> I've been in the past a MGB or MGA person (notice I didn't say man)
>and no very little about the other side of life. I'm thinking about
>buying a couple of bugeye sprites if I don't die by the hands of my
>wife. Anyway my only experience with the other side was 30 years ago
>with a little yellow job (year, engine unknown) that handled like a car
>on a rail but was absolutely gutless. Now it may have been for a number
>of reasons that I wasn't aware of and not a trait of the breed.
> My question is what may one expect if he rebuilds an A series engine
>using a little hotter cam, some carbs, head job, balanced and etc. Does
>the little engine perform as a stock MGB? Can it do better?
>I thank you for the time responding.
Gregg-
The lighter weight does give some great handling, but to be fair to the
Spridget, they almost always need some sort of front end rebuilding after a
time. As far as performance upgrades, there is a fellow on the Spidgets
list who recently installed a Rayjay brand turbo charger, with what sounds
like an excellent result.
When you say a "couple" of bugeyes, I assume you mean a car and a parts
car?! Lots of minor bugeye parts, particularly trim items and trasmission
parts have gone unavailable.
With the 1 1/4" SUs (I think the bugeyes originally came with 1 1/8") or a
weber, and perhaps a modified cam, I venture to say that a bugeye could
prove tough competition for a B.
As to which is better, Sprite or Midget, I'll be hopefully firing up my
desomgged Sprite next weekend for the first time, so I'll be able to compare
first hand.
One of the best features about the A series engines is that I can carry it
by myself. Not that far of course, but its convenient!
Regards,
Charles
'74 Midget
'68 Sprite
cdsorkin@ix.netcom.com
Bloomfield, NJ
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