You tell them, most Sprites never got out of the show room without some
little extras installed. A sports car should be what the owner wants, my
yellow bug-i has a 75 hp 1098, 5-speed with Datsun 7 1/4" clutch, 42 mpg on
the road at 75-80mph @ 3700rpm, 200 watt 4 speaker stereo, itchybitchy
alternator, roll bar, old Sears Michelin SCR 155R13 tires, 9/16" swaybar.
(bushings on sway bar and front end are my own 25 year development and I
ain't saying). Disc front and later rear brakes. A set of Porsche 914 seats
with the headrests cut off (still working the bugs out on that one, but the
cost was less than recovering my old seats). Next in line is a white paint
job and 80hp big bore 948. Why because that is the way I want it to be. I
love them all, even if only for parts on some.
Crash
>With all due respect I would like to share a different view. First let me
>say that if the car is an unmolested
>original example that has never been in a significant shunt , has little or
>no rust and is basically a time capsule.
>Then I completely agree with you. It would be a crime to modify a car like
>this. On the other end of the spectrum
>is my car. It is missing it's original engine and transmission and
>suspension and interior. Three out of four wings had
>been heavily dented and filled with massive amounts of Bondo. On the plus
>side the car's suspension mounting points
>are true, and the car has almost no rust. I have replaced the three wings,
>both "A" posts , one "B" post , one sill , and
>a bunch of other mangled flat sheet metal parts. These repairs have been
>carried out to the highest standards that I can
>perform. I have used some lead and a very small amount of plastic on this
>car. I have been collecting all of the correct
>missing parts that give these cars so much of their charm. Like original
>seats , uncut dash , original gauges , steering
>wheel, all of the original Bakelite switches and controls. I've even
>acquired a radiator with perfect sheet metal that needs
>re-coring. (Didn't I get that from you ?) It could have ended up in the
>scrap heap. I also bought a copy of the originality
>standards , so that when I put the whole thing together it will look
correct
>(mostly). But no matter what I do... even if I find
>rubber floor mats and ribbed door liners, it wont be an original car. In
the
>40 some odd years since these cars were first
>produced a lot of development has gone in to them. Some of it has been very
>successful. Are there any list members out there with
>Datsun 5 speeds or 1275's in their Bugeyes? Or alternators or disk brakes
or
>Webers ???...Do you see what I mean ? So I am NOT
>sorry for putting all of the above and Polly bushings and a front sway bar
>and a rear panhard rod and leather interior and Wilton
>carpet into my Sprite. My Sprite will never be in the same class as "Old
>Grey" But it will have class and be a kick in the Ass.
>My .02 cents
> Mark Hanna
> AN5
>
>
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Trevor Boicey [SMTP:tboicey@brit.ca]
>> Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 8:30 PM
>> To: ryan marro
>> Cc: Daniel1312@aol.com; robert@woozy.com; toyman@digitex.net;
>> spridgets@autox.team.net
>> Subject: Re: Engine and Transmission
>>
>> ryan marro wrote:
>> > Never having known
>> > any of the Healeys personnally, I can't speak with authority, but I
>> doubt
>> > that they would still be building their cars with a 948cc engine these
>> days.
>>
>> I think that's the fundamental "discontuity" in the logic.
>>
>> The Healey is not a car of today. It's a car of yesteryear,
>> and that's what's wonderful about it, and they "ain't making
>> any more".
>>
>> To try to put a modern engine into it because "Donald would
>> do it today" would imply that you are trying to modernize
>> the car. If you want a new car, you are likely better off to
>> just buy one, because after the engine and tranny swap
>> the braking and suspension is going to be horribly out
>> of place.
>>
>> 90% of these projects die. Strangely, a lot of them are
>> completed until they are driveable and even usable, but that's
>> about the time reality strikes and the illusion of the
>> dream is shattered by the reality.
>>
>> Eventually, it all ends up in a stack of boxes as another
>> unfinished project.
>>
>> --
>> Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
>> Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
>> ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
>> "Wanna see me comb my hair really fast?" - Johnny Bravo
|