From fabrication, rust repair, paint work, and engine rebuilds I try to do every single part of each project myself. Welcome to the Econobox Garage where automotive education is by the “learn by doing” method. If I can do it, so can you!!!
My latest project is a 1959 Austin Healey Sprite. Known as the “Frogeye” in the UK and the “Bugeye” on the west side of the Atlantic, this diminutive British roadster was developed as a lightweight two seater that Donald Healey described as "something a chap could keep in his cycle shed"!
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Looking to buy a bugeye from a guy in Airdrie that you helped him pull the motor and tranny. Your thoughts on the car? Do you think the car will pass out of province with the back cut off and hinged. Will that affect structural integrity?
Hi Scott. E-mail me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.
Nice job I never thought of getting a hardtop for my bugeye since it is a top less car with no soft top at all. With an sbc 383ci It's unique in itself
That sounds like a fun drive with or without a top!!
Use gloves. Brushes to tap the raisin. Use more fiberglass and cut away the extra.
Thank you, Pascal. I plan on using gloves once I get going with the fiberglass cloth/matting. I will be adding the cloth on the back side of the repaired spots for reinforcement.
You may consider using automotive panel bond on parts of the hardtop instead of trying to use fiberglass and resin in some of the cracks.
I hadn't thought of that, thanks for the suggestion. My reasoning for doing it this way is that the top is essentially made with resin and cloth so I'm using the same materials to repair it.
Seems like using the epoxy as advheisive worked a lot better than I thought, I figured you would've had to use the fiberglass sheets as reinforcement on the inside. I can't wait to see the full repair. Cheers man
I plan to reinforce from the backside with fiberglass cloth and resin... at least where I can get access.
Could you use a syringe to inject the resin into the cracks? Almost like an air needle one uses for inflating a basketball might work to get resin into the small cracks.
That would probably work but it would be one batch and done. I wonder if perhaps a "Dollar Store" turkey baster would do the trick? Hmmmmmm....
Great work as usual Iain
Thanks 👍
Ians wife no longer wonders where the guest bath towels went… 😂
Sharon got a good chuckle out of your comment Bill! Thanks.
nice work! time to get my hardtop out of storage. Need to find some rubber gasket, and a way to anchor it to the chassis!
I got my rubber bits from MacGregor British Car Parts in Ontario. They appear to be of great quality.
@@mundanestuff bugeyeguys has them
I've got a ton of work to do on my hard top. I'll be rewatching your videos a number of times I suspect.
Glad to be of service!
I just bought a hardtop for my frogeye. Perfect timing!
Happy to help out!
Put a stock AH Sprite steering wheel back on it. Now it looks too much like a gokart.
I pretty sure that's the way I'm going to go. Thanks for your input!
3d print something to cover that gap?
A definite possibility!
Hi, have watched your project come to life. Well done. I have one here in England for last 9 years. I put wing mirrors on supplied by A H Spares. I see yours are rectangular; mine are round. I had to adjust out so that the door does not hiot them, but still found I cannot see them easily, especially the nearside (in England) because the side sheild frame gets in the way. I bought longer stems, made for motorcycles, and fitted those in place. Yes they work, but do stick out somewhat. Can yopu see easily through your rectangfular ones even with sidescreens in place? Where did you get your rectangular ones from ? I have anothe Frog /Bug in my garage now. Have worked on it for last 4 years; sills, A poists, etc, etc. Nearly ready for dipping and then for spraying (HEY!) and then the rebuild. Thanks for the tips Chris
Thanks Chris. I purchased my mirrors from @Bugeyeguys ( tinyurl.com/ampzjew4 ). They do interfere with the side curtains a bit but I hardly use them so it's not a big issue for me.
Congrats too on the 2K subscribers!
Thank you!!
Great video Ian. Lots of beautiful cars and planes!
Thanks Gareth. Enjoyable days in spite of the weather!
Jesus GUS IS HUGE!!! Did you use your soft top or hard top to stay dry?
Can't remember what breed he was but do remember he weighs 140lbs!!! Yes, I had the soft top with me and had it on for the drive home.
Another good video, Ian!
Thanks, Joel. Glad you enjoyed it!
Very cool. I've wanted a Festiva for at least a decade, either B6D or B6T.
Thanks Ben. This car has been a lot of fun to drive! If I were to build another Festiva I would probably go with the B6D.
Excellent video Ian. This will be so useful when I wire up my dash.
Glad to be of service!
Thank you for all the videos you made of your Bugeye. It is a valuable reference for me while I go through mine! 👍😃
You are most welcome. I glad you've found the videos of some use! Thanks for watching.
Zoom, Zoom....Nice mod to your muffler Ian. And away you go!
Thanks Dan. It's worked out very well.
I have a similar muffler on my Bugeye. Something you should watch for is that bracket ripping the skin off the muffler. It happened to me. My solution was to make a bracket with a base so that the load could be spread across the skin.
Great point Trevor, thank you. I will keep an eye out for that.
The system you removed looked to be an old Abarth unit which had been engineered to maintain proper backpressure. I'd be surprised is the new system did not adversely impact the performance of the motor. Don't throw the old one away.
The muffler I removed was pretty much straight through. It was very well used! Drove the car about 150kms today with the new unit in and there were no apparent adverse effects on performance. Achieved fuel consumption of 7.0l per 100km.
I don’t know Ian, I think the old muffler sounded pretty darn good. I like my Frogeye rowdy. 😂
It was OK around town or for a short trip bit a too loud for a longer one!
Great solution! I've got this half crazy idea to run a set of "Lakes Pipes" down each side of my Bugeye when I get it restored just for something different. Not sure if I'd care for the sound though.
that would definitely be different!
HAHA that's what sold me the bugeye I just bought :) nearly straight-pipe exhaust. yes, it's noisy, probably too noisy. Mine has a cherry bomb into a "monza" tip very similar to yours. It's very reminiscent of the days at the track when my father was driving the Mk2 Sprite as a race car. Not as loud as his, as even the cherry bomb has some muffling to it, but still plenty loud, and goes through some interesting harmonic changes through the RPMs. I have the original exhaust that's in great shape, so I could go header-back all original, but I think it would be too quiet. If I get a traffic ticket for the exhaust, I'll switch back! I can post a video but the videos don't do it justice, as you know.
The longer term goal is to get a more performance oriented exhaust system. Perhaps a header and larger pipe. I think the tweaked 1098 would like that!
I'm sold on the Q1 forward hinge set. You mention in your narrative that they needed a modification because the hood would not tilt forward sufficiently. What exactly did you do to correct the situation? Have copies of the slotted parts made with a longer slot?
Your guess was a good one! I made a longer slider myself. Drop me am email at [email protected] and I can send you some further info. I would also suggest contacting Q1 directly as well.
How do you rate these hinges? I love the simplicity and no need to make holes. But compared to steel ones, are they sturdy enough?
I've had no issues with mine. The only time they are really holding any weight is when the bonnet is open. Once closed the bonnet is resting on the ends of the frame rails. The only change I had to make was using a long slider. For some reason on my car the one that Q1 provided wouldn't allow the bonnet to open fully. Since my set was a prototype he may have made changes to the production version.
Is Q1 Classic Engineering producing those forward tilting hinges?
Q1 has them listed on their website... tinyurl.com/3frr5zy2
I bought one of these kits when Leyland closed out it’s competition department. The competition rear leaves make an even bigger improvement. They stop the rear squat in corners that lifts the inside front wheel and they ride smoother as you don’t keep hitting the rear bump stops.
Working on upgrades bit by bit as the budget allows. I'll be keeping my eyes out for front and and rear dampers next I think.
Where’d you get that poster in the intro?
The previous owner had it and sent it with the car.
Very interesting Ian. I would never have realized the frame rails were already prepared for the sway bar mounts. Well done. I shall do the same once re@dy as I have the pre drilled spring pans to use on my car. 😊
Apparently those threaded blocks were included from the start of Bugeye production. Perhaps the bar was not installed as a cost saving measure.
Nice job, Ian. Next time, even with the e-brake on, please chock your wheels. Belts and suspenders.
Good point! Thank you.
Great Job Ian! New bushings & hardware will make it better handling.
Thanks Dan. Looking forward to driving it with the upgraded suspension!
I'm interested in your feedback on the change in driving performance with this installed. Did it stiffen up the front end on corners?
It definitely feels better... the front seems more controlled over most obstacles and bumps. I haven't been able to put too many miles on it yet as the weather has been uncooperative!
I appreciate seeing all these details -- thanks! I don't remember the episode with the blue light bulb -- which one was it? I was pretty sure I'd watched them all. Of course, it has been a while now!! I also appreciate that when something isn't working right, you just take it apart to see what's going on. That was what my dad always did, and I do the same.
Hi Trevor. After looking through my videos I've realized that I didn't actually show the blue and red bulbs. However, I did find this post on one of the forums I've joined. Hope it helps... tinyurl.com/yjvnd3zd
Ian - you really make good use of a small space!
Thanks Joel. Doing the big cleanup earlier in the year certainly helped.
@@EconoboxGarage I REALLY need to get back going on my Sprite. I’d really like to get it back on the road this year. I got the engine and transmission back in last year, but got stumped on taking the starter apart and the progress stopped there.
Left my gas cap at a gas station just once. After that I got in the habit of putting the cap on the dash board while I fueled the car up :)
That is a great idea! Thanks, Mike.
Great selection of cars there. I received my flip front hood kit from Q1 Classic Engineering the other day!
There were more that showed up after I left!
The top is BEAUTIFUL
Thanks!
The standard mechanical tacho - particularly that dreadful drive off the back of the generator is one of the less desirable features of these cars. A much better alternative is the electronic version made to look exactly the same - available from the BugEyeGuy. Like everything though, they aren't cheap.
Cost is a large factor. As long as what I have keeps working or is fixable I will be going that route.
Well done Ian. I applaud your confidence in jumping into these projects!
Many thanks Gareth!
I was about to offer to ship you a replacement tach, LOL. I've been going through gauges trying to find a period correct Smiths volt meter because of some irregularities in performance of the new Bugeye. This video helps a bunch, I just went out and removed the speedo from my Midget and cleaned the glass after seeing how you removed the bezel.
Thanks Ken, appreciate the support. I've put another 50 miles on the car and the tach is performing as it should.
@@EconoboxGarage I've put 273 miles on the red bugeye since buying it, and have discovered the limit of driving endurance is the seat. Considering getting a gel pad for the seat! It's so bad after about 50 miles. Also, maybe you and I should do a 0 to 60 video and compare notes! Ford 5 speed + 948 vs 4 speed + 948.
That would be an interesting comparison. I have the four speed with overbored 1098! I'm sure there's an app for that too!
Saw the brackets on your Instagram post. Look amazing!
Thanks Bill. I'm looking forward to getting them on the top once it's ready!
So are there no rubber parts inside the shock to be replaced?
I'm not sure to be honest. I seem to recall there is one on the brass nut for the valve but it was in great shape so didn't replace it.
@@EconoboxGarage After I asked, I saw somewhere else that there aren't seals or cups on the pistons, that it's just tolerance between the parts. I don't know for absolute sure yet.