Well, the Bugeye arrived today. I spent the afternoon clearing out the
leaves, crude and some gnawed animal bones. Some creature must have made the
Bugeye it's base of operations.
I have a little more info. The original engine has been replaced with a
1098cc. The motor can be turned by hand and the oil on the dipstick seems
reasonably clean with no crude or white foam. However the plugs were finger
loose and the bugeye was stored without the bonnet for a few years so there
was some water in two cylinders. I'll have to remove the head to further
access the condition of the motor.
The good news is the front brakes are disc, the bad news is the driver's side
is severly damaged along with the sub frame, It will probably be more cost
effective to find a spridget with a good nose and change everything, maybe
even the motor and tranny. The tranny is a smooth case.
The floors are shot, no surpise there. The doors seem pretty solid and one
sill is showing some rot. The rear clip looks fine and the trunk floor looks
great. The rear fenders have some rot on the bottom and so do the rocker
panels. Hopefully, I'll have time to remove the tub during the holidays, so
that I can check out the spring boxes.
Two bonnets came with the car and I can probably make one good one out of the
two.
All in all, other than the significant damage to the drivers side suspension
and frame, the car is about what I expected. I was looking for a project and
thats what I have.
Gary Bouffard
59 Bugeye
59 TR3A
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