Another Rotary Sprite

[Bugeye RX]

Hey all, just thought I show off my own Bugeye Rotary.  A friend of mine suggested this motor and it's been match made in heaven.  I finally have it running and now working on the brakes.  Here is a video of the first start up.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnIabwn3ss4
I added a few photos as well.  That's for looking, Dave

[B-Fast B-Strong]

Great looking swap Dave,
Neat and clean , you did some clearly fine work there. Can't wait till you have it all painted and I hope you put up pictures in the gallery and some how it was done. What color are you painting it?
William

[Bugeye RX]

Thanks Bill. I have a ton of pictures depicting the entire build.  I'm still figuring out this site and the how's and how not.  I will post some pics soon.  I'm going to paint it french racing blue with a satin finish.  Maybe a strip.    Here a few more pics of the work in progress  Thanks again, Dave

[Moderator]

Good job... looks like you've mastered the photo "attachment" feature!

Two quick tips:

1) after you attach photo files, and before you hit the "post message" function, you can move the files around. You can also insert captions or blank space between them. Use the "preview" button to see the results. You can keep on editing and previewing again and again until you hit the "post message" button.

2) this forum section allows up to four photos per posting... but we also have a "project journal" section where you can upload up to 100 photos into one great big posting. Some people like to have more editorial control... they can publish their own detailed article there.  

We'll definitely want to add this car to the photo gallery when the time is right. We'll wait patiently for shiny paint... but in the meantime, I hope you'll keep posting photos here!


p.s. "French racing blue"? Go figure.

[Bugeye RX]

Thanks for the comments and tips Mod.  I can't take to much credit for attached photos as the
'attach photo" bar was a big factor in that success.

[Bugeye RX]

I the beginning, one day I stumble accross a 1959 Bugeye that was in pretty good shape as it was keep inside garage.  It was in the beginning stages of repair and he wanted $2500 bucks.  I tired to talk down but he wouldn't budge!  I finally got him to agree to an easy payment plan and would give him $200 a month for one year.   So $200 later it was on a trailer heading home!

Next a buddy of mine talked me into a rotary motor swap-out, as I was not to happy with the little motor.  I then removed the original motor, tranny, drive shaft, wiring, radiator, seats, gas tank, and a bunch of other things I would not need for the conversion and sold them on e-bay.  I did pretty well, netting about a grand and some change.  Then the hunt was on for a donor Mazda RX-7 motor!  After a year of looking I found a 1987 motor and tranny on a local e-bay type site for $350.
 
It was ON!  I spent the next year and 1/2 doing the body work,

and perfoming frame mods,

[B-Fast B-Strong]

Dave,
Your lucky to have a real Bugeye , I found it impossible to find a nice one without spending big bucks. I am just making one with some fiberglass parts I have sourced out of an MG Midget. Here is a little glimpse of my project, as you can see I like blue too, this is Ford Mustang Grabber Blue.

[Bugeye RX]

WOW William that look slick!  Yeah I was lucky but I didn'tt know that until I started to get familiar with model.  I probably should have not cut it up, but it was to late when I found out they were kinda rare.  Oh well, still gonna be fun to drive!

[B-Fast B-Strong]

Dave,
It's Your car and not the first one cut up. Enjoy !
William

[Bugeye RX]

The rotary motors are so simple to install and maintain, kinda like a two stroke engine.  Keep the air/fuel clean, clear it out before you go and keep it in the rev's. All I did was stripped down the 1987 motor I got, clean it up, check the compression and polish and paint it.  The core is small and easy to move around.

I removed the EFI and emission stuff and slapped an old school pair of side draft carbs and manifolds,

Removed e-dizzy and install 1985 pick-up type dizzy

Finally I made a header from a 1/2 thick plate and some 90* elbows.

It was ready for fit up.

[J Man]

Looks nice

[Bugeye RX]

Thanks J man, its been a long road but I'm very happy on how it is coming together!

[Bugeye RX]

Did some car tuning, sounds way better, amazing what a few turns of a screw can do!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dslxbgK5_7I

[HealeyRick]

Hey Dave,

Just noticed you were from Danielson.  When I was just married more than 34 years ago, I lived in Pomfret,  My new bride knew I loved Healeys and found my Bugeye for sale in a local newspaper,  I bought it for $350 and turned it into this after the expenditure of way too much money:

 

Still have the same Bugeye (and the same bride)

I've always been a big fan of rotary Spridgets,  Yours looks killer!

[Bugeye RX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJZ6j1udnXA

[rficalora]

Cool Dave -- it's come a long way.  Sounds good too.

[Bugeye RX]

Thanks Rob!

[Bugeye RX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s30WdSBE5GM

Got it to move and stop under it's own power!  

Still needs some carb tuning, timing, and front end tweeks but it's was a huge step!

[HealeyRick]

Like the sound of that motor!

[Bugeye RX]

http://www.youtube.com/v/2rC01NsBfJ4

Finally the first road test.  After some issues I finally got it to run good.  The thing scary fast and rev's to the moon.  I can now move on to paint knowing it runs like a it supposed to.  I like to thank John for all his help.  He was able to trouble shoot a car 1,000 miles away and walk me through a pretty frustrating time.  Bravo dude!

[B-Fast B-Strong]

Dave,
Great video , I felt like I went along for the ride with you, I found myself holding tight to my laptop ! A proud moment and it sounded like it was running right this time. Glad you got it all sorted out ! Hope you know someone with a paint booth so it can get the paint job it deserves and get Curtis to add it to the Gallery , find a nice scenic spot and take lots of great pictures , the old gal deserves her glamor shots. Fantastic job Dave !
William

[HealeyRick]

Nice, Dave. Congrats!

[Bugeye RX]

Thanks William and Rick.  And Yeah, it's running really good, the 150+ hp and 1300lbs is a menacing combination.  It pulls the front end up and spins the tires at any speed.  I finished fitting all the trim this weekend and should have paint by the end of September.  Until then I'm going to run it whenever I can and shake it down.  I'll have to do some suspension work and maybe some aero work as it's a little squirrely at highway speeds!  I'll also pick up some 3.7 gears and that should help the on/off light switch affect I get when I step on the gas!!!!!  Thanks again!  Dave.

[Bugeye RX]

Take a ride and see the fall foliage!

http://www.youtube.com/v/EnMxdTKt0WI?fs

[B-Fast B-Strong]

Hey Dave,
Glad some little kid didn't run out ! On the handling at highway speed problem it may be more the wear on the front end parts than an aerodynamic problem , I would rebuild the front end and get a good alignment first and then see how it handles. Looks like you have it running and stopping good , tightening the suspension should do a world of good and make it even more fun to drive. Worn parts can really make it wander all over the road and at high speeds can even be a little scary ! Any car should go straight as an arrow at 70 with hands off the wheel on a flat straight road, if not something is wrong with it. I would think you should not have aerodynamic problems till well over 100 mph.. I would not spend a dime on paint till I had the suspension problems sorted out, running off in the ditch isn't going to do that new paint much good !
Cheers William