Bugeye Restoration

Bugeye Driving lights

April 4, 2025 by bugeyeguy

If you’re anything like us, you’re always looking for fun ways to dress up your Bugeye and make it stand out from others like it. In the video below, we discuss a popular add-on for Bugeye owners who wish to add a little bit of vintage racing flair to their bonnet: Sebring-style driving lights.

These driving lights are designed to mount to your Bugeye’s bonnet in the recesses outboard of the grill. You need to remove the front bumper if you haven’t already, the lights look best without a bumper. (We can also help you mount them on the bumper if you want to keep your bumper instead.)

You can wire these up in a number of different ways to suit your taste: on Gumby, pictured here, they are wired in tandem with the high beam headlight wiring to create a neat quad-headlight sort of look. Another popular way to wire them is to wire them to their own separate switch. We do this, as well, and hide the switch under the dash, so it doesn’t require butchering your dash to add one. Your choice!

*Our reproduction Sebring-style driving lights are an excellent accessory to add to your Bugeye! Click the photo above to order!*

Click on the photo above to order a set of Sebring-style driving lights today! You can also click here for our complete catalog!

Tach drive jive

March 28, 2025 by bugeyeguy

Today would be a good day to take apart your tach drive gearbox and lube it. If they get dry and seize, here is a video of what can happen…

In order to prevent your generator from taking flight thanks to this newly-created propeller, simply remove the gearbox from the back of the generator, remove the screws to open the case, and pack it with grease, then reassemble.

*A strong smear of red wheel bearing grease and your gearbox is lubricated for many miles to come!*

If you are too late and find yourself with an inoperable tachometer, we have tach cables and gearboxes for sale in our catalog, as well as an upgraded electronic tachometer to eliminate the mechanical equation! Click the photos below for more information or click here for our complete catalog!

*Tachometer drive gearbox (all Bugeyes/Spridgets with mechanical tachometers)*

*Tachometer cable (all Bugeyes/Spridgets with mechanical tachometers)*

*Electronic tachometer (Bugeye through ’67)*

Turn-key, ultimate five-speed 1959 Bugeye for sale!

March 28, 2025 by bugeyeguy

We’ve sold more than 400 Bugeyes, and we know how to upgrade the cars without spoiling the DNA. This car is no exception, and if you are looking for the ultimate interpretation of a Bugeye, give this one serious look. This Bugeye showcases what we have learned from the 400 cars that came before it… here is a sorted and exceptional, show-winning, modified Bugeye that you can drive anywhere!

We set out to create the ultimate Bugeye with this one, and “Jesse” is the result. Everything on this car is the best of the best. We took Jesse’s 1275 and equipped it with a supercharger and new carb, exhaust header, rear disk brakes, new chrome wire wheels, new custom leather seats and dashboard, new powder coated windshield frame and new glass, uprated Dunlop tires, and more! Every component of this car was upgraded and improved. If you are looking for the most hassle-free and upgraded Bugeye in the fleet, Jesse is the car for you!

If you grew-up with a less than perfect Bugeye (when you had no money but lots of time) and now you have (no time and) a few extra dollars to invest in the ultimate nostalgia machine, call us to discuss this one-of-a kind dream machine!

We’ve been on a mission to make Jesse an immaculate show-stopping machine!

Jesse is painted Nevada Beige, a great original color seldom seen on Bugeyes, which we have coupled with brand new custom red leather seats with color-matched piping, a matching leather-clad dashboard and dash bar with the same piping, and even a custom red leather key chain. We also fitted a custom red hardura floor covering with contrasting stitching and a custom beige wool heel pad. This makes for a spectacular car that turns heads everywhere it goes. The paint shines beautifully.

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Getting ahead

March 14, 2025 by bugeyeguy

We’ve built a lot of cross-country cars that have departed our shop for a long voyage, and one of the biggest liabilities we face is the possibility of a head gasket failure. See the gasket below… this one came in on a poorly running Bugeye but looks like many we have seen before.

We’ve learned from experience that the union between cylinders two and three is a very thin strip of gasket material. I don’t care who told you that the fat head gasket they give you was superior, but if it’s only one layer, you really need to upgrading to a tri level gasket to make your head gasket bulletproof. For an extra 80 or so bucks, it buys a lot of peace of mind. Get one, other than a small up front investment, there is no downside. You’ll sleep better at night.

We’re building a tri metal gasket into every 1275 engine we build… It may be overkill, but it reduces stress. We have seen a lot of head gasket failures. We’ve never had a tri-layer gasket fail, so this is an important reliability upgrade to keep your car on the road! Click on the photo below to learn more and to order one today!

*Multi-layer steel (MLS) heavy-duty head gasket (1275 engines)*

Unbearable

March 6, 2025 by bugeyeguy

Watch the video below to see a wheel that rolls but also wobbles in and out. Wheels should not do this. These wheel bearings are calling out for help!

We see a lot of this. And it needs to be made right, so the car tracks and drives precisely, without slop in the front end and vibration at speed. Tapered wheel bearings are your best bet for this repair. They are adjustable and durable. The original caged ball bearing design is nearly guaranteed to be worn after 65 plus years. Do yourself a favor and upgrade to tapered bearings. They’re safer, and will help you get the most from the nimble handling of your Sprite!

Our tapered wheel bearing set replaces your old, worn, inferior caged ball bearings in your front hubs with modern, more reliable tapered roller bearings. These are a must for any Bugeye or Spridget! Click the photo above to order a set today!

We sell those in our catalog, you can find them by clicking the photo above, or click here for our full parts catalog!

Oily knee

February 28, 2025 by bugeyeguy

If you’ve been around British cars long enough, you’ve had oil leak leak on your right knee while you’re driving. A spotted right knee is a badge of honor.

*A leaky oil pressure gauge can ruin any pair of pants in a hurry.*

Our cars have mechanical oil pressure gauges, and that means that oil is pumped from the engine directly to your dashboard, and hence, this line is one possibility for pants leaks. Lots of the Sprites we see in our shop have plumbing issues with their oil pressure gauge lines. It all needs to be right or your engine can bleed out.

*This junction is crucial to a proper oil pressure reading, and to keeping your leg stain-free.*

Start with the proper fitting in the block. Then attach the correct right angle union to receive a rubber high pressure line. This rubber piece is vital so you have a shock absorber in the line. Then comes the correct copper line that goes to the gauge. Make sure to run the copper line through the correct hole in the firewall as shown. Best to have it in a rubber grommet so it can’t chafe on the metal firewall (they can chafe and leak here too!). The correct grommet places the line in a shared hole with the temperature probe tube.

*Both the oil pressure and water temperature lines are fed through this grommet (circled).*

*The location of the grommet in relation to the battery and other firewall appointments.*

That line connects to the oil pressure gauge, which brings us to the source of our leaks. That union has to be tight. A new line might look like it won’t go over the nipple on the back of the gauge but in reality you tighten the fitting nut to pull the two components together and they will seat perfectly (see video that shows the two parts after the nut has been tightened and then removed).

Get it right and your pants will thank you!

If you need any or all of the components mentioned in this post, click the photos below for more information, or click here for our full catalog!