1960 Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite

This is my Sprite, my second one, purchased March of 2015. My first one turned into a nightmare, so it was sold in June 2014 and I sought out a solid car. This one was found in Ohio, and I had it trucked over, purchasing it just from pics. When it was delivered I was pleasantly surprised.

 

The car was taken down to a roller by 2 owners previous, and was painted how it is now in 2002. Originally she was Iris Blue with dark blue interior, and maybe one day will be that again. But she looks good for now.

 

The original 948cc motor was swapped for a 1275, and has relatively stock internals. There is a ceramic coated Maniflow header, 2" exhaust, a Magnaflow muffler, and the Moss Supercharger. The transmission has been converted to the Datsun 5 speed using Morris conversion kit. With the lower first and second gears of the Datsun transmission, the rear end was swapped to a 3.9 for freeway cruising and mileage.

 

Suspension has been stiffened up and lowered to improve handling. Moss 350lb springs were fitted up front, and there rear has what I think are Winner's Circle "S" bent leafs. Overall the car is about 11/4" lower than stock. Front brakes were swapped to later model disc, and larger later model rear drums. A Speedwell front anti-sway bar was fitted along with their rear adjustable trailing arms. 

 

Wheel choice was and easy decision, as I came to love the VTO Classic 8 wheels on my last car. I bumped the size up to 14" shod with BFG 185 60 series rubber.

 

The interior is basically stock, with the addition of a Hobrecht roll bar for safety, just in case. You never know. The tachometer has been converted to electrical rather than the stock mechanical due to the alternator conversion. 

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So far our longest road trip was 500 miles, taking my road bike for some exercise will on the trip. We went from our home in Chico to Napa, then Lodi and back to Chico. The car did wonderful 

 

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