January 10, 2005

More the once the ball joints on the sway bar had come apart. These were brand new from Moss Motors and just could not take it. So some high strength linkages will have to be custom made.

I ordered four:

60645K451 HIGH-STRENGTH BALL JOINT ROD END, LINKAGE, 7/16"-20 RH THRD FEM SHANK W/RH THRD STUD SAME AS 60645K45

and one:

98805A032 18-8 STAINLESS STEEL THREADED ROD, 7/16"-20 THREAD, 2' LENGTH

From McMaster-Carr for a total of less that $45, which is $10 less than buying the parts from Moss.

The ball joints are just slightly longer than the entire length of the original part. Fill that gap with a copper washer and then squash that washer as you turn the ball joints to the proper position to keep them locked in place.

December 29, 2005

Finally it is time to take care of the mess the sway bar made six months ago. The area has been cleaned up and two scraps of steel about the same thickness as the original small mount plates were welded onto the frame over the holes.

NOTE: The sway bar had been attached to the frame with larger than standard bolts. In a stock installation those bolts may have snapped instead of ripping off the frame.

September 16, 2005

Here are the long awaited final pictures.

July 4, 2005

The large sway bar that was put on this car ended up being too much for the frame. If you are going to use a sway bar that is larger than stock you should reinforce the area. This will be fixed at a later date.

May 7, 2005

The exhaust manifold has been sand blasted and coated with a high temp coating. The intake manifold has also been cleaned up.

March 16, 2005

The rear drum brakes have been cleaned up and rebuilt. Most of the parts are new and the drums have been machined.

Some new chrome wire wheels have arrived from Dayton Wire Wheels. They look great on the car.

March 14, 2005

Here is how I mounted a modern Alpine stereo system into the stock console. The speakers are mounted to the sheetmetal which then utilizes the stock mounts for the speaker. Hot glue was squeezed in around the sheetmetal to stop vibration and with a small spacer plate the CD/MP3 player fit in the stock radio hole.

March 13, 2005

The front suspension is back together. New stainless steel brake lines have been added. There is now a wire wheels spindle instead of the steel wheel hub.

Below is a comparison of the Sprite rear end to that of a 2001 Mustang Cobra.

March 11, 2005

The new tires are here: Bridgestone Potenza RE92 P165/65R13

The windshield has been removed because it was cracked when attempting to replace the sun visor mounts.

NOTE: If you have to drill out the rivets near the windshield make sure you drill too far...

March 5, 2005

The steering wheel hub has been sandblasted and will be repainted black.

Feburary 27, 2005

This car had wire wheels only on the rear. Time for a full conversion. No adapters will be used, all proper wire wheel parts will be used.

January 28, 2005

A lot of work has been done since the last update. All new fuel and water hoses has been put in. The heater box, air filters, radiator and support, valve cover, washer bottle support, and brake/clutch pedal cover have been painted. A new alternator has also been fitted and an electric radiator fan has been added.

November 29, 2004

All metal parts have been removed, sandblasted and painted. New competition springs are going in later.

The factory jack has been given the same treatment and probably looks better now than it did new.

November 26, 2004

Here is the front suspension. This going to need to be cleaned up and any worn parts replaced.

November 25, 2004

Here is the engine as it arrived. Looks pretty ugly with the light blue paint. Everything will be sandblasted and turned to it's original color. This sprites engine should be Hammertone Green.

November 13, 2004

1969 Austin Healey Sprite

Here is the Sprite as it was picked up. It has disc wheels in the front and wire wheels with a wire wheel rear end in the back. It hadn't been started in five years but after some plug and wire changes and a drain of the gas tank it ran pretty well.