Bugeye Sprite

[David]

Originally Posted by jyl

Woah, tell us more about that little monster!

My friend built it from a junk yard '58 Sprite. He built upper/lower control arm front suspension and 3-link rear suspension designed around four CR250 rear shocks that he picked up from his motocross buddies. When I first started driving with him it had a street port 12A rotary. He won SCCA EM autocross nationals with this setup. The next year he lost so he bought a 3 rotor 20B engine from Japan. We removed the turbos, tore the engine apart and made the 3 rotor into a peripheral port engine. Then built a custom 3 hole slide valve and custom Burns Stainless exhaust. The 3 rotor made 450hp in a 1500 lb car! Wheels are 13x10 and 13x13 with Toyota Atlantic sized Hoosiers.

[matthewb0051]

WD did an episode on this car. Love the color.

[speeder]

I second the advice about going through the maintenance process methodically under the hood and saving the carbs for last. The whole thing should not take more than a couple of hours. Doubtful that valve adjustment or timing has anything to do with your high idle but it’s still the correct order of things.

I have an MGB manual with a section on SU carbs that is probably general enough apply to yours, shoot me a message if you want me to read it to you or take photos of the page? They are easy to set and of course have diaphragms in them that you need to check…if they are old and dried out, one could be torn and that would cause a vacuum leak, (I think?), that might be connected to the high idle. ATF works great for slide oil, if it’s been sitting forever, they might be dry? That could also cause sticking and high idle. It’s important to have the correct amount of the correct oil and type, its measured by “rate of fall” when you unscrew the slide, lift it and let it fall.

Lmk if I can help, they are simple.

[jyl]

Well now I know what my Sprite wants to grow up to be!

I’ve ordered the factory manual (reprint of) for the Sprite and plan to dive into the mysteries of 1950s high technology.

[latunabernie]

Set the timing first.
Adj. valves.
Mess with carbs last.
Make sure you have some free play in the throttle and choke cables
You should use a Uni Syn tool to check carb balance.
If you have a suction leak from the carbs it is from the throttle shafts.
They have brass shafts that ride in a aluminum carb body.
The brass wears and the carb body get egg shaped.
There is no O ring on the throttle shaft.
There is no rubber diaphragm its all aluminum.
I don't know if you have a hp cam or not but it still shouldn't idle that high.
The trick for the top is the frame is spring loaded.
you put the bows on in the closed position with the with the springs in the lower position.
Then you put the top on. Open the bows and release the spring tension.
There is a valve on the cyl. head that you turn on for the heater.

[LWJ]

John,

I am very pleased with your purchase! A Bugeye has been in my dream/drool list for decades. Just started looking at big healey's in the last month...

Congratulations. What a wonderful toy.

[Dixie]

My daddy showed me how to sync the SUs on my first car, a 1970 MG Midget, using the tool below. I found it infinitely easier than using a uni-sync.

[speeder]

I forgot about the carbs, Bernie is right of course that they only have slides, not diaphragms. Still, you have a vacuum/air leak somewhere past the butterflies, could also be in the intake manifold. Is there any rubber part of it?

[latunabernie]

Don't assume the carbs have problems and air leaks.
You have to check the basics first.
I looked at your earlier pictures today and the engine may have been modified.
It has aftermarket cyl. head studs and extra studs added. which is good.
I have the same carb kit as Dixie suggested but my go to tool is Uni Syn.
I had it for my motorcycles and just used it in my British cars.
You will want the small jet adjuster wrench.
Make sure the intake manifold is tight as many have suggested.
The heat shield between the carburetors and manifold are prone to cracking. (no rubber parts)
Another cool tuning tool is a color tune. You can learn a lot from it.
Do the basics first. Compression Test, Ignition, valve adj. carbs last.
The car should idle smoothly, if the idle seems to hunt you may have an air/vacum leak problem

[jyl]

Thanks everyone! Time for some vintage fun!

[jyl]

On another front, my wipers stopped working.

The mechanism is hilarious, like something from a children's stop-action cartoon, think Wallace & Gromit. For the un-initiated, an electric motor rotates an eccentric linkage that pushes a shaft back and forth (like a piston, rod, and crank, in reverse), the shaft pushes a ribbed cable back and forth, the cable housing runs into the firewall and through the left and right wiper mechanisms. The ribs on the cable interface with the wiper shaft and rotates the shaft back and forth.

My old Land Rover had separate wiper motors mounted on the windscreen frame directly driving the wipers, and I thought that was funny. This is funnier. Its like you assigned the task of designing a wiper mechanism to children who'd never seen a wiper system and whose mechanical engineering experience was with Lego Technik.

Anyway, liberal use of WD40 into the cable housing cured the issue, for now, and I have "wipers" again.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Any updates on the car?

This thread loaded just now when I clicked on an email link for my 10% ethanol thread. Which is odd but here we are.

[jyl]

No, it is parked on the lift for winter.

I'm thinking of doing some minor pretty-up then selling it in the spring.

I have too many cars (nine in the family), it has become a psychic and energy and storage burden, and I need to start culling. Thinking cut three at least by end of this year.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by jyl

No, it is parked on the lift for winter.

I'm thinking of doing some minor pretty-up then selling it in the spring.

I have too many cars (nine in the family), it has become a psychic and energy and storage burden, and I need to start culling. Thinking cut three at least by end of this year.

Will it make across country? jk, I'm in the same boat.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by jyl

On another front, my wipers stopped working.

The mechanism is hilarious, like something from a children's stop-action cartoon, think Wallace & Gromit. For the un-initiated, an electric motor rotates an eccentric linkage that pushes a shaft back and forth (like a piston, rod, and crank, in reverse), the shaft pushes a ribbed cable back and forth, the cable housing runs into the firewall and through the left and right wiper mechanisms. The ribs on the cable interface with the wiper shaft and rotates the shaft back and forth.

My old Land Rover had separate wiper motors mounted on the windscreen frame directly driving the wipers, and I thought that was funny. This is funnier. Its like you assigned the task of designing a wiper mechanism to children who'd never seen a wiper system and whose mechanical engineering experience was with Lego Technik.

Anyway, liberal use of WD40 into the cable housing cured the issue, for now, and I have "wipers" again.

That carried through to a bunch of Brit cars. IIRC there a Mazda wiper box that’s a bolt in upgrade - way more torque.

[LWJ]

I just read through.

On the high idle, have you put any oil in the carbs? I forget where it goes but 5wt oil is needed to. dampen the pistons.

A tablespoon of oil is far cheaper than machine work to clean up the shaft bushing.

Given what a clean, tight car this is? I suspect it is something small and easy as all the hard / expensive stuff has been done.

When can I see it?