Category Archives: Assembly Phase

Aston Fuel Filler Pipe Cap

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We wanted to “upgrade” the fuel filler pipe cap in favor of an “Aston” cap sold by Sports and Classics https://www.sportsandclassics.com/parts/austin-healey/austin-healey-100-6/fuel-system-austin-healey-100-6/le-mans-aston-gas-cap-austin-healey-mgb-mgc-midget/

Aston Fuel Filler Pipe cap

It is a nice looking cap and from a practical standpoint its installation does eliminate the fear that one might drive away from the pump without installing the filler cap. The cap is polished cast aluminum. To make the installation work we purchased a used fuel filler pipe from an Austin-Healey 3000, cut the lower end off so that the modified pipe was 9 1/4″ long and epoxied the brass screw collar for the cap to the top of the pipe.

Filler Pipe Cap with Brass Collar

Fuel Filler pipe with brass collar

We were then painted our new pipe with POR 15 and fit it through the rubber body seal and into the rubber 2 1/4″ elbow hose to link it to the fuel tank. The elbow hose is used in later Sprites and MG Midgets and was available from Moss Motors. https://mossmotors.com/282-945-hose-filler-to-tank

Two hose clamps were then used to secure the hose to the pipes.

Aston Cap Installed

The components and the installation of the cap is detailed in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Ninety-six: 

https://vimeo.com/1050923286/e891e27912?share=copy

 

 

Loose Ends

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This post covers several items added to the car as we begin to near the completion of this restoration.

Rear Tie down brackets (tow hooks)

In an earlier post the front tie down brackets, or tow hooks, were mounted to the car. We also purchased rear tie down brackets or tow hooks from Q1 Classic Engineering. These are heavy duty and very nicely made. We painted them black with POR 15 and easily installed them.

Rear Tie Down Brackets

Battery management quick connect cables

We then added some wiring to the battery so that we would have a quick connect system for the battery management charger. This is particularly useful given that we have a cover on the battery.

Battery Management Quick Connect Wiring

Horns revisited

We discovered, with the installation of the bonnet gas struts, that the operation of the RH strut hit the interior horn. So, we decided to forgo the second horn and just use one. The single horn,  by the way, seemed plenty loud.

Dropping the Interior Horn

Painting the exhaust

We are not ready to install the exhaust but this was a good time to go ahead and paint it. It came from Maniflow with their familiar metallic green paint. We simply roughed it up with a little sand paper and sprayed it with Rustoleum black BBQ high temperature paint.

Maniflow Metallic Green

Exhaust painted high temperature semi-gloss black

Installing the anti-sway bar

We then installed the anti-sway bar that we purchased from BugeyeGuys.com. We had previously painted the components so this turned out to be a quick job.

Anti-sway bar bits

Installing the motor mounts

The motor mounts were then installed. However, when we are ready to install the motor we will remove the RH motor mount and fix it to the motor. The LH mount will remain in the car because it is easier to leave it due to the steering column.

Heater control cable

We then connected the heater flap control cable that comes through the firewall from the heater switch to the bracket on the heater blower. 

Machining a starter cable connector

For some reason the standard connector that joins the starter cable and the starter switch is too short to do the job on the car. We know that the battery tray was replaced and perhaps the starter switch mounting bracket that is attached to the tray was slightly off? At any rate we solved this problem by machining a new connector made from a 3/8″ stainless steel bolt. Our friend Randy Forbes did the mill work for us. Thank you Randy! The new piece – almost identical but about a 1/4″ longer worked beautifully.

A new stainless starter cable connector

The new and the old

Repainting the Sprite Flash

The flash emblem or badge as mounted on the rear deck of the car was gold with red lettering. Unfortunately, the replicas of the badge available from the usual suppliers is copper in color with the red lettering. So, we stripped the paint from the badge and then repainted the badge with Rustoleum metallic gold spray paint, followed by painting the red letters and finally coating the badge with Rustoleum Krystal Clear. We were pleased with the results. We are going to mount the badge later and will be using a 3M adhesive rather than mounting it through holes in the car.

The gold paint first

Followed by Red in the letters and Clear

Re-chroming the grille

The grille is an important feature of the design of the Bugeye as it is what defines the ever-popular “smile” of the car. Modern replicas apparently do not fit very well so we decided to re-chrome the original because we knew it fit. We sent it to Dallas Plating https://dallasplatingga.com  in Dallas, Georgia and we were very pleased with the quality of the work and the delivery time.  It took only 3 weeks from the time we put the grille in the mail until we unpacked it. The charge for the plating was $440 and that seemed very reasonable compared to other businesses we checked.

Re-chromed Grille

Re-chromed grille sitting in place

 

 

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Ninety-five covers the installation of the items mentioned in this post:

https://vimeo.com/1046168116/36c5ceb74e?share=copy

0:00 – Rear tie down brackets – tow hooks

0:39 – Quick connect battery management cables

1:28 – Revisiting the horns

2:33 – Painting the exhaust

3:18 – Anti-sway bar installation

4:46 – Motor mounts installation

5:11 – Heater control cable attached

5:24 – Machining a new starter cable connector

6:40 – Heater and starter cable covers

6:54 – Repainting the rear deck “Flash” badge

7:30 – Re-chroming the grille

 

 

 

Bonnet Headlights and Flashers

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Headlights

After some initial work on the installation of the hinge kit on the bonnet, we turned our attention to the headlights. The assembly of the headlight components, mounting the headlights to the bonnet, and the switch to LEDs from halogen bulbs has been previously addressed in two separate posts, so we won’t go into much detail on the process as we mount the headlights to the painted bonnet. See the headlight fitting post here: https://valvechatter.com/?p=14074

Information about the conversion to LED lights throughout the car may be found here: https://valvechatter.com/?p=14188

Front Flashers/Turn Indicators

Mounting the flasher units to the bonnet is pretty straightforward although installing the beehive glass and the chrome trim ring into the rubber boot can be a test of one’s patience, but that is what it takes – lots of patience. Before installing the light assembly we installed three spire nuts at each light mounting point. We used new nuts and they pushed on easily. Three stainless steel #6 Phillips sheet metal screws are used for each light.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-eight shows the installation of the headlights and flashers/turn indicators:

https://vimeo.com/1043298584/6820215ce0?share=copy

Bonnet Fixings – Hinges, Gas Struts and Tie-down Brackets

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The Front-tilt Bonnet Hinges

The Bugyeye has had a front tilt hinge mechanism installed for some time. We originally used the kit sold by Mini-Mania.

Mini-Mania Hinge Kit

The front hinge concept has become very popular because it provides much better access to the engine bay than the original rear hinge set-up. Today, front hinge kits are sold by many of the usual vendors such as BugeyeGuys, and Speedwell Engineering. Most are based on the innovation and work done by Gerard Chateauvieux who sold his kit through Gerard’s Garage. There have also been many approaches to latching or anchoring the bonnet to the chassis. Some have also installed gas struts to assist and control the process of opening and closing the bonnet. 

In anticipation of using both a front hinge kit and gas struts, we made a few modifications to the Bugeye front bonnet to strengthen the stress points, particularly around the radiator air box. We wanted to accomplish these changes prior to paint and we were successful. We first fashioned a couple of gussets, drilled them for plug welds, primed them with weld-through primer and welded them in place on both sides of the bonnet. 

Gas Strut Gusset

Primered Gusset

Gusset welded in place on bonnet

We also used the little brackets that came with the Mini-Mania hinge kit to strengthen the air box by riveting the bracket to the side of the headlight bucket rim. Four rivets were used with each bracket. As an added bonus, these brackets have holes that can be used to attach a range-of-motion limiter cable.

Mini-Mania bracket

After considering various front hinge kits for the Bugeye bonnet we decided to go with the hinges made by Erick Moser of Q1 Classic Engineering. Erick makes his hinges from high grade aluminum and supplies delrin washers/fittings and fasteners with his kit. What really appealed about Erick’s kit is that the hinges mount without having to drill additional mounting holes in the body or cutting the threaded bushings on the frame rails. We powder coated the components in satin black and substituted stainless hardware.

Q1 Classic Engineering Bonnet Hinge Kit

We decided to make some small reinforcing plates of 1/8″ steel to add support at the upper mounting point of the hinge. At that point the securing bolt only goes through the radiator shroud sheet metal so the extra “beef” should be helpful. We painted these black and installed them with the kit.

Getting the bonnet hinges to work effectively involved some trial and error. We ended up having to modify the hinge plates and the sliders, but Erick was great and assisted in making the necessary modifications.

Template for Modified Hinge Plate

We ended up with a very functional and good looking bit of kit. We will paint or powder coat the modified hinges when we remove the bonnet to install the motor.

Q1 Classic Engineering Bonnet Hinges

Hinge Spacer Block 1″ Wide

We also added gas struts purchased from Amazon. The struts we installed are 16″ long. We tried both 28 lb. and 35 lb. struts and found the 28 lb. units to work the best. The heavier struts tended to pull the rear edge of the bonnet way from the cowl.

Gas Struts 16″ 28 Lbs

The front tie-down brackets/tow hooks were also purchased from Q1 Classic Engineering. Nicely made and heavy duty. We painted them and installed between the hinge plates and the chassis rails.

Q1 Classic Engineering Tie Down Brackets

Q1 Classic Engineering Tie Down Brackets Installed

Mounting of the bonnet hinges, gas struts and the toe down brackets is shown in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Ninety-four:

https://vimeo.com/1043279717/37ec3901e6?share=copy

 

Bonnet Wiring Harness – Front Lights and Horns

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The wiring harness for the bonnet lighting (headlights, flashers, side lights and driving lights) was created previously. The harness utilizes Deutsch connectors where possible but also incorporates a number of bullet connectors. Once completed the harness was taped and sent to Rhode Island Wiring for cloth braiding. The creation of the harness was detailed in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Sixty-six: https://vimeo.com/997550566/c57d5ae6dc?share=copy

After installing the lighting harness in the bonnet we then created the harness linking the bonnet lighting wiring to the “J” Deutsch connector on the RH chassis valance. The horns and the air duct flange were also installed. All connections were tested and functioned properly. This connector harness will be removed, taped with Tessa tape and also sent to Rhode Island Wiring to be cloth braided.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Ninety-three covers the final installation of the bonnet lighting harness and the creation of the connecting harness: https://vimeo.com/1042084864/5e7d7f87bf?share=copy

 

 

 

Rear Axle Hub/Brake Problems Again!

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We don’t seem to be able to escape our problems with the fitment of the rear axle hubs and brake drums. A thorough accounting of the issues we faced were first documented in several videos included in an earlier post:https://valvechatter.com/?p=13569

We thought we had conquered the problems we had encountered with the hub rubbing the axle flange and with the brake drum rubbing against the brake backplate, but upon installing the road wheels and tires we discovered that all had not been corrected! 

The wheel on the left side of the car turned freely but on the right side we found that despite the hub nuts being tightened and torqued to 38 ft. lbs. as directed in the maintenance manual, the wheel and tire wobbled back and forth. It is a little hard to tell but it can be seen in the beginning of the Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Ninety-two. We then tried a pair of brand new Moss Classic Gold brake drums that we had on hand.

Unfortunately, the new drums rubbed against the backplates just ever so slightly. We visited our friend, Randy Forbes, and he graciously set up his milling machine to remove .0075″ from the back side of each brake drum. We then mounted them on the car and found that we had eliminated the rubbing against the brake back plates, but we still had the dreaded wobble on the RH wheel.

We removed the RH axle half-shaft, bent back the locking tab washer and tightened the hub nut to 145 ft lbs. This actually turned the nut very little but it was sufficient to eliminate the wheel wobble. Not really sure about the mechanics of all of this but we will take it and move on!

All of this trial and error is shown in the Bugeye Restoration Episode Ninety-two video. 

https://vimeo.com/1050905261/b7432414cf?share=copy

We will now machine the edges of the drums and see if we can end up with a fully operational axle assembly. Stay tuned….

 

 

 

 

 

The Doors

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Prior to installing the doors on the car, we decided to assemble the door trim. Hopefully this is the best route to take. our first step was to install the rubber door liner that we purchased from Bugeyeguys. This liner is heavy and in addition to providing a solid feel when the door is opened and closed, it should afford a certain degree of sound insulation as well. The liner was glued to the door using contact cement. The photo below shows the finished product:

Rubber door liner installed

That is where the factory stopped. However, we have decided to glue carpet to the rubber liner to give a more finished and coordinated appearance.

Glueing the carpet to the rubber door liner

Carpet installed

We then installed the upholstered door pockets. These also came from Bugeyeguys and they are an upgrade over the originals. These pockets simply slide over the door lip (as can be seen in the photo above) and push down into place. Screws are not required to secure the pockets.

Upholstered Door Pocket

Next came the installation of the polished aluminum cockpit molding. Rubber washers sourced from Bugeyeguys are installed under the thumb screws for the side curtain brackets. They minimize any scuffing that might result from taking the side curtains on and off the car.

Polished aluminum cockpit molding

It was then time to install the door latch mechanism to the door. Four pan head #10-32 x 1/2″ stainless machine screws with internal tooth washers are used to mount the latch to the door.

Door Latch Installation

The final step in the completion of the doors is the installation of the upholstered check straps. These fit through a slot in the door and are then secured to the inside of the “A” pillar of the car. The end of the strap has two metal finishing plates.

Door check strap

With the doors assembly complete it was time to install the door hinges to the car’s “A” pillar. There are two hinges per door. The hinges had been stamped with markings to signify whether the hinge was top or bottom and left door or right door. Each hinge uses three pan head 1/4″-28 x 1/2″ screws and internal tooth lock washers to mount to the car.

Unfortunately, after we mounted the four hinges we decided that there was just too much play in each hinge so we pulled them all from the car and sent them to a hinge repair specialist to install new bushings, washers, and pins so they will be as good as new.

Door hinges

Episode Ninety-one of the Bugeye Restoration Videos shows the installation of the various door components and the mounting of the door hinges.

https://vimeo.com/1034610967/b9737f276b?share=copy

0:00 – Rubber door liner installation

0:44 – Carpet door liner installation

0:56 – Upholstered door pocket installation

1:08 – Door check strap installation

1:16 – Aluminum cockpit molding installation

2:04 – Door latch installation

2:43 – Door check strap finishers

3:05 – Door hinges installed

When the restored door hinges are received we will install them and update this post.

 

 

Seating

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The Bugeye seats were the subject of an earlier post in the restoration section: https://valvechatter.com/?p=14315  This post explains our decision process on the type of seat cover we would use and also reviews the refurbishment of the seat frames and backs.

Geoff Chrysler, owner of Rightway Heritage Trim did a beautiful job with the seat upholstery. We could not have been happier with the leather color or his craftsmanship.

MK2 Seat with inserts and horizontal stitch

The seat tracks were originally screwed to the lower seat frame with 1/4″-28 x 5/8″ flat-head screws, but before long in the production cycle the screws and nuts were replaced with rivets. Several of the rivets in the Bugeye seat tracks were loose and resulted in sloppy seat travel. We decided to drill out the rivets and return to the use of screws and nuts to hold the pieces together. We also sent the seat tracks and rails to Jartex in Forth Worth, TX to have the pieces cleaned and zinc plated. They did a very nice job. We are now ready to assemble the components.

As produced at the time, only the driver’s seat had an adjustable slider track. The passenger seat was bolted in place with four brackets to the floor. However, we also have the adjuster for the passenger seat and will be installing it. It is hard to imagine ever adjusting the seats given how little room there is in the Sprite. They will probably be pushed all the way to the rear and then never moved!

We installed three-point retractable shoulder harnesses and seat belts sourced from Bugeyeguys.com. The belts and their installation were covered in an earlier post which includes a video showing the modifications to the chassis to accommodate the fixing points.https://valvechatter.com/?p=14383

This is the finished product:

The Finished Product

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Ninety covers the installation of the seat tracks, the retractable seat belts and the seats: https://vimeo.com/1032472964/0a8578978f?share=copy

 

Steering Installation

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The steering installation story in the Bugeye has been characterized by fits and starts. This often happens in restorations because systems frequently interfere with the installation of other systems. The new steering rack was first discussed in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Thirty-five: https://vimeo.com/810655660/46123c8339?share=copy The steering rack is a new one purchased from AH Spares. Information related to the steering rack begins at the 5:00 minute point of the video.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-seven shows the installation of the steering components of the car.

Bugeye Steering Components

We almost missed the shim that fits between the chassis crossmember and the passenger side of the steering rack bracket, part number 44 in the diagram above. This shim aligns the steering column through the dash at the correct angle. We sourced a new one from AH Spares.

The trickiest part of installing the steering system was the coordination required with the installation of the dash. We installed the column through the firewall and let it hang loose. We then positioned it through the hole in the dash and gradually moved both the column and dash upward and into position on the car. Only then did we begin to connect the various components of the steering system. The horn cone was installed with its three mounting screws, but with plenty of room to move around as the column shifted position. All parts were loosely fitted to ensure that we didn’t have any binding of the parts as they were assembled.

Dash with zip ties to the body and column in position

In our final installation we had already centered the steering rack and had also threaded the new tie rod ends to the proper location to hopefully result in a rough alignment of the wheels permitting us to roll the car around in the garage. We will find out later if we were successful! Of course, we will align the steering professionally when all is done.

The following points are covered in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-seven:

https://vimeo.com/1010637487/a43c135b98?share=copy

0:00 – Steering column bracket, grommet, and bushings

1:56 – Steering column firewall corrugated grommet

2:18 – Stering rack shims

2:49 – Steering column to steering rack locking bolt

3:00 – Steering rack to chassis brackets installed

3:22 – Steering rack to chassis shim

4:12 – Steering rack bracket bolt torque values

4:22 – Coordinating the dash and steering column installation

4:40 – Final steering components installation sequence

6:19 – Horn cone positioned and secured

7:22 – Testing the steering column connection to the rack

8:20 – Connecting the tie rod ends

9:00 – Steering wheel installed

9:30 – Horn test

 

 

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Dash and Custom Wiring Harness – Part Two

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We connected the rear license plate plinth and light.

Final Installation of license plat plinth and Light

This procedure is detailed in Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-five shows the installation process:

https://vimeo.com/1002052489/b28c484815?share=copy

This is just a matter of connecting the black ground wire to the appropriate terminal in the fixture and connecting the red wire to its terminal in the fixture. This is seen in the image below.

License Plate Light with LEDs

Next we turned to installing the front interior courtesy lights. The front courtesy lights are located in the two footboxes on the outside walls and use the original bonnet prop fixed nuts as mounting points. Small brackets to house the lights were fabricated and painted Cotswold Blue. The lights were sourced from Better Car Lighting in the UK. https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=171

A purple wire provides power to the LED lights and each is grounded with a black wire next to the light assembly. Operation of the lights is through a remote key fob switch in which case the lights turn on for forty seconds, or via a toggle switch under the dash to leave on until toggled off.

RH Front Courtesy Light

LH Front Courtesy Light

 

Before installing the dash we wanted to complete the installation of the front courtesy lights as they are not easy to access without the dash, much less with dash in place. We also completed the wiring and testing for the pedal brake switch that can also be seen in the photo below.

LH front courtesy light

We then covered the front aluminum cockpit molding with our red vinyl and installed it on the body. It looks quite handsome.

front cockpit molding vinyl covered

Just to add a touch of bling to our work the chrome rear view mirror went on next. Two chrome oval head #10-32 x 5/8″ machine screws secure the mirror to the captured nuts in the body.

Rear View Mirror

We then added the rear cockpit molding:

Rear cockpit molding

We then installed the LH demister hose to the elbow and nozzle vent. We will be using an AFR gauge to assist with tuning but do not plan to leave it in the car permanently so we ran a red wire from fuse position #19 in our fuse box, through the firewall an into the interior. This wire can be easily removed after we finish tuning.

We then began the actual installation of the dash with all of its wiring, gauges, switches and etc. in place. We had seen a tip on the internet to make this task easier. That is to use large zip ties to support the corners of the dash. This allows easy access from above for mating Deutsch connectors, finishing up with a few loose wires and for running cables through the dash and the firewall. As it turned out, it was a great tip and made the job quite a bit easier than it might have otherwise been.

Dash with zip ties to the body

We could then gradually tighten the zip ties and move the dash closer to the body. Ultimately, we cut the zip ties and inserted the 1/4″-28 – 1″ hex head bolts and tightened each corner.

Care must be taken with three items 1. one must keep an eye on the steering shaft so that it remains free in the column bezel. 2. There are two braces under the dash that secure the dash to the firewall. The braces must be above the lip that they mount to on the firewall before the dash to body bolts go in on the corners, otherwise they are difficult to properly position. This is especially true in our case since the braces serve as the platform for our supplementary switch panel behind the dash. 3. Routing the capillary tube for the water temperature gauge and the copper pipe for the oil pressure must be approached cautiously to avoid damage to either.

The installation of the individual items associated with the dash is covered in the attached video. Once we had the dash in place we began testing all of our circuits. Everything seems to functioning properly! A major achievement in the process toward assembling the Bugeye.

Bugeye Restoration Video Episode Eighty-six:

https://vimeo.com/1006256130/a0a01395e3?share=copy

0:00 – Front courtesy lights connected

0:21 – Brake light wiring

1:11 – Covering and installing the aluminum cockpit molding

2:56 – Rear view mirror installed

3:18 – Rear cockpit molding installed

3:50 – LH demister hose installed

4:00 – Temporary AFR gauge wiring installed

4:22- Dash wiring and installation

8:00 – Zip tying the dash to the car

8:47 – Wiper controller rheostat installed

9:07 – Water temperature & oil pressure gauge & pipes installed

10:00 – Windscreen washer pump hoses and wiring connected

10:19 – Brake wiring connected

10:48 – Started cable installed

11:05 – Heater switch installed & wires connected

11:12 – Choke cable installed

11:24 – RH ground bus bar wiring

11:39 – Dash to body mounting bolts and braces

12:08 – Electrical circuit testing begins