Hey everyone. I am new here, and will start off by telling you a little about myself, and the "Sprite". Well my name is Jon, and I am 19. I took many automotive classes in high school, (3 years of Tech, and 3 years of Body). My specialty is body work. I have restored a 1973 Opel GT, curently working on my grandpa's 1940's Willy's Jeep, have plans on helping my dad with his 1972 Opel GT, have helped with body work on two Chevelles in school, painted MANY small items, and a couple of cars, and now am going to be working on my Uncles 196? Austin Healey Sprite. I THINK it is a 1966, but will have to get back to you guys with the year.
I don't really know much on the history of the car. My uncle has had it for around 15 or so years, where it has just sat in his barn since he is also re-doing a mustang on his "spare" time, which has been like a 5 year project and still going. Anyways, the car is in pretty good shape as far as being structurally sound. I have no idea if it runs or not, a lot of the parts are not there. I will for sure get plenty of pictures up and on here, and more as I get going on it.
My first big question is, I cannot find any websites or anything that sells parts for them. The only body parts I may need are floorboards. Everything else is OK. As far as interior, there is none. It has no windshield frame or windshield. No top since its a convertible. Headlights, none, grill, none, ect. A resource for some parts would be great.
My plans are as following. Re-install the trunk lid, hood, doors, everything to make sure the fit is ok. Once that is complete, I will be taking EVERYTHING off of the car, from the motor to the fenders to work on things one at a time. I will be coating the engine compartment, underbody, and inside of the fenders with a rustproofing paint. It is the same stuff I used on my Opel. I do not remember the name, but it was about 100$ a gallon, and is as hard as concrete.
For the motor, I have no idea what my uncle plans on doing. I do not know if he wants to install a different motor (any suggestions on an easy fit?) or just rebuild the stock motor. For the body, he gets to choose the color. As of right now, he wants to go with the mint green color like on the new VW Beetles. Anyone have pictures of anything like that?
Anyways, sorry for the LONG first post, but I am sure I will be here quite often with lots of questions since I really don't know a lot about these cars lol.
-Jon
I don't really know much on the history of the car. My uncle has had it for around 15 or so years, where it has just sat in his barn since he is also re-doing a mustang on his "spare" time, which has been like a 5 year project and still going. Anyways, the car is in pretty good shape as far as being structurally sound. I have no idea if it runs or not, a lot of the parts are not there. I will for sure get plenty of pictures up and on here, and more as I get going on it.
My first big question is, I cannot find any websites or anything that sells parts for them. The only body parts I may need are floorboards. Everything else is OK. As far as interior, there is none. It has no windshield frame or windshield. No top since its a convertible. Headlights, none, grill, none, ect. A resource for some parts would be great.
My plans are as following. Re-install the trunk lid, hood, doors, everything to make sure the fit is ok. Once that is complete, I will be taking EVERYTHING off of the car, from the motor to the fenders to work on things one at a time. I will be coating the engine compartment, underbody, and inside of the fenders with a rustproofing paint. It is the same stuff I used on my Opel. I do not remember the name, but it was about 100$ a gallon, and is as hard as concrete.
For the motor, I have no idea what my uncle plans on doing. I do not know if he wants to install a different motor (any suggestions on an easy fit?) or just rebuild the stock motor. For the body, he gets to choose the color. As of right now, he wants to go with the mint green color like on the new VW Beetles. Anyone have pictures of anything like that?
Anyways, sorry for the LONG first post, but I am sure I will be here quite often with lots of questions since I really don't know a lot about these cars lol.
-Jon