This Sprite had some modification, including a funky paint job.

Here's what the guy had to say:

Now this is a cute little guy! its a first year 1958 austin heley bugeye sprite . I only listed this car as a parts car because it was cheaper and less confusing to list. it runs and drives great and can be driven home. this car is far from original and has been equiped with a Nissan A14 , 1400cc 4 cylinder engine and matching nissan manual 5 speed overdrive transmission. the engine was rebuilt about 400 miles ago and just purrs. the tranny had all new bearings , synchros and seals installed at the same time along with a new clutch and throwout bearing and slave cylinder. the drive line has been professionally modified and has been balanced with new u joints at both ends. the carburetor was brand new from the dealer in the sealed nissan box when installed with the engine .the water pump, fuel pump and alternator and starter were also new along with both electric fans. the original radiator was removed and a larger side tank unit with 2 electric fans was installed. most of the chrome pieces and lenses and emblems headlight bezels, gas cap, license plate light and the grill are new as are the front wheel bearings . the rear end was completely resealed and serviced when the motor was installed. the rear shocks are rebuilt units and the head lights are new quarts halogens units. the carpet and all interior panels were recently replaced with new but they were an inexpensive victoria british set and the quality isnt that great as some of the vynal edges need to be reglued where they wrap around the panels. the seats were also recently redone and you cant realy tell it from the photos but they were done in red metal flake vynal with silver metal flake piping. the material was hard to find and extremely expensive as its rarely used since the 50"s. the car has vintage alloy wheels and an aftermarket steering wheel and dont worry as the eye lashes on the head lights come right off. we put them on for the cruise in reno because kids like it. . now for the bad stuff. the paint was not professionally done and although the body is quite strait the paint was very difficult to spray and needs to be wet sanded and buffed out because its quite rough. (I dont recomend anyone try to spray this large flake paint as its a pain). it does have many coats of clear over the flake. there are a couple chips in the side of the left front fender were the tilt front end meets up with the rest of the body but I do have some touch up flake here and can show you how to repair it easily in just a few minutes. it looks awsome from from like 20 feet away! the inner fender well on the drivers side has a strangely shaped hole cut in it . it was there when I bought the car and doesnt hurt anything and when the hood is closed cant be seen at all. because of the wide tires, when you cut the front wheels all the way to either side they will touch the inner fenders so this takes a little getting used to , to keep from doing it. if you trurn them like 90% they never touch. I also have a set of 4 original rims for the car that go with it if wanted. at the time the motor was rebuilt I was in a hurry to get the engine finished for Hot August Nights in Reno Nevada and I couldnt find new valve guide seals anywhere locally so I installed a complete set of new nissan valves which I bought on ebay in the head but used the old guide seals. anyway ,when the car sits unstarted for a while it will put out a small poof of smoke which quickly goes away once the engine is running.also if its reved way up sometimes it will let out a little smoke on decelleration. its very minor and wont hurt a thing but I wanted to be very honest about the cars condition and list all flaws so there wont be any surprises. it uses NO oil and doesnt leak anything either. Im sure guide seals would fix it but there just isnt enough smoke to make me want to work on it. I did recently add some oil treatment that is supposed to swell dried up valve seals so hopefully this will take care of it. the head was hot tanked, surfaced, the guides were checked , both intake and exhaust ports had a clean up port job and all new valves were seated but we just couldnt find the right guide seals in time.everything in the lower end is new . if someone did want to replace the guide seals , to remover the head only takes about 15 minutes. its so easy to work on because its a cam in block , push rod motor. there is NO heater or windshield wipers or top for the car. we didnt realy care as we only used it as a fair weather car and kept it in the garage all the time anyway. the car does come with a very light car cover that has been on it all the time we have owned it anyway , what you see is what you get. its a good little runner and can be driven home to anywhere but its by no means , perfect or a show winner for us it has been just a fun little reliable toy that we used a couple times a year for the 400 mile trip to Hot August nights and maybe 1 or 2 more outings. sold completely as is , yes we have the tittle in hand and the car is currently registered. WE WILL ONLY ACCEPT PAYPAL FOR THIS ITEM IF YOU EMAIL US BEFORE THE AUCTIONS END AND AGREE TO OUR PAYPAL TERMS. OTHERWISE ONLY MONEY ORDERS, CASHIERS CHECKS OR CASH WILL BE ACCEPTED. please dont hesitate to ask questions and you are welcome to come take a look. shipping is the resposabilty of the buyer although I can be here to help load. pick up is welcome. it would be hard to find a toy thats more fun than this one and we hate to get rid of it but I am overwelmed with projects and nedd to let a few go. Good Luck

Plus, there's a video (Click Here).

1. Sparkly paint job... It's got a funky hood scoop, and some eyelashes too.		2. Verrrry sparkly.
3. The interior is pretty clean.		4. Here's that Nissan engine.
5. Eyelashes, that's an odd idea.		6. Cute little car. Don't really like the paint job.
7. The hood scoop looks kind of out of place too.		8. Do they do much on small bore, non forced induction engines?
9. The shifter boot is kinda big.		10. More interior.
11. Nissan engine again, and a different transmission.		12. Last shot.

© 2003 Brownie Davis All Rights Reserved