Sprites from Across the Pond

A Collage of Photos from Down-under
Photos & Text Courtesy of Josh Brownlie

• This is a photo of Tony Bennetto's Bugeye Barn I took in February '96. To the right is Tony's orginal (41) car, it's sitting on a couple of oil drums and gearbox casings. To the left is Bluebottle in it's historic race trim. This car was built off another shell, and using most other stuff off the original, when in this trim, but it was built for Targa Tasmania '95, so it's mechanical setup is totally diffent for these different forms of racing. For Targa it uses a 948 stretched to 1155 at 10:1 compression exactly, a rib case 'box, disc brakes, alloy wheels, and a full windscreen. For the historic racing, it has a 948 out to 998 with about 12:1 compression, a smooth case running rib case internals, drum brakes, widened original steel wheels, and an aero screen.
  
  Number 12 is his navigator in TArga, and good friend Rhodesian Richard Dutton. This car is maintained by Tony for Richard to use in Historic Racing. Richard also owns a later Midget.
  
  The other cars are customer cars.
  
• This is how I found my Sprite. It was sitting in a carport. It had been unused for 5 years, due to the stuffed brakes, perished Michelins, hole in the exhaust and ruined front left shock absorber. It had been started monthly and they hadn't let it fall out of registration, due to the fact that in Tassie all you need do is pay the bill, with no roadworthy checks at all. Everything worked except for the speedo, which turned out to be the cable connection in the 'box. The cable has a square end, and this feeds to the hollow square gear drive out the side of the 'box. The drive was slogged out so it had become round and would no longer drive the speedo, that fixed and we were away. The only other major thing to need fixing, which took about 6 months to get around to were the door locks. Now one key operates the doors, ignition and boot locks. It cost me $90 to have this repair.
  
  The ribbon on the photo "Blue Steel 76 Ford", was placed over the paint section of the Australian Build Plate, when he resprayed it that colour. It was originally Sky Blue. (Pale) Since it is now Porsche Hell Blau or Healey Blue, I took this off the Plate.
  
• This is me starting out with Dad to pull the motor out, the first time.... It has been out 5.9 times in total now. The 0.9 was when I replaced the timing belt early in '96, evrything, except the gearbox mounts, needed to remove the engine totally was removed so that I could jack the motor up to clear the harmonic balancer from the steering cross-member, so I could get the timing cover off.
  
  As can be seen in this photo, except for the bonnet, this was the very first step, that being removing the top radiator hose.
  
  This was to be a day on which Dad and I were on an exceptionally steep Sprite learning curve. We had pulled and refitted a motor from a Mk 1 Escort early in '91 at this same BP Servo, so we felt confident, but as always lots of hurdles were put in our way, the first being the exhaust pipe, which took over 1 1/2 hours to remove!
  
• THE BIG CATCH! Dad and I had expected to be able to remove the 1098 and 'box, and replace it with the 'you beaut' 1275 and 'box we had bought in a day (something I could fairly easily accomplish now), but inexperience shone through so that getting to this stage took way too long. I can't remember exactly now, but I think it took about 5 hours to this point. Apart from the 1 1/2 hours soaked on the exhaust pipe removal, we had absolutely countless hoist movements to find out why we could lift the motor up and side to side, but it would not come out... We rang the few people we thought were in the know, and they asked if we had undone all the bolts for the gearbox, yes of course we replied, ... even the ones on the side of the tunnel inside?, ... yes we replied, and the ones under the floor?, yes. We were beat, it made no sense. We thought it must have just been stuck, so we lifted the motor with the hoist, to the point where it lifted the front of the car up too, by jamming the bellhousing into the heater/battery box, bending that. What we had done was pull all of the bolts we could get at out of the mount, but hadn't undone the two that go straight through the floor INTO the mount.... Essentially partially dismantling the mount but not disconnecting it from the car.
  
  By the end of the day we had the 1275 sitting in the car, but that was about all. The next day it was all starting to go smoothly by about 2 in the afternoon, but then our attempts made on Saturday to remove the race cam, which we aborted, came back to haunt us. Dad noticed that the distributor, supplied with the engine, was turning freely (something which should only occur when the crank is spinning). As he was investigating, the distributor drive fell into the sump, effectively ending that session. So much for getting the car on the road by the end of the day. We ended up paying the mechanic at the BP to find the drive and finish the job. He also pulled the cam, without removing the engine! He pulled the pushrods out and lifted the followers with magnets, removed the front timing cover and pulled the cam out the front of the engine... Not really recommended procedure, especially since you are supposed to replace followers everytime you change a cam.
  
  Anyway the result of all of this was that when he got it running as soon as it got warmed up it started to leak oil from the rear of the engine uncontrollably. The nightmare was only just beginning, as was the four months before I got the car back on the road!
  
• This is just another photo taken of the Sprite while I was pulling it to pieces in July '95. You can see it has a hardtop on it, which I had borrowed from a guy called Dane Bolwell. My godfather Geoff, who had owned the car in the '70's, later identified this top as being the one which was with the car during his ownership but had been sold by the next owner before selling it to the family I bought it from. He identified it from the photo because of the moulding around the back window, which won;t really show up well on screen, but it is missing corner finisher, which he recalled having major difficulties locating. Danes ourchase date of around 1978 lines up with these facts too. I have often thought of buying this top back, and Dane is willing to sell, at a reasonable price too. It's just a cse of no $'s on my part.
  
• The source of the major problems with my 1275 can be clearly seen in this series of photographs. The cap to the extreme left is the offender, the one in the middle is now on the motor and the one on the extreme right is off a 1098.
  
  The block for this motor came from a Morris 1100S. This is the little front drive number with four doors, using the A Series setup from the Mini. The 1100S uses as far as I know a low performance version of the 1275, compared to a Cooper S and even 1275 Sprites. It was a family car. Anyway what I am getting at is that it is an East-West rather the the necessary Sprite North-South arrangement. The major differences between these motors were the front and back plates, the crank, the MAIN BEARING CAPS, and the fact that North-South motors have a sump, not a gearbox down below. An East-West crank and main bearing cap are different in that the aren't designed to contain oil within the motor where North-South's are. This means that there is a 'scroll' cut into a Sprite crank, this scroll runs within a casing to the rear of the rear main bearing cap. There is a very small running clearance between the crank scroll and the casing, creating suction which draws the oil back into the motor, and not leaking out of the motor and into the gearbox housing.
  
  This is all very well in theory, but this only works when all facotrs come together. The running clearance must be correct and even, and there must not be a pressure build up inside the crankcase which will overcome the suction. If either of these is not correct, then you lose oil, at a very fast rate.
  
  If you look carefully at the offending cap, you can see that it has had the scroll casing literally bolted onto the East-West cap. Needless to say this is not a satisfactory arrangement, it would be difficult, if not impossible to get the clearance to be even all the way around, without align boring it to the other two caps, when the motor is fully dismantled. It seems that some loser had attempted this, and I'm sure it worked for a while, but not when I got my hands on it... So the search began for a 1275 North-South main bearing cap. Ha. Harder to find than rocking horse droppings. What about a full block, less crank? Would you believe that only weeks before my local MG specialist had taken one that had been sitting for years to the tip!
  
  Tony Bennetto then suggested that we might use the cap from a 2 inch main bearing 1098, and he had one I could buy. Problem solved I thought... But when it turned up, and as you can tell it you look carefully at this photo, the gap between the bolt holes is a fraction smaller than needed. Then I hit the jackpot, Bob Rowntree had a cap, for a 1275, I could have for $50. Again, thought the problems were over, but no no no. When it arrived and we sat it on the motor, we found that the sleeve that sits inside the bolt holes was a different size in the cap than in the corresponding holes in the block. This wasn't insurmountable, we (Richard Gibbs my local Mini specialist who had been doing the engine work for me) machined up a pair of sleeves which had different outside diameters for the block and cap ends of their tube. The block was then sent for align boring, an expensive operation.
  
  Yet another hurdle was then thrown up. The sump would not fit over this new cap. We needed a larger half moon at the rear of the sump to clear the new cap. Modifications was out of the question, so another search began. The very first guy I rang was Martin Gwilliam of Exclusively Sprite and Midget. He wasn't in but had his answering machine on, so I left a message. I then spent the rest of that afternoon ringing no less than 15 other people from ALL over Australia. The answer was ALWAYS No. Every time I asked if they might know someone who had one, I got another number and tried again. All I could turn up was a brand new one in South Australia for $250 plus freight. I was ready to cry, I couldn;t believe how many things could go against me. So I slept on it, then to my surprise early the next morning Martin rang. After a 1275 sump? Yeah but I don't suppose you have one. Yeah I do. What? Is it all banged up? No it's really straight, no dings. How Much? came the reply, expecting around $180-$200. $25. GET IT TO ME NOW.
  
  The engine then came together well, the cam was reduced another rung below the fast road 555 Cooper S item I had tried, which literally only worked above 4500. It was like flicking a switch. The current cam has grunt from about 2500, but really comes on above 3500. It's a torquey combination.
  
  What I presume has happened is that something drastic has happened to the original 1098 block which was in the Mk3 the mortor was in before I bought it, and in the rebuild they have transfered as much as they could from the 1098 including the long stroke crank, to make a big 1275. So that now with pistons making the 1275 a 1310, and the extra stroke of the 1098 crank making the whole combination add up to 1349.
  
  Unfortunately this wasn;t the end of the oil troubles. It didn't leak at all for a couple of days after I put it back on the road, which was literally days before Christmas (You can imagine my trouble in organising freight and maching at this time of year). Then all of a sudden it was streaming again... WHY???
  
  The crankcase pressure on a 1275 is relieved by a breather on the rocker cover and another one on the timing chain cover. My motor has a timing belt, and since rubber and oil don't mix, the engine is sealed off from the timing cover behind the cam belt. This means the timing cover has no pressure reliever. Instead what some Wally had done was to mount a piece of small-bore metal tubing off the mechanical fuel pump hole. It was wound up in circles like that used for distilling alchol in a garden shed, and then fed into a rubber tube and released into a bottle. Basically what had happened was I had meticulously cleaned out this tube during the rebuild, blowing heaps of air through it and pouring various liquids down it. What I was clearing was that brown condensation you get when water and oil are mixed. Anyway when this tubed became blocked again after a few days of running, it meant that the pressure inside the engine became too much for the scroll, and it blew oil out the back of the motor again.
  
  We then overcame this problem permanently by taking a breather off the side plate of a Mini 1100 and modifying it to sit on the fuel pump hole. 2 years, and 10,000 miles later it is still working a treat. It is tilted over to about 10:30 or 11:00 as you look at the left hand side of the engine. I think this was partly done to allow the tube running off it to clear the extractors.
  
  What I wonder now, is would this modification have negated the need for the entire rebuilding of the engine and subsequent costs and headaches?????? I guess now I don't care, I got to freshen the gine with chrome molly rings, cam bearings, re-seating and cleaning all valves, an acid dip and paint job in my preferred colour. Which just reminds me of the last big parts problem I had. While the engine was being dipped, they manged to drop something heavy enough to break the rear engine plate that the starter and gearbox mount to, between the starter and crank holes! Then they told me that it wasn't their fault. This being cast metal is exceptionally difficult to successfully weld, so the search began. Again there were dramas finding one, but I got it locally for $90, with no guarantee that it wasn't cracked itself, or for $250 I could buy one which was machined from plate steel. So far I have had no problem with it, despite their tendency to crack horizontally across the middle.
  
• October '95. I had the car running, with it's new gearbox in place and the bodywork done. I drove it home, about 3-4 miles through the city centre, from David Short's (Hobart's MG and British Specialist) workshops where I had assembled the engine bay, in this Hot Rod, highly illegal form, because I needed to get it home for the weekend, and I was late of the Law Faculty Black Tie Ball. I got quite a few strange looks in Friday late afternoon traffic.......
  
• I love this angle, the rear is very Ferrari 250-ish from this angle, if you have a broad imagination.
  
• This was taken at the Tasmanian Sprite Register Day, held on Saturday 19 October 1996. 6 Bugeyes and 3 Mk3A's (The last one got chopped off in this photo). There were plenty more cars than this represented by their woners on the day though. >From the Left. Swiss Cheese (42) - This Bug is owned by Craig and Tina Trenha. They now hold the national Bugeye register. This car has an extensive racing history, and has been completely butchered beyond any restoration. So it will be kept as a track/fun car, with 0 hope of registration for road use. As an example of the butchering From what is left of a dash on the left hand side to the floor is a flat sheet of metal, forward of this instead of a footwell, there is just a couple of tubes which support the top link of the suspension. It has a Ford rear end, the tunnel has been cut many times, no boot floor and more holes drilled into what is left of the body than you could poke a stick through. Hence it's name 'Swiss Chese'. They intend to run it with a 948 and Toyota 'box, and making it as externally standard as possible, to keep their MG Club friends guessing.
  
  Craig and Tina also own a '58 9 Stud Bugeye they got from California, which is undergoing a back to original restoration. It will be Speedwell Blue. When they got it it had a Buick V6 and an Auto in it. It had never been completed but the cutting to the footwells and tunnel was significant. The last time I saw this shell, all repairs except for one ding in the rear, about the size of a fist, had been completed and it was sitting in bare metal waiting for paint. It was supposed to be finished the painting pahse before this day, but there had been a disappointing delay which kept it at the Bodyworks. Craig had hoped to have it back eraly enough in the week to get it on wheels and rolling.
  
  The next Bug is owned by Jim. This has a high output 948 built by Jim, running on 1 1/2 SU's. I think he said it had 70HP at the wheels, but it could have been more. It also has odd lower wishbones on the front. They are hand fabricated and are longer than standard, combined with wide steel wheels and a Cortina anti-roll bar with custom mounts. Jim says it goes very well and gets about 35mpg on the highway. The car has a racing history, and the stripes are from Castrol Racing at the time.
  
  The Renault Blue Bug is now oned by Dale Coombe. It was built in 7 weeks in 1994 from a shell found under a tree by Tony Bennetto for Targa Tasmania that year. Using as many new parts as possible this car has a 1310, 45mm Weber, Rib Case 'box, Disc Brakes and Fibreglass tilt forward bonnet. It is Australian Build number 323. This was also the race number Tony and Richard Dutton were allocated for Targa that year. They didn't liek this until they discovered the chassis number connection. What's more is that Richard's historic racing Bugeye (Number 12 in the Bugeye Barn Photo) is Buils number 322! Tony sold this car to a girl after that Targa because he din't expect to come back again. He sold it on the proviso that if she ever sold it, Richard was to have first option. So it was in mid '96 that she wanted to sell, Richard wasn't in a position to take up the offer, and Tony knew Dale was on the look out for a good Sprite (Actually a Mk4) but when he knew of this car a deal was done. It is now registered in Tassie as "BUGEYE". It goes very well indeed. Tony has said that because it had a brand new crank when the motor was built and was carefully assembled that it will safely take 7000rpm for extended periods, and 8000 may be used at times on the long straight at Symmons Plains.
  
  Phil Nichols owns the 9 Stud '58 Bugeye which is next in line. He has converted to a later screen and bastardised a 1275 Midget during the '70's when he bought it for it's running gear. It was a mess when he bought it, with no engine or gearbox, but it already had wire wheels. It is beautifully presented now. Phil is a regular in Targa Tasmania with this car. It was during Targa '93 that I first saw this car and met Phil. He had an off right in front of me where he went onto a gravel escape road and collected a metal gate post around about equal with the side of his number plate. It wrecked his metal bonnet and holed the radiator. I was no more than 5 metres away when it happened. I introduced myself to him later on, as he had retired from the event for the day, and he clearly said that was it, he wouldn't be back. He has been in all three Targas since and was on line for a Gold Targa trophy this year (Meaning 5 days, 2000km's with 460 competitive kilometres. To get a Targa trophy you need to complete all stages making up the 460 in under the maximum allowed for your class, to get a Gold you need to do this 3 years in a row) that was until his clutch blew late on Day 5.... This is Phil's second Bugeye, he wrote the first one off, which he had bought from his brother, when he fell asleep at the wheel. That car was completely stripped, including the rear body work, and the twisted chassis thrown away. That was in the '70's. His brother Nigel, who also has a Healey 100, has these parts and plans soon to put them to use in rejuvinating another Bugeye. Between these two guys Phil owns my 12G295 head which came off my original 1098, which had just had a valve job and Nigel owns my original Rib Case 'box which is in great nick. I would love both items back, but I don't hold out much hope... Phil runs a Fibreglass nose now, because the repair of the original while perfect in the original restoration of the body, wasn't to his satisfaction after the Targa 'off'.
  
  I can't remeber the Lady's name who owns the Red Bug. This car is very very original, and is used regularly and always with the top down. That is great to see.
  
  Craig Bennett owns the next Bug, registered "MK 0001". It also has the entire mechanical setup lifted from a Midget. The body is very original, I think carrying a lot of the original paint too. It too is regularly used, as is his 'B'.
  
  Mine is next. Enough said at this point.
  
  The next Mk3A is fairly original except for colour. It still has the 1098 etc. It is regularly run at weekends and for MG Club events.
  
  The Mk3A at the end is Dane Bolwell's. He has owned and daily driven this car since the late '70's. It's body is not pretty, but it has a strong 1098 built by David Short and goes very well, and is driven with the roof down at every opportunity.
  
• Rob's Midget has always been a race car and has NEVER been road registered. It has led a long career, and has been heavily modified over the years for various calsses of racing. It has now been returned to an original look for current regulations.
  
• This is Tony's current historic race car and the Targa car for '95 and '96. It can also be seen in 'Bugeye Barn', in histric race trim on the left of the main picture. This photo was taken during Targa '95.