Guest jaimesix Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Looks definitely like a Bug Eye Sprite. The MGB Midget ( red car ) has different door openings. The Bug Eye Sprite looks more in tune, dorrwise and also front wise. Flat 4 anf 6 engines are very strong and powerfull, I had a couple older Subarus and those are really great reliable cars. Subaru Leone, Subaru Brat ( etc ) were in the markets since the early 70s and indeed the Subaru Leone ( in 2, 4 door and wagon configurations ) were the first small 4X4 vehicles sold in the US ( previuosly only Jeeps and large trucks were made and sold in 4X4 configuration in the US ) The Subaru Brat p/u was a success, many were sold in the US. Well.....nough said about Subarus. This engine in this car must be a rocket, Supercharged boxer engine. I am inclined to believe it is a Subaru engine. Subaru flat engines were runing front engine rear wheel drive and front engine front wheel drive configurations as well as front engine all wheel drive systems since the 70s. The Porsche engine, an excellent powerplant, would be a difficult engine to use in a front engine rear wheel drive configuration. Also note this engine is water cooled, I can not see a Porsche fan anywhere. Jaime.____________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Prize goes to mike on the body, nice. YES! I am the greatest!!! Yea! Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 (edited) Ding dong, give that man a bananna! Here is the full verbal! Lets see, I believe Aaron was the first to mention Subi, and Mike the first one to call the bugeye sprite! Damn y'all are smart! Thanks for playing the game! 51 posts in a few hours! I love you guys. Am also happy to announce Jeff is hoping to join us next week. He's been following this thread and hopefully sharing hte fun with his 87 year old father! Bout time we get another New Englander! "Scott, Well they got it pretty quick it's Subaru. 71 subframe ff1, 79 1600 engine with 72 1300 heads shaved then plated and redrilled to match the coolent passages. roots supercharger fed with two 2in. SUs.*Pistons were made custom,*alcohol injected at full throtle**and a twindisc Ram clutch.*Mounted on*a ff1 transaxle with inboard disc brakes converted on,*(they had drums). Also added 5th gear from the later cars.*He used alpha romeo cailipers made of alum. *She is in street trim in pics, for racing you remove windshield lower susp. (adjustable) and put the slicks and strait pipes on. load it on the trailer and head to the hill climbs in NH. VT. We think it's got around 350hp and weighs in at 1200lbs. Body is a 58 austin healy sprite with a glass nose and the arss end cut off. My Dad always says there is a fine line between total performance and total destruction. * *In it's early days it had a 1300cc with just two 1 3/4in SUs and I raced it at pease air base and*got the*fasted tme of day. (one of the best days of my life) back in 1975. * Hope all you Rats enjoy. * THANK YOU again***** Peace,*** Jeff" Edited February 6, 2009 by fisch Quote Link to comment
ppeters914 Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 YES! I am the greatest!!! Yea! Quote Link to comment
tdaaj Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 (edited) Astin healy but still narrowing it down. Sprite maybe. Bugeye. '61? mike thats what i thinking granted i posted this before i realized it was already revealed Edited February 7, 2009 by tdaaj Quote Link to comment
angliagt Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Boy did I have it wrong! I'm embarressed to admit it. What a horrible thing to do to a car like that. - Doug Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Ted, I almost said .... with a different front end on it? Not.. very... pretty..... is it. Lovely in it's ugliness. This guy must be quite the thinker/designer. This is FWD too? Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Ted, I almost said .... with a different front end on it? Not.. very... pretty..... is it. Lovely in it's ugliness. This guy must be quite the thinker/designer. This is FWD too? Damn I hope so as far as its sitting. I don't think its too good looking in a classic sense but there is something to be said for cars following that mantra. The motor IMO is the best part by far, everything about it is like "wait, what?". Quote Link to comment
ggzilla Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Subaru engines came with side-port exhaust? In the photo it looks like the header pipes come out front and rear of the heads. Most interesting. Quote Link to comment
Icehouse Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thats so cool that he kept it and moded it so much though all the years, I like projects that just keep going. It's like different chapters in the cars life. Quote Link to comment
tdaaj Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Subaru engines came with side-port exhaust? In the photo it looks like the header pipes come out front and rear of the heads. Most interesting. i noticed that too, but i don't know enough about them to know. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Ya, I can't find and pics or much info for pre ea71 but from then on is all side port. I had assumed they were using front/rear port then switched but I'd really like to see it for myself. Quote Link to comment
kiznook Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1351744 Appearantly FF1s are rare...I guess my dad shouldn't have beat the shit out of his so bad, oh well lots of really good stories. Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Ah so its a AE61 then? 61/65 hp/tq, watch out now :-). Quote Link to comment
Guest jaimesix Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Boy did I have it wrong! I'm embarressed to admit it.What a horrible thing to do to a car like that. - Doug I agree. the Bug Eye Sprite is a cool and beautiful car. It has been defaced and the final product looks awful. What a loss. Looks like the builder had a lot of time to spare, but little taste. Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 I love how you constantly live by your signature Jaime....:rolleyes: Whatever. Quote Link to comment
Wharf Rat Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 What it IS is a sprite that he raced in the sixtys and sold, went through who knows how many hands until one day a guy pulled up in front of our subaru dealership in 1973 (one of the first ones in new england) and asked if we were interested in buying this old sprite he had on a trailer, he heard the owner used to sell british cars in the sixtys. When dad went out to look at it he saw a bugeye with a mk II nose, and leather belt hold downs on the hood. (same nose as the red sprite back a few posts) The same aircraft rivets holding them on that he had put there 12yrs before. It was just a shell with a bashed in rearend and his roll bar. still there too. He was racing a sprite at the time but wanted to build something to run in full mod class ..... sooooo many many months later. Peace Quote Link to comment
fisch Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 A subaru dealership owner in 73! Man Jeff, your dad just keeps getting cooler!!!! Quote Link to comment
Wharf Rat Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 The engine has the heads of a 1972 ff1 1300cc and 79 1600 block, the old heads had bigger intake valves and didn't share the exaust ports like the later engines. Much better breathing and lots of room to port and polish. Peace WRAT Quote Link to comment
72240z Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Are the intake pipes between su and plenum braised/soldered copper? Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Sure look like 2" copper plumbing pipe. I don't think you can solder copper to aluminum so ends were soldered and then bolted to the s/c. Quote Link to comment
fastdadd Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 it may be ugly but who cares....350 hp out of a 1.6 in a 1200 pound car..dont get much better than that and those old subi motors sound pretty cool running open pipes Quote Link to comment
makya Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 That's an amazing amount of power for such a little engine. Quote Link to comment
motavated Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 Is that car still drive able? I wonder if some one can rebuild it and upgrade it to fuel injection and tune it. That is one cool car. I wouldn't mind driving it. Really! Quote Link to comment
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