as control and performance… these are the benefits of our front tube shock conversion kit. And Cinnamon will enjoy these benefits going forward!

We go through tons of lever shocks in our building.

Great shocks are required for a wonderful ride in any Spridget, but the original lever shocks are a serious wear item, constantly aging-out and leaking. Even the rebuilt ones are not as good as they used to be, and we’ve had to struggle to find a great and reliable source for the lever shocks we sell.

*Should you want to keep your stock Bugeye stock, we do offer the best rebuilt front lever shocks available, which you can purchase by clicking* *the above photo.*

I love the way the correct lever shocks ride. They are the perfect balance of performance and comfort on a tiny car that needs all the comfort it can get… but lately we’ve been moving in the direction of this tube shock conversion simply because it eliminates the dependency on the old-fashioned lever shock design. While these are a little more pricey than the lever shocks, if you think about changing your lever shocks every three years or so (which has sadly become the norm), it’s a great way to economize in the long haul because the tube shocks should last 10 to 20 years.

*The front tube shock conversion upon installation.* *Hey, want slotted and vented brake rotors? Click here to get yours!*

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Nefarious needles

May 24, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Stuck float bowl needles can stop your car from starting.

A carburetor fuel bowl works a lot like a toilet. As the fuel level in the bowl lowers, a float needle lowers along with it, allowing fuel to flow in from the fuel line and fill it back up as the carburetor uses it. Once the fuel level is full, the needle is pushed up into a tapered seat, where it will rest until it needs to allow fuel back in.

*A float needle performing its function properly, lowering in tandem with the float as the fuel level in the bowl drops.*

While not a problem inherent to storage of your Bugeye, long periods of rest can certainly contribute to a stuck float needle or two. What generally happens is a small amount of “gunk” gets on the tip of the float needle (the source of this gunk is unclear but a lot of people connect it to ethanol in today’s fuels) and makes the tip sticky, which makes it hang up in its seat.

*A stuck float needle like shown above shuts the flow of fuel off to the carburetor, essentially plugging the fuel line.* *Notice how the entire needle assembly is stuck upward and not hanging out of it’s seat as in the first picture above*.

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I guess that’s why they call it the fuse

May 10, 2024 by bugeyeguy

Bugeye Sprites employ Lucas electrical systems. While Lucas has a bit of a checkered reputation among British car enthusiasts, Bugeyes tend to be mostly exempt from typical electric pitfalls due to their simplicity. When installed and maintained correctly, a Frogeye electrical system can provide many miles of stout performance and trouble-free operation. A big part of that is the fuse block.

*This is an example of a factory-installed fuse block, currently present on 501, the first production Bugeye Sprite.*

The entirety of a Bugeye’s electrical system runs through a fuse block that is smaller than a box of crayons. In fact, the entire car employs only TWO glass fuses. One glass fuse protects all of the components that require a keyed ignition source; this includes such items as the fuel gauge, heater, wipers, flasher, brake lights, electric fuel pump (if so equipped), and of course, the ignition system. The other fuse is for the items requiring constant power from the battery, namely, the horn and the headlights. As all of these systems run through this interface, it is absolutely critical that the fuse block be in good working order.

In the photo above you will find two fuse blocks. The one on the left is a brand new fuse block, while the one on the right is an original block we recently removed from a client’s car during a re-wire. You can see how corroded all of the terminals, screws, and even the fuses are. Corroded electrical connections do not create very good contact, which can cause resistance in the circuit, leading to intermittent operation, or in some cases, no operation at all, which could potentially leave you stranded on the side of the road.

If you see that your fuse block and/or fuses are corroded like this, change your fuse block! In the video below, we discuss fuse blocks in further detail and how they work:

Should you need to change your fuse block, we offer new ones in our catalog, as well as a full line of electrical components to suit your needs! Click the photos below to check out a few of the electrical parts we have available or click here for our complete catalog!

*Dashboard turn signal indicator light (Bugeye)*

*Bugeye Sprite fuse block (screw terminals)*

*Complete Bugeye wiring harness (dip switch & headlight wiring sold separately)*

*Complete headlight wiring kit (all Bugyes/Spridgets)*

*Generator/alternator with dummy regulator (negative ground cars ONLY)*

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