• Hi Guest!
    If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

'66 Sprite what am I look for?

Share this page

TysMagic

TysMagic

Freshman Member
Offline
New kid here looking for some help on what I need to check out on a 1966 Austin Healey Sprite. I'm currently trying to sell my 1996 Audi Cabriolet and this was offered as a possible trade. I'm quite interested and would really like to end up with the Sprite so hopefully I'm looking at something good.

Currently what I know of the car:
Fully restored 1966 Austin Healey Sprite
MG 1275cc engine, Webber carb & header
Wire wheels & 3.9 ratio later yr MG rear end
All new suspension, brakes, wiring, etc
Custom hardtop and other extras
Professional leather interior, fresh paint

The first thing I am asking from the guy is documentation for all of this. I'm not totally foolish so I know what to look for in paint and body imperfections. I've also been researching and reading articles on Sprites/British Cars on what to expect and look for, but I would like to have some good current opinions on what I need to be checking for?

Couple questions:
The engine swap for the MG 1275cc. I know the MG and AH are nearly identical cars so I feel swaps like this are common. Is this true? Is the 1275cc MG motor something I should be worried about? What can you do cheaply on a swap like this that would cause problems?

Wire wheels, sounds great I'm not worried there. Rear end swap though, is this common? Again, what should I look for there?

Suspension and other bits I just need receipts for and I'm hoping I can spot a new part from an old one. The restoration is fairly recent from my understanding.
Also from my research, the hard top is a nice plus!

I think that covers what I know I should be asking about. What am I forgetting?

Thank you in advance for all of the help! I really appreciate any and all advice
 
The engine swap and rear end swap is no big deal. The Sprite and Midget were identical cars except for the trim. Your main concern is evidence of sub standard rust repairs before the paint. If you want to post pictures, we can nit-pick the details.

If that is a down-draft weber carb, then it may not be tuned well. Those are notoriously bad on the 1275 A-series engines. But a good set of SU's could be reinstalled.
 
That is good to know. I assumed they were common place, just wasn't sure.
I'll get pictures as soon as I can, those will help a lot. I'm just trying to go in fully armed.
 
Wire wheels are commonly bad if they have some age and have not been taken care of. Condition of splines on the hubs and in the wheels should be suspect. If the rears make a clunk when shifting from reverse to forward that is a good indication that you have problems. Splines should not be sharp to the touch if you have a wheel off.
The 1275 and 3.9 diff shuold be considered a plus.

Kurt.
 
Rear end will be no problem, look for rust particularly at the bottom of the A posts and under the lower door hinges.
 
Check the common rust spots..

Under the front lip of the hood.

The bottom of the front fenders where the weep hole is. (make sure its kept clear when YOU own the car.

As stated above the bottom of the A pillars.

Around the Jack Holes

The bottoms of the rear fenders.

Feel for bubbles, take a magnet and check for bondo. (wrap the magnet in a cloth so you don't scratch the paint).

Body work is more expensive than mechanical work, so you want a SOLID car.

There must be more. Someone else will weigh in.
 
"All new Suspension" needs to be fully defined

Shocks Upgradfed/Updated with a set all around of Peter C.'d shocks - A Plus and definitely will be needed
A Frames/Wishbones - Metal bushings replaced/ Checked for Cracks - A Plus
Major Suspension Kit Installed - A Plus
Ruber Bushings Replaced - Front and Rear - A Plus
Upgrading Front Suspension to get back to Go Cart Handling = $1,000 by the time you are done

Brakes - Rear Wheel Cylinders leaking - pull drums to see
Brake Hoses Replaced - A Must every 10 years as they fail internally and no visible outside indicaiton - especially the single rear hose.

Oil Leaks - If upgraded 1275 doesn't have proper plumbing to vent crankcase i.e. Flying Saucer PCV Valve in place result will be leak from Rear Seal/Tranny area. Place sheet of cardboard under engine. Let warm up to operating temperatures, shut off and check for oil leaks 1/2 hour after shut down.

Tranny - Any grinding on downshift. 1st Gear is not synchro and makes lots of noise. Always shift into 2nd to synch revs before shofting into 1st or Reverse.
 
Awesome awesome advice guys! I really appreciate the help. I'm still waiting on another call back from the guy and I'm definitely feeling a little more confident on what I need to be looking for.
 
Jim, just a quick question about your comment. If the "major suspension kit" and "kingpin" kit are less than $400, what other things are needed on a front end rebuild? I ordered those and thought I was set. What is the other $600?
 
good and bad news:

-Good news: I have pictures and the guy has all the parts to make the car look factory again and there are no holes drilled in the car.

-Bad news: "...has LeMans styled add-on body modifications to re-create the look of a notchback coupe Cecil Kimber designed while chief engineer at Morris Garages in 1930."

1272769img.jpg


1272773img.jpg


1272770img.jpg


1272768img.jpg


1272758img.jpg


1272713img.jpg


I don't particularly like the look except for the roof, I like the hard top. However like I mentioned he has everything to put it back to appearing factory and what is there can be removed without much hassle apparently.
 
hope you are not cold natured, heater incomplete. does have alternator conversion, and looks has if suspension has been cleaned up. looks like someone had a plan with this car. it just wasn't a plan to keep the car stock.
 
hope you are not cold natured, heater incomplete. does have alternator conversion, and looks has if suspension has been cleaned up. looks like someone had a plan with this car. it just wasn't a plan to keep the car stock. also I believe it has the wrong doors for the year
 
sorry. just realized they shaved the outside handles, don't forget to leave the window down before you shut the door
 
We know this car. Was posted last year, the owner is (was) a member of this board. The mods, while not to everyone's taste seem well done.
 
He has the heater components, they are out because he put in a regular shaped battery. That will be going back in if I get it.
I'm hoping for door poppers on it or yes the windows will be down all the time!

I was wondering if he was someone on this board.
I dont find the mods that attractive, but I do know it's reversible and I actually don't mind bits and pieces of it. As for it's "stock" factor, I'm not a collector so it's fine by me.
 
My advice... If it is not exactly what you want then take a pass and sell your Audi. There are a bunch of unknowns in any custom car.
 
Joey,

New rebuilt shocks all around from Peter C. at World Wide Imports( NFI) a major important piece part that dramatically affects handling. Not sure what current price is from Peter C. I also added a front sway bar from later Spridget along with new rubber bushings.

Rebush Wishbones, when you get everything apart assuming you can get it apart and the wishbone is not cracked, the major wear item is fulcrum pin. You will likely need to use a reciprocating saw to cut the fulcrum pin apart from the kingpin. Once cut through on both sides the kingpin can be removed. The remaing halves of the kingpin can then be screwed out. Metal bushings at the end of the wishbone may or may not be in good shape. If threads cannot be cleaned up and the metal bushings are in bad shape they need to be replaced. These metal bushings are brazed in place and need to be closely aligned. These threads are your bearing surface, as suspension goes up and down the kingpin rotates on these threads. Alignment is critical. I tried doing htis myself and my brazing torch did not get hot enough to unbraze. At this point I used my credit card as a useful tool to send out wishbones to Apple Hydraulics to have metal bushings replaced, again NFI. Cost was around $200 and took 5 days for turnaround. Kingpins will also need to be rebushed and sized to fit in the bronze bushings. I sent the wishbones, kingpins and whole front suspension to Peter C. and he rebushed and set up the whole front suspension assembly so it was a simple bolt on assembly for each side. Turnaround 1 day and they were on their way back to me, < $100 as I recall.

Front end total rebuiild done correctly is the most expensive repair after engine rebuild that you will do on a Spridget. The difference in handling, point and go, and not following road grooves is amazing.It's worht the time, $ , and effort to do it right.
 
Back
Top