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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Favorite budget Midget mod ?

Whats your favorite budget midget mod ?

I have just done mine -

Fed up of driving along with a howling gale blowing around your neck from the 2" gap between the hood and the rear of the door glass ?

Add a couple of extra tenax fasterners instead of that useless velcro. If you do it in cold weather be sure to put a fan heater on inside the cab so the roof gets nice and warm and stretchy. Also dont open the roof with these guys done up otherwise they will rip out.

Total cost £1.98 and 15 minutes (OK so I already had the female bits)

Beat that ....
Ben Brown

made some saddle bags to hang over the transmission tunnel for extra storage - worked a treat for long trips!
oh and put some bubble wrap round the 3 strips of material at the rear of the hood to stop them flapping onto the hood.
Tarquin

cardboard box cut to size to fit between the passenger seat and crossmember for throwing phones, mars bars and redbull into without them floating about the car on their own accord.

free, about 10 mins max depending on how waterproof you decide to make it
PeterJMoore

My second favourite is purely on my own car, and wouldnt reccommend it to most.

but the rough paint in the engine bay and interior was all srapped off, rubbed down, and painted with aerosols. Cost me in total about a days work and 3 tins of hammerite stone chip grey.

Love the finish compared to the complete crap i started with
PeterJMoore

A small parcel shelf on the drivers side to match the passenger side one. All from free off-cuts of ply, vinyl and a bit of pipe insulation to make a "crash rail" front edge. Useful within-reach storage for CDs and ear plugs!



Guy Oneandahalf Sprites

Tarquin's 'saddle bags' are superb.... Something that could be marketed and not just for Spridgets...

Mark.
M T Boldry

11/16 arb; transforms the car's stability and handling for little outlay and 20 mins to fit. I nearly wept with joy with the improvement the first time I drove BRB.

(BTW - did the b-post hood fasteners some 25 or so years back - also highly recommended; the velcro's a joke!)

A
Anthony Cutler

In the seventies my first Midget came with a simple ABS moulded centre consul - bit like an MGB but no lids - just a storage space ahead and behind the gear stick.
Very useful for bits and pieces (this was before the fitted ashtrays !) - not seen one in years - are they still about ?

R.
richard boobier

I'm with Anthony on the ARB, installed a 3/4" & it totally transformed the car!

Richard, yes they're still available, got mine from Moss (I think):


Dave Rhine ('78 1500)

Guy,
How did you attach the shelf and how difficult is it to get it out of the way for those times you need to reach behind the dash?
David "love my $25 used 13" steering wheel" Lieb
David Lieb

I thought it was about DIY modifications, rather than manufactured ones. But I agree about the ARB as a good cost-effective upgrade. I bought a thicker one for my 1500, and re-used the 1500 ARB on the 1275. The standard 1500 one is a good upgrade thickness for a 1275 replacement. Two upgrades for the price of one!

David, my shelf arrangement is only a half width, although the "crash rail" extends across the full width, just for neatness. It doesn't obstruct the limited behind dash access, but it is only fastened with a couple of screws down through the top of the footwell, and with a small L-shaped bracket into the footwell outer side. Here's another photo which shows the simple construction.


Guy Oneandahalf Sprites

Here's the thing installled


Guy Oneandahalf Sprites

now that is the difination of closterpobic

Id say moving the chrome window washer jets to the bonnet and off the windshield bulkhead...no more wet knees... and a cleaner more stylish look

Prop

No Prop,
This is claustrophobic!




Guy Oneandahalf Sprites

agree with uncle guy! ARB does not equal budget mod!
Tarquin

Guy is that an illegal immigrant wanting to audition on X Factor (get the sympathy entry!). LOL
Bob Turbo Midget England

I also put the tenax fasteners in the velcro area as did Ben, much nicer. My hood was a bit loose in warm weather, enough to drum on the bows at speed. A length of foam tube insulation for a water pipe slipped over the bow tightened it up and stopped the noise for a couple of bucks.
Bill Young

At top right of photo is the map reading light I fitted, an adapted B number plate light switched on using the dash lights switch (bypassed this switch so that the panel lights are on with the sidelights as the only time I’ve ever used it to switch off the panel lights ended up costing me a lot money but that’s another story), I thought we’d use the light a lot but we’ve only used it a few times so far - plus I'd fit it sligtly lower if there was a next time

Bottom right of the photo you can see a round rubber plug this is for a hole drilled to gain access to the Type 9 fill level plug without having to raise the car (vinyl interior panel is off as I’m about to put a hole in it so that there is direct access to the rubber plug) not such a useful idea as I first thought but I did have a lot of trouble with the Type 9 gearbox installation so more of a peace of mind thing

Finally, in the middle is my best budget mod - the ally shelf with crash bar I got off eBay a real asset, it would have been even better if it hadn’t have been a copy of the usual cardboard shelf because that made it a little too narrow so it needs wood padding out the sides making the installation very fiddly

I drilled a few rows of holes in it with the idea that it might weaken it to bend in an accident otherwise it might severely damage a passenger’s legs as the shelf is very solid and as stated by the seller strong enough to hang a radio/cassette/CD from

As you (British) can see it carries essentials


Nigel Atkins


I've got 2 favourites:

1.
Hole in the driver's footwell to allow access to the clutch bleed nipple. cost = nothing. I had enough trouble bleeding the clutch even with this mod - I can imagine what a nightmare it would be without!!

2.
Mini MPI heater control. Cost = £7 off eBay.It's connected to the heater flap cable (heater flap fixed permanently open). This allows adjusting the heater temp without having to get out and pop the bonnet, and everything looks completely standard inside the car.


I've got a bag of tennax fasteners sat in the garage to add the extra ones to the hood some time - but I'm going to get the hardtop on next weekend, so that will be a job for next spring.
MarkH1

Mark. Wasn't there aready a hole in the drivers footwell for clutch bleeding? Mine has one.

graeme
graeme jackson

The easier mod for bleeding the clutch is to add a rear brake flexible hose as an extension to provide a remote bleeder where you can reach it. Only this costs money - about £10 - so maybe doesn't count!

Air bleed nipple (ex scrapyard peugeot) on the top hose to the heater. Makes cooling system filling easier. Just been using it whilst adding antifreeze for the winter.
Guy Oneandahalf Sprites

For clutch and brake bleeding, I use an old bike inner tube:

- cut the tube all the way through
- close up one end
- attach the other to the master cylinder with jubilee clip (you made sure the cyl was full didn't you)
- pump in a little air
- open nipples to bleed
- esp on the brakes, periodically check level in mcyl

Cost of this is zero, assuming you've had a son like mine who used to x-country mountain-bike race for GB... but don't ask me what that cost in bikes, fuel, etc

A
Anthony Cutler

Anthony, that is really cool. It works just like an ezi-bleed setup!



My lowest cost mod was to balance the twin carbs.

After struggling to understand the procedure, and having taken it to several specialists over the years, I finally, slowly understood it (and realized it wasn't near as complicated as I had thought it would be). Getting them balanced was a real treat. And rewarding too, as they haven't needed to be touched in many, many years of motoring since.



Norm

Norm Kerr


Removing front & rear bumpers..... win win situation IMO.

Its free.

It makes the car lighter therefore a performance increase.

It looks a lot better, IMO.

It makes the car much easier to wash/clean.

Whats not to like ??


For a low cost option: the 2 Tenax fasteners on the hood...done that on all my cars, I cant understand why the factory fitted velcro !

Ian
Ian Webb '73 GAN5

Someone should precis and publish this...(!)

A
Anthony Cutler

Two extra Tenex fasteners, did that about 20years ago it should have been that way from the factory, also fitted a bleed to the heater top hose as well.

Best performance budget mod, has got to be making my own RTL for the cost of 6 rose joints.

Best mod for comfort was fitting some pipe insulation to the seat frame bars.


Brad 1380

Really cheap one.
The small plastic plug (mine was blue and stops dirt getting in during transit) which comes with a clutch slave cylinder - used as a cover for the light switch in the boot. Stops the metal switch rubbing the paint off the boot lid...it's a perfect fit.

Jeremy
Jeremy 3

Thought I'd re-activate this thread - are there any more favorite modifications, for say under £50? Pr-manufactured, DIY, whatever!

And please no more on extra tenax fastners! :P
Josh 'Midget Mad' Spooner

I have another, a dead pedal for my left foot made from a length of spare angle iron. Made the car so much more comfortable to drive on longer trips.
B Young

A realy strong but very small magnet. Great for holding things to the dashboard/inside of doors etc. Like the address of the place you're going to, directions if not using sat nav. I also fix my old binnatone satnav using the cradle, to the dash (between my speedo and rev counter) with the magnet and it gives me a completely accurate speedo and doesn't seem to effect the working satnav (though I wouldn't risk it with my Tom Tom).

A warning though. Don't use a realy strong magnet to hold your toll road ticket to the dashboard as it wipes it clean. Which means that the machine can't read it and won't open the barrier so you have to manualy pay the full 26 Euros to the French toll booth operator while beeing glared at by a long queue of irrate french drivers.
Don't ask how I know.
Gary & Gaps

I also have a magnet, one that has wiped things as well, I use it to stick my phone on.

got a cubby instead of the old gearstick hole as the 5 speed is further back, so I didn't bother covering the old hole and just stuck a bit of plastic coated in an old black fleecey jumper under the gap. keeps sunglasses, and other bits of stuff. pennies fall out onto the road but pounds don't.

there'a a 4.99 bike speedo added as well, reading off the back wheel. won't read above 60 though :(

also (NMC but i'm very pleased with it) I made a crank case ventilation & oil catch tank out of a jam jar and some old dead BNC connectors for the land rover. has stopped some of the leaks and cost £0 :)
Rob Armstrong

>>>>>>>>>>>I made a crank case ventilation & oil catch tank out of a jam jar and some old dead BNC connectors for the land rover. has stopped some of the leaks and cost £0 :)<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Never even thought of using BNC connectors

I have an abundance of them, time to get funky :D
PeterJMoore

What is a BNC connector? (I'm dutch, so when it's free...)
Alex G Matla

Alex - google is your friend

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_connector
PeterJMoore

How do you use electrical connectors to make a breather for an engine?

Or, is it like what Schroeder said, when Lucy asked him how does he play all of those Beethoven pieces on a toy piano which the black keys are only painted on, "Practice"


Norm
Norm Kerr

they were previously used as bulkhead terminations (had the ends soldered over & a thread on one end) so I drilled out the dielectric - hey presto a tube with a nut on it. (both female ends)

drilled 2 holes in jamjar lid, seal with some instant gasket. used a female T piece as a T piece to take from one hole in lid to 2 in rocker cover and filler tube. 8mm fuel hose rammed onto it works fine, no need for clips on the non broken ones as the little BNC things hold it on well.

job done. drove to tesco and less leaks than previously...


Rob Armstrong

Rob, should have used a more expensive bike speedo

My Sigma BC500 cost a tenner and works over 113 mph

(OK already! It works at 113, haven't tried any higher yet)

I have a number plate lamp for map reading

A free electric washer pump and reservoir from a scrapyard Astra (Nah mate take it, we'd only throw it away) Did have to pay Maplin's for a "push to make release to break" switch for it though, which fits in the usual switch hole.

My first type 9 gearbox cost me a quid plus petrol (so not free...)

The engine only cost me £88 for a rebore and pistons, the engine itself was free

So in all most of my car was a budget mod

Bill 1

Scrounged a rubber pedal pad (from an MGB I think) from a scrapyard car. It fit my Midget's accelerator pedal exactly and stops my foot from slipping off the bare metal pedal. Looks like it was factory fitted.

Doesn't do much for the car's performance but it's practical.

Had an earlier 1500 (from a Spitfire) water pump/fan fitted. It has no clutch like the later engines and I've never had any overheating problems.
Clive Reddin

This thread was discussed between 16/10/2010 and 10/04/2011

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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