The Austin-Healey Experience Library

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Total Articles in our Library: 50

Latest Articles

New articles posted in the last 60 days:

Folding the Midget/Sprite Soft Top: Posted on: Wednesday May 1, 2013
How to correctly fold the soft top (hood) on the MG Midget or Austin Healey Sprite without creasing or tearing the vinyl windows.
Awakening a Sleeping MG: Posted on: Saturday April 27, 2013
Checklist and procedure for starting an MG (or other similar classic British cars) that have been in long term storage.
Midget and Sprite Newbie FAQ: Posted on: Friday April 26, 2013
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for new Midget and Sprite owners, for those who have a little experience with cars in general and want to get their cars up and running as quickly as possible.

Buying a Used Vehicle

Used Car Checklist: A great checklist when buying any kind of car, print this out and take it with you if you're considering buying.
Used Car Checklist (Printable) (pdf): A nicely formatted, printable PDF version of the SOL Used Car Buying Guide checklist.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Awakening a Sleeping MG: Checklist and procedure for starting an MG (or other similar classic British cars) that have been in long term storage.
Midget and Sprite Newbie FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for new Midget and Sprite owners, for those who have a little experience with cars in general and want to get their cars up and running as quickly as possible.

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General Care

Car Lifts Compared: Choosing a car lift for your home garage: buyer's guide to four post lifts, two post lifts, in-ground, and single post lift systems reviewed and compared.
Leather Care: How to keep your seats from fading or cracking, and looking their best.
Twist Drill Talk: How to get the most from your drill bits in the garage, and how to sharpen, inspect and keep them in top working order.

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Service and Repair

Tops and Windows

Folding the Midget/Sprite Soft Top: How to correctly fold the soft top (hood) on the MG Midget or Austin Healey Sprite without creasing or tearing the vinyl windows.
Soft Top (Hood) Installation for MG Midget: Installation instructions for new soft tops on the MG Midget (folding type)

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Suspension and Wheels

MG Midget & Sprite Differential Rebuild Tips: Inspection, directions tips and tools needed for rebuilding the MG Midget & Austin-Healey Sprite differential, ring and pinion, and bearings.
MG Midget & Sprite Front Wheel Bearings: Comprehensive article about MG Midget & Austin-Healey Sprite front wheel bearing replacement, shimming, comparison to MGB bearings and technical drawings.
Mounting Tires: How to change tubes and tires yourself and get a nice cardio workout in the deal.

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Brakes and Clutch

Bleeding The Hydraulic Clutch System: A simple tip that might solve your clutch bleeding frustration.
Modifying the Midget Brake Tool: A quick tip on making the factory tool to be more useful.

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Engine and Tuning

Building a No-Leak A-Series Engine: Sealing the BMC A-Series engine against oil leaks: Installation of the rear main cap, engine gaskets, timing cover seal and frost plugs.
Make a Spark Tester: Diagnosing a weak spark with a few bits and pieces from the junk bin.
Oil Filter Study: A good website showing what oil filters are made of, and good and bad components to look for.

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Transmission, Driveshaft and Differential

MG Midget & Sprite Rear Axle Knowledge: A collection of information on the MG Midget & Austin-Healey Sprite rear axle, hubs, splines, halfshaft, differential etc.

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Carburetors and Fuel

Weber Factory Calibration Settings (pdf): Stock settings for various Weber carbs.

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Electrical and Instruments

Battery Storage, Fact or Fiction?: Will leaving your battery sitting on concrete cause it to discharge?
Car Batteries 101: Testing, maintenance, troubleshooting and charging advice for the common automotive 12V lead-acid car battery.
Ground Point Preparation: Removing corrosion from your car's ground points often solves all kinds of electrical gremlins.
Servicing The Lucas Wiper Switch: How to restore the Lucas Wiper, Washer, and Overdrive switch stalk from the early 1970s MGB and other British vehicles of similar vintage.
Understanding Alternators: Operation and theory of the alternator, explained in simple terms.
Understanding the Ignition System: Operation and theory of the ignition system, explained in simple terms.

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Interior and Upholstery

DIY Wood Steering Wheel: Part 1 Introduction, Design & Prototype: How to build your own wooden steering wheel: Justification, Budget, Objectives, Donor Wheel, Design, and building a Prototype.
DIY Wood Steering Wheel: Part 2 Choosing Wood, Making Blanks: How to build your own wooden steering wheel: choosing lumber for making the wheel, material list and cost, design and making the blanks for the halves, cutting segments and making splines, gluing the hexagons
DIY Wood Steering Wheel: Part 3 Machining the Halves & Rounding: How to build your own wooden steering wheel: making a router table, marking the wood, cutting the shape of the wheel and center groove, assembling wheel halves and rounding
DIY Wood Steering Wheel: Part 4 Fitting the Wood to the Steel & Finger Grooves: How to build your own wooden steering wheel: fitting the wooden wheel to the steel frame, cutting space for the spokes, making finger grooves with a wood file
DIY Wood Steering Wheel: Part 5 Attaching to the Steel Frame & Finishing: How to build your own wooden steering wheel: fastening the wooden wheel to the frame with epoxy, clamping, finishing hand sanding, mother of pearl inlay, wood stain and varnish
DIY Wood Steering Wheel: Part 6 The Finished Product & Conclusion: How to build your own wooden steering wheel: the finished steering wheel, final thoughts and total time and cost tallies (Final Part)
Low Cost Cockpit Sound and Thermal Insulation (pdf): Here is how I did a low-cost thermal and sound insulation for my interior, and a comparison between it and a sound deadening material such as Dynamat Extreme.
MG Midget & Sprite Door Assembly Directions: A guide to the puzzling assembly order for all roll-up windows on the MG Midget and Austin-Healey Sprite.

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Body and Paint

BMC/BL Paint Codes and Colors: Scans of paint chip samples for BMC and British Leyland colours from 1964 to 1978, with names and paint codes for makes such as MG (MGB), Triumph (Spitfire, TR6), Austin (Mini), Austin-Healey (Midget), Morris Minor, Riley, Wolseley
Car Bodywork 101: Lesson #1 Prep Work: The first part of the series on automotive bodywork, Prep Work, covers basic preparation before painting such as rough sanding, applying and sanding filler, applying and sanding primer, and fixing high spots.
Car Bodywork 101: Lesson #2 Sanding Jamb Areas: Part 2 in this series on automotive bodywork, Sanding Door and Hood Jamb Areas, covers "jambing", basic sanding technique, supplies like sandpaper, Scotchbrite and blocks, sanding technique, cleaning and paint masking tips.
Car Bodywork 101: Lesson #3 Painting Jamb Areas: Part 3 in this series on automotive bodywork, Painting Door and Hood Jamb Areas, covers Tools for Automotive Painting, Fixing Paint Runs and Overspray, Block Sanding Final Primer, and color hold-out (even color).
Car Bodywork 101: Lesson #4 Final Prep: Part 4 in this series on automotive bodywork covers Final Body Preparation, Masking the Body, Masking Curves and Letters, Masking Cracks and Tight Areas, and Final Air and Solvent Cleaning.
Car Bodywork 101: Lesson #5 Painting: Time for Paint! Part 5 in this series covers Mixing Automotive Paint, Automotive Paint Systems, Painting in Your Garage, and Painting Tips.
Car Bodywork 101: Lesson #6 Undercoating: The final part of this automotive bodywork tutorial series covers undercoating your car and final words on bodywork and painting.
Color Sanding: How to get an excellent finish when repainting your car.

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Restoration

Build a Body Rotator: The ultimate low-buck body restoration aid (mirror)
Media Blasting and Air Compressors Explained: How to choose the right blasting equipment for car restoration; sand, slag, alox, and glass beads; gun and nozzle selection and air compressor buying guide.

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Reference

BMC A-Series Engine Codes: Mostly complete list of cars fitted with the BMC A-Series engine, 1952 to 1999
Bolt Torque Specification: Universal torque specs in ft-lbs for SAE Grade steel hex bolts.
British Car Production Figures: Total production data for all British makes and models.
CO% to Air Fuel Ratio (AFR) Table: Handy chart for CO based tuning.
Standard Threads Reference: Table comparing UNC, UNF, USP, BSW (Whitworth), BSP (Pipe) and Metric threads.
Wrench and Socket Reference: Reference table of US (Imperial), Metric and Whitworth wrench sizes.

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Streaming Video

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Contemporary Publications

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Humour and Miscellaneous

US-British Technical Terms: Translations of terms with different meanings on different sides of the Atlantic.

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