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1960 Bugeye

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Your Bugeye looks just like my 59 when I got it. Mine is now pretty roadworthy with sleeved MC and front disc brake upgrade, rebuilt transmission, rebuilt HS2 Carbs, new water pump, new electric fuel pump, front tilt hood, Watt linkage, Harley side mirrors, negative ground conversion, alternator upgrade, new interior from Moss, new mini lite rims, new tires, new top and tonneau, seatbelts, aftermarket steering wheel and a LOUD Stueble air horn. It will be even nicer when I finish the "smoke free" wiring harness and under dash fuse box, install the hot rod 1275 project, upgrade the headlights, add electronic ignition, install the rollbar, find a Datsun transmission and finally get around to touching up the paint. Even with all this roadworthy stuff, it is very scary to drive on the Dallas freeways. Lots of fun around the neighborhood or on two lane farm to market roads, but don't forget you have absolutely no safety equipment in case of an accident. Splat City if you pile the car up. But, hey, Danger is our middle name, right?

My approach was to keep the car original looking, but add whatever style and performance or reliability upgrades I wanted. For example, the Bugeye came with steel wheels, but I like the look and stance of the car in wider Minilite rims.

The Dark Side of playing with these cars is that it it really easy to jump your initial $4k investment up by at least twice if not more. It is really easy to get upside down in what you sink into these cars (as I am), but to me it is a fun hobby, not a business investment. Still it is a good idea not to keep the receipts all in one place if you are married.
 
Looks really clean. Well done indeed.

Those "might as wells" do get dangerous. I took the last Bugeye I had off the road to fix the radiator, and it turned into a 3-year mechanical overhaul. Happens sometimes. :smile:
 
HealeyRick said:
Note that there is a slight depression in the floorpan under the pedals and take care to reproduce it when you replace the metal. If you don't, your feet won't be correctly placed on the brake and clutch pedals. Looks like the car was originally Leaf Green.
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Very nice car in great shape! Rick is 100% correct. The ledge for the gas pedal is in the wrong place on the repro floor pans, but can be corrected by purchasing 2 of them and then grafting them together using your old pan as a template.
 
Of course that begs the question;can your feet ever be in the right place in a Sprite? Mine are just way too big all around. The dimmer switch is out of the question for me. My foot hits the clutch pedal.
 
Also, has anyone use the alternator conversion kit? Like Moss sells. I have done it before where I source parts and put it together, but I thought on this car I might just buy it and be done. Is the kit truly complete?
 
Foot space isn't too bad -- I've got size 12eeee and made it work okay. One idea is to put a relay in for the headlights and use the little switch for the panel lights instead to switch the relay (you just wire the panel lights to skip the switch). Simple to do and makes the dimmer bracket into a decent dead pedal. I found that slipping my foot under the clutch pedal for cruising gave adequate room.
 
nas90tdi said:
Of course that begs the question;can your feet ever be in the right place in a Sprite? Mine are just way too big all around. The dimmer switch is out of the question for me. My foot hits the clutch pedal.
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I have the same issue. I deleted the heater in my car. I'm going to use the heater switch (H for high-beams) to drive a relay to switch between low and high beams.
 
drooartz said:
Looks really clean. Well done indeed.

Those "might as wells" do get dangerous. I took the last Bugeye I had off the road to fix the radiator, and it turned into a 3-year mechanical overhaul. Happens sometimes. :smile:
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six years and counting for me:D
 
nas90tdi said:
Paul suggested I put my engine number and vin up and you guys might know whether an engine swap had been done.
Vin AN5L/24854
Engine 9C-U-H 4585

Thanks again for all the info.
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If you VIN and engine numbers are correct then there has been an engine swap. Your car was likely produced in early October 1959. The engine is from September 1958. If your engine number had a 2 added in the front so that the number was 24585 rather than 4585 then I would say that the VIN and engine number likely match.
 
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Ok, first technical question. I am fiddling with the lights getting them all working. I had a wire worn through that barbecued the main power feed of the front light harness. No big deal, I will just rebuild that and probably install relays. But, while working on that I kept seeing this piece of basically lamp cord ran across the dash and tucked up above the steering column. I pulled it out and tracked it. It goes to the distributor and to the negative side of the coil. it's twisted together. Car runs when it's together, doesn't when it is untwisted. My question is, doesn't that just function with basically a jumper between the 2? And, any theory about why some one would run it into the cabin of the car and tuck it above the steering wheel?
 
Whitephrog, you are probably correct. The general consensus say '58 on the engine. It runs strong and smooth currently, so I plan to just leave it alone for the time being while I work on the other things.
 
Oh, and one possibly stupid question. Where is the switch for the heater blower? I haven't looked very hard, but figured I would ask while in front of my computer.
 
nas90tdi said:
Oh, and one possibly stupid question. Where is the switch for the heater blower? I haven't looked very hard, but figured I would ask while in front of my computer.
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Turn the heater knob to the right. It should click.
 
Is the brake pressure switch normally open or normally closed?
And do I need a resistor inline to the coil? I wasn't able to find on in my current harness.
Thanks for all the info so far.
 
Brake pressure switch located on the passenger side wheel well is normally open.
No inline resister to the coil on a "normal" installation.
Scott in CA
 
BTW, if you are interested, I added a series of fuses and relays that the factory left out to my BE.
The strategy was to add the wiring and such so that it was hidden from view behind the passenger side dash. If you are interested drop me a PM with your email and I will forward the info. Includes pics and wiring diagrams.
Scott in CA
 
Scott,
i would like your info again. I've changed computers and didn't have very good luck transferring my files. I'll pm my email address.
thanks, Rut
 
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