| Photo's of the rebuild posted very soon, check back |
| Notes for AH Sprite AN5L / 12020 Major rebuild with modifications expected completion fall 2009 (moving target) By Steven G Short Narrative: This car started out as a race car, well to be technically correct it was a street car that I purchased already converted to a race car. It was my second Bugeye and eventually became the car I campaigned in EMRA (Eastern Motor Racing Association) during the 70s and 80s. It was built and rebuilt during the late 1970's and early 1980's by World Auto Imports Ltd. (WAIL), a shop owned by Steven C. and Daniel C. The current rebuild and conversion back to street legal was completed by Neal V. in Eastport. The last time the car raced, around 1983 or 84, I was coming around turn 6 at Bridgehampton to find another car parked in the middle of the track. Picking the lesser of two evils I proceeded to drive off the track to the dirt on the side of the track. After bouncing in the sand, I heard "boing", the expensive notched racing three leaf spring on the right side had broke into two. Always on the lookout for an opportunity to upgrade, I purchased the rear coil-over conversion kit from WeRace. It was installed but with job and three little kids priorities shifted and it was never sorted out. The car sat, collecting dust, in my garage in Remsenburg NY for 20+ years, until 2007. Many years earlier, I had put the VIN Tag away for safe keeping and lost it. Then in 2007, while looking for my Nikon's user manual in the back of my night stand I found this little box. Opened the box and there it was, the VIN and a collection of race plaques. I had always thought about returning the car to the street, not as a restored car but as a historic looking race car. With the VIN this was now possible. I started with the idea of a quick rebuild doing the minimum to get the car street-able. Somewhere along the journey it went to a full blown rebuild, I forget where I lost control. If I really think about it somewhere along the way I just kept on taking parts off the car until there was nothing connected. At that point all that was left was to bring the car to "Lou's" to get it sand blasted. The rebuild process started with buying lots of parts from Ebay and various vendors. A few include: Jeff from Little British Car Company - purchased many the bulk of the part from him to get the discount on Moss Motor parts, Helpful with information and with problems. Dave from Winners Circle - Source of the fender flares used on the car. Victoria British, Good prices but quality can be a bit inconsistent Delcity - purchased the bulk of the wiring bits from them - very quick shipping Corbeau Seats from AutoToyStore.com. Ended up with the A4 seats, took out about 1/2 of the foam on the bottom to lower the seat and spread the shoulder restraining points for a bit more comfort. Autometer Gauges from I havethebestpriceperformance or Best Deal Performace – They sent wrong fuel gauge and has not responded to 5 emails to correct. Their lack of responsiveness is standout among the people I have dealt with, I will never use them again., AN5l/12020 is now almost complete, need to sort out the rear suspension, it bent very quickly after an initial 3 mile test drive. Turns out the WeRace suspension is known to be weak so it is being re-engineered. I am also still working on adding a center high rear brake light to the rollbar, and racing numbers. In case you are wondering, the wood veneer on the dash and door panels is quilted Sapele. I will update the web album through completion and then provide a bit more detail on all the work. |
| austinhealeysprites.com Some notes on the Bugeye owned by Steven G of Long Island, NY |
| A photo of the restoration as it nears the end |
