Yes, the Save Our Sprites saga continues. (No, Ed's not gonna send me any
parts...)
I have a MKIII Sprite that I bought 15 years ago. ($400). I got it running,
and drove to a Healey club autocross and flogged the hell out of it. Despite
a rod knock, it ran pretty well.
I decided to restore it, just to have a street Sprite. I made a rotisserie
out of 2 engine stands (If you do this, use the type with U shaped legs, not
the T shaped style. If I remember right, I used the front rail sway bar
mounting holes, and the rear bumper bracket bolts. It didn't allow a 360
swing, but worked well enough to replace the floors). After all the steel
work was done, brother Don and I started on the rest of the body work. I was
out of town for a while, and upon my return, he's completely finished the
paintwork. I wasn't too concerned about originality, and selected a Cessna
red from a paint book that closely matched the red on my Healey Sportsboat.
My intention was/is someday to tow the Sportsboat behind the Sprite to the
Concours at the CHicago Historics.
So...the suspension was all sandblasted, painted, and reassembled. The paint
was wet sanded, and rubbed out. I bought a buttload of trim, body gaskets,
and interior stuff from VB. Then, it sat under a cover for many years. It
was originally going to be my wife's car, but somewhere along the way, I
lost the wife, kept the car.
So, since my memory ain't so good, and the last 10 years have been spent
working on race Sprites, I thought I'd seek the help of some of the lists
street Sprite guys, and get this thing put back together. Thickos Ron S. and
Peter C suggested we do this at Peter's place near Madison, WIthe Friday and
Saturday after Thanksgiving. I suggested I bring a grille and cook a turkey,
dubbing it the "Flounder gives you the bird" party, but Peter suspects most
will be birded out by Friday.
So, anyone interested in helping? We're gonna need to install a new wiring
harness, all lighting & chrome, all interior, engine & trans. All volunteers
welcome. Any overnighters can stay at my place at Green Lake, or if I'm
really ambitious (don't count on it) in the motorhome.
I'd say this plan is about 75% sure at this point... I can confirm it by the
end of next week. I wanted to mention it now, in case you want to plan for
it.
Who's in?
WST
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