• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
  • When posting a classified ad, you MUST select a prefix from the drop-down next to the subject line. If you don't you will get an error and your ad will not be posted!
Tips
Tips

Bugeye Sprite.

Share this page

D

DRH

Senior Member
Country flag
Offline
After banging my knuckles for about 3 hours dealing with the BE starter, I got to thinking....Does anybody know of anyone in the whole wide world who ever changed a BE starter alone while broken down on the road. I mean crawling around there in the gravel with nothing but your traveling tool kit in hand. Heck, I was in my shop with lots of tools and had to do the darndest things and chase down dropped nuts and washers and wrenches. I pulled the heater air line--the oil filter. Got 3-4 cuts on my left hand alone. Blood everywhere. It made me think--Has anyone ever done this on the road?, and, if so, My hat is off to those many?--those few? that have. Don
 
If any of my Sprites wouldn't start when I was away from home, I usually found a few "volunteers" to help push start me. :laugh:

In a few circumstances, I was able to push the car and jump in to pop-start it without any help.

I always tried to park my old Bugeye on a hill for that reason. :wink:
 
I haven't changed one while on the road, but like you I swapped one out in my garage. I would definitely only swap one on the road if I had to. :eeek:

It sure was nice when I was done and my BE started right up!
 
I have changed many. No prob easy to do.
 
One more reason to get the gear reduction starter when I do the Rivergate conversion
 
I don't think I have ever crawled underneath. All doable from the top in about 15 minutes, on the side of a snowy road. 8 minutes in a racecar.
 
jlaird said:
I have changed many. No prob easy to do.
Click to expand...



Well, uh yeah, but they don't call ya "Bugeye Jack" fer nothin'! :thumbsup:

it wouldn't surprise me in your younger days if you hand cranked it with only the lace from your combat boot wrapped around the pulley. :jester:
 
I bought my cousin's very well used '59 bugeye as my first car in high school in 1967. When the starter wouldn't work, I learned how to turn the Bendix using the drive nut on the front of the starter. And when that didn't work, a starter from a Nash Metropolitan ( that later donated an axle shaft for a snapped one) took its place. That bugeye, which had to be the Model T of sportscars, taught me the courage to do my own repairs. I'm no mechanical/engineering genius, but darn, that car taught me a lot.
 
Back
Top