Well, something very cool happened, which will save me a ton of work. I was searching around for different parts suppliers, surfing parts catalogs... you know, all the general stuff that we do when trying to avoid doing something productive. During the course of my surfing, I found a supplier in Ontario called Autofarm. (see links page)
These guys do a bunch of stuff, mostly to do with big Healeys, but they are also getting into the Sprite end of things. The owner is tearing down a Bugeye parts car, and will have the rear shroud available as a used part. I jumped on it right away. I also sent them a preliminary list of parts I may be needing, and got back an estimate on cost. But right now, I'm super into that shroud coming in! I was concerned about fabricating the part. Smaller bits are fine, but something the whole width of the car, a couple of feet long, and which needs to be perfectly symmetrical with compound curves... that's a bit of an ask. I would have done it, but now I don't have to. Welding her in will be See Spot Run stuff by comparison. And, while I wait, the disassembly begins in earnest. VIDEO HERE: My free version of Weebly hosting does not allow me to post videos directly to the page, unfortunately. But here is a link to my YouTube video from the above paragraphs.... youtu.be/ChorrRj93os
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A little while ago, I joined the Saskatchewan British Car Club (SBCC). I thought the club was based in Saskatoon, which is over 3 hours drive, but it turns out there is also a Regina chapter, which is much closer to where I live. A couple of the club members got in touch with me and lo and behold, one of them owns a Bugeye project! Doug (the Bugeye owner), invited me up to his home last night. His project is stripped to the bare metal tub, just waiting for him to finish his GT6 first. I got an awful lot out of last night's meeting. Aside from meeting a couple of new friends (one of whom owns a REALLY NICE E-Type!), we talked about the sheet metal work I need to do on my car. This included both the floors and the rear shroud (the area behind the seats that was cut away. See picture) Of course, we had talked about this on the phone prior to me going up, so I came prepared. His Bug was sitting there just wanting attention, so I attacked it with a measuring tape, card stock (to cut templates), and a contour gauge. I measured out the shroud as well as the dimensions and cross section of the support beam beneath it (which was also cut on my car). Then I took his brand new, uninstalled floor pans and traced them into cardboard templates as well. The plan is to buy some sheet metal -- I'm guessing 20 gauge, though I'd be happier with a bit thicker, such as 18 ga -- and fabricate the body parts that I need. Since I'm supposed to be a body-man, I SHOULD be able to do this, LOL! During the course of the evening, we were discussing this plan, it came up that Doug has an english wheel. He lent it to me! First time I've met the man, and he's lending me tools! I LOVE this part of the country! And this club! So I'm going to have some fun making (hopefully) symmetrical body parts! While I was there, we also discussed rotisseries. Doug has one, but he needs it for his GT6 at the moment. But he did have the brackets to mount his Bugeye on the chicken-spinner, which he also lent to me, which will save me a ton of measuring and fabricating. Doug's rotisserie is made of wood, mostly 2x6, and I got all the measurements I'm going to need to build one once my body is down to the tub. (I mean my car body! My own body already has plenty of "tub"! Just ask my wife!) So yeah, really excited right now! Of note... I didn't take any pics at Doug's, aside from my wife in Bob's beautiful Jag. Sorry. Pics below are some of the templates I made. Dumb, I know. I got caught up with talking cars. Video on Youtube here: (just showing the gauge of the sheetmetal) https://youtu.be/A8cCGV-2g74 So here's my dilemma. I have an original engine and car with just under 40,000 original miles on it. All my life, it's been my brother's "little red car". Only the original colour was Old English White, with a red interior. Oh, and I hate red interiors in general. Question to those who may know... how much does going back to original paint and interior spec matter to the value of a numbers-matching car with a Heritage Certificate? If it's a huge difference in value, I'll keep it all stock. But I'd like to know before I start priming/painting the engine bay and underside, and CERTAINLY before I start ordering seat and interior trim. My options:
Engine and drive train will stay pretty much stock, though I may do a muffler or some internals, but only if everything still looks stock. Also considering a spin on oil filter conversion. Thoughts on whether or not that is worth it? OK, so I fired up the compressor and blew some of the dust and dirt off of the old girl. There were some bits hidden in the debris, which I sorted. It's nice to be able to touch the car and not be completely filthy now. This also gave me a good chance to look at the body, and assess what needs to be done. As you can see in the photos, there is some rust to deal with. The driver's side floorpan is completely disintegrated in the footwell, and the passenger side is pretty thin, as well. But the floors under the seats are solid. Hitting them with a hammer yields a nice, solid THUNK, so they are good. Inner sills are good. Outers... well, it's an old car, so what can you expect. Peering into the depths of the trunk (boot) shows good, solid metal, and no major damage, though it is obvious that the car was hit in the passenger rear corner at some point. There is significant damage to the hood, mainly the apron beneath the grille. Will dig into this. May need to replace, but I might be able to repair it. The rear deck behind the seats was cut. This was done before my brother bought the car. General consensus is that it was done to improve access to the storage area. However, as useful as that might be, whomever did the cut also severed the support beam that goes across behind the seats. On a unibody car, removing structure like that is not acceptable, and I will be replacing that area one way or another. The wiring harness has invaded the stomachs of several rodents at some point, judging by the look of it. New wiring was always in the plan anyway, but this seals the deal. The purple carpet will go. Now. Oh, wait, look at the photos... it's already gone! Miracle of miracles! The carpet was held in place with linoleum glue. (My brother was 14 when he did this, so let's cut him some slack. But not too much... DAMN that stuff is hard to remove!) All in all, this was a successful day, and I feel good about the project. Which is fortunate, because there is a LONG way to go before I can afford to get demoralized! Ok, so you know the story from the first page, but here it is in a bit more depth. This is a 1959 Mk 1 Sprite frogeye (bugeye) with either just under 40,000 original miles. Original engine. Not original colour (currently: red, original: old english white), not original interior (original: red, currently... not much remaining, but what is there is white) My brother (who is 13 and a half years older than me) got the car when he was 14, in 1969. He changed the seats to white, and started a colour change to blue (badly... he was 14!) including spray painting the dash and rear fender interior vinyl with blue engine paint. The car has been stored in a garage since the early mid 70s. He thinks 1973 or 74. Here are some pictures of where it was stored: He got the car when it had a small fuel fire (one of the rubber lines to one of the carburettors ruptured, and leaked fuel on the exhaust manifold). The woman who owned the car saw the smoke and shut the engine off, which killed the fuel flow and extinguished the fire. Damage was extremely minor... the fire did NOT melt the other rubber lines, nor did it bubble or damage the paint on the bonnet or the engine. There is a black smoke stain on inside of hood. It is still there. That's it. My parents gave the lady who owned the car a ride into town, and the woman thought car would never run again because it had been on fire. My brother offered her $100 for it, and she took it. After my folks dropped her off, they took my brother back to the car. He fixed the fuel line, and drove it home. He also drove it into a pole once. As the pole was secured into the ground with concrete, and the Austin was not, there was damage to the hood. It's been "fixed". But not really. The car went into storage in the mid-70s, as I said. He's been meaning to restore it for years, but... life. I just bought it from him and began stripping it down. FYI, I'm a trained bodyman, and I worked at a custom/restoration shop, so the metalwork doesn't bother me. I'm sure to have many questions about the Marque, and also about the technical aspects of the car. I have an Austin Healey parts book, and a Workshop manual. But there are always niggly little things. Here are some pics after I got her into my garage. |
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September 2021
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