Kent-based Dave Pratt has built a Sebring with a difference – it’s fitted with a V8 motor!
An AUTOCAR ROAD TEST
of one of the first
SUPERCHARGED Frogeyes
ARCHERS GARAGE FULLY OPERATIONAL AGAIN
Following the fire which caused severe smoke damage to his main workshop and a number of vehicles back in February, Andrew Forster is now back in operation from the adjacent building and taking on new restoration and repair work. The old landline is now disconnected and he can now be reached on
0772 984 8213 (best between 5pm & 7pm) or by email
Pierre’s 2080 PO was much admired at the Goodwood Breakfast Club and once he sorts the tricky gearbox and smokey motor is to be entered in the 1st re-run of the old Firle Hill-Climb
BO-PEEP DRIVERS CLUB
Firle Hill-Climb
20th September 2015
website
A WSM article
taken from Classic & Sportscar magazine some years back
[Robert Clubbe]
PRESCOTT 27 June
Another appearance for the ex-works ’59 Sebring car. John Newton’s 1380 Sprite Mk 1 which climbed in 54.13secs, and a batch of early Healeys. [David Morys]
NMY 208
in its original guise – now converted into the Halls Garage Tifosi SS
[Steve Hames]
WIDE WHEELS FOR YOUR FROG?
Steve Hames wanted wider wheels on his A35 so drilled the rivets out of standard Frogeye wheels and fitted 5J rims from a Ford Fiesta. Full details available on request.
Having sold 410EAO some time ago Jonathan Whitehouse-Bird is now selling off his large collection of original photos on ebay at £4.99 a go. Look under A-H Sprite photos.
MORE PHOTOS FROM MG LIVE COURTESY OF JOHN EGAN
Top left is Tony Wilson-Spratt in the WSM MGB. Then 3 WSMs of Clive Cocks, Ian Hulett and Graham Robson. N.B. the early Robson car and the replica Hulett one have external door hinges while the original later car of Cocks has inboard ones. All these in the Equipe GTS race while left is Will Corry (Sebring Rep) in the Midget & Sprite round.
FROM MIKE WYLIE:
Hi Martin, The illustrations submitted by Robin Clubbe (right) are of a double page spread 
from ‘Castrol Achievements 1963’, the little publicity booklets from Castrol we all eagerly awaited. These were a free booklet, posted to us after completing a form in ‘Motor Sport’ magazine and usually accompanied by the lubrication chart of a car of one’s choice. The poor souls fulfilling the requests had a thankless task as most of us asked for charts for the most unlikely cars. Anyway, the right-hand picture shows Ian Woodside and Esler Crawford on their way to victory in the 1963 Circuit of Ireland Rally, held over the Easter weekend every year. There is a well-known story that they had an engine fire when in the lead and were helped out by fellow competitor Ronnie White who lent them a carburettor to get to the finish, sacrificing his own placing in the common good. Such was the chivalry in Irish rallying at the time. Ian’s supercharged Sprite was prepared and entered by Alexander Engineering for the event, and by winning in 1963, Ian was given the privilege of starting at Number One in the ex-Works lightweight Midget, YRX.747 the following Easter, 1964. Cheers, Michael.
EUROSPEED SERVICES – BELGIUM/HOLLAND
Stephen Bowen has run this successful Spridget parts business for many years but will be winding it down at the end of this year. He tells me that he has a 3.55:1 CW/P and many other parts if anyone is interested. Email him
CLASSIC CARS – AUGUST ISSUE
Graham Bish tells me: “The August copy of Classic Cars Magazine has, on page 96, an article entitled “My Life in Cars” by John Sprinzel. It’s over four pages and a very interesting read with good pictures”.
9253 WD, the ex-Pedro Rodriguez Sebring car from 1962, now owned by Jonathan Whitehouse-Bird
The Halls Garage Tifosi SS
RMO 699F, the second of the lightweight MGC’s
Lorraine Noble-Thompson’s WSM S2
Clive Cocks’ WSM
COLIN BARNETT’S QUESTION ANSWERED – RE: SQUARE SECTION WISHBONES. From Pete Taylor:
“Hi Martin, I have a set of these on one of my Frogeyes, and have found out, following a note that came with the car, that these were produced by Gerry King. The note given to me said Gary in error. The wishbones are very strong and give negative camber. When I was looking on the net to find info on these I saw that there was someone 
called Barry King retailing standard-looking strong reinforced wishbones in two varieties. I phoned him today and he informed me that Gerry King is his Dad who produced the square section wishbones that were very popular with owners who rallied their cars. Gerry went on to produce the strong but standard-looking wishbones until quite recently when he retired. He still has all the tooling but all the wishbone stock has been sold. The tooling is for sale should anyone wish to produce the stronger standard items. If interested contact: Barry King, Spridget Wishbones, Hertfordshire. Tel 07774 729369 b.king@ntlworld.com “.
3 MORE DIFF RATIOS:
5.125 8-44 Early Austin A35s
5.143 7-36 Very early Austin A35s
5.286 7-37 Some 803cc Morris Minors
[Roy McKnight]
Robert Clubbe sent me this interesting advert showing the Jacobs Midgets and the Circuit of Ireland Rally car.
Congratulations to Bruno Verstraete who entered DAC 952C in the Masterpieces and Style at the beautiful location of Schloss Dyck and won the International Award. He tells me: “It ran well (after its failure on Zandvoort during the Spridget meeting) thanks to Wim Janzen who really made an effort to put it back in order (including fitting the window washer bottle at its original place, cleaning the fuel tank, etc). Wonderful organisation with a lot of enthusiasts amongst a huge variety of cars”.
“Needless to say that amongst the 65 cars there was tough competition. The weather was bad as well. A bit a remake of the Sebring 65 circumstances. Nice to have represented the brand and show them how well these little cars were running”.
Trevor McIlroy was out at the Cultra Hillclimb, Northern Ireland’s premier motorsport garden party at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum Cultra Co Down on the 13th June. It was his 1st motorsport event this year after suffering serious leg injuries in a skiing accident
Will Cory was also out in his very rapid Sebring, winning the Historic Class. Trevor was 4th in the class, not a bad effort with two ruptured knees.
THAT 3.5 DIFF
Owner, Roy McKnight says “It’s a standard but rare part from British Leyland. Moss list in there catalogue as Part number STR520 crown wheel and pinion 3.55-1 £349.66 . Or as an exchange unit £599.95”. Roy is asking £400 for his complete unit.
Lubert Mussche has been busy creating these rather attractive boot badges. I’m waiting to here if he is offering them for sale.
ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF THE JIGSAW (1977)
The 2 pages below were passed on to me by Neil Anderson in the USA but came from Mark Donaldson in New Zealand. Aren’t we international ? I find it incredible how the coupe deteriorated from near new in 1970 (left) to a pretty sorry state just 6 or 7 years later.
DIFFS (following Steve Nash’s enquiry below)
Stephen Bowen points out that ” In the Special Tuning data book the following diffs are listed for early cars.
3.727 11/41
3.900 10/39
4.222 9/38
4.555 9/41
4.875 8/39
5.375 8/43
for Midget 3 and Sprite Mk 4 only the first 3 are listed”.
Colin Barnett has these unusual fabricated box section wishbones on his car. Anyone know their origins? Feedback
“S221 in good company
at Le Mans”
photo: Bopb Hinchliffe
If this is a genuine DHMC sidescreen someone needs to snap it up. On ebay expires 24 Jun, £10 now
ASHLEY MK 2 BONNETS
can be obtained from CCK at £525 + VAT [Turn- around 2 weeks] Make your Ashley GT look right!
CHARLIE CLEGG REPORTS ON THE LE MANS LEGENDS WITH S221
“Hi Martin, Despite a misfire, we did actually complete the race and came 43rd out of 62. It was a remarkable field of cars on the grid and it was won by a Ford GT40 that actually raced at Le Mans in period. We were not able to identify what was causing the misfire while we were out there but suspect that it is an electrical issue somewhere as the electronic Stack rev counter was jumping all over the place during the race. Aside from the misfire, S221 was actually going the best it has ever run and before the misfire developed we were pulling higher speeds down the Mulsanne straight compared to the two previous years we have competed at Le Mans (in the past we had been clocked at c.135mph). Indeed when my father was driving he kept up with a Jaguar C-Type and a D-Type on the Mulsanne! I have got some good in-car footage of the race (sadly with the misfire), which I am planning to edit and put on YouTube at some point. I will forward you the details once I have got around to doing it. Many thanks, Charles”. Watch the race on YouTube (S221 at 24/25/34 and 39 mins in)
These, and top 4 supplied by Charles Clegg
These 2 action shots kindly sent in by John Egan
The only changes to the door are the one hole and a slot at the top edge. The original mounting screws are used to fasten the window frame”.
Phil Zamlynski (USA) has been busy making side windows for his replica and some tricky little exterior door handles. He says: “What’s remaining is to get some fender piping to place under the window frame so the paint is not damaged. The passenger window at least for now will not have an opening. I’m thinking of making a removable plexi section or slider but want to get on with the driver’s door frame assembly. There is sure a lot to do; lots of details…..
Gert-Inge Nilsson has a rather unusual hardtop and fin for sale and is open to offers. The fin looks as though it might need re-shaping for a RHD car. Email him
I’m sure you’re all sick and tired of seeing splined hubs on this page every day but Lew McAllen sent me these photos from the USA of some rather different ones fitted to his Bugeye, ‘Greeny’ . OBSERVATIONS APPRECIATED: Feedback
Left here is one of his rear hubs which look very like the Sebring bolt-on ones, again 12 TPI.
The 2 pictures above show a FRONT hub (12 TPI) fitted to a drum brake. “The stud holes have been threaded – maybe to clear the drum brakes and the drums bolt to the hub. As you can see, the hub looks like a disc brake hub, except that it has an extra locating screw for the drum, like a standard hub”.
Above are a pair of 8 TPI bolt on hubs supplied by Vic British in the US which he plans to use on the rear of another Bugeye.
I HAVE NOW PUT FORWARD AN ORDER FOR 6 PAIRS OF FRONT & REAR SEBRING HUBS TO ORSON EQUIPMENT
CHARLES RAINFORD SEVENTH IN HIS FIRST RACE, – AT BRANDS HATCH
With many of us Sprite enthusiasts now in our 60s, 70s or even 80s it is always good to see new young blood coming on to the scene like 16 year old Charles, son of Shaun, Rainford of CCK seen here in their Maranello liveried Lenham Le Mans in a recent HRDC event. Photo: Kelvin Fagan
STEVE COLEMAN’S SEBRING & TARGA FLORIO CARS GO ON MARKET
Steve has decided the time has come to pass on his 2 ‘works’ prototype wind-tunnel Sprites to a new caretaker. Both cars are restored to a high standard and are ready to race. View them here
SEBRING SPRITE ON DISPLAY AT OYSTER BAY MUSEUM, NEW YORK
Tony Giordano’s Mark 2 Sprite which was raced many times at the now disused Bridgehampton circuit by Ray Cuomo Junior back in the day, is currently being displayed alongside other historic cars in this New York museum.
BIC’S BOOKS
Bonhams are to auction a collection of Brian (Bic) Healey’s books on behalf of his widow, Mary, at Oxford on 20th June
SEBRING HUBS
We only need 1 more buyer to take front & rear hubs to complete an order.
FROM JONATHAN WHITEHOUSE-BIRD:
At MG Live will be some 50 ‘works’ cars including: 15 Mini Coopers, 2 Sprites, 5 AH 3000s, 8 MGAs, 3 MGBs, an MGC GT, 5 Triumph saloons, 4 TR7s, a Morris 1800, Austin A105, Morris Marina, Riley 1.5 and a Rover V8.
Christabel Carlisle sitting in
9254 WD at the 1963 Nurburgring 1000 Km race.
SVEN ECKHARDT – CALIPER BRACKETS
Sven has 2 sets of brackets to mount ATE calipers (on Frogeye stub axles) with offset for use with Spridget hubs (though they could be machined to work with the Sebring hub). Price 350 Euros a pair. [Using the Spridget hub one has to use a spacer between the base of the hub and the brake disc.] Email him your requirements.
STEVE NASH asks:
Was the 3.55 to 1 diff ratio available as a period ST item or is it a modern development? Anyone know? If so please send me some Feedback Thanks.
9253 WD will be parked alongside PMO 200, as part of the “BMC Comp’s Dept. 60th Anniversary” display.
SEBRING HUBS, FRONT – ORDER NOW
Dave Wood of Orson Equipment is now planning to produce a number of sets of both front and rear Sebring splined hubs to original specification. They will be 300 + VAT + postage per pair. Anyone interested please contact me via Feedback
Tel : 01902 906290
2824 MV – SPEEDWELL SPRITE
A couple of shots taken by George P. Albaugh of Bowie, Maryland USA at his town’s British Car Day in the Summer of 1988. The car is owned today by Jeff Brenner
BUILDING THE SEBRING MARK 2’s
Among a pile of Brian Archer’s papers given me by his daughter Debbie, I found this page from Autosport, March 1962. One photo shows the panel man Bill Buckingham and chief racing mechanic Bill Hewitt working on one of the aluminium bodies.
MORE ON SECURING THOSE REAR SPLINED HUBS
From ROGER FRIEND
MY OWN EXPERIENCES (Martin Ingall)
Ref rear hub nuts coming loose, I have had this problem with my rears, if you have MWS splined hub conversion check the taper on the fixing nuts, as mine where bottoming out on the hub flange so not tightening down the splined hub. After countless attempts to secure, I decided to spot weld them into place, reasonably successful but not 100% so I bought a set of splined halfshafts from Peter May, fitted new studs, nuts and locktabs, used Locktite thread lock, and torqued them to 60 ft lb. Have never had a problem since and I am running Dunlop Racing tyres on the road, (yes I know its illegal) but they do stick well when they are warm.
kind regards, Roger.
I also had this problem, my Nyloc nuts becoming loose with monotonous regularity. I bought some aircraft-quality stainless steel locknuts and had the correct chamfer machined on to them but they still came loose. I then bought a further set of Nyloc nuts and had a chamfer machined on them to match the counter-sunk holes in the hubs, also taking off a small amount of steel to ensure they did not bolt down on the brake drum behind, before tightening on to the hub. I found it impossible to get a socket on the nuts so use a long ring spanner and, for some time now, when I check them they remain secure. A bit of Loctite would seem good practice as an added safety measure especially when racing. MEI
Further images awaited
When I drove Joe Armour’s Sebring/Le Mans Sprite in Australia last year it had a very noisy rear axle which Joe is now trying to sort out: ” Finally bit the bullet to see what that noise was. LH rear wheel bearing was quite worn even though it was not apparent from rocking the wheel. The big surprise was that neither the LH or RH bearings had I.D. or manufacturers marks on them. Very strange I thought! Also even though the hubs are specials with the disc bolted onto the back or inside of the hub they are single row bearings. There is a 20mm approx spacer on the front of the hub which fits very tightly over the standard axle flange and wheel studs. Alloy brake caliper is a F.2 style with very thick pads to see out the 24 hours. I will remove the diff while this far dismantled and have Bob (Rowntree) inspect the pawl-style diff and bearings”.
Geoff Hill, WSM Sanction 2 & Les Proctor, Sebring Sprite at Harewood Hill Climb. Photos: Graham Bish
For those heading for Le Mans why not meet up with all the British classics at Saint Saturnin (see below)
SPLINED SEBRING REAR HUBS again
I now have orders for 2 pairs – anyone else?
Tony Giordano asks for any ideas to prevent the securing nuts loosening while racing – has anyone tried wiring them in place? Feedback please
HUB NUTS
Jeffrey Daigle has Kindly referred us to a web page belonging to MWS showing a methos for fixing those nuts
SPLINED HUBS AGAIN
Unfortunately the Moss hub RCK103L mentioned by Steve is for the 8TPI course thread spinner as it seems are both the MWS and Limora versions so we are still looking for an original spec LH hub for Tony, or more takers for new ones.
JUDSON SUPERCHARGER
for sale on ebay
currently at US$ 1,499
expires Friday 12 June
S221 AT LE MANS NEXT WEEKEND
On Saturday 13th June, Chris and Charlie Clegg will be taking part in the “Legends” race which precedes the 24 Hours, alongside some serious machinery including 7 GT40s! If you are there the Clegg team would be delighted to see you, so go and say ‘Hello’.
LOG BOOK
I have a green log book from a blue 1963 Sprite Mk2 with 3 number/3 letter reg if anyone can use it. GONE
ABRIDGE (ESSEX) VILLAGE CLASSIC SHOW
Saturday 6th June
Website
Mike Wylie sent in these 3 photos (above) of Alec Poole racing at Dunboyne in Ireland. In the left-hand pair he is driving TZA 238 but Mike points out that in the Dunboyne Trophy Races of 1966 Alec drove the Sprite, his Wolseley Hornet and an MGB.
Photos courtesy of www.dreolin.ie
SPLINED HUBS
Stephen Bowen has pointed out that Moss do a splined bolt-on hub RCK103L at £40 each though it lacks the locating ring at the back. Tony is going to get one as a temporary measure. Jeffrey Daigle says MWS also do one.
WANTED
Used fibreglass Sebring bonnet for racing purposes.
Please contact Sylvain Proyart in France if you can help.
via email
SEBRING SPLINED BOLT-ON REAR HUBS
Tony Giordano in New York is in need of a Left-Hand side rear Sebring hub for his race car. If anyone has a spare they would consider selling, please let me know via Feedback. In the past Orson Equipment Ltd have supplied them but they need an order for 5 pairs at about £300 per pair. Anyone else in the market for a pair?
A CLIMAX-ENGINED FROGEYE
Reputed to have been converted by Jack Brabham for a customer in period. The fact that the car has been in Italy for some time may possibly explain the reason the Climax engine is still in place! NOW SOLD
DIFF FOR SALE
Roy McKnight has an as-new 3.5-1 diff for Midget/Sprite and is asking £400. He can pack and courier it in the UK by UPS for £20 but enquire if you are overseas, or collect it from Haslemere Surrey . Email
JOHN SPRINZEL becomes patron of the HRDC Academy
[via Mike Wylie]
WHEEL BEARINGS
Mike Wood has referred me to a blog discussing the availability of quality bearings. Link
THE STREAMLINERS
My article “A Little Bit of Detective Work” was recently published by Reid Trummel in the Austin-Healey Club of America’s magazine ‘Healey Marque’. He received an interesting response from a David Honness – see “Your Comments” . The Article is at Part 1 and Part 2
From BERNIE HIGGINSON:
“I have long been a fan of the wind tunnel cars and after seeing a couple of them in the flesh at The Healey Museum last September, I am even more enthused. So I was wondering, do you know if anyone has considered making replicas of these cars in fibreglass?” I am not aware of a fibreglass replica available.
Bruno Verstraete is planning to enter DAC 952C in a concours in Germany called “Masterpieces and Style”, and ‘As there is a class for unrestored cars that show signs of use he thought taking DAC 952C to the event would be a good idea’. However he has to do some small tasks first including re-fitting the original washer bottle, sorting a dodgy distributor and getting FIVA papers.
