ANOTHER NEW PROJECT CAR!!

[Dagz]

Well i bought another project car. Shakes told me I didn't have enough so i brought another one home.

It's not a ford but soon will be married to one. It's a 1963 Austin Healy Sprite. I have a 60 over 302, a t-5 and a 75 datsun 280z rear independent diff, and a mustang II fr end. Should be a lot of fun. Project will be under way this weekend and hopefully burning rubber before the snow flies.

I will post some pics in the next couple of days.

Soooooo... what do you guys think.

[Not4you]

sould be a blast!! a 302 in a healy will make it like the Shelby Cobras - amazing power to weight ratio for sure!

[Fosters82GT]

Is it a Bugeye Sprite? I didn't realize a 302 would fit in one of those cars. Gotta love British cars with Ford V8's.

My husband owns a Sunbeam Tiger (clone - he built it from an Alpine). His has a 337 stroker in it and it's a monster to drive. One thing you'll have to be aware of is the extra weight on the front end. With the short wheel base, huge horsepower increase (compared to the stock 1800 cc motors or whatever they were) and extra weight on the front end, they tend to want to swap ends when you least expect them to. Jim did a huge amount of modifying when he built his car by cutting out the firewall and moving the engine back to have a more even weight distribution.

Oh, and one other thing. Get rid of the Lucas wiring if you can! There's a reason why the British drink warm beer!

Good luck with your project. It sounds like fun. I'd really like to see some pics of your car soon. If you run into any problems along the way, we'd be more than happy to try and help you - having gone through a similar project ourselves!

[shakes]

Haven't I already called you a madman? So write us a list of all your projects. Sounds like you could challenge Fred.

I like the sounds of this one though, looks like fun!

[ronburgundy]

+1 on getting rid of lucas wiring. the old ladies over there are probably still unplugging their fridges at night afraid of wearing out the electrical systems.

[Dagz]

It's not a bug eye but very close to it. And yes we will be redoing most of the wiring, and adding some new guages.

There is not enough room for a v8 in that car but i will make it fit. cut the firewall and the trans tunnel and build a new one. My buddy is a mechanist welder fabricator for a huge international welding shop. We made a deal on the car together so i guess were sharing.

i got the mechanical and the ideas and he had the metal work so should be good.

And as always thanks for the support. Who knows what help i will need from you guys and gals but I'm sure there will be a few questions that need answers along the way.

[freakshow12]

sounds like a nice build. how good of a car are you starting with btw?

[sleeper_inc]

Originally Posted by shakes

Haven't I already called you a madman? So write us a list of all your projects. Sounds like you could challenge Fred.

I like the sounds of this one though, looks like fun!

I don't think the forum has enough space

[05canuck]

Sounds awesome, A buddy of mine has a tiger cool car always loved the english cars with v-8's to. Been toying with the idea of doing the same but with a jag coupe unless I find one with a 12 can't wait to see pics.

[wheelliftin351]

seems like a cool project, cant wait for pic's!

[Dagz]

Well a little progress on the go kart last night. Started to strip it down. The car was already part way stripped when we got it but was a complete car at one point in time. Now all the parts are in 5 gal. pales, and in the shop.

The motor is suppose to run but i'm not to worried about things like that. The body has some rust and filler over some dents but all in all i think it wil m ake a good project.

pictures to come hopefully tommorow.