Calling Austin Healey Sprite Owners
Discussion
Hi, I've just purchased a 1969 Sprite and wondered if there were many others on here? This is our first classic to restore and mechanically is sound most of the work needed is cosmetic. So will be a bit of a rolling project.
Look forward to receiving handy hints and ideas and sharing the good (and bad!) elements of restoration.
Look forward to receiving handy hints and ideas and sharing the good (and bad!) elements of restoration.
I used to have a '69 Spridget and now run a '73 Midget
There is just far too much to tell you, try using the Search facility here and have a look at threads and posts in
Do FULL and proper servicing, get the Owners Handbook to find out what that means - as the '69 Sprite is exactly the same as the '69 Midget except for the badges you can use that Owners Handbook (AKD 7596), with this you'll know a lot without it you'll not know when you're told wrong by those that only think they know
I would advise being very careful about the quality of any parts you get be they brand new, s/h or reconditioned/refurbished
below cut and pasted from a previous post of mine, good luck
I'd recommend generally for classics,
There is just far too much to tell you, try using the Search facility here and have a look at threads and posts in
- MG PH forum
- http://www.mg-rover.org/
- http://www.mgcars.org.uk/
Do FULL and proper servicing, get the Owners Handbook to find out what that means - as the '69 Sprite is exactly the same as the '69 Midget except for the badges you can use that Owners Handbook (AKD 7596), with this you'll know a lot without it you'll not know when you're told wrong by those that only think they know
I would advise being very careful about the quality of any parts you get be they brand new, s/h or reconditioned/refurbished
below cut and pasted from a previous post of mine, good luck
I'd recommend generally for classics,
- a good battery
- electronic ignition (or better still 1-2-3 dissy if available)
- good or uprated alternator
- good or uprated starter
- electronic fuel pump
- electronic cooling fan
- s/s braided brake and clutch hoses
- silicone water hoses (see Classic Silicone Hoses, very helpful)
Edited by SB - Nigel on Sunday 4th July 00:30
So many happy memories of my Frogeye and Midgets. I often say that when i am too old and doddery to properly drive my Jaguar I'll go back to a modded RWA Midget. Got to have a folding hood because anyone who had the previous type knows that you were well soaked by the time you got it up!
Floss69 said:
. . . researching on the internet . . .
Helen I wouldn't trust info off the internet too much as there are errors and not enough distinctions between modelsYou have a Mark 4 Sprite same as a Mark 3 Midget, both had changes over the years but don't worry about having things too original (most cars are altered)
As above the best information comes from the Owners Handbook (AKD 7596) which is for the MG Midget also covers your Sprite with pages at the back for the earlier model year
A great book to find is:
STEP BY STEP MG MIDGET & AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE SERVICE GUIDE AND OWNER’S MANUAL
As I’m not a mechanic I find the Haynes guide to be of very limited use
Of interest would be MG Midget Gold Portfolio
And if you can get one for originality this one : Original Sprite and Midget
Wow, see the price of the hardbacks and I gave my copy away years ago to someone who gave me a lift
Edited by SB - Nigel on Wednesday 21st October 13:08
Sorry I forgot this very important publication, the Parts List (catalogue) very, very useful Parts list
And whilst there here a link for your most important purchase, if you only buy one book this should be it, well worth £8: Owners handbook
And whilst there here a link for your most important purchase, if you only buy one book this should be it, well worth £8: Owners handbook
Having finished my current project, I am getting warm on the subject of recreating a modern version of the AH Fright but this time with a 300/308 XJR engine. At the moment it seems a good idea but convince me otherwise please! Frankly 400bhp in 800kgs seems somehow appealing..................
If you have specific Sprite Questions and can't get an answer here, try http://healey.hyperboards.com which is the UK based forum for all Healey topics.
John
John
Welcome to Spridget motoring, your first port of call should be joining the Midget and Sprite Club, lots of help and experience to keep you afloat! After which you will find out that you can buy absolutely anything for spridgets, from parts to allow you to get the car back to original spec, or, a 200bhp per ton Q car with prodigious performance or anything inbetween. (Wallet permitting!) Make no mistake they are very entertaining and totally addictive, whatever other car(s) you have or drive.
Hi there
I've also recently bought a 1966 Healey Sprite but fortunately it doesn't need any restoration but does have a cooling problemi believe this is a problem with the water pump as the car had only overed about 1000 miles in the last years and i buy it and cover nearly 400 in one go, i guess something had to give up 9think its the waterpump. Now with regards to the association with the MG midget can you put the larger 1500 engine in without any mods?
Thanks
Darren
Good luck with the restoration
I've also recently bought a 1966 Healey Sprite but fortunately it doesn't need any restoration but does have a cooling problemi believe this is a problem with the water pump as the car had only overed about 1000 miles in the last years and i buy it and cover nearly 400 in one go, i guess something had to give up 9think its the waterpump. Now with regards to the association with the MG midget can you put the larger 1500 engine in without any mods?
Thanks
Darren
Good luck with the restoration
nibs1970 said:
Now with regards to the association with the MG midget can you put the larger 1500 engine in without any mods?
I think you'd find a lot of differences between having your present A-series BMC engine and ancillories and the entirely different 1500 (Truimph) engineAnd why would you change the engine if the car doesn't need restoration (?)
See my posts above to get yourself more information about the car you own
And I'm not being smug here as I've more than once bought a model of car that I knew next to nothing about until I owned them including my first classic, the very well known but not to me, MGB GT
See here for more info and help http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgb...
Excluding the original AH Sprite (Mk1, Frogeye) MG Midgets and AH Sprites are (apart from badges, and a few bits of chrome trim on the earlier MG Midgets) the same as each other so are often reffered to as "Spidgets"
Edited by SB - Nigel on Sunday 4th July 00:29
A-series is a better engine anyway, capacity isn't everything
WRT the cooling problem take the thermostat out and give the block and radiator a jolly good flush. Then put a new thermostat in just to be on the safe side These engines don't have fally-aparty water pumps like some modern engines do, more or less guaranteed that if it goes round it'll be pumping water.
WRT the cooling problem take the thermostat out and give the block and radiator a jolly good flush. Then put a new thermostat in just to be on the safe side These engines don't have fally-aparty water pumps like some modern engines do, more or less guaranteed that if it goes round it'll be pumping water.
nibs1970 said:
Hi there
I've also recently bought a 1966 Healey Sprite but fortunately it doesn't need any restoration but does have a cooling problemi believe this is a problem with the water pump as the car had only overed about 1000 miles in the last years and i buy it and cover nearly 400 in one go, i guess something had to give up 9think its the waterpump. Now with regards to the association with the MG midget can you put the larger 1500 engine in without any mods?
Thanks
Darren
Good luck with the restoration
The 1500 engine is a bit rubbish as standard and was only fitted to later cars because it was the only engine that fitted the car with enough torque to overcome the US smog equipment. It runs a different gearbox, so I would think a lot of the other mountings are different too. The 1275 engine is much sweeter, and can be made to make serious power since it's more or less the Mini Cooper S engine. I've also recently bought a 1966 Healey Sprite but fortunately it doesn't need any restoration but does have a cooling problemi believe this is a problem with the water pump as the car had only overed about 1000 miles in the last years and i buy it and cover nearly 400 in one go, i guess something had to give up 9think its the waterpump. Now with regards to the association with the MG midget can you put the larger 1500 engine in without any mods?
Thanks
Darren
Good luck with the restoration
If your car is otherwise original (i.e. drum brakes and early gearbox) you'll want to upgrade everything else at the same time to match the power increase.
I wonder if I should get Terry to autograph my hardback copy of OS&M? Had it since 1989...
Sprites and Midgets are great cars to drive, been taking mine to Le Mans every year since 2003. Not this year though sadly but there's a very good reason for that
If you want 1500 power you'd be better off buying a rubber bumper car than to attempt changing the engine and box, as has already been mentioned
Join a club for the marque, I've a vested interest in MASC myself but there will be plenty of advice in the other marque clubs too. (Midget and Sprite club was started by a bunch of friends who wanted a one make club at a time when the "bigger" clubs were not especially interested in "little Midgets and Sprites".*) Attitudes are changing lately in part because we got the AHC, MGOC and MGCC with HDC to join us promoting Spridget50 back in 2008.
This and other website you have been advised of are good sources of help too
Water pumps do fail, sometimes due to corrosion making the fan inside come loose on the spindle (less than a zillionth of a chance of this by the way) or the glands giving way and allowing the spindle to rust and leak
Less than twenty quid for a new one usually, look for pumps for minis, likely to be less expensive if the shop is stocking for a big car population, instead of niche markets. Most A series parts fit most A series engines, with a few exceptions for front wheel drive cars only, check in the parts book
Change the thermostat too and as advised clean out the cooling system for a sense of safe driving fun
Next year to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the first production MG Midget, there will be a huge celebration at Burghley House on the 12th of June
more here
http://www.midget50.com/
Sprites and Midgets are great cars to drive, been taking mine to Le Mans every year since 2003. Not this year though sadly but there's a very good reason for that
If you want 1500 power you'd be better off buying a rubber bumper car than to attempt changing the engine and box, as has already been mentioned
Join a club for the marque, I've a vested interest in MASC myself but there will be plenty of advice in the other marque clubs too. (Midget and Sprite club was started by a bunch of friends who wanted a one make club at a time when the "bigger" clubs were not especially interested in "little Midgets and Sprites".*) Attitudes are changing lately in part because we got the AHC, MGOC and MGCC with HDC to join us promoting Spridget50 back in 2008.
This and other website you have been advised of are good sources of help too
Water pumps do fail, sometimes due to corrosion making the fan inside come loose on the spindle (less than a zillionth of a chance of this by the way) or the glands giving way and allowing the spindle to rust and leak
Less than twenty quid for a new one usually, look for pumps for minis, likely to be less expensive if the shop is stocking for a big car population, instead of niche markets. Most A series parts fit most A series engines, with a few exceptions for front wheel drive cars only, check in the parts book
Change the thermostat too and as advised clean out the cooling system for a sense of safe driving fun
Next year to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the first production MG Midget, there will be a huge celebration at Burghley House on the 12th of June
more here
http://www.midget50.com/
Edited by perdu on Monday 14th June 20:32
Edited by perdu on Monday 14th June 20:33
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