I found my new baby! WTB a couple parts

[Strapping_Lad]

I drove her back, Tucson to Las Vegas, last Saturday with out a single problem. A great '62 Midget that has been all sorted out and has a rebuilt 1275 and trans. The PO owned the car since '88 and has every service record since then. I now have about a hundred invoices from O'Connor Classic in San Jose. Mechanically the car is great, everything works, well... the speedo went out on me at the end of the trip. I guess it wasn't prepared for prolonged use.

So I WTB a new speedo for her, but the gauges are half smiths half jaeger. I would like to get all Jaeger so I would need a Jaeger speedo and mechanical tach if anyone can help me out with that.

Ok ok, I'll give you a couple pics too!

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Cable may have just fallen off the speedo.

Nice looking car. Any pics under the bonnet?

 

[drooartz]

Very nice. Sidescreen cars really are my favorites. Glad the trip was (mostly) uneventful. Enjoy the drives!

 

[Jim_Gruber]

Other option pending a rebuild of the speedo would be a Digital Speedo using a Bicycle Computer. A wired not wireless Sigma 1200 goes to 180 mph, < $25.00. Sigma 1600 is backlit for night driving, a little more expensive. I used a round 1" hobby magnet JB Welded to the outside of the DS Drum, an upgraded magnetic reed switch from local electronics shop that attaches to the spring mounting plate for the rear axle, and a homemade bracket attached to the mirror mount bracket that puts the digital readout on top of the dash directly in drivers line of sight. A fun engineering project and speedo is absolutely right on every time. Speedo, wires, magnets, upgraded reed switch came to < $40. Details available.

 

[jaegzie]

Jaeger gauges are fun to come by for these. Unless someone can point you in a better spot. But seeing as my last name is Jaeger I like to grab these when I can and have them in several of the healeys. They are getting a little harder to come by but and unfortunately the best place lately I have found for them are on ebay. Unless you can find someone with a extras, if you do let me know also.

 

[Strapping_Lad]

Sorry, no shots of the engine bay or interior yet! Will do it this weekend.

The bay is not detailed but it is a driver. The engine is nice and clean with no wet oil spots. The interior is really nice with good seats and carpet.

I took the speedo out yesterday, took it apart, lubed it and put everything back in and still didn't work.

 

[jlaird]

Is the cable turning??

 

[Gundy]

She's a beauty!

 

[jvandyke]

Nice car. My '63 looks very similar. I noticed the grill badge is red. Mine was too until I put a black on it this winter (because I though black was correct and looked better) maybe not?
Yours does appear to have front parking light syndrome though (fenders from different years with different light placement).
Great looking ride.
I'm jealous of your 1275 though. Mine still has her original 1098.

 

[Silverghost]

A very nice car indeed!!

It's another case of high/low turn signals too.....and I think the headlight trim rings are different.

 

[RickB]

I've got some gauges in my 64 MKI I could take a couple pictures when the weather clears.

 

[Sopwith_Camel]

sweeeeet!!
happy motering

 

[scoutll]

Jeff, The black and red is correct. The all red emblem was later. Don't quote me, but I think late 67 or 68 on the Midget.

 

[Strapping_Lad]

Well I had a chance to go through one of the boxes of extra goodies. I found all the other original gauges in there. Jaeger tach and oil/temp and a couple different aftermarket amp gauges. Along with that discovery, I found the smiths tach it was replaced with is electric and not mechanical as it should be.

Yeah, I noticed the different blinker height but its not really something I am going to worry about now. I'm just happy they both work!

 

[Sarastro]

Looks and sounds like a really nice midget.

There really isn't much that can go wrong inside the speedometer that will stop it working completely. The pointer can come loose (it's just a press fit), the pivot for the aluminum cup can get some dirt in it and bind, or the shaft can jam, causing the cable to break. Usually the problem is a cable or drive gear, which is easy to check: see if the cable is moving when the car moves. You can also put a screwdriver into the cable connection on the speedo, spin it (counterclockwise) and see if the pointer and odo change.

 

[Silverghost]

Yeah, I noticed the different blinker height but its not really something I am going to worry about now. I'm just happy they both work!

Knowing next to nothing about Spridgets - my "education" coming from reading this forum! - I've read here that it has been speculated that some cars may have actually been "born" that way. I am sure more knowledgeable minds will comment....

 

[Strapping_Lad]

Knowing next to nothing about Spridgets - my "education" coming from reading this forum! - I've read here that it has been speculated that some cars may have actually been "born" that way. I am sure more knowledgeable minds will comment....

I keep finding all sorts of goodies in the extra boxes. There is an old Polaroid from when the PO fist bought the car in '88 with a replacement fender on the passenger side. Guess we can put the mystery to rest!

 

[jaegzie]

My 69 sprite has the same fender since for sure 77 (parents bought it) and my Dad has hated them ever since because the two lights are at different heights which makes the bumper look bent. He had the car painted and then someone pointed it out to him, and it still bothers him to this day.

Ive noticed on a few other sets of fenders that there seem to be two different heights, these all can not be replacement fenders.

 

[Strapping_Lad]

That fender is definitely from a MK3 Midget after doing a google image search and comparing MK1 and 2 to MK3.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Fender changed in late '69 or early '70 when the BL face lift cars were introduced. The change occurred with the thin front bumper, split rear bumper, black sills, etc.