Hot Rods Hot Rod Sports Cars

Oh, dear - I should have offered a disclaimer - "Do not try this at home!"

Best of luck - the packaging will be as tight as a drop-tank lakester, but the power-to-weight ratio is absolutely hilarious!

I just got the Frankensprite insured and aligned. Planning a shake-down this Saturday. Parka, gas can, cell phone, credit card, fire extinguisher . . . That should do it.

 

Oh no...There are TWO of them ??? JB

 

My last car was a '68 Triumph Spitfire, (is it OT? Same basic design as a '64.)

It had a '66 327, th350 and a Ford 9" rear.

Custom square tube chassis, all sheet aluminium interior, shaved and lowered.

Scary fast and a real sleeper!

 

Swapping a V8-60 into a T-series MG was pretty popular. This one is in a rare MG-J2 and the build story is pretty interesting with some nice craftsmanship: https://bringatrailer.com/2017/10/07/bat-update-where-are-they-now/ Some nice period speed equipment on the flatty as well:




They went pretty well back in the day, too.

 

^ TanFastic! Cool mods and some clever idears. Gary

 

Great article! An interesting and personalized recovery of a pretty rough car. I imagine that one of the best features of the restored car is its sound.

 

Unfortunately there is no one left alive to to verify this but this is what I was told. My friend Willie "The Welder" Feyh and Dave Daly were at Islip dragstrip when they saw this MG race, (the video of the A/MSP} Willie asked Dave if he would like to have a car like that Dave did so they built the MG that I now have. It was in 1962.

Pat

 

Pat's killer MG at the HRR,2013

 

Yes! Glad to see you followed your gut/heart/bliss. A pal of mine started on a Spritelark several years ago and it got tangled up in other projects so it's unfinished at this time. He's done all the heaving lifting but has lost a lot of his original enthusiasm for the car. This plays nicely into my hands; we're currently talking about me taking it over for completion -- and ownership. He's a talented engineer and builder as well as a fuss-budget so the construction is first-rate, with suspension and driveline upgrades to complement the added horsepower.


The stock exhaust manifolds were retained with headpipes that are routed through the "frame." (Pay no attention to the steering shaft resting on the valve covers; it belongs to the '56 Porsche Speedster that's sitting in front of the Sprite.)


The only giveaway will be the wheels -- and the exhaust note!


Mike

 

That's a very sanitary Bugeye installation. I like the way the exhaust manifolds exit through the original holes in the chassis. Hope you get to adopt this project as your own.

 

That's the plan, Rick. just need to decide on an application -- street and occasional drags, or maybe an affordable track-day car for Sears Point. It's going to be fun no matter what path I choose.

Mike

 

A word of caution? A friend in college put a SBC in a bug eye complete with MII IFS, super wide flares and wider wheels / tires. I think the track equaled the wheelbase! But whenever he got on it, in a turn or even on the straight bits, all it wanted to do was donuts. It had just about no mechanical grip at the back. Hope you got the suspension all dialed in and that you keep the HP reasonable. Gary

 

Good point, Gary. I'm aiming for something in the 225-250-hp range at most, so it should be "spritely" but not an animal. The trans is a 'Glide which will get a bit of tightening, perhaps a bit more stall speed on the converter, but not much. Other than fun road use it will occasionally see time on Wednesdays at Sear Point for weekly drags. I'm looking for something in the mid 13s at around 105, but that will take some work from a good baseline.

Conversation earlier today with the pal who built the car looks like it's mine! Going to head down to Petaluma tomorrow to take detailed pics and measurements and work out the details, and just hang out with "what's next" for me.

Hot-rod sportscars are a major component of our history but that's largely missed with all the attention given to straightline lakes and drag racing in addition to the inordinate of time lavished on how one's hot rod/street rod/custom looks -- or meets the present standards of acceptance. Hot rod sports cars -- sports-racers -- are some of the best examples of core hot-rod engineering and design, and to miss or disregard that is a sad loss for the young folks currently or just recently entering the hobby.

I do go on -- but I do value what hot rodding is completely about!

Mike Bishop

 

You have to engineer some forward bite in it.

 

Hope this fits here...............'56 Healey............

 

Pictures of my uncles cars in front of his shop in Manila around 1960

 

^^Wow. What are those specials based on? There's sure some creativity going on there.

 

I love the 2+2 with the cut down Packard shell!... and I like those specials as well

 

another Austin Healey

 

i am not a computer guy or i would post a pic of my healy....this mite not be the best way to do it but if you go to u tube and look for ....awesome healy...you can see the car.....if you can post a pic of it on my avatar that would be grate if not thanks any way...

 

Link to the Youtube video

 

thanks jiminy for posting that .......i never get tired of it......

 

Had this one in the 70s, Glasspar G2, currently being restored.

 

back in the day 1962 a guy at the gas station had a 53 mg with a ford 260 cu and 4 speed.....i thought that was the best car i had ever seen......until i saw my first austin healey ...it was love at first sight....40 years later i got one.....

 

Great thread. I had a 1960 Austin Healey with a 327, amazed I survived it.

 

found this one, I don't know anything about it.

 

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