A Bugeye’s Blog

My new baby bugeye car (not to be confused with rubber baby buggy bumpers - or is it rubber baby bugeye bumpers) was delivered on August 30th at 10:17am.  I pushed her into her new home at DW’s garage, where she’ll spend the next few months getting organ transplants.  She’s got 4 wheels, 2 steering wheels, 2 windshiels, and 8 boxes of parts.  (It’s customary for the mother to count fingers and toes, right?)

Spent 3 hours unpacking boxes and taking photos of the contents.  I’m not exactly sure yet if I have a complete car, but I have 2 radiators (which both look in sad shape), 3 gear shift knobs, an emergency brake, lots of crusty hoses, jars filled with nuts and bolts, and 2 master cylinders, one of which I think is from the later model sprite.  Needless to say, I’m a bit overwhelmed, but at least I can start with a list of what I want to pull off my old car and what I’ll probably order new (radiator, wiring harness).  Good thing the Palo Alto British Car Show is tomorrow.  I’m going to go with just my front grill and a cardboard sign asking for help.  “Please help a chick put together her project car.” 

I spent last Saturday unpacking my boxes, and boy did my heart sink.  That night, I had an actual panic attack.  “I don’t know what I’m doing.  How can I trust myself to screw everything back in properly - I will never feel secure enough to even drive it, even if I do manage to put to back together.” 

Well, the next day, I gathered up my grill and made a sign and went down to the Palo Alto British Car Show.  Things couldn’t have ended up better.  Tracy introduced me to Gary, (president and editor of the Austin Healey Club, USA) and together they expressed an interest in helping me with the rebuild.  For them, it means a lot of material to document and write about for their magazine.  I also met a great resource who knows all about Bugeyes - what parts are original, how to find the date-stamp on every bit and piece, what modifications are commonly made and why.  I tell you, after leaving the show, I had been lifted from the pits of despair to the pillars of hope.  Perhaps I could, with help, put together my car again.  I could almost see the path through the woods.  It was no longer murky.  In fact, it now required a project plan, which I dutifully typed up that night:

§          Take inventory of new bugeye
§          Take inventory of old bugeye
§          Inspect body and schedule any necessary body work
§          Inspect suspension - rework and refit if needed
§          Order missing parts
§          Send existing parts for restoration
§          Suspension (if needed)
§          Brake/fuel lines and wiring harness
§          Brakes (front disc conversion)
§          Fuel system
§          Steering
§          Engine/clutch/transmission
§          Carb
§          Cables and Instruments
§          Exhaust/emission
§          Ignition
§          Heating/Cooling system
§          Electrical (lamps/horns)
§          Fittings and Interior

Last Saturday was the first big day of the Bugeye project.  Already exhausted from a business trip, I mustered myself out of bed at 6am so I would make it down to Palo Alto by 7:30 to help Brian B load my old ‘59 onto his trailer for disassembly.  It was my 3rd time seeing the car, and quite eerie that early morning with just the sound of someone sweeping in the background.

Although she didn’t roll very well, we got her loaded and transported up to South San Francisco, where Tracy and Gary met us.  Gary snapped photos and jotted notes for his story as Brian patiently explained to me which bits from the box were originals, which came off a later model sprite that I might be able to use, and which were from an MG, but might fetch me a decent price on e-bay.  Amongst the boxes we got to, I found I had a fair number of original and hard-to-find parts such as the secondary bonnet latch which was prone to rattling off, and a metal zip-tie which could be found around the brake and clutch lines.

Originally we thought we’d just be going through boxes, but Tracy was quick to suit up pull out his tools.  I was in charge of inventory, including labeling and organization, and here was a few hours where I struggled to keep up with Tracy who pulled bits off the ’59 and Brian who sorted through the boxes.  But by the afternoon, I started to recognize a few of the bits and could more quickly locate the right storage bin, organized by area; interior fittings, exterior fittings, engine bay and ancillary, etc…

At times, while I was working at the rear, I could overhear the guys comment on some bashed up part up front.  I’m actually probably better not knowing all the details of the broken fuel line, so I’ll leave it at that. 

Although we didn’t finish the disassembly, we made great progress.  A few more hours of work and I will be able to reclaim all the valuable or useful bits off the ’59.  Then I have to figure out what I have in all the boxes, and what I’ll have left to acquire for the restoration.  That night was the second time this year that I had to wash grit and gravel out of my hair from being under the car.  This time, however, I was under the car, voluntarily, with wrench in hand and mighty aspirations for the rebuild.     

While I’ve been in charge of the car mechanics, Rachel, my sister and copilot, has been in charge of costumes.  She did a spectacular job of outfitting us with red and white polka-dot dresses, wide-brimmed hats, and bug-eyed sunglasses.  Now she has seen to it that I’m properly outfitted for the rebuild.  I now have my very own jumpsuit which actually fits me remarkably well.  I’ve learned that jumpsuits are both comfortable and practical, with snaps and the cuffs to keep the dirt out, side pockets and openings so you can get to the pockets of your undergarments, and a zipper that zips both up and down (practical if you’re a guy, not so much if you’re a girl).  As I build up the bugeye, she’ll be on the search for our next driving outfits.  While out on our Sunday drives, it’s important that we look as good as we feel!

Sunday was a productive day… we got all the bits pulled off the ‘59, and now there is nothing but a banged up tub ready to be hauled away.  Many thanks to Tracy, Brian, and our newest helper, Steve.  Steve is a BMW2002 guy, so didn’t bring the type of domain knowledge that Tracy and Brian have, but with his Popeye hammer and screwdriver, was helpful in unscrewing and unfastening all the bits that I couldn’t quite get completely off.

The next step will be to put the ‘60 up on a box and take a good look at the body to see what kind of welding will have to be done.  It looks in pretty good shape, and even has the original floor pans (Brian determined this based on the drainage plugs which allow water to drain out but not dirt to get kicked back in - an interesting design if they weren’t so prone to clogging up and rusting out).  In the meantime, I’ll be starting to scrub and clean and sandblast all my bits. 

One side note, when I was underneath the car, pulling out the rear suspension, a spider crawled by and I thought “I bet my mother never expected me to be doing this when I was a little girl.”  I’m no little miss muffet, that’s for sure!     

Once the ‘59 gets towed away, it will be time to put the ‘60 up on a platform so we can really inspect the underbelly.  David W graciously offered to help - he would, after all, get to use all his toys.  But that meant we had to move things around in the garage so he could get to his table saw which we had stashed away to make room for all my toys (cars and car parts).  While he cut wood and drove nails, I started scrubbing away at some of my bits.  How many original nuts and bolts had come off of the ‘59?  I’m sure Brian can help me categorize everything once I sandblast all the bits so I can read the top of the bolt.  I guess the environmentalist in me is happy that I’ll be using as much of my own hardware instead of tossing the grimy bits and buying new ones, but scrubbing away 50 years of oil and dirt sure is hard work.  As I took a green scouring pad to my bits, I realized it’s kind of like cleaning abalone, but the rewards are not as immediate.  No delicious abalone poppers for dinner, but then again, I can’t ride to the top of Mt. Tam on the back of an abalone shell. 

Today I closed the chapter on my ‘59.  JT graciously offered to come and pick it up and dump the tub in a scrap yard near his home in Paradise.  He arrived with a dolly, a come-along winch, and full of energy, and it didn’t take long for us to get her loaded in the back of his truck.  She fit perfectly.  It was strange to see her loaded in the back of the truck.  I spent months avoiding her (dark memories of the accident), weekends dissecting her, and then just like that, she would be gone.  Not to fret - I have all her usable innards, and now get to rifle through the bins to see how I’m going to give her a new life in a fresh new body.  A Frankenstein project, indeed.   

After JT finished tying her down, he helped me separate the engine from the tranny so I could inspect and sell, then he gave me a quick hug and jumped into the truck to start his journey back to Paradise.  Hopefully, in a matter of months, I’ll be able to go out there and give him a ride in a properly rolling Bugeye!  And now, so long to the ‘59, on to the ‘60.

As with the formation of the universe, everything must get messier before they can get cleaner.  So in preparation for the next big tech day (Nov 3) I, with some great help, started getting ready for the next phase of the project.  Saturday started with assembly of my sand blaster.  It took Ryan some time to put it together, and he was only left with 3 unused bits.  Now if only my bugeye assembly will go that smoothly.  I started taking inventory of everything I had perfunctorily thrown into bins.  I’m sure I’ll be checking that list more often than Santa checks his, but it would seem that aside from missing some obvious parts, like an exhaust system, I have enough parts to put together a car and a half. 

Aside from inventory and assembly, we also dissected the 3 dahsboards I have, and started scrubbing the grime off all the bits.  I have another exciting evening of scrubbing washers with a steel brush (insert fun here…) and then I’ll be well positioned to inspect and see which bits I can use and which I need to replace.  On first glance, it would appear that I have quite a few original bits, with those “special, secret, British magical markings” as Gary Anderson likes to put it.  They won’t make the car run any better, but they’ll sure make the car more authentic and valuable. 

Another full day at the car - the morning started out quietly enough with me sorting through my cleaned up hardware.  Then the crew came, and in a whirl of activity, we got the front and rear suspension pulled off the ‘60 (wasn’t it just a few weeks ago I was pulling suspension from the ‘59?), and then the guys hoisted up the tub while I positioned the platform under the body.  Voila!  The body was up at chest height and ready for inspection.

Overall, things look really straight.  But then Brian started marking where I would have to punch in holes for the top and which holes I might want to weld shut.  It became clear that I was at a crossroads.  I can either just bolt on my parts and get the car on the road, or take the time and money now to send it to a body shop to do patching and painting.  Of course there were 4 guys and 5 opinions, and that wasn’t counting mine.  But then, I was just trying to follow the conversation, and hadn’t (and still quite don’) have a firm opinion on the direction I want to take.

After a trip to the hardware store and a burrito, we got to work on setting up the sandblasting cabinet.  Of course nothing ever goes so easily on these kind of projects, and my cabinet is far short of air-tight, so as I started blasting my first part, tiny glass beads started shooting out from the seams of the cabinet, as if trying to escape the fate of my blasting gun.  It was like a giant snowstorm in and around the cabinet.

It was clear that I couldn’t do more blasting until I sealed up the seams (requiring another trip to the hardware store) so we started disassembling the rear axel assembly.  At first glance, having 3 rear axel assemblies seemed overkill, but as we inspected each one, we decided to use the casing from one, the leaf springs from another, and the arm from the third.  Interestingly enough, my ‘60 had come with some plastic-composite arms, that are quite light, but I wouldn’t want to trust on the road.  I’ll keep the plastic bits on my car limited to the cup holder, please!