New Guy

[ArkleyOkie]

A new guy here. Not so new Sprite owner though. I bought my Mk IV new from Shelly Motors in Honolulu, HI in March of 1969. For the first four years it was a daily driver. Since bringing it to the mainland in the early ‘70s it has been a weekend ride punctuated by several long periods of rest. The car was originally Glacier White, after spending a decade painted BRG I returned it to white in ’85. Two weeks later some idiot that couldn't believe it was that small and must be far away, pulled in front of me and wadded the left front fender. A short time later it became an Arkley SS. I know some of you will hate me for that. Especially when I tell you that this is a rust free, garage kept car with just 60,000 miles on the clock. It does not leak fluids and has never had any sort of electrical problems. The results of being watched over by some sort of Hawaiian tiki god I’m sure. Before you light the torches and grab the pitchforks you should know that the last time this car was stock was the summer of 1969. I’m hoping it is grandfathered in by now.
I’ve recently decided to freshen the Sprite/Arkley again which brought me here. Presently, I’m installing a new clutch slave cylinder, a bunch of new rubber and re-doing the interior again. I’m looking forward to sharing information here.

 

[scoutll]

Welcome. Although I like them more stock, there is nothing at all wrong with an Arkley. Yours is very nice looking.

I agree it sould be grandfathered anyway.

 

[Dale]

I think the Arkley and other kit cars based on LBC's are a boon to the hobby. There are a lot of LBC's still on the road that would otherwise be rusting hulks in some salvage yard if not for having been thusly resurrected. Yours is very attractive. Welcome to the forum, I am confident the folks here will be of help to you.

 

[198686d]

Bryan:

I think the car looks great. If you're having fun, who cares what anyone else thinks. Cruise on.

dave in st. louis

 

[BugEyeBear]

Nice looking car!

Almost looks like a cross between a Lotus Super 7 and a Sprite!

AT LEAST it still retained the BugEye/FrogEye style headlights!! :thumbsup:

What does the back side of the car look like?

Does it still use the front inner fenders?

I'm assuming that the front & rear clips are fiberglass... correct?

"Cheers!"

-Bear-

 

[Mike]

Welcome to the Forum ArkleyOakley! I just recently joined and these guys have been a great deal of knowledge to me in the past few days. Nice looking car. You're just up the road a couple of hours from me. I live in just south of Denton, Texas.

Mike

 

[scoutll]

Bryan:

I think the car looks great. If you're having fun, who cares what anyone else thinks. Cruise on.

dave in st. louis

I agree whole heartedly. Arkleys look great. I think you should make you car up to your liking.

 

[terriphill]

You will find there are members here in all ranges...from modified, souped up and tweaked to purists who only restore to the "most original" and then there are lots of people who just love these cars and do what we like to make them fun to drive!
I look forward to seeing your progress...see you on the forums

Terri

 

[ArkleyOkie]

The back side. It's not even stock as Arkleys go. I removed the spare tire well and built a trunklid. The battery is back there leaving just about enough room for a 6-pack.

 

[drooartz]

Welcome!

Neat little car. You'll find the whole range here, from stock to highly modified, so you'll fit right in.

 

[Branson]

i have to agree. good to see another Okie LBC on this site. I think Bayless is in the OKC area also.

best of luck!

 

[PAUL161]

Welcome to the forum.

Nice car! Looks great in yellow! Correct me if I'm wrong but, isn't the Arkley body one of the oldest sprite/midget conversions, going back to the mid to early 60s. If so, that makes the body a classic in it's own rite!

 

[losmorob]

Too cool. Welcome.

 

[longbridgehealey]

Hi, gtreat looking car! No worries about fitting in on this Forum!!!

 

[GeeBee1]

Welcome to the forum.

Keep us posted as to how your progress goes.

Pat

 

[Rockea]

New Guy
I stopped by and looked at your car several years ago. If I recall correctly, you also raised the rear bumper to bring it in line with the wheel arches and converted it to a one piece front end. Very nice car.

 

[ArkleyOkie]

Wow. Very good memory Rockea. As I mentioned, someone pranged the front end resulting in the Arkley build. That was in '89! Which couldn't have been 20 years ago, could it??? This is probably more like you remember it, only after it was painted BRG. This was shot during re-do #1 in 1976. Tilt front end, NACA scoop in the hood, side vents, raised wheel arches, '75 Vega wheels and raised rear bumper -which isn't in this photo. In some ways I wish it was still like this.