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Berkeley and Bugeye

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Tullamore

Tullamore

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I bought a Berkeley a while ago and thought it would be neat to have some pictures of it with one of my bugeyes. I was surprised that they are actually closer in size than I had ever noticed almost exactly the same length.

Any Berkeley experts on the board that could answer some questions about them?

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Yes - the Bugeye wins any race.

We had a Berkeley race with us in vintage. Laps were timed using an egg timer. They get by on cute looks, not performance.
 
If you don't see how big the car is I think the Berkeley is pretty aggressive looking a cross between Cobra and XKE
 
Gawd, that Berkely alongside the Bugeye makes the BE look positively massive!!
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coldplugs said:
What sort of help do you need with the Berk?
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I am thinking about autocrossing it, do you know what size of modern tires people are running. Mine has all five original tires on it still as it has only 11K miles.
 
The other similar car that is nice looking but slow is the Honda S800. It is faster than a Berkeley, mind you and has a really nice motorcycle derived engine with 4 Keihin carbs that puts out 70 BHP @ 8000 RPM.


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Yeah, until you have to find a battery that fits one. Course, nowadays with so many large motorcycle batteries and tractor batteries available it might not be as difficult to source as it was in the late 70's or was it early 80's.
 
Great Berkeley! Wonderful find. Still running on the original engine?
 
Tullamore said:
I am thinking about autocrossing it, do you know what size of modern tires people are running. Mine has all five original tires on it still as it has only 11K miles.
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For recommendations on tires look on the Yahoo Berkeley forum here. Do a search on "tires" - for autocrossing and ignore any suggestions regarding golf cart tires etc.

Almost all Berks seem to have their original tires, which were Michelin cross plys that look like Michelin X radials.

Note that Berkeleys have swing axle rear ends that'll tuck in like an early Spitfire on hard cornering. There's a highly recommended mod at www.coldplugs.com/berktechindex.htm - click on the link that refers to racing modifications - it's down the page a bit.

~Finally~, another Bekreley owner on BCF. I think we have a grand total of three now!

[Nial - thanks for the plug].
 
78Z said:
Great Berkeley! Wonderful find. Still running on the original engine?
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Yes it is all original.

John what is the correct oil and fuel mixture for these cars, I haven't found that anywhere?

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Steve -- I see lots of penetrating oil in your future.....getting bolts out of alloy castings when they ahve been there a few decades can be a challenge!

Nice thing about this sort of car is that the body is never too much work, and if you just disassemble the rest, blast it and paint it and put it back together, it looks pretty fine. Nice project (I still think you need a Honda S800 as a stable mate)
 
Tullamore said:
...

John what is the correct oil and fuel mixture for these cars, I haven't found that anywhere?
Click to expand...

16 to 1 was the ratio recommended. Some folks have tried to push that a little (to cut down on smoke if nothing else) rationalizing that modern oils are better etc etc. I'd suggest sticking with the 16-1 since the Excelsior engines leave a lot to be desired in the cooling department.

The car looks very original - nice!
 
Re: fuel mix. I would go with newer technology and run Optimal. It is a lean mix, but superior lubrication and works well in the oldest 2 strokes. As oil burns hotter than gasoline, more oil will not necessarily run cooler.
 
I think he meant the OTHER way, Dale. :wink:
 
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