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
hello Lin,
I hope the new year finds you and your family well!
Several issues I am interested in learning about. As you know, I have a MK2 and once in awhile (wink, wink!) it needs a tow. Do you think the hooks from Q1 engineering would work either being bolted or mig welded somewhere to both the front and the rear of the car. I had a tow the other day and I have not checked yet, but I fear the rear brake lines along the top of the Salisbury axle may have been crushed? Although important to check, that shop bungled up the carbs and forgot to fill the OD full; I am playing catch up without a lift.
2} It looks by the wires that you have a Battery Tender installed. I used their loop ended wires for a permanent attachment to each battery terminal Important here to hake sure that the exposed terminal is negative such that the exposed terminal does not touch ground. I have it secured with several cable ties. The hood has to be left open to connect the cable each time which is not a problem. If I drive off forgetting about the connection, it will pull apart and not damage the permanent wiring.
Will the special machine connector piece for the battery cables develop that greenish discoloration so common to most battery terminals, or not due to its stainless steel construction? Should it be sprayed with a compound to prevent this?
3) I have battery negative to both the block and the frame. A solid ground is imperative for proper starter operations. I now must replace the micro high torque starter again as its internal solenoid is behaving as though the battery was dead and frequently just clicks until it finally woks. Somewhat unnerving when I’m out and about.
4) The exhaust pipes may smoke a bit, but not to worry.
5) Do you have to run this at 2000rpm for 20 minutes to avoid flattening the cam or is that only on our muscle (GTO) cars? I dropped a lifter once and that was expensive.
Hello Gerard, I will reply by email.
Lin