> I was in the former camp until I realized that it was all I was doing
> besides working. I got to start resenting the albatros.
Well, this part year I didn't even have time to fiddle with the
albatross. That's why it's December and the Green Car is still
*almost* done. And curiously enough, it's also why I have enough
money lying around to buy this Midget, a motor and transmission,
and have them put into it. Funny thing about working... you either
have time or money, but not both.
BTW, best wishes from Tim Pettenati, late of this list; we chatted
for a nice long time last night. He's off to a Jensen-Healey club
Christmas party this weekend, but he'll be stopping by next Tuesday
so that, with a little luck, he can witness the starting of The Green
Car. Since Tim got the greasiest during the engine removal phase,
I've given him the job this time of standing there with a fistful
of Samuel Smith's and telling us what we should be doing. :-)
> > I should, at the risk of sounding too full of myself, mention that
> > I am at least in the position to do this with an M.G. Midget. I would
> > *like* to be in a position to do this with, say, an Aston-Martin DB5.
> > As Torrey is fond of saying, "Yeah, right." :-)
>
> Soctt have you actually test driven the Midget and know you comfortbly fit in
> the car?
My first LBC was a Midget, a '74, one of the last 1275-equipped cars.
That's the car in which I rode the Dragon's tail the first time, down
highway 1, and lost the alternator 26 miles north of Cambria and had
to call AAA from Linus Pauling's neighbors' house. (They had three old
VW campers and a couple of Toyota Land Cruisers, so I figured they knew
all about old cars.) Yes, I can fit in a Midget, as long as you change
the paradigm from "getting into a vehicle" to "putting on a pair of snug
running shoes."
> I was very saddened when I discovered that
>
> 1. My hips were too wide for a Westfield 7, and
I "tried on" Michael Sands' Caterham once, and it's tight. I don't
think I'd want to drive one from San Francisco to Seattle, but I could
manage it in an autocross.
> 2. My legs are too long for a GT6 or Mark I sprite.
I think I'm the largest person who *can* fit into a Spridget. (Well,
there was a guy in the southern California Healey Club who had a MkIII
Sprite, and who must have been nearly twice my current weight, but
about my height.) The only time I've been in a GT6, the seats were out
and I was leaning in to apply dressing to the dashboard, so I can't say
how I fit in them.
> On the positive side I DO fit a Ford GT40 in everyway except pocketbook.
Whaddya mean? There's one for sale for only $115K in this week's
Autoweek! :-)
> > BTW, does anyone *know* -- meaning have you done it yourself or do you
> > have a primary reference that says for a fact it will work -- whether
> > you can cross-fit MGB and Midget wire wheels?
> I believe the latest Moss flyer advertized MGB wheels as +1 wheels for the
> spridgets.
And even better, two SOLs have confirmed having done it. Good stuff.
Now I have the *real* emotional tug-of-war...
This is a Spridget.
It's apparently close to immaculate, except it has no engine and
transmission.
I know the first two digits of the engine I buy for it will be 12,
but will they be followed by 75...
...or by A?
--Scott "That's FRONKENSPREET" Fisher
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