bugeyeguy.com

Bugeye Sprite-Will I fit?

June 7, 2019 by bugeyeguy

This is Mary, the proud new owner (with her husband Frank, he might also get to drive it) of our Bugeye “Vanilla.” It is always really fun for us to turn new people onto these cars, and clearly, here we have a great new member(s) of the tribe.

Frank and Mary came to visit so we could confirm fitment. She’s 5’1 and the seat was low for her. You can see in the photo above that her head was initially a bit low in the windshield glass (note the gap between her head and the top of the windshield).

In the photo above you can see the gap with Mary seated on our more firm seat pillow. We removed the less dense foam from the seat pan and recovered our more comfortable and slightly taller seat foam with the red and white seat cover. Now, Mary is ready to go.

Original Bugeye seat foam (left) next to our thicker replacement foam (right)

The original Sprite seat base foams are easy to identify since they are chambered, with large holes on the back of the pillow. Our replacement might be thicker than the original, although we will never know how much that original foam has compacted in 60 years-perhaps they were once this thick! But the foam we use is very dense, and thus more comfortable, more shock absorbing, and can help shorter folks fit the car. If you would like one (or two) of these thicker pillows, you can order them by clicking here.

Another great nice upgrade we provided was to weld extensions on the driver’s seat tracks. With this enhancement, the seat can slide forward far enough for Mary, and also slide fully back for Frank. We might have moved the mounts forward for Mary, but this would have compromised the length for Frank. Extending the tracks allows the best of both worlds, and a greater range of possibilities. We also left the slightly less dense foam in the passenger seat, so Frank can switch seat bottoms when he drives the car if he feels that Mary’s pillow is too high.

Black track extensions above allow the seat to slide further forward than stock

Our car #248 is now ready to go, with custom seating given the needs of the new owners. This one proves yet again that Sprites can accommodate a wide range of users, despite it’s small overall size. Our tallest customer yet is 6’4″ and with Mary at 5’1,” here’s further proof that just about anyone can fit into a Frogeye.

Filed Under: Bugeye Basics, Life with Bugeye

Restored 1959 Bugeye Sprite for sale!

June 1, 2019 by bugeyeguy

Here’s another really nice car for sale. Check out the new video below!

NOW SOLD to Tim in Arizona! Congratulations!

“Heidi” is a solid Texas car that has been sitting for the past 20 years. We brought it out of hibernation and freshened all the mechanicals and restored the paint. Now we have something really special that shines beautifully.

We spent a lot of time to make this car right again. For example, we replaced the battery, fuel tank, fuel cap, rubber filter neck gasket, all wheel cylinders, slave cylinder, master cylinder, all the shock absorbers, radius arm bushings, carpet, seats, and seat foams. We also changed the water pump, all the hoses and the heater valve.

We re-trimmed the cockpit front rail in the correct black vinyl and polished the other pieces. We sanded and buffed the paint and replaced the tires. Now the car drives wonderfully. It rides smoothly on new rubber and is nicely damped on new shocks. We adjusted the valves, changed the oil, tuned the engine and made this car wonderful again. Now she’s ready for a new home.

The car has a nice new flip-up nose, which a lot of clients because of improved engine access. This one is further modified with an internal hood release, a great feature that eliminates the need for rubber or leather hold-down straps. It works!

The interior is excellent, mostly new, with new carpet, new panels and new foam and seat covers. Underside is solid. A really nice uprated canvas top is included, as shown in the photo gallery. A good tonneau is also included. I’ll get some pix of that posted shortly, and pix of the sidecurtains as well.

Give a call if you would like to make Heidi your car!

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Filed Under: SOLD BUGEYES

Four-post double Bugeye lift

June 1, 2019 by bugeyeguy

Space is always at a premium in our shop. Even with our new addition, we still have too many cars and not enough space. As a partial solution we have invested in three new four post lifts, and for this lift pictured below, Ken welded-on two extensions, so that this 8000 pound lift can now raise two Bugeyes at once.

Below you can see the piece of angle iron he bolted to the edge of the lift. To that, he welded several lengths of heavy angle iron.

Next, he boxed in the new platforms and then welded on steel diamond plate. You can see one finished lift extension below.

And here you can see two Bugeyes sharing the lift, nose to nose. The lighter tail end overhangs the original deck and is supported by the extension.

We’ll build a second one like this during the coming week, which will allow us four in the air and four underneath… a Bugeye eight-pack!

Filed Under: Around the shop, Life with Bugeye

Thank you, Gumby!

May 31, 2019 by bugeyeguy

This is the best gas powered Bugeye we have ever built. I am lucky it is mine.

In case you are new to our universe, this is the ’59 Bugeye that started it all. Gumby was once a beater. Now it’s our flagship. Soon we will sell our 250th Bugeyes, a milestone I would never have imagined when I first met this worn-out Sprite parked by the curb. I enjoyed taking a ride with Gumby today, and hereby express my gratitude to the car that has given birth a now 12-year old business that is primarily dedicated to its siblings.

The interior is custom sewn (in house) leather, with a custom quilted pattern, derivative of the ribs that would have been stock when Gumby was new. When I got the car in 1979, it had shiny metallic teal blue seats, so it seemed only fair that I should customize them and make them extra nice.

Everyone always asks about the color… It’s Aston Martin Racing Green with Mercedes Palladian silver metallic stripes. It’s certainly not a stock color combination, but most people agree it looks just right.

Anything you see on Gumby is available for your car… just ask, we have everything in our parts catalog, and can also custom build a car just for you.

Filed Under: Life with Bugeye, Uncategorized

1960 Austin Healey 3000 Mark 1 BT7 for sale-ultimate driver

May 24, 2019 by bugeyeguy

If you have always wanted to enjoy the roar of a Big Healey, this car is worth serious consideration. Come for a drive with me below!

HBT7L 6635 is a great driver that we recently freshened with about $10,000 worth of restoration work. Chrome wire wheels, both drive splines, chrome spinners and tires and tubes are new (and balanced), hydraulics are new, exhaust system is new, dashboard and panels in the interior are new, seats are nice leather and carpet is new (all this work was done after the video above).

The car is solid and it drives beautifully. She’s available for just $39,995. This is a stunning Healey at a great price!

The car is olde English white over Colorado red. It grunts and growls like a six cylinder Healey should. Gearbox and electric overdrive work great. We’ve also installed a premium aluminum radiator and upgraded (extra blade) engine driven fan, to ensure the car stays cool in even the hottest climates.

The car is a blast to drive!

She was restored in the early 90s, when the engine was rebuilt with hardened valve seats (to run on unleaded gas) at that time. We’ve maintained the car over the past five years and the prior owner was generous with his investment and took care of the car properly. It’s a fantastic driver that starts right up and is ready to go!

A great nearly new top is included, which looks quite handsome on the car.

Good side curtains are included, although they can use new rubber gaskets. The tonneau is very nice tonneau and the original tonneau bar is also present, which nicely supports the tonneau behind the seats as you can see in the photo below.

This is a fantastic car for anyone who wants to get out and drive their Big Healey… well sorted and properly upgraded so you can enjoy it out on the roads this summer!

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Filed Under: OTHER CLASSICS FOR SALE

Inexpensive restored Bugeye for sale for summer fun! (Or convert to electric?) $12,495.

May 24, 2019 by bugeyeguy

I bought this car to offer customers an inexpensive yet solid Bugeye. You’ll never find another Bugeye freshly-restored and rust-free, equipped with wire wheels, disk brakes, a rebuilt transmission, lower (highway) rear end ratio and an upgraded/more powerful rebuilt engine for this price. This offer gives those of you on a budget a chance to get into the game with a really nice car at a very reasonable price.

The car is affordable because it is built on a 1976 Midget platform. However, unlike Bugeye noses on square Spridget bodies, this car got a new nose as well as a new Bugeye rear clip, so it looks very much like a Bugeye. The nose, rear fenders and deck are fiberglass which makes the whole package lighter, and which also opens up the possibility of converting this car to an electric FrogE.

If you are interested in our electric conversions, you can purchase the car from us and then hire us to convert the car to electric, and, once complete, we can send it right to your door. In this way, you don’t have to budget for an expensive restoration before the electric conversion begins.

While we can be purists (as evidenced by the national level concours gold Sprite we built a few years ago), this is a car for the rest of the world. It’s simple and looks and feels pretty much like a 1275 disk brake equipped Bugeye. One big benefit is the half elliptical (later) rear leaf springs, which make the ride more plush. The single carb 1500 engine has plenty of pep. It has a spin on oil filter, alternator, dual master cylinders, and expansion tank cooling system, all benefits courtesy of this later Midget platform.The wire wheels are the proper factory original style, (not the dangerous bolt-on conversion).

Give a call if you want to take this car home. It’s quite sharp with tons of curb appeal with either the current (quite-capable) gas power plant or an electric conversion.

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