As Trevor mentioned alot depends on the year of your sprite.
Brakes: One of the things I am planning on doing with my 62 midget is
putting a dual line braking system, and perhaps a front disk brake
conversion too. More important though is to keep them in good working
order, and check them frequently.
Roll bar: I don't think a roll over is all that likely, the car has a
very low center of gravity to start with, but, you oculd go for it,m
besides they look rather sporty too. Might be possible to modilfy the
older style removable top support to work witha roll bar, but I suspect
it would be much more difficulted with a folding top.
Seat belts: if your car does not have three point restraints, put them
in. Seat belts save more lives than any other peice of safety
equipment. Even my '62 has mounting points for 3 point restraints.
Without good belts a roll bar is not going to help much.
Head rests: Again, these really help prevent neck injuries, but that
would require chaning out your seats, and I'm not sure how practical
that really is.
No mader how much you do to imprive the mechanical safety of the car.
it's most important safety feature "loose nut" behind the wheel, make
sure he's doing his job and the rest will hopefully never need to be
tested.
Greg Kirk (the loose nut on a '62 Midget)
Safety Fast!
jphender@inav.net wrote:
> Can anyone give me some advice on how to make my Sprite safer without
> making it ugly? I don't want to start a debate on the inherent safety
> of
> Spridgets but there must be some features that a majority can agree
> upon.
>
> I haven't heard anyone say that a roll bar is a bad thing. How high
> should it be? Where should it be anchored? Can/Should the windshield
>
> frame be beefed up?
>
> Is there anything in the suspension that should be modified to lessen
> the
> risk of rollover? How common is a rollover?
>
> Not worried about myself, just want my passengers to be comfortable
> and
> safe.
>
> Jim Henderson
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