Hey youse guys...
(Humor me... its 3 degrees, I haven't raced in 3 months, and won't race
until at least March... I'm feeling like a crack whore in a forced rehab...
I'm sportin' a big Sprite chode right now...)
I warned you to stop me before I "did it again"... well, now you've done
it... I did it again. Jacques Le Clainche had a super solid MKII Sprite for
sale in San Diego, and it called out to me and said " turn me into the Red
Rat Bastard II!!!"...
So, add another Spridget to the stable... gets me up to an even
10...really... I'm gonna get professional help.
For those of you paying attention, here's "the plan"...
Redrum... 998 , getting close to fully sorted...(ex Jack Drews car..). Ran
like a raped ape at the Oct. Looooong Race. I have the stock bugeye bonnet,
and what I refer to as a "Targa" bonnet. This car was "Pick of the Liter"
at ELVF '02 in the Jan. issue of Vintage Motorsport. So far, we haven't
identified the manufacturer of the bonnet... its very similar to the shape
of the Works targa cars, and the identical bonnet is pictured on a MKII on
page 70 of "Mighty Midgets and Special Sprites"
The new race car just purchased from Colby... officially now called "Red
Arse", with "baboon" on the license plate since its' "red as a monkey's
ass". (I don't have the name of the list member that made the winning
suggestion on this computer, so the official announcement will be later...)
Currently, gonna be shipped to me with a running stock 948 to make it a
driver and easier to transport, but will be raced with a Red Rat motor
clone that I'm assembling. I've purchased a period Ashley fastback hardtop
for this car to go along with the Speedwell Monza bonnet... ought to look
pretty sleek as my "enduro" and bad weather car.
The Bishop, undriven, unraced since the 1992 race season, (but I expect to
get it on the road again, maybe use it for some of the "tours" like the
Copperstate, or something similar..) An original DMH Stage V tuned 948
Sprite with a known race history. I have a stock BMC hardtop for this car.
FrankenSprite... and ex- Chuck Shields H Prod bugeye, with a full cage and
right hand drive. Really, nothing more than a tub now, it will be made from
the leftovers from a variety of cars... thus the name... "made from dead
parts". It was always my intention to paint this the day glow green color
the Works tried to use at LeMans (and the French scrutineers wouldn't let
them.) They did use that color for some Targa Florio cars. I'm rethinking
the color, as it may make sense to start painting all my cars the same
color, so bonnets and hardtops can easily be interchanged.
Shakey, (named after John Sprinzel) currently, is a rusty metalflake green
Bugeye in the back corner of the garage. It's got a 948 with a Judson
supercharger, hasn't been run or on the road for years. The tub will need a
total rebuild, and I'm planning on making a Sebring Sprite replica, with one
of the kits from Brian Archer in the UK. It'll have fiberglass rear, glass
hardtop with windshield molded into the cowl, and Sebring nose. I'll replace
all flat steel panels with alloy, and remove and reduce as much weight as
possible throughout the car.
Red Rat II... this will be built from the tub just purchased from Jacques.
It's a MKII, and, due to my 6'1" height, and 220 lb girth, I find that I
really can't get comfortable in a bugeye tub. I've missed the room that the
more open cockpit area that the original Red Rat provided. Eventually, this
will be my main race car. The Colby built roll bar that sits in the now Dead
Rat Bastard rotting in Elmo's junkyard will again be used, as it survived
the ugly rollover at Mosport 2 1/2 years ago with nothing more than a
scratch.
Bride of FrankenSprite... this will be based on a MKI Midget shell that I
bought on Ebay for $1 (with a 948 that's now in Redrum). I have an Ashley
bonnet that brother Don garbage picked a mile from my home 18 years ago. I
also have an Ashley fastback hardtop for this car. It will me black with
squiggly white stripes, ala the Bride of Frankenstein's hair. It will have
"Abynrml" on the license plate.
I've got the 32,000 mile MKIII that I got from Daniel T in Canada...a real
nice stock street car. It sat disassembled under a workbench in a Canadian
racer's basement for many years. He heard of it, bought it, and put it all
back together, and sold it to me.
Then, there's the SOS MKIII Sprite... a long term project that was set back
a little bit when I smoked its 1275 while trying to run it in Redrum at
Grattan... oops. Originally a $400 rotted shitbox, it's all painted, got a
fresh interior, new wiring harness, completely insulated interior, factory
hardtop, and soon, air conditioning. Its essentially a Sprite I can hop
into on a hot summer day for a business call, or a long ride to the lake,
and not arrive a wrinkled mess. It'll eventually have a Datsun 5 spd to mate
up with a hot street 1275 and 3.9 rear end. This car will be completely new
from the ground up.
And, last but not least, a '71 Midget originally purchased as a parts car,
but way too solid and complete to give up its identity, so, its being
restored as a hot street/autocross car for the lovely Veronica.
I think that's plenty cars for now, but, as always, if you have, or hear of
any period glass bonnets or hardtops for sale, please let me know. I'm
always interested in race car parts.
Also, thinking of upsizing my current enclosed Team Thicko trailer to a 2
car rig. Know of any for sale? If so, I'll be selling my Interstate, red,
18' inside dimension, 8' wide, with a rear ramp door, rt. front entry, side
door exit (for when you need to crawl out a window) and a small generator
door at the tongue. It has lots of PitPal aluminum doodads for cables,
hoses, oils cans, & ratchet straps. Lots of "E" channel for ratcheting down
almost anything in any position. It has all new tires, all new brakes, and a
new front tongue jack. Also, this trailer has a roll down side awning (which
kicks ass...easy up and down in a hurry). So, any of you Thickos want a nice
trailer... already got the graphics...????
Flounder
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