Posting up some pics of my wife's car due to popular demand.
It was restored by her dad over a two year period (body work and paint jobbed out). He and I gave it to her as a surprise gift at a local car show on Father's Day 2014. It has a 1275cc BMC A-series motor with a custom cam, race exhaust, Datsun 210 five-speed tranny (common bolt-on mod), Weber side-draft carburetor, and front disc brakes. Sorry for the couple >300k photos. Might be time to bump that limit up a bit...not a lot of people left out there on 56k connections
My oldest daughter (for whom the Fiero is currently a daily driver) and my father-in-law on the morning that we gave wifey the car. (the black top was temporary, it has a matching tan top, shown below)
[This message has been edited by lorennerol (edited 05-25-2015).]
Very cool! Very nice car. I hope that mrfiero chimes in. He has a Sprite that is damned near a daily driver. Well... he drove it from Colorado to Huntsville AL for the Fiero Swap Meet one year.
Very cool! Very nice car. I hope that mrfiero chimes in. He has a Sprite that is damned near a daily driver. Well... he drove it from Colorado to Huntsville AL for the Fiero Swap Meet one year.
Heh....I commented in another thread that I am no longer the only Fiero & Bugeye owner on PFF. Yes....my Bugeye is in "driver" condition, but I will be tearing it down this summer/fall for a fresh coat of paint & new interior.
My little Sprite has been on many 1000+ mile road trips.....it's a ball to drive!
Sorry to hijack your thread lorennerol, but here's a picture of mine.....as you can see, it is not nearly as nice as yours (but by next year it'll be close!).
Originally posted by mrfiero:Sorry to hijack your thread lorennerol, but here's a picture of mine.....as you can see, it is not nearly as nice as yours (but by next year it'll be close!).
No apology necessary. The more (Sprites and Fieros), the merrier!
I wasn't at all into Sprites when I hatched this plan to give wifey her car. She liked them "because they look happy" and because her Dad has a long history with them, including racing one for years in SCCA. But the more I drive it, the more I really love its simplicity and the direct connection between the driver and what the car does. No traction control, no stability control, no shift lights, no rev matching, no nag lights, no computers of any kind whatsoever.
And since there's almost no insulation (heat or sound), the auditory experience is completely different, too. It's just a simple, raw, beautiful (and increasingly lost) kind of driving. I never imagined 70HP could be so fun.
I've loved Bugeye Sprites since I saw my first one when I was in high school in 1986. I came very close to buying one in 1990, but wound up with an '88 Fiero GT instead. The next 16 years were all about the Fiero for me and owning a Bugeye sort of faded away. Then I found this one in 2006 that seemed like a great buy and the timing was right to take the plunge.
Over the years I've broken several axles, burned up 3 clutches and pulled the engine/trans at least 5 times. Like you said, they are such simple cars and they're a completely different experience to drive than anything modern. I also like the double takes from other drivers as they see me zip by them.
Mine has the Datsun 5-speed too, but it also has the A15 engine attached to it, along with twin 38mm Hitachi sidedraft carbs (SU clones) and a NISMO performance head with big valves. Some think that is sacrilegious, but it makes for a pretty quick & fun little car. It's been pretty reliable too (aside from the broken axles), so I have no regrets.
After 9 years of driving, it is showing it's age. It was restored in the late 80's/early 90's, but the paint quality used was pretty bad. I finally have the money to freshen it up, so by this time next year it'll be looking good.
I look forward to seeing in-progress and completion pics
My father is law is on to his next Sprite restoration. I helped him strip the body when we were in Tucson in April. In less than a hour we pulled the motor, took off the transmission, replaced the clutch, and put the tranny back on. Granted, he's done this many, many times, but I think after an hour trying to do this on my Sky or Fiero I'd still be scratching my head and going for more coffee.
In about seven hours total, the two of us reduced a running car with a bad clutch to a completely stripped tub, ready to go out for media blasting, body work, and paint.
Edit to add: Some people scoff at the Weber side draft on our car, but what I wanted for wifey is a reliable, fun to drive car. To each their own and motivations, and I can appreciate both the bone-stock, concours-aimed crowd with their 948s and 4-speeds, as well as the folks who've done the tube shock conversions and even (gasp!) dared to drop American V-8s in them.
[This message has been edited by lorennerol (edited 05-25-2015).]
I'll definitely start a thread here when the work starts.
BTW.....thanks for posting the pictures of your wife's Bugeye. It'll be good inspiration when I tear mine apart and start spending ungodly amounts of money.
Edit to add: Some people scoff at the Weber side draft on our car, but what I wanted for wifey is a reliable, fun to drive car. To each their own and motivations, and I can appreciate both the bone-stock, concours-aimed crowd with their 948s and 4-speeds, as well as the folks who've done the tube shock conversions and even (gasp!) dared to drop American V-8s in them.
I posted after you added this. To me the Bugeye is like the Fiero.....it is a fun car to drive and tinker with, but will never be worth a whole lot of money. So who cares if it has a Weber carb or tube shocks (mine does...front & rear). I know most Spridget people don't care, but some are purists through and through and turn their noses up when they hear I have a Datsun engine. If the Bugeye ever becomes a high dollar collectible I still have the 948 & 4-speed to drop back in it, but I don't think that will ever happen.
While I'm sure there are exceptions, I think that 50 year mark pretty much tells the tale for values. The people for whom they were high school and college dreams are aging out. Or, in the case of the Healeys, some have moved up to the big cars- the 100/6 or 3000. Those started out about $1000 more than a Sprite, but now sell for 3 or 4 times as much. I've seen this happen with some Sky owners- they sold and moved to Corvettes.
I would like something with a V8 or more, but with five cars in a three car garage I've been telling people who've asked, "What's next?": Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.
[This message has been edited by lorennerol (edited 05-25-2015).]
Great looking car. I had a 79 MGB that was a lot of fun. As much as I love the look of the car, I have to wonder what they were smoking when somebody thought to put 2 huge headlights on top of the hood. Speaking of hood, how about some engine bay shots?
Great looking car. I had a 79 MGB that was a lot of fun. As much as I love the look of the car, I have to wonder what they were smoking when somebody thought to put 2 huge headlights on top of the hood. Speaking of hood, how about some engine bay shots?
The original design called for them to fold down like a Porsche 928 or Saab Sonnet (another car I'd like to own). The retraction mechanism got cut by the bean counters, but the headlights ironically became the namesake feature of that model Sprite, which itself is the most desired.
Engine bay looks good- clean. Wifey doesn't care much about mechanicals (as long as they work) so she didn't take any pics...and she won't open the bonnet at car shows I'll take some these eve and post them.
The original design called for them to fold down like a Porsche 928 or Saab Sonnet (another car I'd like to own). The retraction mechanism got cut by the bean counters, but the headlights ironically became the namesake feature of that model Sprite, which itself is the most desired.
Engine bay looks good- clean. Wifey doesn't care much about mechanicals (as long as they work) so she didn't take any pics...and she won't open the bonnet at car shows I'll take some these eve and post them.
Some of the nicest looking engine bays I've ever seen were on little British cars.
While I'm sure there are exceptions, I think that 50 year mark pretty much tells the tale for values. The people for whom they were high school and college dreams are aging out. Or, in the case of the Healeys, some have moved up to the big cars- the 100/6 or 3000. Those started out about $1000 more than a Sprite, but now sell for 3 or 4 times as much. I've seen this happen with some Sky owners- they sold and moved to Corvettes.
I would like something with a V8 or more, but with five cars in a three car garage I've been telling people who've asked, "What's next?": Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.
You know, you can have your cake and eat it too. There is a local car show in downtown Saratoga where there's a guy who has a Hemi powered Bugeye. Believe me, it's a beast. I have two pics of it in my phone right now but I need someone to host them for me. Kit
Very nice engine bay pics. It looks like it has a lot of toe-out on the front end?
In the pictures it looks undriveable, in fact I think there's just a good bit of close-up wide-angle distortion. But it's probably worth getting an alignment done.
I saw a beautiful Midget with a Chevy 3.4L, 4L60 and a turbo. Anyone seen a Sprite with this treatment?
I've seen a few V6 Spridgets, although none were turbocharged. Paul Herder (pherder here on PFF) was working on a 2.8/3.1/3.4 Spridget many years ago, but I'm not sure if he still has it or if it was a Sprite or a Midget (although both cars are essentially identical).
I wouldn't mind building one myself.....it'd make a nice cruiser.
Friend has a Sprite with a Ford Zetec (DOHC, 2.0l four, 130hp) and I think a T5 but maybe a T9 transmission. Fun car, I can't see the need a single more horsepower.
Translation....The Redline motor would be just right.
That very thought has crossed my mind, for both the Sprite and the Fiero. A 290 HP/340 ft-lb torque Fiero would be nice. That 2.0 liter Ecotec they put in the Sky and Solstice is really quite nice.
so can i join this group, i hopfully am picking up a 76 midget next weekend in trade, it needs paint and the new quarters the guy bought weleded in, they had dents and bondo and he didnt like it so they had a shop cut the old out and prep the new but they were never welded
so can i join this group, i hopfully am picking up a 76 midget next weekend in trade, it needs paint and the new quarters the guy bought weleded in, they had dents and bondo and he didnt like it so they had a shop cut the old out and prep the new but they were never welded
Moss Motors and Victoria parts will be happy you're on board. Surprisingly, parts were easy to get and cheap too when I had my 79 MGB. Now about that 2.0 Turbo motor....
That very thought has crossed my mind, for both the Sprite and the Fiero. A 290 HP/340 ft-lb torque Fiero would be nice. That 2.0 liter Ecotec they put in the Sky and Solstice is really quite nice.
I was thinking Mazda Wankel back 20 years ago when I had my MGB, but the Ecotec would be much better.
Working at a gm dealer im gonna do some looking, i think a 2.2 ecotec would be awesome, looks to. E close to the weight of the 1500 with 150 horse, turbo at a later date to around 200 with a 5 speed. I just need to see how hard it is to fit into the car
Moss Motors and Victoria parts will be happy you're on board. Surprisingly, parts were easy to get and cheap too when I had my 79 MGB. Now about that 2.0 Turbo motor....
I came across moss and another place that made a neat widebody ill lookinto the other one. Id like to get it welded back together and throw some paint on it and take it to tire racks vintage track days
the driverside door was off, the rockers looked good all around im gonna hopfully pick it up tomrow if i can get the trailer to get it home. and one of the welders in the bodyshop at work may cut me a deal welking the quarters on
the driverside door was off, the rockers looked good all around im gonna hopfully pick it up tomrow if i can get the trailer to get it home. and one of the welders in the bodyshop at work may cut me a deal welking the quarters on
Woo-hoo. I towed mine home from my Aunt's house in southern Florida (she gave it to me for free). I remember the first time I drove it; I couldn't believe how small it was and how vulnerable to a wreck I felt. Then I bought a motorcycle and the MGB felt like Ft. Knox.
First in class for wifey today at the Western Washington All British Field Meet. Was great to meet and chat and talk shop with some other Sprite owners!
congrats looks good i bet it feels safer than some bikes lol, i go pick mine up tomrow, to bad i just had a bad motorcycle accident so i wont be able to drive it for a year while my left ankle heals i kinda shattered it and broke my left wrist lol
