Phase I

Phase I: 

Phase I consists of Body work and paint, all new suspension, and an engine rebuild. I chose British Auto Works out of North Plains, OR to do the body work, paint and suspension rebuild. Bill at BAW was receptive to letting me do as much as I could myself on the project, acknowledging that it could require some additional coordinating who was doing what and when. But after a some planning and agreement on what Phase I was, it was time for him to pick up the body shell and suspension parts and start phase I.



Loaded and ready to go to be stripped

 There was a light rain falling on the Saturday morning they showed up to take her away. I couldn't help but think the weather was probably very similar to February 7th, 1966 when the Austin Healey was built the first time at the Abindon-on-Thames factory in England. The plan is to paint it the original Riviera Blue color. Easier said than done, as this color was not one the the most popular of the time making it difficult to identify a current paint code that closely matched the original factory color. After some trial and error. I think we have a pretty good match.
BAW will also be installing the new suspension parts so the car will be on all four wheels when I get her back.



Original Factory Specs

 I started the engine tear down and rebuild while the body work and paint were being done. I found a rebuildable 1275cc engine and bought it. There were three engine sizes available for the Sprites over the years. The 1275 is the largest the most durable. I almost forgot to mention the engine also came with a Weber DCOE 45 side draft carburetor. You are supposed to be saying "ooo" to yourself right now. These are very simple four cylinder engines. But do not let that fool you, The BMC A Series engine has a long legacy of racing. It is very receptive to modifications. They were used for many years as the stock engine in the Formula Junior series in Europe, powering the entry level class for Formula I drivers. Steve Mcqueen raced a Sprite at Sebring in 1962.

I plan on building a slightly modified engine. But first, I had to disassemble it and get it to the machine shop.

 

There were a few surprises when I took the engine apart. You always hope to find nothing really bad. These engines had a lot of different OEM parts and modifications available through the years. Most have been rebuilt many times and you are never sure what you have until you take them apart.The good surprises were Cooper S rods and an EN40B nitrated crankshaft.



EN40B crankshaft





 

Well, everything is apart and it's off to the machine shop. The next post will show the engine going back together.



Off to the machine shop