BugEyeGuys

Making Ice Cream (When the world gives you lemons…)

July 24, 2026 by bugeyeguy

It’s time for my quarterly Sprite fuel gauge post.

Running out of gas happens to the best of us.

There I was, on another glorious test drive living the dream… when sputter, sputter, hmmm, gas gauge says full, and then, like Dustin Hoffman on his way to rescue Elaine, I was out.

I had become a dead Bug on the side of the road.

*The discarded Ice cream machine that became my temporary throne, (King of broken Bugeyeville)*

The gas gauges on these cars always need to be taken with a grain of salt. I took off the fuel cap, shook the rear end of the car, and no liquid was to be heard. I had once again run out of gas.

Once I rolled clear of the road and into a condo parking lot, I called Nick to bring fuel for the rescue and happened upon a discarded ice cream maker, upon which I sat in the shade while waited, pondering life in cars for whom “distance to empty data” wasn’t even remotely a thought when their dashboards were conceived. Modern cars sometimes make our old cars look really old-fashioned.

I speculate in the video above that the sender was in the empty position but the rheostat that speaks to the gauge was a bit wonky and shorted to open, which tells the needle to read full even though there is not an ounce to be found. We thoroughly test each fuel sender we install for functionality, but for whatever reason this one was throwing out a false reading near empty.

We removed the sender, installed a new one and resealed the screws, and everything works great again.

Moral of the story… always go for the audible if you think your gas gauge is lying (and fill-up and use your trip odometer to verify your range)! A 7.2 gallon Spridget fuel tank will take you at least 150 miles and you can fill up again and calculate your exact mileage and range from there!

Nick’s Tech Tips: Adding fuel to the fire

July 24, 2026 by bugeyeguy

Each and every day, we see things that come through our shop that just make us say “Yikes”. Today’s “yikes” moment comes to us from a car we recently brought in for a fuel system service. As you can see in the photos below, this fuel tank sender looks like it was recovered from a salvage dive on the Titanic. (The tank this sender was removed from looked as bad on the outside as it did on the inside).

The arm on this fuel sender isn’t supposed to stand up by itself… this is a bad sign.

It is unfortunate that such a critical system on this Bugeye was allowed to fall into this state of deterioration. (We drove the car onto the lift, by the way.) While this may be an extreme example, fuel tank maintenance is often something a lot of Frogeye owners overlook or neglect, because as long as the car is running, there’s no reason to worry, right?

*Bugeye fuel tanks were originally painted black. This one has seen many better days.*

Well, as the photos in this post can attest, there are MANY reasons why routine fuel tank maintenance is important. In addition to rusting away into oblivion, a more common ailment that befalls our beloved Bugeyes is a leaky tank. So how does a fuel tank on a Spridget leak?

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Water Bug

July 24, 2026 by bugeyeguy

If you use your Spridget, it is going to get wet; it’s a matter of when (not if). And when it does, it helps to take some simple steps to make sure there is no diminishment of the car as a result of that wetness. In the video below, you’ll see how I put away my Bugeye after getting caught in a deluge.

If you’re a compulsive car washer, it’s also worth watching this video.

I’m reminded of a time when I went to look at an MGA that was for sale, and the owner said the car had zero rust and had never been in the rain. I opened the trunk and there was none.

No trunk floor, just a big hole.

They had washed the car hundreds of times through the years, and each time, water would pool in the trunk after running past the worn deck lid seal until it ultimately developed (rusted) its own drain hole, and continued to do so until the trunk floor was completely rotted away. With the best of intent, they had washed away the floor of their trunk! Because an MGA trunk is just about useless (since it’s mainly occupied by the spare tire), it’s not surprising that they never opened it to notice the problem!

Who woulda thought washing your car could be dangerous?

Superb 1960 Super Sprite for sale-deluxe!

July 17, 2026 by bugeyeguy

NEW driving video!

This is perhaps one of the best Bugeyes we have ever built and thus worthy of another post. The paint is stunning, with amazing silver highlights. The car has only gone about 110 miles since a ground up restoration. You get the best of everything at a very depreciated price!

This is Angus (AN5L 31994), a wonderful, fully restored Bugeye Sprite on which no expense was spared. We took a year to strip this car down to bare metal, weld-up any imperfections and then paint the car in a glowing pearlescent Lotus Elise blue color. This is one of the best of the best and thus worthy of our Super Sprite label.

We finished this car roughly 16 months ago. The American owner was living in Europe when we built the car and planned to spend time with it on regular USA visits, but life changes and circumstances have changed for him so he won’t be commuting to the US anymore and thus asked us to find the car a new home. He drove it very little after completion so the restoration is still quite fresh and like new. The car has primarily lived in a climate controlled classic car storage club since its completion.

In the video above, you can see a tour of multiple super Sprites at our shop, and this car at the 5:30 mark. It’s a stunner.

Power comes from a newly rebuilt 1380 CC uprated engine mated to a Ford five-speed fully synchronized transmission. The car is a blast to drive.

We built the car with a flip forward nose and Custom driving lights for a Sebring effect on the front. The car also is equipped with a chopped windshield for a more aggressive look. If you need or prefer more weather gear, we could fit a conventional windshield instead. You’d need the taller stock windshield (which we have) if you wanted to fit a top… the prior owner had no plan to ever take the car out into wet weather so only a tonneau was fit-no top currently but we could add a blue one. We fit a custom matching navy tonneau that looks great on the car.

There are no wiper arms, but we can make all of that work for the new owner if desired.

This is truly a breathtaking Sprite that will turn heads anywhere! Click “read more” below for the full suite of photos, including some taken during the build process!

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I like the way she sits

July 17, 2026 by bugeyeguy

How does she sit?

*Righty’s stance is just how we like it!*

I had a client once say to me, “I like the way she sits.” He was referring to the nicely balanced stance on my MGA. He liked the way the tires fit the wheel arches. He felt like the proportions of the gaps between the car and the ground just looked right. A car looks right when everything is in balance.

This brings us to Bugeye spring height. It is almost never right, unless you tune it. Watch the video above and you’ll see how we sweat this detail and make our cars sit just right.

Trying to make your Bugeye sit right? Click the links below to order some of the parts you may need to get your ride height dialed in, or click here for our full catalog!

*Front suspension lowering kit (All Bugeyes/Spridgets)*

*Pair of Bugeye/quarter elliptic rear spring lowering shims (5 degree and 6 degree available)*

*Rear 1/4 Elliptical Leaf Spring Kit (complete with U-bolts & Shims)*

How to keep your rear end from making funny Noises

July 17, 2026 by bugeyeguy

Radius arms are a never-ending challenge in the world of quarter-elliptical Sprite Mark I and II’s. The bushings fail and fail regularly, and if you think that rigid steel heim joint radius arms are a better idea, you’ll find that they diminish ride quality and shake your teeth more than you’d probably like. Heim joints are really only appropriate for track cars, or people under 30.

Click! This is a noise you don’t want coming from your radius arms.

As a result, we are constantly working on the rubber bushings on these things to try and attain at least the slightest bit of comfort for the driver. And we change these bushings often, because the rubbers tear all the time, and if you lower the car with them too tight after you’ve installed new ones, they’ll tear all over again.

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