Sounds like my Sprite. (but a little worse!) :) Worn pistons, rings, or
cylinders, causing compression to go in the lower end and blow the oil out
every available path while you are driving. Look under your car, I bet it's
oil soaked (but hey, that's British "rust-proofing")
Here's a quick fix that will take that 100m / qt to 500m/qt:
Take your oil filler cap off the engine and stretch a shop rag
over the filler oil and zip tie it on.
Bottom side of your bonnet will get a little oily, but you can probably
stave off that much needed rebuild for another driving season or two.
Or you can get real fancy and buy a beck-arnley oil filler cap and with a
dremel and screen wire, make a new "special" oil filler cap. (I'll give you
mine after I rebuild my engine this winter)
-Bill
I know, I know, rebuild my engine
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]On Behalf Of Bill Mantz
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2000 8:54 PM
To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: Vanishing oil
I knew when I bought the Midget that it was going to need an engine
overhaul soon. One plug showed signs of burning a little oil. I had
hoped to stretch it through the summer, BUT, oil seems to be vanishing
from the engine. No major oil leaks, and it doesn't appear to smoke, at
least not excessive enough to see when I'm driving, and not at all when
idling. Seems to have adequate power. However, it uses a quart of oil in
about a hundred miles. If it was burning this much, it seems it would be
fouling plugs or smoking. Any ideas?
Bill Mantz
Roanoke, Va.
1971 Midget
1959 Bugeye
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