Did you know-todays trivia

[jlaird]

that the track on a Bugeye is 1 inch wider at the front than the rear?

 

[Speedy_Pete]

Yes I do. But only because you just told me...

 

[zimasprite]

That begs this follow-up question....was it done on purpose???

 

[RonMacPherson]

Hey, be glad it's not a Citroen. Some of them had all 4 wheels non aligned with each other. Talk about alignment fun.

 

[jlaird]

I expect it was done because it was expedient.

ie rear axle came from.........I forget.

and front end was designed by someone someplace with parts on hand and a ruler.

Hay, it works fine. Just thought it was intresting.

And of course something to take into consideration when alignment time comes.

 

[kcbugeye1275]

I took my bugeye to alignment shop this last week and the machine didn't go back to a 58 AH. Off the 61 Midget specs, my bugey was dead on except for toe in. The friend with the shop said it was the straightest Brit car he'd seen for 30 yrs. He guessed most of the others had seen a ditch and suggested that I keep mine out of one.

 

[bugimike]

I think Donald Healey did not just design for expedience, but did include solid engineering principles as well! Since the front end is an independent wishbone design, the frame rail dimensions could have easily been brought in that 1" to bring the front end in line with the "out of the parts bin" rear axle, but a slightly wider front end would add to stability and the handling characteristics of the car...part of the unique "feel" of driving a Spridget!!! The narrower rear certainly must help with controlling the "drift" attitude of the car while cornering!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/driving.gif

 

[ncbugeye]

That excellent book "Original Sprite and Midget" has it all in detail:
Front suspension and rear axle came from the Austin A35. Pic is from Wikipedia.

The quarter-elliptical rear suspension is unique to the Bugeye - it was replaced with half-elliptical in later models.

Steering rack is from the Morris Minor.

In the case of ncbugeye the difference in front and rear track is somewhat obvious now she has 175/70R13 tyres, since the front tyres stick out a little from the front bodywork, whereas the rears are completely covered

 

[jlaird]

Thanks Chris, knew I had seen that someplace but was haveing a senior moment.

 

[healeyboz]

Interesting!

 

[Hap Waldrop]

that the track on a Bugeye is 1 inch wider at the front than the rear?

Yes sir Colonel, But then I've been aligning them for years, it's that way on all Spridgets, not just Bugeyes, as far as front track wider than rear. This is not that uncommon in the automotive world, never assume front and rear track are the same on any car.

 

[racingenglishcars]

All the suspension parts came from the parts bin. The rear axle came from the Morris Minor which had a track several inches wider than the Sprite. The housing was shortened for use on the Sprite and corresponding shorter axles were made. Though all with the same design as the MM. Therefore the rear track was designed for the Sprite and one would reason that the difference in the track F/R was intentional.

 

[Hap Waldrop]

I got a metropolitan complete rear end end it looks to be about the same as Spridget as for track.

 

[GB1]

Hap:

Do you sell spacers for the rear wheels?

What are your feelings on using them, maybe 1/4 inch.

Thanks,
Pat

 

[ncbugeye]

The Nash Metropolitan probably took parts out of the A30/A35 bin too, or the other way around. Interesting article on Wikipedia, (google Nash Metropolitan) it was apparently the first US-designed car to be built entirely in Europe (Austin, Longbridge).

 

[Guest]

I think those mid/late 70's Chevy Nova's (Ventura, Omega, Apollo whatever) were like that also. I also noticed that most of them crabwalked when I was behind em. You could see right up the left side of the car.

 

[Glen_B]

Oddly enough, I own both an Austin A35 saloon and a bugeye Sprite. The rear axle housings are identical to my eye and the wheelbase is the same. One of the things that led me to buy the A35 was its place in bugeye history as the donor of the powertrain and suspension. I figured that all the bugeye bits I had rotting on the shelves would bolt right onto the A35. Such was the case.
My A35 now has spridget disc brakes, a 1275 motor with ribcase trans.

The one major problematic difference is when you try to fit spridget headers to the A35. The spridget header angles out to the side to exit outboard of the rail while the A35 exhaust drops straight down to exit right next to the motor. This forced me to weld up my own header for the A35.

Here's a link to "Austin Powerless":
https://home.comcast.net/~byrns.family/wsb/html/view.cgi-photo.html--SiteID-2986586.html

Glen Byrns

 

[jlaird]

Love the trivia, thanks.

 

[bugimike]

Very cool! Love the pix of the A35 and BE too! Nice!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif