I drove the Bugeye about 70 miles from San Bernardino to Gardena,
California today to meet with Glen Byrns. Glen was visiting his family
and had left a message on the list about a radiator he had to give
away. It was a Bugeye radiator. I have been trying to obtain a 2 row
radiator to replace my 3 row re-cored Bugeye radiator. Some people on
the list have mentioned that the core may have too many tubes to allow
air to flow well through it. Glen and I took a ride around the block in
my car and we talked Sprites for a few hours. Glen then pulled the
radiator out of his van and it was a 2 row Bugeye rad in very good
condition. Glen said, "now that you have the fan market cornered, all
you need is a radiator, so here!" ;^)
I left Glen at about 12:30 PM and headed back to San Bernardino. I
filled the tank on the Bugeye before leaving Gardena. I only needed 2
gallons to fill it. It was full when I left in the morning, so I am
getting 35 MPG with the supercharger on the highway. Pretty good. When
I got to San Bernardino, I took the radiator to the guy that re-cored
the one in my car to pressure test the one Glen gave me. He could not
find any plugs small enough to plug the inlet and outlets and could not
do it for me. I mentioned what was happening with the 3 row in my car.
He said, "Oh yeah, you need a better fan when you add a row to your
radiator on those cars." Now he tells me. I brought the radiator home
and cleaned it up, straightened the fins and painted it with Eastwood's
Radiator Black paint. It looks great. It will be going in tomorrow and
the 15% antifreeze mix will go back in with it. We'll see how the car
reacts. I still have a blanking sleeve and NPG+ waterless coolant to
put in. Jack at APT also told me to block off the bypass between the
head and the water pump, but one step at a time. We'll see what the 2
row rad does first.
Mike MacLean Supercharged 60 Sprite
P.S. I have a pair of rear (red) turn signal lenses for the Bugeye made
in Japan out of plastic. They are not perfect, but acceptable for a
driver. First person to answer me off list will get these free.
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