[Spridgets] Sprite – projects update – long

[Weslake1330]

Hi list,
Since the list is so quiet I thought I would write and post something of a
saga rather than just an update.

I’m at the age where I realise one day someone else will be the ‘owner’ of
my Sprite so I don’t want to spend lots of money on it that will make no
difference to the eventual sale price.  However, since that change of
ownership may be a while away the Sprite recently went to the body shop for
the bonnet to be re-painted along with the front wings and spoiler.  The
bonnet was a new heritage item in the early 1990s and had been louvred from
new (but not by heritage).  Taking it to get it louvred back in the 90s,
was an experience in itself and if you want to replicate my experience
carefully fasten a bonnet to the rear and roof of your Sprite/Midget, being
sure to have no door or wing mirrors, being completely blind as to what is
behind you and then overtake a slow moving ice-cream van on dual
carriageway (indicate for a long time before pulling out).  The bonnet was
only slightly rusty on one of the front corners but some paint had cracked
around the louvres and there was a little light rust in the cracks.  The
wings were also mostly good but had some cracks on the and bubbling on the
flaring.  With that work now done I don’t think my Sprite has looked this
good since it was brand new in 1969 and it’s the best it’s ever looked in
my ownership since 1984.

However, the saga begins before the Sprite went to the body shop when at a
local race meeting a concours condition Sprite parked near mine.  While not
wholly original (not sure the bumper irons were chromed from the factory!)
it looked nice enough.  Even before the paintwork my Sprite still looked
pretty good alongside it and more purposeful.  Except that is on the
inside.  The problem was that when I originally had aluminium door ‘cards’
made the contractor that made them precisely followed my brown paper
pattern down to every wiggle of my scissor cuts.  Also, I’d made the
pattern before removing the buffer door capping which thus revealed a row
of fixing holes that I’ve been looking at for more than two decades with
the aluminium ‘card’ fitted. The chrome on the quarterlight wasn’t great
either nor the earlier style hook catches which I’d fitted in preference to
the flat ones it was made with.

So, I bought a sheet of aluminium from ebay and carefully made a new door
‘card’ that looks better than the old one and which I painted matt black to
match the rest of the interior.

I also completely stripped down my spare quarter light frame assembly and
despatched all the parts to the chromers.  The quote was more than I
expected and I can see why everyone fits second-hand quarter light frames.
It will be a while before I get it back and I’m undecided as to whether or
when I will have the driver’s side done (funds are non-existent!).
While I was into all of this work and with no door ‘cards’ on the doors I
decided to replace the polycarbonate door ‘glass’ which is also more than
two decades old.  It was tinted grey and in good condition except for the
driver side where I had splashed some sort of solvent on it that actually
stained the polycarbonate itself.  The other thing was that while the
window winder mechanism went up and down, the polycarbonate didn’t and I’d
got used to it not doing so (for at least a decade).  That polycarbonate
was made by a contractor but I decided to make replacements myself and
earlier today I successfully made and fitted the driver’ side ‘glass’.
Also, something I’d planned on for years was also undertaken, in that I
fixed the polycarbonate in the winder mechanism slot by drilling through
the slot and polycarbonate and fitting a long pop rivet.  This worked well,
though my original idea was to use a nut and bolt.  I used a lot of
silicone grease in the sliders and oiled the mechanism with ACF50 and it
goes up and down very nicely indeed.

So, I still have to get the passenger side quarterlight back, assemble and
fit it to the car along with new polycarbonate door ‘glass’ and the
quarterlight window itself because I made a switch to Bronze (light brown)
from Grey.  I also have to swap the quarterlight window to bronze from Grey
on the driver’s side but will hold off doing that until I’ve made a final
decision whether or not to have the whole assembly re-chromed.  I also have
some other tidying up to do so this is really an unfinished project update
for now.

Not least – no news on Samco hoses – I will go and see them some time
before the end of the year.
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