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Bugeye is Home!!!

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John Moore

John Moore

Luke Skywalker
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Woo Hoo! I finally got the BE home today. My boys were at first skeptical, but once they saw the smiling face I think they like it now and helped me give it a much needed bath.

It does look like I have a ribcage transmission, the bad news in addition to all the bubba wiring is that the 1275 is seized. uggg. I poured some Marvel Mystery oil down the bores to see if that helps loosen things abit.

On to the fun!
 

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That looks like a good one! You have a decent looking chrome grill! (that can be expensive and/or hard to find!) The siezed motor will make a nice "project". Looks like she has a bit of a list to port! Your boys will LOVE it once it is on the road, I know mine did! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif
 
Mike unfortunately the grille is toast. Also, it doesn't look like it has the original grille insert, something more akin to a fancy screen door! lol!
 
Looked good in the pix!! Sorry! I also am keeping an eye out for a decent one! Jack is the lucky guy on that score!!

Just looked at the pic. again. It sure looks to be an original from what I can see! Is it all one piece? If so that is a Sprite grill! They can be re-chromed nicely if not too bent up and pitted

What kind of shape are the floors etc. in?
 
Mike, the grille is pretty bad pitted.

Barry, the inital plan is to try and get it running so I can access the mechanicals, before I do any tear down. All the hyrdraulics are shot tho'. Daunting task to say the least! lolol!

As far as rust, it looks like the outer sills, A post and dog legs need to be replaced. The floors from the top side look ok, but I don't know if a DPO welded in sheet metal. I really got to get it up in the air and take a peek. But the intial accessment is not too bad... for now!

It needs LOTS of love, but I got it so cheaply I can't complain.
 
John..congrats on the adoption...be sure to keep the youngens' involved in the restore, everyone will benefit from it!!! keep us posted
 
Oh, I forgot to mention this one came with that rare option.... thick red, shag carpet! woo hoo!

I got it up in the air abit, as feared. Bubba sheet metal floors welded over the originals. The originals don't look too bad, hopefully, I can patch. The RR spring hanger looks solid, but some of the floor around it looks toast. I need to understand how that metal works together.
 
You might want to speak to Jack about a new grill, I hear he's got them coming out the wazzoo...
 
I think you'd better get it restored and on the road ASAP. Looks like you've only got maybe 6-7 years until the older son gets a driver's license; after that, you'll never see it again.

Seriously, this will be a great project to get the kids involved in; they'll learn a lot and have a blast.
 
Looks like fun, hope you enjoy the project.
 
Those rear spring hangers perplexed me at first, but I think I have a pretty good grasp on them now. If the floor around the bottom hanger plate is rusted, then you will need to remove that plate in order to patch/replace the floor and inspect the inner spring box. Three big spot welds and a bunch of rusty bolts! This would have to be the worst repair job on a spridget!
 
Thanks Trevor!

So looking at the Moss catalog, you have to remove part #19(Base Plate, spring mount) to replace the floor? If so that makes sense.

It doesn't look like the panels are too expensive except for the rear fender lower repair panel. #34 $179! YIKES!
 
John - contact me before you order those parts!
 
John, that car makes your kids look HUGE!!! Congrats on the new addition!
-Tony (the other one)
 
I'd try fabricating the lower repair panel before spending that kind of money, When I bought mine, they were cheaper, but I ended up reshaping them so much that I think I might have been better off starting from scratch. It is a compound curve, but if you do not have to replace a very big section, then it could be done with only one wedge cut.

That base plate is held by the visible bolts and three spot welds and a couple of small edge welds. I do not see how you could replace the floor pan without removing it.
 
The secret is the Spridget list. It is an email list kind of thing where we all get lots of spritely emails and such daily.

All I did was ask who had one to sell. This was the best of the batch but there were others, like maybe 6. Several for 175 bucks, did not see pics of them. I wanted the NOS one, after all the wife says do it right.

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Durn I hate to give away all my secrets. There is a Bugeye list as well.
 
Good going John!

I think you'll find the Bugeye even easier mechanically than the MGB.

She has a lot of potential - keep us posted!
 
In John's original post I mentioned the autox.team.net mailing list, but I have yet to see him post there. Maybe I scared him with the number of posts per day it generates.
 
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