Around the shop

Tonneaus matter

December 1, 2023 by bugeyeguy

This piece of flat fabric may be the most important part of any Bugeye. It protects your cockpit in multiple ways. A tonneau also allows a bold color statement as you can see on “Flip,” our 401st Bugeye sold! The Cream tan Tonneau that we ultimately fit on the car looks delicious and coordinates nicely with the white wall tires.

On Bart, our 402nd Bugeye sold, we custom fit a tonneau around his roll bar and also modified the pouch for his smaller than stock steering wheel. You can see the before picture here, and then after, the pocket fits the wheel nicely. Check out the video to see more about this particular custom tonneau.

Before fitment of a custom steering wheel pouch, the stock piece looked baggy.

After a custom fitting, Bart’s tonneau is looking sharp!

This cover is essential for every Bugeye and we sell lots of options. Click the photos below to browse and choose your own, as well as the accessories needed to install your own tonneau! You can also click here for our complete parts catalog.

Bugeye Sprite long tonneau, premium vinyl

Bugeye Sprite Long tonneau, economy vinyl

Top and tonneau rear deck fitting template (Bugeye only)

License to Bugeye

December 1, 2023 by bugeyeguy

There were no factory license plate holes on Bugeye Sprites, so people mess them up all the time. Thus, you should check the positioning of your license plate holes while restoring (and before painting) your car. We sell a template to help you determine what goes where, which you can purchase by clicking here.

Here, Kenny is using our license plate and emblem template to line up where to drill the holes needed to mount everything on the rear of this Bugeye. Click the photo to order your own template and take the guesswork out of hole placement!

But if it’s too late and the car is already painted, here’s a video on how we addressed off-center holes on our 400th Bugeye Lulu and how we fixed this issue for the new owner. If you want our license plate mounting kit, you can buy that by clicking here.

Sweat the details

November 17, 2023 by bugeyeguy

Colors matter and we take them very seriously. We are delighted to have so many choices in our building to satisfy many color palettes.

We sold our leaf green Bugeye “Flip” today and the new owner wanted a new tonneau. Here are the color options we shared with them while we worked to choose the best-looking option. With whitewall tires in Florida (where the car is headed), a light color was most attractive, and in the end, the client chose tan. They’re all good choices, and our job is to make sure that each client gets the rolling sculpture that they most adore delivered to their driveway.

If you want your own color makeover courtesy of a new tonneau, take a look at our parts catalog here, where you will find quite a few options! If there is a specific color you’re wanting but don’t see it – don’t hesitate to give us a call!

Spring into action and inspect your Bugeye’s suspension today!

November 17, 2023 by bugeyeguy

Bugeye Sprite rear suspensions are often full of creaks, rattles, and groans that we work diligently to correct in every car that comes into our shop. One common rear suspension ailment is what we refer to as “bachelor lean”, which refers to a Bugeye that has been driven primarily without any passengers, putting stress on only the side of the car where the driver sits and creating a visual list in that direction. While 60-plus years of driving wore the rear leaf springs out on both sides of the Bugeye we had in the shop this week, the driver’s side leaf spring suffered significantly more stress, so much so that it actually broke one of the leaves from its moorings, as the picture below illustrates.

This is far from the worst set of leaf springs we have ever encountered; if you take a look at the picture below, you’ll see a set of springs we removed from a Bugeye receiving a suspension overhaul that had so much rust packed into them that they created a bird-like pattern on the floor upon their removal. This is an unfortunate reality for many sets of original Bugeye leaf springs.

It’s worth checking your leaf springs in your Bugeye and inspect them for signs of these types of failures. There are symptoms of worn springs you can feel while driving also, such as a tendency for the rear axle to bottom out on the bump stops over bumps. If you find yourself in need of new rear leaf springs, or any other rear suspension part, we have a solution!

Our rear leaf spring kits will put the “spring” back in your Bugeye’s step! Click the photo above to order a kit today!

Our rear leaf spring kits utilize heavy-duty quarter-elliptical leaf springs which will reinvigorate any Bugeye’s rear suspension! The heavy-duty rear springs require the use of lowering shims to reset the rear end to its correct rear ride height, which are included with the kit. Either five-degree or six-degree shims can be used (This involves some trial and error, so it may be wise to order both sizes of shim; you can buy the shims separately here) to provide the ideal ride height for your taste!

There are several components in a Bugeye’s rear suspension that will wear out and create the clunks, rattles, and creaks that will drive you insane (and ultimately shorten the life of the components around it!). We offer a full line of Bugeye suspension components; click the photos below for more information or click here for our full catalog!

Rear Shock Link – “Dog Bone” (Sold Individually)

Rear Axle Check Strap (Sold Individually)

Rear Suspension Rubber Bump Stop (Sold Individually)

A beautifully Rescued Bugeye! Land speed record candidate?

November 4, 2023 by bugeyeguy

Here’s a special car that we’ have’ve been working on for a long time here at The Bugeyeguys World Headquarters. The car has moved to its home in Indiana, but I have reposted this because it’s such a cool build, and fun to revisit!

This car started as a Bring a Trailer auction vehicle that needed just about everything repaired, tightened-up and/or replaced. We bought it on behalf of a client who wanted us to create a Bugeye capable of competing for a land speed record attempt in the under one liter class, which was a tall order for a car with so many worn components.

[Read more…]

400 Bugeyes Strong!

October 20, 2023 by bugeyeguy

Thank you and Congratulations Ed and Christine in Florida for making Little Lulu our 400th Bugeye sold! Thank you Bugeyeguys everywhere!

It seems just yesterday that we sold our 100th Bugeye Sprite, so 400 still feels to me to be a dream. I never thought this business would serve so many people, and that the Bugeye Sprite could endure so many iterations. We’ve sold cars to people all over the USA and Canada, as well as one to Brazil and several to Europe. The people and needs have been diverse, ranging from experienced collectors to complete novices… lots of surprise gifts for spouses… lots of bucket list purchases… and a particularly large number of people who never bought something nice for themselves, and came to us to indulge and celebrate a lifetime of hard work.

We have put a lot of smiles on the road. We have started a lot of conversations at gas stations. We have made the roadways of the world a little bit happier. We have met a wonderful array of people and built a big family who love this car and everything for which it stands.

Thank you to the great people who have supported us to build our Bugeye nation!!! Above is our “400 Strong” T shirt, featuring “Little Lulu,” (below)” that Bugeye that got us to this magic number. Click here to order!

Now that we’ve arrived at this amazing milestone, we have a minute to reflect on a few of our favorites!

Above is a great story… Phillip and Kathleen paused their Bugeye aspirations to have a their daughter Jenny… they went into labor on their way to see a used Bugeye for sale and went to the maternity ward instead! 50 years later, Jenny surprised them with this Yellow Frogeye above.

Below is another favorite, a dead Bugeye rotted and done, found in the woods and rescued, repainted, and put into the lobby of a condo in New Jersey as a display for selfies! The car would never have been restored, too far gone, but made a perfect sculpture!

This is what the display car looked like when it arrived… yikes! Time to work our magic!

Layout for the condo where “Luv Me” would live-(Square Sprite shown only for this sketch)

Jesse is another favorite, leaving this week for Glenn’s garage in California. This one is a particular favorite because it drives like a dream. We started with an awesome high-end Bugeye and added about 100 hours of maintenance and upgrades to make it even more superb. This car speaks volumes about what we do best… it drives nothing like when we got it… now, this is one capable machine. If you hadn’t driven more than 400 Bugeyes, you might not realize how much further a Bugeye can go, how much nicer, how much tighter, more responsive, powerful, etc. These are not hard cars to fix. But it takes experience to make them great. I am honored we have been given a change to build that experience. After 400 examples, we are still learning and still improving!!!

These three are some that stand out on our journey and we look forward to serving you as we build the next 400!