First Summer

[BillW103]

It looks like the end of the first full summer of driving my Bugeye. This is the only Sprite I have ever driven so I have nothing to compare to.
I bought a very rusty 68 Sprite parts car for the brakes and hoping for a 3.9 rear-end, all the brake components were in good shape but it had a 4.22 in it. The motor was said to have bad leaks and no good. I spent most of my budget on body, paint and interior so didn’t have any left for a motor and transmission. Before pulling the motor from the hulk I threw in a battery dumped some gas in the carbs and hit the starter and it started right up and sounded good. Wanting to drive the car I cleaned all the gunk off the motor, put new gaskets in and installed it. It runs quite well but has very low oil pressure and the synchros in the transmission are bad. All the breathers were plugged off and with them open no oil leaks.
I have come to the conclusion that you can’t enjoy the full potential of a Sprite with a bad traney. But it was worth it and I got to line out some of the bugs.
I would like to post some picture but am struggling with it. I wasn’t paying attention the numerous times it was explained how to do it.

 

[2091351]

A good summer that no one can erase!!

 

[Pythias]

Ah, that first summer with a Sprite..... Mine smoked almost as bad as a Mosquito Fogger, none of the gauges worked, Only one headlight would come on, no wipers or wiper motor, No brake lights or turn signals, and I had to check the brake fluid each time before driving, BUT.........

I too had never driven a Sprite or any other Sports Car for that matter. I remember driving one back road and thinking ..."Oh jeez, If the cops catch me driving 60 mph here I'll be in if for sure." I looked at the bouncing speedo and I was doing about 32 mph... under the speed limit. ... I never took the car further than I could drive home in a single day. .... ......

At the end of the next summer I met Paul A. and things got better from there on out. The car is now reliable enough to drive anywhere, anytime and it's squeak and rattle free.

Call for a N.O.S.H.#.T meeting, and we'll come pull your engine and tranny!

One thing at a time.
Enjoy each little improvement.
Drive it when the sun is out.