Supersized from Just MB to MGB Midget
- Thread starter Mike ML
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PAUL R
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- Golf SV GT,Polo SEL (gone) ML270 CDI (gone)SLK230 (gone)
Hi Mike ML
There are loads of 60/70's rag top's in Classic car weekly,It Is Only£1.90,
Buy it for a few weeks just to see what is floating around in the open market.
I think you will be suprised what's there, and at what silly prices (high and low).From concorse to grade3 basket case's.
We Have a Austin Healey Frogeyed Sprite ,simler to the midget you were looking at, and the work that the car failed the MOT on, is typical of the Spridget range.But not drastic.
Ours came in five teachest box's and a very rusty sand blasted old shell,and when i had finished rebuilding her,It took second place at the 100 years of cars at the NEC,(Beaten by a Jenson 501(Fiberglass boby)),A lot of work,But it was a labour of love for a car i always wanted.
But as most motoring pundits say,"You get the most smiles for miles in a spridget and at little cost " (Spridget = Sprite/Midget combination of the two words)
And we are still getting loads of smiles per mile
I personaly would not have dissmised the Midget, but then again you know your limitations, (Money,Experiance and time avaliable to repair a unroadworthy car).
If it is factory black original, it may be one of the last 500 cars made,(PM for details).
All i can say is if you are after a rag top, pick one that is tax exempt, and is on the road, at least running repairs can be done as you enjoy the motor car
There are loads of 60/70's rag top's in Classic car weekly,It Is Only£1.90,
Buy it for a few weeks just to see what is floating around in the open market.
I think you will be suprised what's there, and at what silly prices (high and low).From concorse to grade3 basket case's.
We Have a Austin Healey Frogeyed Sprite
,simler to the midget you were looking at, and the work that the car failed the MOT on, is typical of the Spridget range.But not drastic. Ours came in five teachest box's and a very rusty sand blasted old shell,and when i had finished rebuilding her,It took second place at the 100 years of cars at the NEC,(Beaten by a Jenson 501(Fiberglass boby)),A lot of work,But it was a labour of love for a car i always wanted.
But as most motoring pundits say,"You get the most smiles for miles in a spridget and at little cost "
(Spridget = Sprite/Midget combination of the two words)And we are still getting loads of smiles per mile
I personaly would not have dissmised the Midget, but then again you know your limitations, (Money,Experiance and time avaliable to repair a unroadworthy car).
If it is factory black original, it may be one of the last 500 cars made,(PM for details).
All i can say is if you are after a rag top, pick one that is tax exempt, and is on the road, at least running repairs can be done as you enjoy the motor car
Mike ML
Active Member
![ce_1_b[1].jpg](/data/attachments/1/1432-5fe36684027568854b8880caeaabe57d.jpg)
andy_k
MB Enthusiast
that looks like a good example
now you need to find a GT6 and steal the front end
Andy
now you need to find a GT6 and steal the front end
Andy
marc777
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I did that once - using a crashed GT6 - did the conversion myself start to finish and drove round Europe on Honeymoon with it - great car. 2 litre 6 cyl really gave it some guts.
Marc
imadoofus
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Nice car, Mike. Lose the wheels, though
The conversion to a GT6 engine is a very straightforward one. However, finding a GT6 donor is becoming increasingly difficult; a) because a restored GT6 is worth more than a Spit, and b) because all the crappy GT6's have already been turned into Spitfire6 / GTSpit's.
Ford Zetec is almost as easy a swap, apparently, and is a much better performance/reliability option.
Having said which, a standard 1500 or 1300 Spitfire in fine fettle is a sweet thing, with a nice fruity exhaust note from central twin pipes.
Enjoy!
PJ
marc777 said:
The conversion to a GT6 engine is a very straightforward one. However, finding a GT6 donor is becoming increasingly difficult; a) because a restored GT6 is worth more than a Spit, and b) because all the crappy GT6's have already been turned into Spitfire6 / GTSpit's.
Ford Zetec is almost as easy a swap, apparently, and is a much better performance/reliability option.
Having said which, a standard 1500 or 1300 Spitfire in fine fettle is a sweet thing, with a nice fruity exhaust note from central twin pipes.
Enjoy!
PJ
Get an Alfa Spider!
My recommendation is an Alfa Spider.
There are loads around and parts are easy to get. Unlike MG's you get a proper handling car with a proper 'sports' engine (twin cam light alloy block generally 2L, older one's may be 1750cc and some 1600's). There are plenty of specialists around for advice. Rust can be a problem but no worse than any other car of their era (they're not fundamentally flawed rust-wise as the Sud's were).
We've got an old boat tail bought years ago as a restoration. Most mechanicals are shared with later spider's - the difficult parts are trim bits but since the advent of eBay even these bits are now gettable.
They are pretty straight forward to work on. Alfa used the same engine for years so (a) the engine is reliable and (b) if shot can be replaced with little effort. Same goes for the gearbox etc.
Mike ML said:
My recommendation is an Alfa Spider.
There are loads around and parts are easy to get. Unlike MG's you get a proper handling car with a proper 'sports' engine (twin cam light alloy block generally 2L, older one's may be 1750cc and some 1600's). There are plenty of specialists around for advice. Rust can be a problem but no worse than any other car of their era (they're not fundamentally flawed rust-wise as the Sud's were).
We've got an old boat tail bought years ago as a restoration. Most mechanicals are shared with later spider's - the difficult parts are trim bits but since the advent of eBay even these bits are now gettable.
They are pretty straight forward to work on. Alfa used the same engine for years so (a) the engine is reliable and (b) if shot can be replaced with little effort. Same goes for the gearbox etc.
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Mike ML
Active Member
Thanks Jimbo - but the spitty is outside already!!!!!
Loving it No need to do anything with the engine at this stage (other than a massive service and fine tuning), it runs just great, as for the wheels..... The sooner they go the better, keeping a lookout for some nice chromed silver spokes (bugger to clean but hey)
My target is to get it to A1 before next years Le Mans and drive it down there for the weekend, Already got a pass from the missus (in writing and all)!!!!!!
Any one else on here got one of these???
Loving it No need to do anything with the engine at this stage (other than a massive service and fine tuning), it runs just great, as for the wheels..... The sooner they go the better, keeping a lookout for some nice chromed silver spokes (bugger to clean but hey)
My target is to get it to A1 before next years Le Mans and drive it down there for the weekend, Already got a pass from the missus (in writing and all)!!!!!!
Any one else on here got one of these???
imadoofus
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Mike ML said:
Got what? A pass from the missus? Nope, not me. I hear they're like gold dust. Do you have any going spare that I can use
PJ
Mike ML
Active Member
imadoofus said:Got what? A pass from the missus? Nope, not me. I hear they're like gold dust. Do you have any going spare that I can use
PJ
Soz PJ keeping em all to myself, got a few spare kids if you want BUT not the passes!!!!
Mike
