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 Post subject: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 12:18 pm 
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Always Moore!
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Am I nuts to add another vehicle to the fleet? Its a 64; wire wheels, chrome bumpers - the good stuff.

Aside from looking for rust on the typical areas (floors, wheel wells, rockers, trunk lid, hood, door jambs, etc), condition of the top, listening to the engine, checking the condition of the spokes, and driving the car, is there anything else to look for?

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 12:41 pm 
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Andrew, It all depends on what level car you are considereing, a pristine restored car or a restorable hulk. I don't know Midgets well, but I did have a MKII Sprite (same as your MkI Midget) at one time and a few other British stuff.

Beyond what you listed, look for excess wear on the throttle shafts on the SU's. If it is a driver, give it a good test drive as many older British cars suffer from overheating. Check out the DPO's bad wiring, leaky wheel cylinders and the dual master cylinder, axle seals, wire wheel splines in the hub and the axle. http://www.mgexperience.net/article/good-and-bad-wire-wheel-hubs.htmlMake sure the center hub of the wheels is not resting against the brake drums. There is a lot of other stuff. You might want to check out:


http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5? ... ubject=110
http://www2.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5? ... subject=97
http://www.mgexperience.net/phorum/list.php?3

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Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 12:52 pm 
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Just a tip, don't read the Jokes thread and then look at the title of this thread. You will get an entirely different idea of what's going on in here. :P

And no, I don't have anything constructive to add.

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 2:26 pm 
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Carguy I am glad I was not the only one!!!!!!

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 2:45 pm 
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This topic was the subject of a small political uproar here in the USA in the past week. Your post should be, "Considering a little people."

No, I don't have more than that to offer either. Except that my fraternity brother had a 69 Sprite, and anyone who worked on the thing (and it always needed work) needed to either be a "little people" or have very flexible hamstring muscles. Cause you bend over a lot, a long way down, for extended periods of time.

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 2:59 pm 
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There's some ideas in this thread that could certainly be tossed around.


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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 3:28 pm 
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A '64 is good '67 is better. This is a great simple little car that has reliability problems that can be fixed with a little money and help from the folks at MGExperience. Please do it and then swap the carbs for EFI so I can happily follow in your foot steps.


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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 3:54 pm 
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Not to totally hijack the thread, but in the pantheon of 1960's / early 1970's 2 seat front engined sports cars, how would the MG Midget compare to the others for a bunch of cheap fun for a second childhood on a budget?

Spit, TR6, GT6, MGB, Fiat 124, Fiat 500 (if one can be found that isn't a heap of iron oxide), Opel GT, Datsun 240Z, Alfa Romeo Spider, VW Karmann Ghia convertible, etc?

I guess I'm using this exercise to 1) target a toy that I might buy somewhere down the road, and 2) put the Sprite/Midget "spridget" stuff into proper prospective?

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Perhaps the common denominator in all of the above for it is that I'd be tempted to do a modern drive train transplant into them? Which I wouldn't do on, say, a Porsche of the era.

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 4:11 pm 
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does it start, steer and stop?

do the doors open and close o.k.?

does it come with the hood frame (soft top )?

does it have the quarter eliptical rear springs?

you will probably need a new fuse box, Joe Lucas prince of darkness etc.

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 4:25 pm 
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What to check on a 64 Midget, rust is the obvious one, previous owners wiring "fixes", worn splines for the wire wheels and hubs, check the part number on the axle half shafts (the later type BTA part number series are of a better alloy) as the early type are more prone to failure, master cylinders can be pricey as its a tandem (both clutch and brake in one), worn king pins, king pin to a-arm wear, noisy gearbox etc.

All parts are easily obtained for the car, and there are many go faster bits available, engine upgrades to the 1275 engines are bolt in things, finding a Datsun gearbox allows for a 5 speed. All in all a neat little car, though they lack in character compared to the Mk1 Sprites.

But, I've just traded a friend some left over 1098 A-series bits for a 66 Sprite body tub which i'm planning on dropping a Toyota 4AG into, along with a Sebring Sprite body conversion.


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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 4:59 pm 
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BTW, I assume we are talking about a MG Midget, not a King Midget?

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2010071 ... /100719968

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 6:05 pm 
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King Midget never had wire wheels.

As a kid, I used to see them in the back of the Popular Sciene/Mechanics magazines. I had thought about building a King Midget replica. Shouldn't be too hard after building a Locost. Use a garden tractor for a donor. Add a small amount of steel tubing a few sheets of steel sheet and some small trailer tires. Shouldn't take more than a month or two to build. And it could be licensed as a real car, not just one of those neighborhood vehicles.

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“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766


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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 7:43 pm 
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I've had enough of wire wheels to last a lifetime, otherwise it sounds like a great car. I would expect just about everything to be wrong with it, but as long as it runs, everything can be fixed.

My Locost donor is a 1972 MGB, and just about everything was wrong with it, too. But it ran, and it'll run in the Locost until I can get around to replacing everything. I did replace the wheel bearings and rebuilt the front hubs--always a good idea. I also rebuilt the carbs, but if the Midget engine is running, that's not something to worry about now.


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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 18, 2012, 11:13 pm 
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Are you considering this one?


You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

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 Post subject: Re: Considering a Midget
PostPosted: December 19, 2012, 9:08 am 
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Hit up the guys at autox.team.net/spridgets They're the most knowledgeable about these cars. All the expensive items have already been covered.

You can turn a problem child into a reliable daily driver with just a couple of changes.
strip out the generator and voltage regulator and replace with a GM 1 or 3 wire alternator. 3 wire used to be the easier swap

rebuild the SU's with new throttle shafts and bushings OR swap on a Weber 32/36 OR a pair of Harley CV's

Replace the points with a Pertronix electronic ignition

one of my more fun projects was turning this
Image

into this
Image

and finally into this. with a glass Bugeye bonnet, AH wheels, lowered suspension, and a close ratio ribcase.
Image

A street legal go cart is a blast.

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