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Sprite is Home...Now What?

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fabmandan

fabmandan

Jedi Hopeful
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I got my Sprite home last night thanks to a good friend with a hitch on her van. I had about an hour to look it over and I found a few discouraging things.
[*]One of the SUs is frozen
[*]The trans is stuck in neutral
[*]Its missing quite a few heater bits
[*]The master cylinder is empty
[*]No bumpers
Also a few good things.
[*]Complete new interior panel kit
[*]New bumper mounts and overriders
So, where do I begin?
 
Clean everything, power wash or what ever then get it all dry.

Now, kinda depends on what your intentions are as to what you do first.

I see no big deals in your list.
 
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif with Jack....&, while its not written specifically for a Sprite, my checklist still applies....got to https://www.theautoist.com/CHECKLIST.HTM & go through it step-by-step....when you're finished, you'll either have a well running car or know exactly where your major problems are located.
 
My goal is to get it driving and then work on the little stuff to make it a nice car.
 
Follow the checklist....
 
Thanks guys. What a great thing to have available!
 
The checklist looks good. I would definately add to check for structural rust, especially near the rear spring mounts.

I would say follow it pretty much in that order, but maybe follow your own discretion in replacing parts such as spark plug wires. If they are servicable and working fine, leave them. But don't be surprised if you have a problem with them later.

Typically when a car has been sitting a long time the previous owner has done a few small things in a feeble attempt to get it started. Inspect this carefully. There may be new parts but poor quality workmanship.

Use your own knowledge to decide what Must be changed, what should be changed and what is nice to change. The checklist looks very reasonable on that account. Many things should be changed without question, like safety related items, for example rear brake shoes. They can fall apart from rusty bonding of the friction padding and the defect can't be seen upon visual inspection. Flex lines and wheel cylinders are too cheap to try to keep the old ones.

Nice checklist Tony.
 
Get a new battery. Been a long time since I read Tonys checklist but might as well start with a known item.
 
I would start with taking the boxes out of the trunk hehehe

Pat
 
And the pot out of the side pockets.
 
The boxes are out of the trunk plus the other six boxes that came with it. No pot but plenty of other debris. Definitely needs a thorough cleaning.
 
RE fixing your frozen SU carburettor, I have the SU Carbs repair/maintenance manual as a Word Document on my web site, to get it go here.
 
Thanks Chris. I tried to follow your link but it wouldn't go through.
 
Hmm, what exactly do you see when you try?
 
Call Joe Curto about the carb. He has nice rebuild kits or you can send him the carb to rebuild. If anybody knows what's wrong with it or how to fix it, he would.

Joe Curto
 
The dry MC, stuck carb, and non-operating tranny indicate that the car has not be drivable for some period of time, not necessarily a long time as cars go downhill quickly when sitting. Using Tony's list I would start with an examimnation of the major driveline components first, that could represent a major portion of the budget to get her on the road. Once through that look to the safety issues; brakes are pretty obvious but suspension components are important as well; rubber bushings go away over time. Finally, I would look into the convenience items, like the heater; as long as you're not losing coolant and there's no blockage, you can do w/o a heater for the time being.

Good luck and remember, with LBCs, as with life, success is a journey.

Ray
 
I would bet that carb is an easy fix. Remove the dash pot and see what you see. However, be ready to rebuild both carbs with a good clean out or as said above let Hap do it with joes parts.

https://www.acmespeedshop.com/ Does good work and was trained by Joe as he had too much business.
 
That bit about the gearbox stuck in neutral could be bothersome.

I have about 4 gearboxes in my garage which have similar symptoms. Problem is that they are all rusted solid, or at least the shifting rods are rusted. That probably came from sitting in a shed for many years.

These gearboxes can also suffer from the shifter control rod not being in the correct detent while the gearbox is in gear. Actually I have seen this problem on many a gearbox, from Chevy to VW. Correcting this requires either removing the shifter extension, or somehow moving the engaged gear back into neutral. (Did that once on a Bug by reaching through the filler hole with a coathanger)
 
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