In our continuing series of Bugeye heavy equipment photos, (Bugeye with Cat Deisel power was a popular one, as was Bugeye snowplow) here is the “Bugeye Loader,” or “Loader with Bugeye runabout.” As you can tell, I get a kick out of juxtaposing little Bugeyes with big machinery. I couldn’t help imagine that we might use the Lull to load Bugeyes onto passing trains for national distribution.
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Cowl gaskets have been difficult to source for Austin-Healey Sprites. They are usually way too firm and end up pushing the bonnet proud at the cowl, which can ruin the clean lines of your Bugeye. We have also found the most of these gaskets are too wide to fit down into the trough in the body of the car.
We got tired of modifying poorly fitting gaskets and instead came up with a new alternative… this cowl gasket is spongy and fills the factory trough under the back flange of the nose. It is not exactly correct in profile but very close, and unless you are going for concours gold, this is an excellent alternative to the gasket you will find out there, which we generally remove and throw away when it comes into our shop on cars, because it usually does more harm than good.
This new gasket fits the body channel properly and will support that back edge of your nose quite nicely. We are using it on all our restorations, including on beautiful silver and red Morgan as shown here. Depending on the state of your trough, some glue may be required to hold the gasket in place.
Important note-make sure to carefully lift your bonnet the first time after you install this gasket to insure the back of the bonnet will not hit the cowl. Most bonnets and hinges have been damaged at some point in their life so make sure to confirm the back of your bonnet will not hit the cowl once your older gasket is removed.
You have to love James Cody, who drove out of our Connecticut shop two winters ago in his little red Bugeye and didn’t stop until he landed at home in northern Florida. Click here to read about that Bugeye adventure here. He’s 6’4″ with size 13 feet, so he is one our larger Bugeye pilots. Now, Cody is hard at work customizing what he calls his “Redneck Bugeye.”
He raves about improved access from his custom redneck steering wheel (a less expensive option than our removable model?) and he has fit diamond plate floor mats, third brake light, and racing stripes unencumbered by any straight edge. “Lil Tab” is the car’s name, after his dog, and pink eyelashes and tongue complete the theme.
I love the free-spirited modifications that are authentic to Cody’s sense of humor, which is exactly the point of Bugeye Sprites. These were always cheap cars that told the stories of their owners and Cody’s personalized Sprite is what it’s all about. Perfect and accurate Bugeyes are great too. But sometimes people get a little too serious about their hobby cars, and thus Cody’s car somehow seems very refreshing.
This is John Rose putting the family bugeye through its paces and cleaning the tire treads in an autocross. It’s a father/son Bugeye that John and his dad Linwood have owned since John was 15 (he’s 25 in this video, shot by dad). You can learn more about the Roses and their cars at ValveChatter.us. This video was shot at the national Healey Club Enclave in 2008. You too can wind out your Bugeye at the national conclave coming this June, 2016 in Ohio, 2016HealeyReunion.com, where they will have an autocross as well as other events.
Way back in 1978 when I bought Gumby, I never imagined that in 2016 I’d be sitting at my BugiMac in a restored quonset hut surrounded by ten other Bugeyes writing a post for the Bugeyeguy website. Hard to believe it was really 38 years ago that I found Gumby in the New York Times Sunday auto classifieds, which was the 
bible at the time for classic cars in the New York metro area. Try to imagine a time when classic car classified browsing was exclusively organized around the Sunday morning newspaper, instead of our current reality of 24/7 smartphone browsing!
Anyway, Gumby still carried a number of remnants of that former 
time, particularly a horrifying wiring rats nest, which worked remarkably well for all these years and thankfully never ignited. It’s now in the dumpster, as it is time for this car’s facelift. We have welcomed Gumby into this new millenium by stripping it completely, as we prepare to make it into a cool new flagship. Gumby also got a new battery tray this week, and most of the rust repair is done, so the car will soon head to the paint shop.
Gumby will be custom, our first “B-type” Bugeye, with a color-matched head fairing and hard tonneau. (I have always lusted after D-types).
Our head fairing is done (see previous posts) and we have just finished the template for the D-type inspired fiberglass hard tonneau, which should be ready next week. The slideshow below showcases pictures of that template development and testing. You’ll see a sneak peak there of Gumby with his head fairing and tonneau installed, in prototype form. The hard tonneau, by the way, is designed to secure to the side curtain screws and fit in the boot if needed.
This car will also showcase other new developments and we’ll keep you posted here!
“Rose” is a wonderful Primrose Bugeye that was restored and never reassembled back in the 70s and has been sitting ever since. We just had it repainted and we’ve started building it up for a lucky new owner. Here is the car just back from the paint shop and ready for assembly.
It’s a fantastic solid car, with amazing original floors. It’s a completely stock Bugeye with drum brakes and a 948 engine. We will be assembling this car during the coming weeks and give a call if you are interested in having us build it out to your specifications!
