Axius 5078761 Braxton Low Back Bucket Seat Cover – Set of 2 [Automotive] – $22.99

July 3, 2010 – Moss
158-200 SCREW, LICENSE LAM Yes 1 $2.25 $2.25
159-085 GASKET, LENS SEATI Yes 2 $6.85 $13.70
159-110 PAD, BACKUP LAMP Yes 4 $1.75 $7.00
164-060 SEAL, HEADLAMP Yes 1 $6.95 $6.95
164-840 PAD, TAIL LAMP LEN Yes 2 $2.70 $5.40
264-215 LUG NUT SPM Yes 4 $1.75 $7.00
280-105 GROMMET, FILLER NE Yes 1 $6.95 $6.95
280-540 SEAL, LICENSE PLAT Yes 1 $3.95 $3.95
614-008 MOUNT, EXHAUST Yes 1 $3.35 $3.35
============================================================================
Order Subtotal: $56.55
Discount: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $13.95
Total: $70.50

June 4, 2010 – Local paint shop
$250.00 to paint the car.

May 22, 2010 – Local stores
$200 for sanding supplies and food for sanding party members.

May 16, 2010 – Ebay
Item Title: MG MIDGET AUSTIN HEALEY SPRITE RADIO CONSOLE..w/radio
Subtotal: $144.79
Shipping & handling: $17.92
Total: $162.71

January 5, 2010 – Moss
071-514 KIT, BRAKE CALIPER Yes 2 $8.75 $17.50
180-285 O-RING, LOCKHEED B Yes 2 $1.75 $3.50
281-995 GLAZING RUBBER Yes 1 $21.95 $21.95
282-025 WINDSHIELD SEAL Yes 1 $14.50 $14.50
282-045 PAD, W/S PILLAR, R Yes 1 $7.75 $7.75
282-055 PAD, W/S PILLAR, L Yes 1 $7.75 $7.75
282-210 SEAL PILLAR POST Yes 2 $6.95 $13.90
============================================================================
Order Subtotal: $86.85
Discount: $0.00
Tax: $0.00
Shipping: $15.45
Total: $102.30

There have also been a few random in-person buys at the auto parts store.

The next things I order will be the replacement top, rubber tubing for door seals, carpet, seat covers. It’s been painted, but we did a crap job on the bodywork, so it looks a bit like lipstick on a pig. Or a goat, as the case may be. Here’s how it looked when it came back from the paint shop, but since it’s just a cell phone photo, you can’t see all the junky stuff:

The Goat, in blue

Brakes. The parts had finally come in from NAPA, so even though the steel performance brake hoses hadn’t arrived yet from Victoria British, Jimmy started in on the brakes. He soon discovered that the new seals were the wrong size for the calipers. We went back to NAPA, but they said the ones we’d bought were the only ones their database showed for the car. We came back and checked the Moss catalog, and Jimmy thought the calipers looked a little different, because the ones we have don’t use the banjo fitting shown in the catalog. We started wondering if someone in the last 40 years might have changed out the front brakes to bigger caliper, but hours of searching various forums got us nowhere (other than discovering that there seemed to be 2 other people asking the same question based on part numbers, and not finding answers). The housings are Lockheed, item numbers 3243223C and 3243331C. NAPA couldn’t find those parts, and neither could the guy at Moss when I called to see if they had any insight. I’ll be posting in a couple of forums to see if the Spridget community has any answers. Hopefully someone will know the answer, so we can finish the brakes! The cylinders and shoes are done for the back brakes.

Fuel Tank. The Kreem kit hadn’t come yet from carparts.com (due to get here on Jan 6, though it’s already in Atlanta, so I’m hoping it will come sooner), so the task assigned to me was to scrub the outside with a wire brush to get off the rust and caked on muck, then remove the fuel gauge sending unit. The screws were kind of rusted in and the indentations in the screws were filled with a cement-like gray substance (probably old dirt) that left no room for a screwdriver edge. After wire brushing for a chunk of time, I took a small screwdriver and used it like a pickaxe to gouge out the petrified gray stuff. I was able to remove three of the screws after this. The other three required a ratchet. Jimmy had some detergent left over from a previous project, so we figured we would do a pre-wash with it so the Kreem would be more effective. We poured the stuff in the tank and sloshed it around. I sloshed it around every 10 minutes or so for about 40 minutes, then we let it sit for a couple of hours. When Jimmy started to pour out the detergent, he saw there was a lot of caked muck coming up, so he decided to take the tank down to the car wash place to use their pressure washer. When he came back he showed me the size of the chunks that came out of the tank. It looked like samples of sedimentary rock.  Now you can actually see the whitish inside of the tank.

Windshield. Since the windshield would be arriving next week, I thought I’d take out the cracked windshield glass in preparation for the new piece. Harder than it sounds. My windshield frame looks nothing like the one shown in the Haynes manual, so the instructions about which screws to loosen where were totally useless. We took out all the visible screws, but everything else is rivets, so we decided to wait on it until the new glass arrives and the body is being painted. I am mildly concerned about it, though… if the frame is not the right frame for the car, the glass may not fit.

Window regulator. The passenger door window wasn’t working quite right, so Jimmy took out the window regulator. We need to figure out why it’s not moving, then make it move. “Hose it down with oil and beat it with a hammer until it submits,” says Jimmy.

Seat rails. We set up the sandblasting cabinet, and I’m working on cleaning up the metal bits, getting rid of rust and paint. When it is working, it’s very satisfying, but the tube keeps coming up out of the sand, making it annoying. The compressor is crazy loud, too. I’ve taken to wearing big headphones attached to my iPhone and singing super loud while I’m blasting. Jimmy gave me weird looks during Pantera Fans in Love.

Floor surfaces. I vacuumed out the trunk floor, the interior floor, up under the wheel wells, the battery tray, and any surfaces in the engine compartment where it looked like debris and/or spiderwebs had collected. Uncovered some rust in the floor beneath where the seats go, including one small hole on the rear passenger side.

Driver seat. We needed to rip out the seat bottom to be able to weld the metal. I pried off the clips, ripped off the diaphragm and jute layers, pulled out the foam insert, and yanked off both the original red covering and the black over-cover. It was more beat up than expected, so we’ll be talking to a local upholsterer this week to see how much it would be to rebuild the seat bottom. The metal supports are rusted through, so we’ll be welding it all back together. Fingers are crossed.

Convertible top. I’ve decided to buy a new top rather than trying to repair the vinyl tears on the current one. I took off the retaining strip in the back and undid the velcro wraps, but the attachment at the front of the convertible assembly is a little more sturdy than it looked at first, so I wound up leaving it on for now.

Gas tank. The gas tank has been removed in preparation for sealing it once the Kreem kit arrives. He said it looked and smelled like it had been storing root beer (there was old gas in it), but was otherwise fine.

Trunk floor. Since I went ahead and ordered the new trunk floor part, he pulled out the old one. He also got a new shop vac to start sucking out all the debris that’s settled into various nooks and crannies.

Windshield. He removed the windshield, and said he was blown away by a glimpse of the original paint that had never been covered up: a blue metal-flake that looked amazing. I can’t wait to see it, but since that kind of paint application is way expensive, we agree that we shouldn’t replicate it now, as we’ll still be using some filler on the fenders and such. Maybe next year if I get to the point of replacing the body parts with rust, I’ll go for the original paint style.

CarParts.com:
Gas tank sealant kit – 39.99
+ 0.00 shipping (I was going to get this from JC Whitney, but CarParts.com had the same price + free shipping, so even though their site is a little ad-spammy, I decided it was worth it to save nine bucks in postage.)

Victoria British:
Stainless steel brake hose set – 79.99 69.95 on sale
Trunk floor – bare – 249.94 199.95
4′ x 6′ roll of heat/sound insulation – 37.44 29.95
Switch, headlamp on/off – 37.44 29.95
Headlamp assembly – 99.94 79.95
Headlamp rim (2) – 37.44 29.95 ea (59.90)
Tail light upper lenses (2) – 9.94 7.95 ea (15.90)
Tail light lower lenses (2) – 9.94 7.95 ea (15.90)
Windshield – 174.94 139.95
Wiper blades 8″ (2) – 12.44 9.95 ea
Switch, turn signal/dimmer/horn (arm) – 118.69 94.95
Grille Assembly – 399.94 319.95
+ 0.00 shipping (because I spent more than $1000)

Moss Motors:
Vintage style 3-point seat belts (2) – 43.95 37.95 ea (75.90)
+ 15.45 shipping (this is why I ordered more stuff from Victoria British even though a couple of things were pricier there)

First mail-order buy total cost: $1197.59

Cost of Sprite to date
Purchase price – 1150.00
Brake supplies – 87.27
1st mail-order buy – 1197.59
Total: $2434.86

First Round:
Fix the brakes. I’ve already written about what the brakes need, and we’re just waiting on parts for now.

Seal the gas tank. The gas tank doesn’t have any problems that we know of, but Jim says it’s just a good idea to treat it so that I won’t run into any moisture problems later.

Replace the trunk floor. The trunk floor is rusted through in places. We’ve been vacillating over whether to buy a new fabricated part or to weld in some steel to reinforce it until a later time, when I’m not already spending a ton of money on car parts. The trunk floor part is over $200, plus tax and around $125-150 truck shipping charge. Buying a new floor would be better/easier, but it will just depend on how long it takes us to get to this point and how much cash I have on hand.

Body shaping. Ideally we’d just replace the fenders, which are rusted out in a jagged pattern right around the headlights and are a bit askew from previous accidents, but since fenders are almost $800 each (plus shipping), we’re going to go lo-fi for the time being.

Fix dashboard switches. We need to replace the turn signal/dimmer/horn switch (arm), the headlamp on/off switch (rocker button), and the heater control dial knob. I haven’t been able to find the heater knob in any of the parts catalogs, which is a bummer.

Second Round:
Pre-paint prep. The Sprite is currently covered in primer. We need to go through the sanding/filler sanding routine to get it to a paintable state. Jim’s friend Coy will do the spray job for us, but he’s known to be a perfectionist, so getting ready to the level he requires for painting might take a bit of time. We’ll also pull off all the lights, the windshield, fittings like door handles, etc. as part of the process of getting it ready for paint.

Paint. We’ll have Coy apply the paint. The original plan was to go with the classic British Racing Green, but the more I looked at pictures of other Sprites online, the more I felt like the green with a black top and interior felt too much like a middle-aged English guy. I may be middle-aged, but I’m no English guy. Considered red, white, and various other shades (from the original color charts of Austin-Healey), but have decided to go with a blue that is close to the original color. I found a picture of one that is the color in question, and it made me happy every time I looked at it, which I took as a sign. So, blue.

Windshield. The windshield is cracked, so I need a new one. Also, the vertical slider bar that attaches the rearview mirror is super rusty. While the body is being painted, we’ll put together the new windshield, and scrub the slider bar with steel wool.

Third Round:
Re-attach things. When the car comes back from the paint shop, we’ll attach the windshield and mirror bar, and put the lights and fixtures back on. One of the lights needs the whole headlamp assembly, while the other needs a retaining ring. The taillights need lenses.

Wiper blades. We’ll replace the wiper blades, even though the wipers are slower-moving than molasses and I don’t plan to drive in the rain for now. My Sprite is a ’69, but it has two windshield wiper blades instead of three, which makes me think the build date was actually in 1968. Since this affects which wiper size it has, I need to find out for sure.

Grille. I need to get a grille since it’s missing. Holding off on ordering one, as I’m hoping to find one for sale online or at a junkyard before we get to this point if at all possible. Jimmy has also said we could just weld one ourselves. I’ll probably just wind up ordering a new one, though.

Fourth Round:
Carpet. There’s no carpet in the car currently. I can order a pre-cut set for about five hundred bucks, or I can buy carpet by the yard and cut it and install it myself and save a couple hundred dollars. Leaning toward latter. Will need to make a pattern first, which I will try to do during round 1 so I can be getting carpet stuff cut during rounds 2 and 3. We’ll underline the carpet in the front with some heat/sound insulation.

Side panels. Similar to the carpet, I’m thinking of making my own instead of ordering replacements for the worn-looking panels. Truthfully, though, the current panels are fine, just worn, so if I don’t get around to dealing with them, I can always take them out and replace them later… it’s just a few screws to take them off.

Seats. The passenger seat bottom was strung up to be more supportive, so that one just needs to be polished up a bit. The driver’s seat bottom foam is toast, though, and needs replacing. We’re checking with the local upholsterer to see how much it would be for new foam/covering. It also has a broken mechanism, so it kind of reclines all the time. Jimmy plans to weld that back in place himself. We’ll need to scrub up the seat rails and re-install them after the carpet is in, then put the seats back in.

Seat belts. I’m ordering some seat belts, and we’ll have to put in fittings for them when they arrive as there are none currently. For safety’s sake, I’m getting 3-point seat belts, even though lap belts would be more correct for the period.

Fifth round (Eventually):
Bumpers. There are no bumpers. I could drive without them, and probably will for a while, since they are very expensive new, unless I can find some used ones I can polish up.

Top. There are two small tears in the vinyl top, and one of the snaps is broken off. I will buy a new top at some point, but won’t rush too much, since I can get a vinyl repair kit to tide me over.

Spare wheel. I need to buy a wheel for a spare tire. New ones are awfully shiny and spendy to sit in the trunk, so we’re going to try for a used one.

Tires. We’ll replace all the tires before I start driving in earnest, but will probably wait until everything else is almost done, since the current tires are a little thin, but not bald. At some point maybe I’ll get some hubcaps, but not any time soon, since that’d just be for cosmetic reasons.

Radio console. There’s no console for a radio, but since the console is several hundred bucks new, and a radio that fits it would be hard to come by, I’m not in a rush to address that. The retro radio they sell to fit (with an aux in for mp3 players) is ugly because though it’s a ’60s style faceplate and has appropriate chrome dials, the radio itself has a circa-1982 digital display. No thanks.

Sixth Round (Someday):
In the last category are the things are not necessary, but would be nice.

Dashboard. The dash material has two cracks in it. At some point I’d probably get a replacement. Also, the gauge chrome is tarnished/rusty in some places, so it would be a nice treat to get them restored to shiny status.

Seats. At some point I might want to replace the seats altogether to get nice quality original style seats.

Top. If I were to go anywhere with Weather, a hard top might be a nice perk.

Wheels. I’m a sucker for shiny wheels. My brother hates chrome, but I can’t help it: I kind of like wire wheels.

Mirrors. The original mirrors are all in decent shape… a little tarnish or rust here and there, but serviceable. At some point I might want to swap them out for racing mirrors (including those blind-spot racing mirrors that go on the dashboard).

Body. Get rid of all Bondo and replace body parts that need it.

So that’s the plan. Maybe I’ll be driving next year.

1. The brakes were not very responsive.
2. Even without being spruced up, with bad brakes, and driving only 50 yards or so, this car is FUN. It feels like a go-kart with doors and a trunk.

After the car was in the garage it was time to look at the brakes more carefully, since we knew we needed to bleed them at the very least. After taking the wheels off (which required help from Randy b/c one of the wheels was impossible to get off) and checking things out, it unfolded that the brakes basically needed to be replaced. Off we went to NAPA to order cylinders, pads and a caliper kit. About $85, and the parts should be in next week sometime.

While Jimmy was trying to deal with the brakes, I moved to the interior. I pulled out the mats and tossed them, then figured out how the driver’s seat came off. One of the bolts in the runners at the back of the seat was rusted into an immovable unit, so I sprayed it with some penetrating oil and moved on to the dash.

We knew we’d need to replace the arm that controls the turn signal/dimmer/horn, so I unscrewed the plastic cover around the base of the steering wheel, which Jimmy thought we’d be able to just wriggle out. The manual said we’d need to remove the dash, though, and I wasn’t able to wriggle to much effect. Since we’re going to replace the windshield and will need to remove the dash to replace a couple of switches, I left the plastic cover pieces unscrewed but in place so that we could do it all at once after parts arrive.

I was still sick, so at that point I gave up for the day and went inside to lie down, look at parts online, and drink broth. Jimmy eventually got all the brake parts off that had been stubborn, and now we’re just waiting for parts.