hey kids,
there's a ad for a '59 bugeye in the San Jose Mercury News for $1500 -
i went to check it out this morning. it looks like a good deal to me,
but i'm about a month (no derisive snorts, please, unless you know me)
from finishing my own '58, and i *really* don't need another project now..
well maybe a mini.. or a elan s2.. or an xke (sorry, e-type) mkI.. but i
digress.
she looks a wreck, but she'd make an excellent restoration project (about
2 orders of magnitude better than the one i started with for the same money
(ah, the whimsical impulsiveness of youth (i'm 30 now, and this adult thing
just isn't working out))). ahem.
details:
she's actually an early windscreen '58 (AN5L/2something). the windcreen (in
the back of an old buick in the backyard) is the later type. the buick also
contains a lovely original grille (1-pc with the groove). the body is
completely rust-free, as far as i could tell. the back end is *lovely* -
it looks like it's never been hit. doors good, no interior (there is a
set of apparently rebuildable seats in the trunk of the buick, along with
lots of lights, 2(!) number plate lamp plinths, the original tach (there's
a later electronic tach in the car), and various other bits). i didn't
get to hear it run, but the woman who was showing me the car (the fiancee
of the owner (the car's at his parent's house in Palo Alto)) [<-old lisp hack]
said he starts (!) it up every few (i think she said 6) months or so, and
that it runs (!!) pretty well. she said the transmission was fine, but "a
little funny" in first. yea, like some aren't. anyway, it's a 948, but it's
missing the tag, so i couldn't tell if it was a 9C or a 9CC. bonnet's a wreck,
inner fenders have been hacked, right wishbone is cracked, wierd extra
bits welded to front chassis legs. wrong carbs (HS2s), correct dynamo
(with tach drive (no angle drive)), correct wheels (2 on the car, she said
they have the other 2). let's see, dash pretty good ('H' knob!, radio
cutout, looks straight). that's about all i can think of right now.
if you have specific questions, send me email directly, and i'll try to
dredge through this damned leaky chemical-based memory* for the answer.
oh yea, call cristina at 408.293.9545. tell `em hans sent ya.
BTW, has anybody found a source for bugeye door striker plates? you know,
the little cones with the hole & the detent? i got some new ones from
Mini Mania, but the f* hole is about an eighth of an inch off, and they won't
work. also tried O'Connor (Moss distributor), same problem..
hans "three years and counting, or was it four?" huber
*credit SF#1
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