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MG Midget and Sprite General - 'Sebring' replicas

Hi,

Just looking at the 'Sebring' style replicas (again)

As far as I can see they are provided from Archers Garage (which is handy as I'm a few miles from there on the way home from work)

I like the look of the fastback with the 'Sebring' bonnet.

My intended use would be for road use but also interested in what sort of competition use they are eligible for and the spec they need to be built to in order to eligible.

What are the consequences of using a later shell as a base, B pillar shape, how easy to convert to Mk1 doors? Quarter / Semi elliptic on it's eligibilty for its intended race category?

General quailty / fit of the one piece front - do they 'flap' at speed?

Just any good / bad opinions or experiences people have had, especially those who have driven or built / building one.

Cheers

Spencer
S Deakin

Await Alan Anstead's reply here and also check out and Speak with Martin Ingall www.sebringsprite.com. It's a fanttastic website.
Tom Caulthard who also post here is probably the world expert on original Sebring Sprites.
Gary Lazarus

now i have a shared question
in one way more specific on the other hand more general

wich other body styles are allowed in FIA historic chanmpionships?

i assume an original jacobs midget or sebring sprite would be welcomed with open arms
but they are a bit hard to get you hands on.

i have once tryed to look it up but got dazed by the diffrent apendixes and legal like talk.
Onno Könemann

I think WSM's and they are making continuation models now too.
Gary Lazarus

Onno, worthy of a separate thread I think, however:
FIA Appendix K Historic racing is for Homologated cars up to 1965. To pass inspection and obtain FIA papers (HTP/HC) then a car has to conform in every way to the original homologation specification as was lodged with FIA back in period. There are some makes / models that have obtained retrospective HTP on the basis that they can be proven to have raced in a full International race before 31/12/65 but it gets very tricky. Yes I believe WSM are OK, but as far as I can tell Lenham is not.
Hopefully someone who knows all this stuff better than I will come along and expand on it a bit.
David Smith

Hi
I have owned my Speedwell blue Sebring rep for about 5/6 years. There is a picture(s) of it on Martin Ingall's site. The top and bonnet are fibreglass produced By Archers Garage. The car is a Brian Wheeler tub. The coupe design is for MK1/2 Sprites and, subject to what Andrew at Archers might say, I believe that they will not fit a later bulkhead & neither will Frogeye doors. Archers do many parts other than the shell IE alloy / fibre doors, seats, Sebring pedal boxes etc.
I have experienced stress cracks across the bulkhead part of the top. I get some "creaking"
My car is cut back inside to give a full cockpit area. Piling cases in, for touring, is great. Security is not - with all on show. There are no door locks on a Frogeye.
The inside of the car gets very hot in the summer. I know of one car with an A35 / minivan roof vent. I am very pleased with my car but would I do it again?
Get a hardtop then you have the best of both worlds. Want a fastback then get an Ashley or Lenham, that goes on and comes off, or search around for another period item.
Want a different backend on your car then Tifosi Rana produce a Frogeye rear that contours to later doors.
Classic Cars of Kent www.classiccarsofkent.co.uk
also make Sebring tops and have the old Lenham moulds.
Martin Ingall will probably assist re racing as he Sprints / races his well known replica JJO at home and abroad.
Alan.
Alan Anstead

Hi Alan,

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

I had wondered about the general heat build up in the 'fixed head' due to the lack of properly opening windows (just a small perspex slider I guess?)Also I noticed more than a few have evolved roof vents for this reason?

To be honest the door locks on a later car are little in the way of a deterent but I know what you mean.

What is the Sebring bonnet like for fit and stiffness, does it vibrate / shimmy at speed? Stress crack at the side fixings?

I have seen a BRG spridget on Martin's site? which has a Sebring front and a 'smooth' later rear with the boot / rear deck all welded up as one, which if combined with a hardtop would be a halfway house.

The Classic Cars of Kent website is under construction but I will keep an eye out for any progress with it. I may pop to Archers garage and have a chat and a look around to glean a little more.

For me the Sebring conversion captures the style of a 60's racing car in a relatively affordable package. It's just a matter of trying to appreciate how much more inconvienient / different thay are compared to a regular Sprite for more than just a summer afternoon out.

Cheers

Spencer
S Deakin

Just spoke to Andrew at Archers garage and I'm going over next week to have a look as he says he has numerous cars at various stages of the procedure.

Using a later shell isn't a problem, the bulkhead whilst different in some details such as the screen mount and shape is not a big deal as the hinge assemblies are the same.

The 'B' pillar (door catch panel) is different and can be modified or more easily a frogeye panel fitted.

Really helpful, nice guy, I look forward to the visit, just wish i'd gone this afternoon, but the M5 was solid.

Cheers
S Deakin

If you are an impulse buyer then leave your wallet in the car, or better still at home, when you visit Archers for the first time.
Alan Anstead

Alan,

Sometimes I wish I was an impulse buyer and not analysing everything to death.

But it would be rude to come away without something to remember my visit by, wouldn't it?

Cheers
S Deakin

Spencer,
take a camera with you, i am interested in a flip up front (which doesn't give front end lift), especially after having such easy engine access on my GT6.
Brad (Sprite IV 1380)

Brad,

Will do, not sure I will photograph anything that doesn't already exist.

Still no work on the kinematics simulation as I have been chopping the rear bulkhead out of my car, but I need to do it as I don't know what to do as far as putting strengthening into the rear bulkhead for the mounting of the 4 links.

Cheers
S Deakin

Dean i dont want to scare you but you know its an english buisnes?
That means the guys are great to hang out with but as unreliable as hell when it comes to living up to agreements about delivering/finishing & quality.

My friend picked his sebring up from their place 3 weeks ago.
They "only" had it for 5 to 6 years and still it wasnt finished!!!!!
Dont even make me start on the quality of the build/parts... :(

If you do it build it yourself and be prepared nothing fits, then things can only go up from there...


But once finished it will look great!!!

Arie de Best

Arie,

Did you mean me (Spencer) when you said Dean?

If it was me then any comments about quality of parts / experiences is exactly what I want to hear about.

What parts?

What problems?

Cheers

Spencer
S Deakin

Brad,

So I went along to Archers on Friday, nothing to photograph really just all the same stuff as per the sebring sprite website.

Andrew is a really nice and helpful guy, the premises are definately like going back in time, very "black country industrial revolution" !!

Lots of 'Work in progress' chassis's.

My main reservations are two-fold as touched on already in this thread:

1.) Security, just being able to lock doors from the opportunists, I know none of the Spridgets are really secure though. But I think it is easy enough to engineer a lock without making it too obvious

2.) Ventilation / cooling, the lack of windup windows and fixed head design. I guess the side screens are detachable, just a little less convenient. Again possible to have a large grill fed duct into a hole throught the bulkhead via a fan.

It is difficult to decide if these details would be minor or significant in ownership of such a car with a view to it being used for more than occasional usage.

Anyone got a Sebring replica to hire for a week in the summer? ;)

Cheers
S Deakin

Some fit A35 / minivan roof vents available from Sommerford (field?) mini.
I gave up waiting for sidescreens from Archers and was forced to make my own. I moulded scoops to fit the rear of the "window" aperture to feed in cold air. The sidescreens can be removed and stowed but I prefer to suffer for my hobby.
You can fit locks but if / with everything on show it would not take much to pop a window or rip a sidescreen off. This can be a problem when touring as even if a drape is over the luggage it is still pretty obvious what is underneath.
Alan Anstead

They have a Sebring garage and showroom close by me - yes, in the middle of nowhere :) - and, they are pretty good about getting things done on time and out - can go across the fields and get the number if you want it, and then chase them up if needed - the men here are pretty scared of women for some reason ........
rachmacb

"the men here are pretty scared of women for some reason ........ "

Rachel, is that women in general or you in particulair? LOL

I have this image of a Rachel dressed and painted blue as Mel Gibson in Bravehart, running down the hill, swearing as only the Scottisch can, and then look supprised why the local english have run off... LOL!!
Arie de Best

Alan,

I did take my wallet but it only had debit / credit cards in it and Andrew says they are not geared up for them yet! - which saved me on a few items as I had picked a few things up during my walk around Archers.

Have you got any pictures of your cooling ducts

Rachel,

Which 'Sebring' dealer is by you, it might be worth a visit the next time I go to Snetterton as I 'pass' (A14)Cambridge - depending on which bit it is

Cheers

S Deakin

They are called Sebring International in Three Holes, haven't been over there in awhile but my uncle was building a kit car and I went with him a couple of times and they seemed helpful enough.

Lol Arie you have a very strange idea of me - I don't like going downhills remember - so I shall just use the combined bellies of the men here to run over :). The Fen-women can be pretty scary - even for a Scot, it's probably just as well it was far away or William Wallace would have run for the thistles...!
rachmacb

Rachel,
Wrong car! Look at sebringsprite.com or sebringracing.co.uk (who gets his bits from Andrew)
Derek Stewart

Have they stopped doing the replica bits too then?

LOL - I knew they'd moved to some posher factory for their building - didn't realise they'd given up all the old stuff ...! Bearing in mind my uncle has now been driving his kit car for a few years now, and I think when they came I still had a horse who's been dead about 7 years - could be there's been a couple of changes :)

Rach - why should I keep up to date anyway - nothing REALLY changes if you just wait on it coming around again ;)
rachmacb

There is a picture of my Speedwell Blue car at www.sebringsprite.com
unfortunately the light on perspex makes them invisible.
Alan Anstead

This thread was discussed between 08/04/2010 and 20/04/2010

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