Mascot

November 2006 No. 272

www.mgcars.org/midgetspriteclub

The Magazine

of the

Midget & Sprite

Club

THE WHO, THE WHAT & THE WHERE of THE MIDGET & SPRITE CLUB

COMMITTEE

CHAIRPERSON Bill Mohan, Tel: 0121 353 7211 or mobile 0798 461 6371email: bill.mohan@btinternet.com

GENERAL SECRETARY Terry Horler, 63 Littledean, Yate, Bristol, BS37 8UQ. Tel: 01454 881770TREASURER Anita Lachowicz, 5 Park Grove, Knaresborough, Yorks. HG5 9ET.

Tel: 01423 862738 Mobile: 07720 725429MEMBERSHIP John Platt, 2 Pear Tree Gardens, Bearley Road, Aston Cantlow, Henley-in-Arden, Warks.

B95 6HT Tel: 01789 488321 email: john@platt2085.freeserve.co.ukMAGAZINE EDITOR Barry Lowe, email: editor@midgetandspriteclub.co.uk

Tel: 01943 608900 10am to 9pm, UK timeWEBMASTER Toby Anscombe, 46 Carolina Close, Stratford, London, E15 1JR

email: tobyanscombe@taratec.co.ukGENERAL MEMBER Martin Ellis, 22 Dartmouth Mews, Morley, Leeds. LS27 0UA. Tel: 0113 2049126

email: halimart@hotmail.comGENERAL MEMBER Gary Lazarus, 40B Hungerford Road, London, N7 9LP. Tel: 0207700 5696

email: garylazarus@blueyonder.co.ukGENERAL MEMBER Alan Lo, 23 Charnell Road, Staple Hill, Bristol, BS16 5NE. Tel: 01179 572 617

email: alan@mobuzzing.netGENERAL MEMBER Tim Saunders, Tel: 07968 261990 email: mothysaunders@hotmail.com

OFFICERS

CLUB ARCHIVIST Terry Horler, 63 Littledean, Yate, Bristol, BS37 8UQ. Tel: 01454 881770TECHNICAL ADVISER VacantEVENTS CO-ORDINATOR VacantMEMBERS ADVERTISING Alan Lo, Tel: 0117 9572617 Mob: 0775 3867806 email: alan@mobuzzing.netMUTUAL ASSISTANCE David Hill, Llyserfan, Beulah, Newcastle Emlyn, Ceredigion. SA38 9QB. Tel: 01239 811307CO-ORDINATOR Tel: 01239 811423 email: david@hillnet.clara.netDATA HANDLING Dave Symes, email: spritelydave@ntworld.comTRADE ADVERTISING Ian Rider, Tel: 01793 695351. Email: ianrider@ntlworld.com

Trade Advertising Rates Full page one issue £30. Half page one issue £15.Full page whole year £300. Half page whole year £150.

AREA REPRESENTATIVES

BRISTOL Alan Lo, Tel: 0117 9572617 Mob: 0775 3867806 email: alan@mobuzzing.netCAMBRIDGESHIRE David Dixon, Tel: 01733 222810 email: e-dave@ntlworld.comDEVON VacantDORSET Pete Downton, Tel: 01202 515544

Bryan Fox, Tel: 01202 683842 home, 01202 674017 workemail: sueandbry@x877.wanadoo.co.uk

HAMPSHIRE Terry Langridge, Tel: 01252 626063HOME COUNTIES Chris Jackson, Tel: 01707 261567 chrispat@holwell8.freeserve.co.uk

NORTH WEST or Mark Hall, Tel: 01296 660103 markdhall@aol.comKENT Alan Anstead, Tel: 01322 384050 email: alan.anstead@btopenworld.comLINCOLNSHIRE Brian Sumner, Tel: 01507 328128 email: brians@redimps.comLONDON Gary Lazarus, Tel: 020 7700 5696 email: garylazarus@blueyonder.co.ukSOUTH STAFFS & Bill Mohan, Tel: 0121 353 7211 or mobile: 0798 461 6371 email: bill.mohan@btinternet.comNORTH BIRMINGHAMCENTRAL SCOTLAND Carson Thomson, Tel: 0141 245 6327 day or 013606 22334 evening

email: carsonthomson@btinternet.comNORTH WEST Les & Diane Robinson, Tel: 01772 432138 email: lesrobinson@blueyonder.co.ukNORTHERN IRELAND Barry Stanage, Tel: 02890 401726 or mobile 07769 705497 or email barrystanage@aol.comNOTTS/DERBY Ian Cooke, Tel: 0115 938 3838 email: ilc@bgs.ac.ukSOMERSET Dave Bearne, Tel: 01823 412004 email: dave@quintins.freeserve.co.ukSURREY David Wright, Tel: 0208 642 4789 email: dandcwright@ukonline.co.ukWARWICKSHIRE Alan Couch, Tel: 01564 773302

Chris Yates, Tel: 01608 665066 email: chrishe@tiscali.co.ukWILTSHIRE Ian Rider, Tel: 01793 695351 email: ianrider@ntlworld.comYORKSHIRE Anita Lachowicz, Tel: 01423 862738 or mobile: 07720 725429 email: spridget.girl@ntlworld.com

Also see the Club Nights section on page 3 for new areas and contacts.

Compiled by David Hill. Please advise me of any changes, errors etc.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL: IF YOU EXPERIENCE ‘MASCOT’ PROBLEMS UPON RENEWAL, PLEASE CONTACTTHE MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY OR THE TREASURER STRAIGHT AWAY. The Committee

© Midget & Sprite Club

Printed by Quorum Print Services Ltd, Unit 3, Lansdown Industrial Estate, Cheltenham, Glos GL51 8PL. Tel: 01242 584984 Fax: 01242 527634

E-mail: sales@quorumtech.co.uk

Wheelnut

So that was the first edition over with me at the helm. Hope you liked it and its subtlechanges. Many thanks to all those people who sent articles for that issue on time and alsofor all your many kind words of support and encouragement. Onwards and upwards with

the second one!This month, along with the usual amount of Area Reports, you’ll be able to complete yourreading of 410 EAO, by Sebring expert and regular MASCOT contributor, JonathanWhitehouse-Bird and thanks to Matt Wrigglesworth you’ll now also be able to fit Metro 4-potcalipers to improve your car’s braking ability! For those of you who didn’t get to see the article inClassic & Sports Car on the famous Ecurie Ecosse Sprite, I have managed to get it reprinted intotal for you. This is a very interesting and well written piece which I’m sure you’ll enjoyreading. Big Thank You to Classic & Sports Car. There is important information on the Sprite50th Anniversary in 2008, a great article on The Conker Run, plus Matt’s V8 in What’s in MyGarage. So something for everyone, I hope ... if you feel left out, then there ’s a simple answer tothat – just get your fingers working on the keyboard and send me an article on somethingSpridgety ... size is of no consequence, but actual content is; and if it ’s supported by some goodphotos then it’s more chance of making it into these pages. Apologies to all those Memberswhose write-ups have been missed out in this month’s bumper edition – they may still appearlater. I am here to serve ... so tell me what you’d like to see and if you can back that up byproducing some of your own work then all the better!You’ll be reading this after the AGM and if I get my way at that meeting, you’ll be getting 12issues of MASCOT rather than the 11 we had become accustomed to. So you should havesomething to look forward to by the end of the first week in January! BUT in order to do thatI AM GOING TO NEED YOUR HELP!I realise that November and December are quiet months, so this is the time to get busy on thecomputer and send me your Spridgety articles of interest. Raid your old magazines ... pull outoriginal articles, road tests, adverts ... all the things you would like to see in YOUR magazine.Let me have your write-ups on those Winter Re-Build projects you’ve been promisingyourselves. In saying that, I’m going to need your help ALL the time ...just keep the articles and photographs coming!Next month I expect to include a report on the NEC Classic Car Showand also something from a bit further afield, Auto Moto d’Epoca in Italy!CiaoBarry

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All articles and photographs for the magazine must be received by the first of themonth preceding publication. Articles submitted for publication should be e-mailed tothe editor if possible or on disc accompanied by hard copy. Members should beadvised that pictures will be returned the month after inclusion in MASCOT. Photos willonly be returned if supplied with a SAE.

The statements and opinions expressed in each and every issue of the MASCOT arenot necessarily the considered views of the Midget and Sprite Club. The viewsexpressed by the editorial contributors, letter writers and advertisers are their ownand do not necessarily reflect the view of the Club. The Midget and Sprite Clubaccepts no responsibility for the results of following contributor’s advice, nor does itnecessarily endorse the services or products offered by advertisers.

Front cover picture: A fine example of a 1963 Innocenti ‘S’ Spider, complete with Minilites. Owned byGiorgio Ferrari, Milan.

Club Nights1st Monday London Area (Congestion Zone) – Meet at The Mulberry Bush Pub,

Southwark (200 metres or so East of the London Eye) 7:30pm. Alsogenerally meet at the Ace Café on 2nd Tuesday together with the ClassicCars Magazine night. Details: Gary Lazarus on 020 7700 5696garylazarus@blueyonder.co.uk

1st Wednesday Wiltshire – Meet at The Forresters, Leigh, near Cricklade.1st Wednesday South Staffs & Birmingham – Meet at the The Green Man, Middleton

Village, 8.30-8.45pm1st Thursday Lincolnshire Area – Meet at The White Hart, Lissington, nr. Wragby.

8pm. Contact Brian Sumner on 01507 328128 brians@redimps.com1st Thursday Notts/Derby border Area (note change of day) at the Sitwell Arms

near Horsley Woodhouse from approx. 8.30. Just a mile north-west of theA608/A609 crossroads. Ian Cooke 0115 938 3838 ilc@bgs.ac.uk

1st Thursday Yorkshire Area – November 2nd, Venue to be decided, please contactAnita for details. Meetings from 7.30 pm onwards, food available. CallAnita on 01423 862738 or 07720 725429email spridget.girl@ntlworld.com

2nd Wednesday Warwickshire – Meet at The Green Dragon, The Green, Sambourne,Reddich, B96 6NU, at 8.30pm as usual.

2nd Wednesday North West Area – meet at The Kilton, turn off M6 at Jct 20 onto A50towards Macclesfield. Pub 4 miles on left. Please note new venue.

2nd Wednesday Bristol Area will meet at The Star, Pucklechurch at 8pm. All Bristol,Bath and surrounding areas members welcome. Contact Alan Lo on01179 572617 email: alan@mobuzzing.net

2nd Thursday Cambridgeshire – Meet at The Mad Cat pub in Pidley Village, midwaybetween Huntingdon and Chatteris, 8pm

3rd Monday Dorset – Meet at St. Peter’s Finger, Lytchett Minster, Poole 7.30pm3rd Tuesday Central Scotland – Meet at The Garfield Hotel, Stepps, East

Dunbartonshire. 7:30pm in the Lounge. Check first with Carson on0141-245-6327 day or 013606-22334 evening.

3rd Tuesday Surrey – Meet at The Blue Ball, Walton-on-the-Hill, 7.45pm onwards.Contact Alan Anstead, Tel: 01322 384050.alan.anstead@btopenworld.com

3rd Thursday Northern Ireland – Venue to be decided. Please contact Barry Stanageon 02890 401726 or mobile 07769 705497 or emailbarrystanage@aol.com

4th Thursday Hampshire – Meet at The Poacher, South Warnborough. Note Changeof Venue. Please ring Terry or Harriet Langridge on 01252 626063 fordetails.

Last Thursday Somerset – Meet at The Lord Nelson, Norton-sub- Hamdon. 8.00pmOccasional Meetings Home Counties North West for members in Herts, Bucks, Berks,

N. London or anyone interested! Please contact Chris Jackson Tel:01707 261567 or Mark Hall, Tel: 01296 660103

Occasional Meetings Kent Area. Please contact Alan for the next meeting details. Contact AlanAnstead, Tel: 01322 384050.

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2006 Ballot Result

Firstly, a big thank you to the 178 members returning their ballot forms for this year’selection of committee members. A good number by our usual returning figure. A big thankyou also to all those putting their name forward for a committee position. Sadly, as one

position, that of Membership Secretary, was contested by two nominees, we lose the memberwith the lower number of votes. We say sadly as in this case, it is one of the club’s co-founders,Nigel Williams who has held this position since the inception of the club way back in 1983. Weowe a very big thank you to Nigel for all the hard work he has put in over the last 23 years, notonly as Membership Secretary, but many other supporting roles that he has tackled, particularlywith the club’s exhibition stand.The results are -Position Nominee For AgainstChairperson Bill Mohan 159 0General Secretary Terry Horler 158 2Membership Secretary Nigel Williams 97 41Membership Secretary John Platt 153 13Treasurer Anita Lachowicz 161 1Mascot Editor Barry Lowe 156 3Webmaster Toby Anscombe 155 1General Committee Alan Lo 148 5General Committee Martin Ellis 147 5General Committee Gary Lazarus 151 2General Committee Tim Saunders 155 2

We now have a committee of 10 persons to hold office. They have all volunteered to serve theclub so please give them your support. Also, please note the relevant committee member(s) tocontact should you have any enquiries or ideas.Finally, thank you to our independent Ballot adjudicator, Mr Mike Helbrow for collating andverifying the above results.

And A Big Thank YouTo our retiring Committee members and club Officers for their services to the club. These are -CommitteeMike North – Mascot EditorNigel Williams – Membership SecretaryPauline Walters – TreasurerBrendan Joyce – Deputy TreasurerClub OfficersChris Nevard – WebmasterArea OrganiserIan Swinden – DorsetAll the above have been long term post holders for the club. They have demonstrated skill anddedication to help make the club what it is today. We all owe a very big thank you to them fortheir services, not just for the past year, but many years previous. Replacing the skills andexperience of long term post holders can never be easy, the above represent a frighteningnumber of years and a tank full of experience, we hope the inevitable jolt will not be too severein the running of the club.

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Club WebsiteMembers Only pages for November

User name: spridget Password: heaven

EventsFrom David Hill and Webmaster Toby Anscombe

Events organised for 2006DecemberSunday 10th Cambridgeshire Area Christmas Lunch will be held at the George and

Dragon at Elsworth, 12:30pm Details from Dave Dixon on 01733222810.

Wednesday 13th Warwickshire Area’s Christmas Dinner at The Green Dragon. details fromChris and Sheila Yates, Tel: 01608 665066.

Monday 18th Dorset Area’s Christmas Dinner at St. Peter’s Finger, Lytchett Minster,Poole at 7.30pm. Contact Bryan Fox, Tel: 01202 683842 or Email:sueandbry@x877.wanadoo.co.uk

Tuesday 19th Surrey Area’s Christmas Dinner. Details from David Wright, Tel:0208 642 4789 or email: dandcwright@ukonline.co.uk

Events organised so far for 2007MaySunday 27th Dorset Area are going to MGs at Kingston Lacey, near Wimborne. Details

from Bryan Fox, 01202 683842 or email:sueandbry@x877.wanadoo.co.uk

Area Reps please let David Hill (email: david@hillnet.clara.net) have confirmed dates for newevents asap.

Remember there are Club Night Natters throughout the year and thatarea events are also open to members from other areas!

Please also note that the above lists only M&SC events or events where we have a presence oran interest. General classic events are listed in the classic press.

Mutual Assistance Directory

Last month, I said, Oh no, summer isnearly over. Well, rain-wise it certainly isover here in Wales although it is still

warm for October. My Midget will have a newhome from the end of October as we aremoving house. No longer will it have acommodious garage but a small normal sizeone! Still, it will be warm and dry and will bewaiting for nice dry days in the winter andspring.

I do hope that you have had a great summerwith your Spridget and are looking forward to

the winter break to do things to your pride andjoy.

Don’t forget, if you don’t carry your copy of theMutual Assistance Directory and you wouldlike a copy you can download it from themembers only section of our website. However,if you do not have access to the web or don’tknow someone who does, I will print off acopy and send it to you. Please rememberthat it is constantly updated so to be up todate, download it at least every month.

David Hill

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Letters to the EditorMidget and Sprite Parts Auction

Hi BarryThe auction is being held at Nether Whitacre village hall, near Coleshill on Sunday 12thNovember. Selling should start around 10:00. (Dependant on the amount of stuff that turnsup on the day) If you have items to sell you can either enter them yourself on the day by turningup at 09:00 or contact me and I will try to arrange something for you. Heavy items can be leftat the auction organiser’s home prior to the auction strictly by prior arrangement please.Please ensure that you put a reserve on any sales items you ‘value’ and do not just want to getrid of. I will be reminding you all again about this event at the November meeting (assumingthat I am fully awake by then). Please ring/Email me if there are any questions:supersprite@tesco.net

Dave

Webmaster ChangeHi BarryJust for info, Toby Anscombe is the new webmaster now: tobyanscombe@taratec.co.uk Barry,top on you for taking on the chore of ‘Ed’!!! Toby is now in charge of the website, I still keepgetting quite a few web-related emails.

Chris (Ex Webmeister)

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D J GroveRestoration

Phone/fax:01256 768678

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For friendly expert advice from an ex F1

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with a longstanding reputation in concours,

race preparation (i.e. Goodwood Revival),

complete restorations, servicing, chassis

rebuilding, and obscure parts traced.

Frogeye, special body, Speedwell and Sebring Guru

STOP PRESS!In the workshop,2 Frogeye chassisrebuilds, originalSpeedwell rebuild,modified race SebringconstructionCar supplied for Ch4TV filming

It’s a Fine and Fancy Ramble

How busy has this month been then?Not only have I been out and about butI have also been sorting out some ideas

from other members for the AGM agenda,which by the time you read this will be oldnews. I will bring you up to date next timearound. The AGM promises to be a bumperaffair with some new faces on the committeeand missing a few old faces too, time to adaptfor us all I think.

At the same time we celebrate the new look,fresh as a daisy MASCOT from Barry, a veryfine first copy (save it, first editions fetch afortune these days). With its larger picturearea the cover is a bright fresh young thing.I love it, it has a nicely balanced slightly retrofeel to it. Keep up the great work Barrythanks.

Don’t forget that Barry can only produce amag with whatever we send him. Some area

reps may need to condense their copy a littleto ensure that we get a reasonable overview ofclub activities. Barry had to omit a few itemslast time around, which attracted some unfairbrickbats.

Warwickshire will have been manning theClassic car Show at the NEC, I have beenlooking forward to visiting them there, they areplanning a wonderful show. My notes aboutthat next month (I will write up my visit assoon as I get home Barry!) ... and I’ll write upabout Auto Moto d’Epoca in Italy Bill! Editor

I notice that we are still attracting newmembers galore; can you all make it a warmwelcome to them at local area meetings? I willemail all those I get with email addressestelling them of local groups and areameetings.

Chairman Bill

Secretarial Scribblings

I seem to be off to a poor start with our neweditor. Barry was counting on some THinput for his first edition but received zilch

from yours truly. Was this some devious ployto let the new boy struggle? Was TH far toobusy to put finger to key board? Had THreached capacity with nothing new or usefulto say? Well yeah, it could be any of these,but truthfully Barry – I just couldn’t bebothered! And I was quite right not to be, thefirst edition from BL (argh ‘BL’, remember thelast time those letters were involved with ourcars?) was an absolute block buster. Loads ofgood stuff to kick off the new regime but wait– where was the club logo?? The bright newcover couldn’t fail to be noticed, but wherewas the club logo? So wos fink then? Shouldwe haul the new boy across the moors,ignoring his cries of Innocenti, or should wedemand the return of our octaganated arrow?Your comments please.

By now, the AGM will have happened, notthat I will have experienced first hand theongoing. My letter of apologies to ChairpersonBill is next on my agenda. I am indeed sorry

not to be at Gee & Co to meet everyone andtrust that all will go well. With 10 membersnow on the committee with some new ideasand enthusiasm, we look well set for thefuture. As good as this is, we should not forgetour departing committee members and themany years of experience and service to theclub that they afforded. None more so thanNigel, co-founder of the club and MembershipSecretary from the very start. The changes inkey committee members all at the same timecould have some impact as the new membersget up to speed. Please bear with us shouldwe suddenly fall onto 3 cylinders!

Good news on the way, 50 years of the Spritein 2008. OK, you all knew that anyway, butdid you know that this will also be 25 years ofthe Midget and Sprite Club? A doublecelebration, but which is the most important?Well, our Spridgley things were produced for21 years, and MASC will be 25 years old, thedebate starts here!

There you are Barry, will that do?

Terry Horler

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Kindly reproduced with permission from Classic & Sports Car

Home CountiesNorth West

ReportSeptember 24thThe TRING TRIP

The phone rang at 8.45 am. Mark – It’sp.. It’s raining very hard here, watershooting over the gutters, thunder and

lightning. Decision time, postpone for a bit!!This was not in the plan. The plan was thatThe Hatfield Group (THG) should meet atTesco’s at 9.30 and proceed to meet TheTring Group (TTG) at Tesco’s at 10.30. (Weare negotiating a discount of some sort withTesco because we mention them indispatches so often).THG (The Hatfield Group)was to consist of five cars but five became 4,became three, became 2, so only one hold itcall had to be made. The loudest protests ofdisappointment came from the ladies, Lily andPat. 9.45, call from Mark, It’s high summerhere. Action stations, reverse orders andaway. The Hatfield Group (THG) met andbeetled (Spri(n)ted) off to meet TTG (theothers).

Duly assembled and armed with a writtencopy of the route (no tulip diagrams here, wehave all had to learn to read for this event) weset forth on roads recently awash and still verydamp. Taking to the Buckinghamshire laneswe soon found ourselves driving up waterfallsand through an impromptu ford and thenclimbing up through a misty haze to incredibleviews of rolling countryside and far hills.Despite the late start it was decided that theplanned coffee stop should be kept in theschedule so stop we did at the TringReservoirs café. We probably drained only onereservoir dry since we were only ten. TheTring Group (THG) consisted of Mark and Jenin their Frogeye, Mike and Sue, A40 mountedand Dave and Jenny in their Mk IV, these twocars being scalps we won at Knebworth.Places of interest were marked on the notes,one being the health spa that was frequentedby Frank Bruno. He was also often seen inTesco’s (there it is again) stocking up onbanned victuals. We also drove down Aston

Clinton Hill. Lionel Martin chose to celebratehis success on this hill climb by naming hisnew car after it. Hence Aston Martin.

Our journey finished, appropriately, at TheTravellers’ Rest (TTR) where we made merrywith a comprehensive menu. It was noted enroute, that every so often a signpost, pointingto the right, said Cheddington 1 mile.Examination of the map, denied to us for thejourney, showed that we had, in fact, circledall round Cheddington. Now Cheddington iswhere Jen and Mark and their Frogeye Spritereside. What was the meaning of this?Probably that if the heavens opened againwhile we were on the road they could haveturned sharp right and been home and dry inten minutes. S** the rest of us. It wascategorically denied that Mark was ASBOtagged and unable to travel far. It was a greatday out and we were so lucky with theweather which, ultimately, could not havebeen better. Thank you Jen and Mark for agreat day.

We plan to get out and about again onOctober 22nd, AGM day I know, so we willstop for a suitable celebration of the occasion.I know that this is late information but I amtrying. Also a trip on November 12th to giveTracy and Steve a chance to join in. They willbe in the Galapagos Islands for our Octoberdo, poor souls.

Thank you Barry for a fine October issue ofMASCOT.

Chris

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The Conker Run 2006, 8th October

Yorkshire area MASC had another greatturn out at the second Conker Run, with14 cars in total gracing the market

square at Thirsk on Sunday morning. RegularsMark and Anita were there in Anita’s basilicablue Mk IV Sprite Kevin; Matt and Lizzie werepresent in their newly revamped bronze yellowRWA, complete with disc brake conversion asper Matt’s 2 part article in this fine magazine,SW5 cam and noisy exhaust; Carlo andArianna in Eglentine, their gorgeous green MkI Midget; John and Janet in their red Mk IISprite which had just re-recovered from itsbroken clutch problems originally sustained onthe Roses Run in April; Robin and Jill in theirBRG RWA; Ian and Claire in their blaze RWAand Roger and Caroline in their red Mk IVSprite. We also welcomed Rob Higgs and hisson in their bronze yellow RWA, Ken Gill andhis wife in their canary yellow 1500, PhilBennett and friend in his cherry red frogeye,Jeff and son in their blaze RWA; and Phil andTracey Harrison making a guest appearance intheir Sunbeam Alpine, which needed one ortwo little pushes over the course of the day!Finally Guy Weller made it all the over fromKendal in Cumbria in his teal blue AustinSprite, although dynamo issues made it atricky day for him. The weather was gloriousand sunny.Sarah and I had hoped to have our newlyacquired 1965 Williams and Pritchard SebringII bodied Mk II midget ready in time for therun (more about this next month), but in theend Holly, our ardent red Mk III ex-racer got afinal run for the year, despite a leaky rockercover, and was probably better suited to someof the more strenuous hills anyway!The morning started with a light stretch of thelegs around the windy lanes of the Vale of

York skirting the Cleveland Hills, then upalong the eastern fringes of the North YorkMoors, along drover’s tracks, up muddycountry lanes, through forests and acrossbeautiful moorland covered with sheep, gamebirds, and all sorts of country types astridehorses, or curiously waving ski-poles around.Great Arden Moor in particular was verybeautiful, with golden ferns and browningheather, waterfalls, and rowan trees coveredin bright red berries. Everyone successfullycoped with the two mile 1:4 of Sneck YateBank and made it safely up into Cleveland,without killing any wildlife or being attackedby irate walkers or country pursuitsenthusiasts with shotguns (it being shootingseason). In fact we received a very positivewelcome from the general populous, whohadn’t seen anything so exciting or noisy as astream of brightly coloured Spridgets since avintage tractor run in the area back in August.Despite Matt’s paranoia about his new exhaustvolume (no louder than ours), noisiest car ofthe day, without a doubt, was Anita’s Sprite,with its original (holey?) mild steel exhaust.The route then took us from the pretty (ifsomewhat small) mountain of RoseberryTopping up to the North East coast atSaltburn. This is a slightly down-at-heel butformerly genteel seaside town with a greatbeach and beautifully restored Victorian pierand water-powered funicular railway. Most ateat the Ship Inn at the Smugglers HeritageCentre, apart from the more intrepid explorers,

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Starting line-up in Thirsk market square

Waiving Spridgets through Boltby Forest

who found a rather good caff with al frescoeating near the old train station on the cliffs.Outdoor lunch in a t-shirt in October – youcan’t beat the North East!The afternoon route saw a much faster, andless contorted drive back south, exploringsome of the countryside around Stokesley,and then across the North York Moors downthrough Commondale, Kildale and Bilsdale,via Rievaulx Abbey and Helmsley. Guy’s Spritehad terminal battery failure in the middle ofthe moors due to his dynamo finally giving upthe ghost, but he was rescued by a batteryswap with Anita, her fully charged one seeinghim back to York that night, where Mark wasable to produce a spare dynamo from his boxof tricks. Our car also suffered a failed brakelight switch somewhere along the way,misleading some into thinking I have someparticularly advanced driving skills, in gettingaround corners without braking – which alasis not the case. Unfortunately we had all

taken such a long time savouring the routeand exploring, that by the time we arrived atthe Abbey Inn at Byland Abbey, the end point,the pub had shut for the day after its 3pmcurfew! However, it did mean that we had thecar park to ourselves for a final photoopportunity in the beautiful grounds.Thank you to everyone for coming along, andwe look forward to seeing you on our nextarea run in the spring.

Tim Saunders and Sarah BowerYorks Area

Bristol Area Report

I’ve been to Blooper land. You don’t need aSat-Nav to find the way, it’s the gettingback (to normal) that just takes the time.

I didn’t want to go, I even saw the WARNINGsign – on the bonnet slam panel of a certainClipper Blue Mk1 Midget. Yes, guardian ofthis lost place was none other than Alan Lo.My engine is ever so slighty fluffy, please takea look Terry. Thinking that the WARNINGtriangle might refer to hot bits, twirly bits,negative earthy bits or hot water in face bits, itreally signified that this was indeed, the wayto Blooper land. In attempting to find out whythe Midget’s engine was ever so slightly fluffy,Alan had replaced everything under the bonnet,however, he did notice that one SU piston wasrising more slowly than the other. Suspectingthat there may still be a particle of moltenplastic tooth brush stuck in there somewhere,the TH box of SU spares was raided to find abetter match. Despite replacing various bits, theMidget still fluffed – and there was nothing elseto replace. Still, to cut a growing longer storyback to something more meaningful, Alaneventually discovered that a new condenserwas to blame. I was aware that there was adodgy batch of rotor arms being supplied butperhaps condensers may now be added to

this. We all assume that new components willdo the job that they are designed to do, butmaybe not. This makes fault diagnosis moreof a problem than usual, I know I wasted timewhen I assumed that a new coil would be thelast thing to suspect when diagnosing anignition fault. After changing points,condenser, HT leads, dissy cap, rotor arm andspark plugs – it was the new coil at fault.

On the Bristol scene, we continue to meet atthe Star at Pucklechurch on the secondWednesday of each month. However, we areconsidering trying another pub inPucklechurch and maybe another day. Ournumbers have not really grown this yeardespite a goodly number of local membersturning up for the Classic Car Action Day atCastle Coombe. We know that there aremembers in the region, so perhaps it is ourtiming or placing that is preventing more thanour usual 4 or 5 turning up. Your views wouldbe appreciated on this as we would like to domore as a group.

Please contact Alan Lo or Terry Horler for anatter about Bristol Area happenings.

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The 20th May 2008 marks the GoldenAnniversary of the press launch of theAustin Healey Sprite at Monte Carlo –

50 years since the introduction of the car that,in its various AH and MG incarnations, unitesus all.

I’ve been acutely aware of this impendinganniversary for some time – like our favouritelittle car, I too was launched to anunsuspecting (and, save for a few closerelatives, largely indifferent) public in 1958.So I’ve always regarded myself as the sameage as the Frogeye – and as my fiftiethapproached, hoped that my plans (as yetunspecified) to celebrate would coincide witha big party for the Spridget. I say big party –my gut feeling was along the lines of a big

get-together similar to the very impressiveMASC Brooklands 2000 event – only with 3or 4 times as many cars!

Over on t’interweb MG Bulletin Board a fewweeks ago, I tentatively kick-started somediscussion about how the Spridget communityshould celebrate. The responses so far havebeen unanimously positive, and while awayfrom a PC in August, on holiday in France, itseems as though a few web-friendsinterpreted my decision to open the debate asnothing short of volunteering to organise theevent. Despite the fact that you’re reading thisin the mighty organ that is MASCOT, I, andothers, have firmly believed from the start thatany event should be open to all, regardless of

any (or no) club allegiance.The great news is that Ihave now received veryenthusiastic responses, andformal statements of supportfrom the MG Owner’s Club,the MG Car Club, TheAustin Healey Club, andL’Amicale Spridget – inFrance! Thankfully, thereseem to be no clashingplans, although the AustinHealey Club are organisingan event at Goodwood inAugust ‘08.

The idea which seems tohave received most supportfrom fellow MASC’ers aswell as friends on the webBulletin Board – is to have agreat gathering on a day inMay 2008. Monaco wouldbe nice, but perhaps a littlerestrictive for some. Withthe support of Chairman Bill

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Donald Healey pictured in the first production Sprite near MonteCarlo – photo courtesy of “More Healeys” Haynes, 1990

Spridget 50thAnniversary Party,2008

Spridget 50thAnniversary Party,2008

and others, I have now made a provisionalbooking for the Heritage Motor Centre atGaydon, (’twixt Banbury and Stratford,and 5 minutes from the M40) – forSunday 18 May, 2008. Gaydon has a greatdeal of experience in organising these types ofrallies – there’s generally somethinghappening there every weekend, and they cancater for up to 1000 cars, mostly parked onthe events arena (or car park, as it’s knownduring the week). Then there’s the addedattraction of free admission tickets to themuseum for a percentage of participants (anda 25% discount for all others), listings on themuseum’s website and annual events leaflet,and trade stand space during the event. Aswell as the superb museum (the world’slargest collection of historic British cars),there’s an excellent Land Rover off-roadexperience, go kart track, café and gift shop.They offer basic camping facilities, and thereare a host of excellent B&Bs and hotels in thesurrounding area. There has been additional

discussion on road events – includingambitious plans for a John O’Groats to Land’sEnd run, calling in at Gaydon for the Sunday,VISPs (Very Important Spridget People)attending – as well as the possibility of somevery rare prototypes and works and race cars.All exciting stuff!By the time you read this, the event will havebeen discussed in some depth at the MASCAGM, and I hope to have come away with amandate to get cracking on some detailedplanning and promotion – to the other clubsand the wider Classic Car fraternity.Meanwhile, I have started a register to recorddetails of those that may wish to attend –obviously no obligation at the moment. Butthose registered will be kept informed of alldevelopments between now and the event –and will be offered firm booking opportunitiesahead of the general publicity. 120 havealready done so! I invite you to let me haveyour name, contact details such as a phonenumber or email address, along with details ofyour Spridget or Spridget-related machine –year/make and model /registration (if you’rewilling) and any interesting notes.You can register by email tospridget2008@hotmail.co.ukor telephone me on 023 8067 1413 athome, or 023 8030 5626 at work.So please start spreading the word that there’sgoing to be a bit of a do to celebrate 50 yearsof the Midget and Sprite! More next month.

Steve Clark, Southampton

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On the Healey Test Route. 29 Spridgley things squeeze into the car park of the White Horse atEttington, May 1998.

Fun for all in SS&NB October ’06

This month we have had several differenttrips amongst us. Geoff and Sue were offto Hope Cove in sunny Devon for the

Spridgetting weekend at the Sun Bay Hotel.Now an annual event it sounds as if they andLes and Diane (of the N.W. area) had a greattime.

Gwyn and I went to the Advertised inMASCOT Turweston Classic Aircraft and Carsweekend. We expected to see the contingentfrom Home Counties N&W but found onesolitary Sprite in the car park! Nice to meetyou. I actually met two members (Sorry but Imissed writing down names, a MAJOR fault ofmine, I get carried away with chatting!) Sawlots of nice cars, the Rover P6 club use theevent as their AGM. A fun, enjoyable bit forme as well as the aircraft were the display ofstationary engines puffing away, marvelloussmoke rings from one steam engine. ThreeChipmunk aircraft, two of which were in apristine 1960’s colour scheme reminded meof my days in the ATC. Pure nostalgia!

Gavin, Dawn, Gwyn and I went last weekendto the Top Hat races at Mallory Park. Seeingthe A35s and A40s battling away and in onecase outgunning the Jaguars was fantastic,there were two Spridgets racing too.

I recommend this series of races to anyoneuninitiated who may like a day out.

And to round off a quite busy Midgettingmonth for us Geoff, John and I took a ride upthe M6 to visit North West Area at the Kilton.We were made very welcome even though weinterrupted their photographic evening. Dianetook a minute or so to recognise Geoff fromthe Sun Bay (Told him not to wear the darkglasses) Great fun all round when she did. Wehad a great run back in the drying air (Wemissed almost every drop of rain, luckily asGeoff and I went topless) with a bright moonilluminating the motorway. I was home justafter midnight.

We have appointed an events manager for thebranch. Bob has taken on John’s mantle andwill help organise next year’s trips and visits.Though we are open to suggestions for jointarea events too.

Our area members will be able to take a smallmembership pack with them if they wish asthey visit events in their cars next year, so wecan help build up membership. They cancollect the pack from me when we meet at theGreen Man the previous month.

Bill Mohan 1067

Scotland Report – Talla Ho!

Our Celtic branch has one mainaim and that is to drive ourwee cars as much as

possible. And who can blame us,with the many roads of paradise enEcosse. Though we enjoy ournatters, we don’t really do thatsocialising stuff and zooming aroundthe same bit of tarmac on a trackday is as weird to us as MorrisDancing or even dancing around aMorris! As for concours, that is adeviance too far for us lovers ofspeed, dents and dirt.

So it was we met up an the brink ofOctober at Bothwell services, stuffed

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our faces with bacon rolls to fuel the body andwith cheap petrol (84.9p a quarter gallon –whoo hoo!!) to fuel the cars...all 8 of them,including Douglas’ imposing ZT, whichdwarfed the assemblage of spitmigbites. Thesilly boy had forsaken his real MG at the lastminute thinking it was going to rain! He isnew and does not yet know all our runs areblessed with the rays of Ra.

Our mission was to execute another rundesigned by the legendary Jim McGuiness ofLa Carrera fame. We only had to see the wordMeggets and Talla (gorgeous Borders lochswith sublime lochside roads for those of youwho have not had the pleasure), to smile andlick our bacon fat rimed lips in anticipation.

The first stage through the Clyde Valleywarmed up the engines nicely and as housesgave way to hills and crossings to cows(coos), newlywed but not yet oppressedDougie took us along at a nice clip throughLanark, Biggar and Stobo. Not quick enoughthough as nobody got lost – not even Carson!!

The leisurely drink at Peebles set us up for thebam bam through the empty roads aroundTraquhair Castle. Empty that is except for onesurreal encounter when on a desolate singletrack road high above Meggets Loch weencountered a crocodile of 12 ancient MasseyFerguson tractors coming the other way,smiles all round as we held a competition fornoisiest engines.It did mean we got a bit split up andthankfully Rikki and Keith got lost – therebyreinstating an honourable tradition. Late lunchsitting outside – yes outside- in Scotland inOctober, rounded off a magnificent end to atruly memorable season. Viva global warming,viva plate tectonics which blessed us withsuch topography and viva the A series engineand the hours of fun it provides fixing ,tweaking and waiting in trepidation for it tofail. Names to Betty for the Christmasscoffathon at the Popinjay please!

Bob Miller, Carson’s mate

NW Area Report

At September club night we had the localrun that was postponed from August.We met at 7:15pm in readiness for a

7:30pm start. I was actually early for the firsttime ever so off we went more or less on time.

There were eight cars altogether includingnew member Steve (apologies if your name iswrong but my memory is hopeless). Steve, ashe will be called from now on, has a beautifulFrogeye, old English white, no bumpers,minilites and aero screens – looks fantastic.Andrew had very kindly planned a route,and even produced laminated directions –obviously a quiet time at school! It was anexcellent run, although to be honest I’ve noidea where we went. I do however recallgoing through Great Budworth whereAndrew, or so he says, had arranged for thechurch bells to ring as we passed through.All very enjoyable.

On the 15th / 16th August Diane and Ijoined the Staffs and North Birmingham lotfor their weekend in Devon, organised byGeoff Mears. Unlike previous years the turn

out was rather disappointing. Only threecouples consisting of us, Geoff and Sue, andRob and Bubs. Despite this it was a brilliantweekend and we really enjoyed it.

It was a quite trek down to Devon fromLeyland, taking 7 hours to cover the 300miles. Most of the journey was on themotorway. A 5th gear would definitely havebeen handy – job for the winter perhaps, Ialready have a gearbox sat on a shelf. The

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drive didn’t seem like 7 hours and the timepassed quickly and thankfully there were notraffic problems at all, either going orcoming back. We stayed at the Sun Bayhotel at Hope Cove which is run by Johnnieand Jane. After arriving on the Friday wetook it easy, had a lovely meal and thenretired to the bar. Johnnie is quite acharacter and how he stayed sober isbeyond me!

On Saturday there was a leisurely drivetaking in local sights of Salcombe,Kingsbridge and Dartmouth. We were in ourSprite and Geoff in his Midget. Rob has aWestfield but unfortunately wasn’t able totake it. But all was not lost; Johnnie has anMGB roadster which he very kindly lent toRob. For the drive Johnnie led us in hisE-Type Coupe and his friend (can’t rememberhis name) came along in his AC Cobra replica.We stopped at Dartmouth for lunch at a ratherposh hotel, in fact so posh they don’t even sellcrisps at the bar. We didn’t feel too hungry sojust had a snack, just as well, can you believe15 quid for a bowl of soup and a butty!Interestingly the butty came with crisps, nowwhere did they come from? It was all very nicethough, eating lunch overlooking the harbour.In the car park was a Ferrari roadster with regnumber LEO – poseur! Also an Aston MartinDB5 turned up, this was on New Zealandplates and the reg was AM DB5 – no ideahow he wangled that one. Oh and of coursethere was a very nice Sprite and Midgetparked amid all the exotica. At Salcombe westopped at the Winking Prawn beach café fora drink and snack, I had a massive piece oftreacle tart, not very healthy but very nice.Saturday evening has traditionally been adisco night with local DJ Smiley Mike runningthe proceedings. But due to the lack ofnumbers there was a quiz instead. This wasorganised by Johnnie’s mate with the ACCobra. It was open to all hotel residents andwho ever else were around at the time. All thequestions were car / motor sport related.There were half a dozen or so teams and I canproudly announce that we won. Sunday wastime to set off home however the weather hadbeen glorious all weekend so Diane and Idecided to stay another night to make themost of the weekend, especially as we hadtravelled so far. So after bidding farewell to

Geoff, Sue, Rob and Bubs we went for a driveto explore more of the countryside. Westopped off at the winking Prawn again were Ihad another piece of that gorgeous treacle tart.That evening the sky was clear and whileeating our meal in the restaurant we could seethe sun setting across the bay – absolutelywonderful.

On Monday it was definitely time for home.Once again the sun was shining so ratherthan rushing home we went over to BurghIsland first for a wonder round. From the topof the hill there are terrific views of the covesand fantastic beaches. Come late morning wereluctantly set off for home arriving back at teatime. The whole weekend was wonderful andI would like to thank Geoff, Sue, Rob andBubs for making us welcome.

The deadline for submitting this report fallsbefore we have our October meeting so I can’tgive any feedback. However the plan was tohave a photo night where everyone takesalong any interesting photos. Andrew shouldbe taking his laptop for the more technicallyminded, hopefully he won’t have forgotten theCD this time! Could be good or could be adisaster, all will be revealed next month.

For November meeting (Wednesday 8th) weare hopefully having a quiz of some sort, moredetails next moth.

Finally, Christmas lunch will provisionally beon Sunday 10th December, probablysomewhere near to the Kilten but don’t knowwhere yet. Let me know if you are interested.

Well that’s it for now.

Les

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London Calling – We Get Lonely

ALondon report I hear you all shout. Rarerthan an original set of Frogeye rubbermats, or so it seems. Yes I must confess

to being a bit negligent in my duties asLondon scribe but I have a valid excuse.

All year at every given opportunity, I havebeen driving my Frogeye. From the first frostydrive, the “Sprites & Midges across theBridges” run, held every second of January, tothe Christmas drive, wherever it may takeplace this year, you will find me out in theSpridgety thing – whenever time allows, andI’m not alone. Various members of the Londongroup have visited Le Mans, Silverstone, Kent,Essex, Warwickshire and Surrey. We’veparticipated in track days, speed shootouts,classic car shows and gymkhanas.

We’ve had a presence at every Ace CaféClassic Car night and regularly dodged trafficwardens outside our monthly meeting place atthe Mulberry Bush pub adjacent to theLondon Eye. So what I’m trying to say is thatas a (small) group, we tend to use our carsregularly.

So it was with some surprise that at our mostrecent monthly gathering, we didn’t have asingle Spridget there between us. Nick camestraight from work so had no time to collecthis Frogeye from the wild depths of SouthLondon. Rachel and Toby’s Midget islanguishing on their driveway with anunfinished fibreglass front end awaitingelectrification. Bob T’s fuel injected Midget iscurrently pistonless in Croydon and myFrogeye’s prop-shaft is looking very pretty inthe hallway minus its universal joints.

Without our cars present to look at, crawlover, prod and laugh at, we actually sat downin the pub, ate some food and talked to each

other. Freed from the responsibility ofwatching out for marauding hoards of parkingwardens, yobs and winos, we were able to geton with just having a nice evening, chattingaway. Two major things were decided.

1. Were all going to Le Mans again next yearand

2. We’ve just got to find a better venue tomeet than the Mulberry Bush pub.

So we intend to up camp from Southwark onthe first Monday of each month and headSouth East to the relative calm of Greenwich.Compared to Central London, It’s cleaner,easier to park and furthermore, it’s simpler tofind for visiting Surrey, Essex and Kentgroups. What could be easier?

Grab a map, find the Prime Meridian line andwhere it meets the International Date Line isGreenwich. Obviously not up on the hill at theobservatory (although wouldn’t that be fun)but a nice normal pub with a nice normal carpark, like other places seem to have.

All we need to do now is choose one, askpermission of the Landlord to deposit our oilgushing, carbon breathing cars there once amonth, and let the rest of the Spridget worldknow its name so that they can drive vastcollections of Sprites and Midgets there tomeet us. I promise that we’ll be welcomingand hospitable.

Bob has volunteered to hunt out this illusivewatering hole and by the time you read this,we will have probably already had our first gettogether in it.

Our intention (for I have just decided whilewriting this) is to have a date sometime earlynext year when we can invite other groups,

especially our nearest neighbours Kent,Essex and Surrey, over to our neck ofthe woods for a springtime jolly. I willinform everyone of the date when we’vedecided it.

Until then, we send greetings from the“Smoke” as we approach anotherChristmas (well November anyway).

Gary Lazarus, London Area

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Mulberry Bush

Surrey Area Report

Since the August season this year, mySprite has been running roughly, and asall electrics were performing as required,

it had to be the carbs. It’s been 14 years sincewe re-furbished them, so in fairness, I thoughtmaybe the time has come, and Alan has beenextolling the virtues of rolling roads recently!

So, whilst the Kent rolling roads were anoption, I found myself drawn to SouthernCarburettors, in South Wimbledon, mainly asthey were in walking distance of work. Booked,in, I drove over at the end of August, with thepromise that the first hour was diagnostic, andthe second would probably sort it! When Ipicked her up, I received a very thoroughde-brief – after a fair amount of unevenrunning, loose nuts and one with a strippedthread were diagnosed on the inlet manifold,and once these were tightened and replacedas necessary, more diagnostics followed.

A new H6 needle was supplied in one carb,and the need to re-furbish and balancerecommended in a year or so. No rolling roadwas either necessary or recommended.I drove away in what really felt like a fullyrejuvenated motor, and I have to recommendSouthern Carburettor’s professional andhelpful service. Now while Chris and I wereexploring Peru by train in September, the BlueBall goes on as usual! Chris Burgess drove upall the way from Newhaven in his white Mk IVSprite, and the usual suspects were reportedto be there! Christmas is coming, or so theysay, and we’ll be off to the Kingswood Armsagain, so anyone keen to partake of seasonalcheer, will hopefully have handed over a fiverdeposit by now!Keep on Spridgeting. All for now, but do keepin touch.

David

Cambridgeshire Report

The Cambridgeshire group all started fromvery humble beginnings in December2000 with our first pub night with just

two Spridgets in attendance (one of thembeing mine) but one is better than none andwe all have to start somewhere. I must admithaving read some of the early reports again, Idid talk things up a little at the start but it didthe trick, we started to grow and grow. It isespecially great that with the exception of acouple of spies from the committee of the MGclub who came to our first meeting to take alook at this new upstart group(Cambridgeshire is the home of the MGOC) allof those who attended the earlymeetings went on to become stalwartsand cornerstones of our group and withthe exception of Chris (who sadly soldhis Midget a year or so back) stillregularly support our group activities(well done guys).

Through the pages of MASCOT wemade ourselves known to other groupsand individual members who have beentempted out to join us on some of ourevents (and been rewarded by a

mention and possibly a photo in MASCOT). Ialso like to think that the reports of ouractivities in building up our area haveencouraged and inspired others to start upnew groups which have contributed to thegrowth in active MASC areas. Now we don’tmean to take credit for this, this was all donethrough the magic of MASCOT, but I wouldlike to think we lent a hand. All this brings meto our retiring Editor Mike who deserves amassive vote of thanks not only for his workon MASCOT but also for the help and supporthe has given the Cambridgeshire group overthe years. It was great to meet up with Mike

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Wimpole Hall

at our Little Gransden event last month andalso to see Chris from the Home Countiesmob. We frequently get individual members(often from areas without active groups)attending our events and this is all through theexistence of MASCOT. If you think about it,MASCOT is the only connection most MASCmembers have to this brilliant little club, andthey will only get to know us through readingabout what we do.To an area representative MASCOT is abrilliant tool to advertise the areas’ activitiesand keep in touch with the membership.Active areas are the lifeblood of our club.MASCOT will never be a mainstream classiccar magazine and while it’s interesting to seea sprinkling of items borrowed from otherpublications, race reports and technicalarticles MASCOT is what it says on the cover

“The Magazine of the Midget and Sprite Club”and as such needs to be filled with reports ofthe activities of it’s members.

Having stressed the importance of MASCOT tothe success and well being of the club andshown appreciation for the outgoing Editor,Cambridgeshire would like to give a vote ofthanks to Barry Lowe for stepping forward totake over one of the most demanding roles inMASC. Volunteers are very special peoplewithout whom MASC would not exist (welldone) especially ones who are prepared tomove things forward.

We grafted in an extra last minuteunadvertised (sorry no time) trip to Wimpolehall this month. In true Cambridgeshire MASCstyle despite threatening clouds in themorning the day turned out to be hot andsunny. The event ended up being just a carshow rather than the larger fate type eventthat had been advertised, but a brilliant eventin a fabulous setting nevertheless.

The Christmas meal is booked for Sunday the10th of December at 12-30 pm at the Georgeand Dragon in Elsworth please let me knowASAP if you would like to come.

Dave Dixon

Yorkshire ReportOctober MeetingApologies to all for the very late arrangementsfor the October meeting. This was partially dueto computer problems. I arrived first. Notdifficult, as The Bay Horse in Goldsborough isonly a few miles from home and Arthur isaway on holiday. Mark H and his dad Kenwere only a few minutes behind me. Theyhave just fitted a replacement exhaustmanifold to Mark’s Midget. One thing led toanother (as it often does in Spridget-World)and before long their house was full of thesmell of petrol as they stripped down the carbsfor an overhaul whilst Mrs H was at work. Theresult is 40mpg so they are very pleased withtheir efforts. Martin and Gail are just back fromholiday so not much progress has been madeon the Frogeye restoration recently. Josiearrived straight from work as she has beencatching up after a two-week holiday. She andNick are off to do a rally in the Mini at the

weekend. Nick arrived a bit later with tales ofthe hours spent helping Simon get his Spriteready for the Classic Marathon. Matt andLizzie brought Andy B and his dad Jeff withthem. Andy and Jeff are getting on really wellwith the Frogeye and I think it won’t be toolong before it is ready for painting. In themeantime Andy is on the lookout for retrotuning parts like Speedwell. Matt’s Midget hasjust passed its MOT and he is now running-inhis rebuilt engine. The foundations are in for

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Seeing red atDonington

Little Gransden

the deluxe garage that is going to house the V8project Midget. Sarah couldn’t make it but Timdid and brought their photos from the CroftTrack Day and the Dales Run for us to lookthrough. Mike N was the last to turn up on theeve of his Elvington skid session. Not as manyof us as usual but at least we managed fourMidgets in the car park despite the showeryevening. Lots of positive comments on the newlook MASCOT. Well done Barry! Everyoneapproves of the bigger picture on the frontcover.

Other Matters

Jim has been doing more development workon his road-going sprint/hillclimb Midget. Hewas pleased with its performance at Harewoodbut couldn’t quite catch a heavily modifiedMidget. Andrew H and I had the chance to doa track session at Donington the day before thebig VSCC See Red race weekend inSeptember. It absolutely poured down allafternoon making the track very slipperythroughout the 3-hour open pitlane. The VSCChad an instructor available to take us out andshow us the driving lines. Donington is a veryinteresting circuit and I found it quite difficultto perfect any of the corners. Andrew’s Frogeyehad a little spin early on but behaved betterafter he altered the tyre pressures. Mark hadthe chance to refresh his memory of the trackprior to racing as part of an MG team in the2-hour relay race on the Saturday. I was luckyenough to be passenger to Barrie Williams fora few laps in a modern car. I think he was

disappointed that I didn’t scream when hedemonstrated how using the handbrake can‘help’ you turn some of the corners. I was onlyworried when he couldn’t find the right controlto demist the windscreen. Nick and Josieended up doing the Border Reivers EconomyTrial in the Midget as the Mini developed aproblem with the head gasket shortly aftersetting off for Fife. The event included 8 lapsof Knockhill, 8 driving tests and 130 miles ofnavigation. They won their class and came 4thoverall. Simon is at the time of writing in themiddle of this year’s Classic Marathon. HisSprite needed some hood frame repairs and anew clutch master cylinder to passscrutineering. Then he and Trevor went for adrive to run in the engine. Check out how theydid athttp://www.classicrally.org.uk/classicmarathon2006/news.html Gary was on the lookout for aMidget to run whilst he works on the Spritenearly- finished project he bought over a yearago. He has found a smart RWA Midget withnew bodyshell, hardtop, recon engine and box,new clutch and a full MOT. Looking forward toseeing it soon. He has now decided to sell theSprite so if you are interested contact me andI’ll pass your details on.

A huge thanks to Tim and Sarah for organisingthe Conker Run held on 8th October. I had agreat day out with a fantastic group ofSpridgeteers. Good to see some familiar facesagain and to meet some new folk.

Anita

Warwickshire’s October Report

New editor, new deadline, reports nowstart instead of ending with news fromthe meeting.

This month’s gathering was made memorableby the late appearance of Mo and Phil, whoproudly announced that they had got married;strange after all this time and two children!!Seeing the Pensioners in the room gasping inhorror, they qualified the statement byexplaining that they had renewed theirmarriage vows just prior to the meeting.Fortunately, this will not be obligatory to therest of us. Phil had lost his wedding ring, soan exact copy to match Mo’s was ordered,and blessed at the renewal ceremony, which

took place in their garden. Not a commonoccurrence, although there were mutteringsabout it being cheaper to join the NationalTrust.

At this month’s meeting we discussed theforthcoming AGM on the 22nd October andthe election of the officials, which weanticipate will herald a newly formedCommittee to shape the Clubs future. TheClassic Car Show at the NEC is on Friday toSunday, 27th – 29th October. John Platt isorganising the club stand, where we arelooking forward to having a Sebring Spriteplus Stuart’s car and the sectioned displayMidget from the Patrick Collection.

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September is usually a quiet month, but Alanand Rosemary thought that this needed tochange, especially as the weather seemed tobe holding, so they organised a trip toHay-on-Wye (the Town of Books) taking in theGolden Valley and the Black Mountains. Theroute itself was 119 miles, but with thejourney to and from the meeting and end, weclocked up 220 miles, which is not bad in aday. Eight cars met at the little Chef followinga torrential down pour, which had ceased lessthan an hour previously, so we set off withwet roads. We travelled through Piddle, not aloo stop, but marked by the solitary donkeystanding by a Piddle Lake! We continuedthrough Pershore to Little Malvern, where wemet Sue and Roger but had to wait for Moand Phil who lived nearby, but managed tofind themselves held up by the Malvern Showtraffic. It was a day full of events as we alsobecame mixed up with a cycle race; part of atriathlon around Malvern and at Eskelide therewas a Sheep Dog Show on one side of theroad and a Ploughing Contest on the other.We continued through Hereford, along theGolden Valley arriving at Hay-on-Wye at about

one o’clock, with only two hours to have lunchand look around the time flew and we weresoon back on the road.Setting off for the return journey, we took aroad, which runs along the edge of the BlackMountains. It is a single-track road, withsheep as well as oncoming vehicles tonegotiate, with the drivers of the approachingvehicles being far more accommodating thanthe sheep, as they usually pulled over to let allof us through. The black clouds that hadthreatened us all day, but had given way tothe sunshine previously, appeared to taketheir revenge and we had an umbrellamoment for a few minutes. We finished atLedbury for a drink and the final farewell.As mentioned last month, the WarwickshireSection visited the Ace Café for the Classicsnight, and just to prove it, there is a picture inthe October edition of Classic Cars Magazinetaken of Alan, with the bonnet of his LotusElan open, talking to an attentive Roy, whoseI.O.W. Frogeye can be seen in thebackground.

Chris and Sheila

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CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

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Ed says: please see issue 264, page 22/23 for credits and disclaimers.

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From the Editor’s library

Converting to ventilated front diskswith 4 pot calipers – Part two

A small addendum to last month’s adviceon calipers and hosesThe calipers were originally designed to havestandard male unions taking copper pipe intothem, so the surfaces on which the new banjoswill seal are of a rough finish. You must sandthem smooth to enable a proper seal. Checkthat there is enough thread depth in the holesto allow the banjo bolts to make the sealwithout bottoming out. The ones I bought weremarginal, and I had to add a couple of extracopper washers to allow room for compression.If the bolt bottoms out it won’t make a seal nomatter how tight you nip it up. Of course, if yourun copper pipes to the calipers with maleunions the above doesn’t apply. The calipersare dual circuit and as such have 3 bleednipples each: 2 for the lower pistons and 1 forthe upper pistons. The calipers must bemounted so that the single nipple is at the top– obvious really due to the nature of rising air –but something to bear in mind when putting itall together. Bleeding is fairly straightforward:do the bottom ones first, then the tops. OfficialRover advice is that the bottom 2 nipples beboth open at the same time during bleeding, noidea why.Machining and ModificationThis is the tricky bit. I managed to use a set ofengineering drawings from a contact throughthe BBS but can’t really pass them on withouthis permission but I’m sure he won’t mind mementioning the main dimensions. The centralhole in the disk needs to be enlarged to 64mmto accept the hub, this will just break into theoriginal 4 Metro retaining holes but don’t worry,you’ll be drilling new ones. The overall depth ofthe disk and boss needs reducing to 60mm bymachining some metal off the boss – this needsto be done perfectly to avoid creating runout.Then put a small 45° chamfer on the insideedge of the boss 2mm deep. Finally, 4 newholes must be drilled and tapped in the disk3/8 UNF at 80.9mm PCD with 15mm ofthread depth. You MUST use a pillar drill to getthem perfectly perpendicular. You can use thehub as a template but make sure it is perfectlycentred relative to the disk; otherwise you couldhave real vibration problems. As the caliper isso big the hub flange needs reducing, note theprofile on the pictures. Take the outer edgedown to 130mm diameter, and the inner edge

to 116mmdiameter. Theinner edge justclears the end ofthe wheel studs.This is themaximum thehub can bereduced to keep itsafe, so you stillhave to grind alittle off the edge of the caliper as it will likelymake contact with the hub. Grind a small bit ata time and keep checking so as to avoid takingtoo much off. The mounting holes for thecaliper are a little further apart than theSpridget ones so need ovalising, by approx3mm inwards. A round hand file here is usefulto make sure you don’t take it too far, possibleif using a power tool. Rather than offsettingthem along a straight line between the twoholes, take them diagonally inwards from thepistons, so the caliper will mount further awayfrom the edge of the disk. You still may have torelieve the inside of the caliper if it contactswith the edge of the disk (I used an electricfinger file). Additionally a spacer or washer isneeded between the caliper and stub axle toget the disk correctly centred in the caliper (Iused the lock tabs/plates from the old caliper).If you have a Frontline suspension kit, the diskmight catch on the top arm on full lock;judicious use here of the grinder is called for.Well, that’s about it. It sounds complicated butif you are a competent DIYer it can be asatisfying project, and it looks neat too. If youare worried about the safety or quality of yourwork, you should ask a professional to take alook before/during/after to put your mind at rest.A final word, I know it’s boring but tough: thisconversion is done on race cars, and if doneproperly it is safe. My disclaimer is that theabove is a guide only; you carry out anymodifications at your own risk. I am not anengineer, my conversion was done slowly andcarefully with no compromises – these are yourbrakes we are talking about after all. If youwould like to see further pictures of my ownconversion, you can see them on my websitewww.V8midget.com

Matt Wrigglesworth, Yorkshire

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What’s in My Garage

No sooner have we met Stuart Gunn’s4WD V8 does another one comealong!

My most recent purchase is a 1972 Midgetwith a Rover 3500cc V8 in it. The bulk of thework was carried out about 5 years ago, achange of circumstances led to it being sold toa contact on the BBS, his family demandshave increased so now it’s mine!

The block is a fullyprepared drag racingversion built by MartinCowell (who drag racedV8 Midgets), with anIsky TR8 works cam andSD1 standard heads (fornow). It is set up withtwin SUs on a RV8manifold, but as the topsof the dashpots protrudethrough the bonnet Ithink I’ll be goingMegasquirt EFI andmappable ignition. AnLT77 gearbox sits on theend.

The rear end is anarrowed TR8 axle withtelescopic shocks, the

front suspension is Frontline with big brakes(thankfully!).

The car will be a sleeper, the only telltalesigns of the V8 will be the twin tailpipes, ohand the raucous growl as it sweeps pastunsuspecting chavs. You can see progress onwww.V8midget.com, but first I have to buildmy own garage to get it out of the outlaws!

Matt Wrigglesworth, West Yorkshire

Market PlaceAdverts to Alan Lo

23 Charnell Road, Staple Hill, Bristol, BS16 5NE

email: alan@mobuzzing.net Tel: 0117 9572617

For SaleMidget 1973 RWA. Tax and 12 mths MOT.British Racing Green with new Autumn Leafinterior, aside from seats. Reconditionedengine: very reliable and used regularly. NewGoodyear GT2 tyres and Rostyles in last12 mths. Recon. dashboard. New wiringloom. New disks, calipers, braided hoses andmaster cylinders. New king-pins, bushes etc.Recon. front suspension units, K&N filter, newfront wings. respray with photos. other items

renewed in the last 12 mths include: startermotor, alternator, matrix, exhaust system,front wheel bearings, coil, leads and battery.A much-loved car for sale due to domesticcircumstances! £3,200 (O.N.A)(Cheshire) Tel: 01928-711423.

WantedHAYNES manual for 1959 Frogeye Sprite.Contact: Maurice (01442 842509)

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Working with cars like these since the ’60sactively involved in Club Motorsport at all levels.

COMPLETE RANGE OF GEAR BOXES & DIFFERENTIAL UNITSFOR ALL SPRITE & MIDGETS FROM FROGEYE TO

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