Frogeye Sprite
Dave Puzey started a total restoration of this Frogeye Sprite with historic rallying in mind. Over the course of a ten-year build the goalposts moved once or twice as the standards rose.
Restored to perfection from a few rotten remains with rallying in mind.
Dave Puzey is a bit of a Classics regular – this is his fourth appearance in the magazine. The first two were with a Rover SD1 Vitesse. There was another V8 in his third appearance, but that time with a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger which he restored. That car had been bought in 2005 as a bare bodyshell, and Dave was pushed to finish the restoration in time for the article in 2010.
However, even as he was finishing the Sunbeam, Dave had already bought his next project. This was the 1958 Austin- Healey Frogeye Sprite we are featuring today, and in many ways it could not have been more different to his previous projects – small and with a tiny four- cylinder engine rather than a thumping big V8. Oddly enough though, one of the main drivers behind getting it was not that Dave wanted something completely different, but because he can't weld, and finding a decent welder to do things properly was proving difficult at the time. Plus, of course, if you do find a decent welder, then the cost of that professional welding soon mounts up.
However, if reading that introduction makes you assume Dave went out and bought a shiny car that only needed a little titivation here and there, then think again.
'The Sprite, 191 AUO, had been built on 17th October 1958, despatched on 31st October and registered on 1st November to a hotelier in Lyme Regis,' he told us. 'It seems to have spent most of its life in Dorset or Hampshire until I acquired the remains on 2nd October 2010.
'And it really was just the remains, as there was nothing much left of the original car's shell worth saving. However, the big attraction for me was that you could buy new bodyshells for the Sprite, and a new shell counts as a replacement part
and not a new car.
'I got a Stage 3 shell from the Frogeye Spares Company up in Salford. (Stage 1 is a floorpan with a bulkhead, Stage 2 is the main bodyshell, while Stage 3 includes the bonnet and doors.) It came unpainted, but I had that done by Steve Nott and his team at Brookfield Classics in Hinckley. It took a detour along the way to Steve though, because in the meantime I had discovered that a colleague of mine, Will Malkin, also had a welding business called Malkin Motorsports in North Wales, and he is an excellent welder. Will suggested we seamwelded the new bodyshell before painting so that it would be more torsionally rigid. He also strengthened the bonnet hinges, and recessed the fuel filler cap.'
By now you should be getting a fair impression of the high standards
to which Dave works on his cars, and also have realised that this was not going to be simply another factory-fresh recreation. The original concept had been to build a Sebring Coupé, based on the race cars built by Healey and John Sprinzel in period and raced with great success from 1959. 'I then found a picture of the Frogeye that won its class at Sebring in 1959,' said Dave, 'liked the look of that and wanted to do a replica. Then I saw an AC Cobra at Silverstone that was pale blue (similar to Speedwell Blue) and had black wire wheels. That changed my focus a little because I liked it so much that I decided to develop my car along
similar lines.'
I should mention that at this point Dave had never driven a Frogeye, never even sat in one in fact, so it was a brave decision to invest so much money and time in this project. The closest he had come to a trial run was when he sat in a later Sprite that some friends owned. Since the later cars are still essentially the same structure under the skin despite the more conventional nose and tail, this did at least mean Dave knew he could get in and out of the thing. Mind you, he didn't yet realise how much more difficult that would be with a hard top fitted.
Initially Dave had thought maybe he'd do some historic road rallying with the finished Sprite, but he now rather feels that it is too nice for that. However, that is why if you look through the Historic Rally Car Register's specification sheet for Midgets and Sprites, that mirrors what is fitted to this car pretty closely.
Starting at the front there are standard lever arm dampers, but with an additional top link to make a triangular wishbone. There are also lowered springs, and negative camber trunnions from Peter May Engineering. It's got later Spridget front brake discs rather than
the original drums, and a Sebring style pedal box with separate brake and clutch master cylinders. Dave has also fitted an anti-roll bar (Frogeyes didn't have any anti-roll bars, but fitting one from a later car is permitted by the regulations). The rear suspension is still quarter- elliptic because although you can get more modern multi-link rear suspensions, Dave didn't want to deviate that far from standard. The springs he fitted are lowered and soft items from Peter May Engineering though – a normal Frogeye has a very tailhigh stance and many people lower it with wedges, but on this car it was done solely with the springs. Dave also fitted a Panhard rod and AVO telescopic dampers. 'The engine is an original 948cc Frogeye Sprite block bored out to 1014cc,' he told us.
'It is basically built as a mildlytuned Mini Cooper engine, with Mini Cooper pistons giving a 9.7:1 compression ratio instead of 8.3:1. It has a Kent MD266 camshaft with high ratio rockers, while the 12G295 cylinder head has been fully ported, the manifolds matched to the ports and the 1¼in SU carburettors gas flowed.
'Small bore Sprite blocks only have a bearing at the front of the camshaft, the other two journals running in the block, but this one has been linedbored and three white metal bearings fitted as they would be in a large bore block. The engine has been fully balanced and is full of ARP bolts and studs. I've not had it on a rolling road yet, but I think it is up from 42 to around 60bhp, which in percentage terms is huge. I've been told by a few people who have been driving behind me that it doesn't hang around, and I'm still running it in.'
That engine still drives through a four-speed gearbox, but with the later ribbed casing which is stronger than the early smooth- case unit. It also has the later diaphragm clutch with an aluminium backplate – basically if you go through the book of what to put on an A-series for 1000cc, this one has it. The diff is a 3.9 unit, taller than the original 4.2. This makes for more relaxed cruising, but would maybe not be so good for rallying!
'It is a shame the car ended up too good to go rallying because it would have been nice to have a go,' reflected
Dave, 'but then again I would probably not be able to afford it anyway now that I have retired! I'd probably not be good enough either, and a Frogeye is maybe not the best car to use because it is so tiny.'
Now, I wouldn't want to give the impression that Dave set out with a single goal in mind and built his car religiously along those lines, because like any project that takes ten years to complete, it did evolve and change. As usual, those changes meant that the job grew rather than became simpler. 'I'd get a call from the bodyshop saying this or that bit was not quite right and could they sort it out,' recalled Dave, 'and I always said yes. Look at it now and things like the panel gaps and the paint finish are way better than anything the factory ever achieved in period.
'On the inside it is fairly standard, apart from the dash which would have been covered in vinyl to match the seats originally. I prefer it painted though, and had the radio hole welded up. It is supposed to have a blue interior to match the Speedwell Blue paint, which was in fact the original colour for this car. The steering wheel is different obviously, and a bit smaller than the factory would have fitted, but steering with an original wheel is a bit like driving a bus, and you hit the door with your knuckles.
'The little switch pack under the dash is my creation, just for the fan, spot lights and a power socket. I've fitted electric windscreen washers too, with the washer bottle in the passenger footwell – it should have gone in the engine bay where I have now put an oil tank, but that is a long way from the screen and for some reason I couldn't get the pump to pull the fluid all that way.'
As soon as I can go regularly over 3000rpm, that will change the dynamics entirely and the best is undoubtedly yet to come
The hardtop roof is a standard Frogeye Sprite item, in this case a brand-new roof from Honeybourne Mouldings. The wheels are standard 4x13in Spridget wire wheels, powder coated gloss black because Dave hates chrome wire wheels with a vengeance. Being such a small diameter, they are quite tightly laced. He's put 155 Continental tyres on them, 80 profile so there is a bit of give and they look right in the big arches. There is another trick here too, as the rear axle casing Dave used is a standard steel wheel Frogeye Sprite casing, which is slightly wider than the one used on a car with wire wheels. He fitted the correct wire wheel hubs and uprated longer halfshafts, which all help those wheels to fill the arches more comprehensively.
So after all this work and ten years of on again/off again work, we had to ask what the Sprite is like to drive.
'The first drive was actually rather scary because the tracking was all out, plus the rear dampers were too hard and it was skittering all over the place,' admitted Dave. 'I had taken a friend out, and it was so bad that we hadn't gone far when he advised me to turn around and go back home! I got that sorted though, and it is now much better. I am still running it in though, and I've only done 350 miles so far.
'On my Sunbeam Tiger you don't need the revs, but on a Frogeye you do, so it has all been a little tame so far. However, on my last run
I did open it up beyond 3000rpm for the first time and that gave me a glimpse of what it will be like. So far I've only just got into the bottom of the power band. It is frustrating to feel the power just about to come in and then have to back off, but as soon as I can go regularly over 3000rpm, that will change the dynamics entirely and the best is undoubtedly yet to come. It will probably need tappets adjusting and a trip to the rolling road would pay dividends, but 2020 was a frustratingly difficult year in which to put any miles on the car.
'Looking back,
I have to say that ten years to finish the project was really too long, as it was hard to maintain my enthusiasm. A major reason for the delay was that a change of ownership for the business making the bodies delayed the delivery of my bodyshell for far too long. I nearly ended up changing tack and building a Westfield Eleven instead because I'd built the engine and gearbox and had everything I needed to go in one of those sitting there.'
As you can see though, Dave persevered and ended up with a fantastic Frogeye Sprite. However, you will probably not be surprised to hear that he has already picked up his next project too. This is a Series IIA SWB Land Rover that he bought from a friend of a friend in the week that production of the Defender finally ended. Sunbeam Tiger V8, Frogeye Sprite and Series IIA Land Rover – just think what a varied trio that would make! Could we be on for appearance number five in the magazine? Time will tell.
Dave would like to thank:
The Frogeye Spares Company for supplying the Stage 3 Wheeler & Davies bodyshell plus numerous other parts.
Steve Nott and the team at Brookfield Classics Ltd for the stunning paint job.
Will Malkin at Malkin Motorsports for various additional welding jobs and moral support to make the project happen.
Roy Burrell for porting another superb cylinder head and supervising the engine and gearbox builds.
All members of the Heart of England area of the Midget & Sprite Club for their support and interest in the project.
Derek Hiatt at Wood Farm Cottage in Leamington Spa for allowing us to use his grounds for the photoshoot.
The following suppliers were used:
AH Spares Ltd. Frogeye Spares Co. Moss Motors Minispares Peter May Eng. A Head 4 Healeys Bugeye Guy