[Spridgets] Spridget Reproduction

Timothy H. Collins thcollin at mtu.edu
Tue Jan 15 08:03:24 MST 2008


I have been thinking about what a Spridget might look like if 
produced today. I've been pondering this as I restore my '66 Sprite. 
For example, the cockpit surround is held to the body with about 20 
fasteners consisting of T-nuts, washers, lock washers and nuts. They 
are difficult to install because there isn't much finger room so 
install time would be considered long for an assembly line. Even the 
surround consists of an aluminum extrusion with vinyl glued to the 
extrusion (in the case of my '66). Quite labor intensive compared to 
a piece of plastic and those omni present plastic push fasteners used 
these days. Carpeting consisting of a dozen individual pieces - some 
bound, some glued??? Carpet snaps ?? Our cars weren't designed "for 
manufacturability" as they are today. I would guess that today the 
many individual body stampings would be combined into fewer, but more 
complex pieces. It would be fun to redo the Sprite design with an 
emphasis on manufacturability just to see what savings in labor could 
be realized. If you have wrestled with those #10 nuts and bolts in 
places and positions that are almost impossible you know what I am 
talking about!!

Tim Collins
1966 AH Sprite
Mid MI
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12702006@N07/ 


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