From what I've read, the body is the same across the Midget years, so I can either run it bare, or source the smaller steel bumpers from a pre-74 car. Will just need to also source front turn signals from an earlier car, as the 74+ are part of the big rubber bumper.

 

Bare Midget you say?

 

Gotcha, so you're saying it'll be rewarding to track down parts and make this what you want.

 

How's the legroom? Asking for a friend. Seriously though, no one over like 5'8" would fit in that car, right?

 

It's got a shocking amount of legroom, I was genuinely impressed.
I'm 6'0" 34" inseam & fit just fine.
If you're more torso than legs, you may have fitment issues. Hence the guy selling it.

 

Wow, that's crazy. Not what I was expecting to hear. Very cool!

 

I was shocked when I had ample legroom, though the pedals are just a bit tight with Ariat boots on
I've got a pair of very narrow soled Pumas that will work nicely for driving this thing. My regular tennis shoes were good, but still just a bit wide.

This is a 65
Mine has stalk activated high beams, can't imagine getting to that tiny floor switch in anything but really thin driving shoes.

 

that is tight as hell!

 

Headed up to tinker on the Midge tomorrow. Mostly going to be going over everything & start a shopping list.
New tires should be getting mount/balance today. Might try to sneak it out for a short run around the block (no plates on it, so just local sideroads).

She's on stilts for now



Nearly 50 year old car is going to need some repairs, as expected
Never seen such a standoff from the hub to the rotor before.



Many photos to follow next week.

 

Holy shit, those are inboard rotors lol. You'll need to pull the wheel bearing to swap the rotors out haha. I'd definitely see if there's a kit for more modern brakes out there with outboard rotors so it's far less of a PITA in the future.

Also more modern brakes will be nice when you LT4 swap this thing.

Also I'd recommend some wider tires...

 

The rear are width limited due to the square arches.
Will give it a better look tomorrow, maybe the hubs don't have to be disassembled to do the rotors.

Will probably do all new rubber [bushings, hoses, etc] & fluids at a minimum. And a gasket refresh on the engine/trans. Need to identify where those are leaking & if new gaskets will alleviate that.

 

Spent a few hours with Midge yesterday.
Hayne's manual, a flashlight, rolling stool & creeper. Pored over the car quite a bit & started a shopping list.

The guy I bought it from mentioned that the choke didn't work & he'd fiddled with it quite a bit.
It's got a Weber DGEV 32/36, with all the emissions stuff deleted, on a Cannon IM.
We pulled the e-choke & the choke plate pivot wasn't in the choke spring. Got that lined up & adjusted, started on the first crank after sitting for a week.
Choke stayed closed, so it's running rich, think it may just need a new thermal spring.
Has some sort of header on it as well, 2in if I'm remembering right, but has a 1.5ish in exhaust from the header back, with a blob of weld filling the gap. We'll see how loud she gets with that opened up from the header back, to some sort of free flow muffler. See quite a few run a Harley style bullet muffler from a touring bike.

The Weber has the OE Stromberg foam/mesh air filter on it & it's a PITA to R&R and get the mesh to seat in the base.
The Weber kit came with a square K&N-ish filter, found it in a box of spares in the trunk, probably going to switch back to that, if it'll clear the hood. Looks better IMO, and much less of a pain to deal with, and less likelihood of sucking degraded foam into the carb/engine.
The Weber filter looks like this



Lots of old grime to clean up, to see if it has any fluid leaks or if it's all just old grime buildup. Figure I'll replace all fluids, as a preemptive precaution.

FL caliper rides pads on the rotor, going to order new calipers rather than go through a rebuild [180/pair from Moss, on a quick search].
Steering rack tie rod end boots are shot, replacing those as well.
Need to order a couple key blanks, and find one with a smaller head. The plastic capped BL key just touches the dash & interferes if the keyring is in the wrong place.

Pulled the rear bumper to get a look at it bare, much improved, but leaves the 4 mounting holes. Put the bumper back for now. Shocking how heavy it is.
Was going to pull the front, but you have to disconnect the blinker wiring & didn't want to get into that right now.

Tested the fan & radio, bot work, those were the only things I hadn't tested on the test drive.
No reception in the shop, so I don't know how well the radio works, but it'll likely be replaced with something like the vintage audio units with Bluetooth.

Rear with/without bumper.


Some shots around the car, has new rear axle limiting straps & the rear brakes were supposedly rebuilt as well. Can see the new wheel cylinders through the inspection hole.




And, a look at the pedal box area, not as tight as it seems

 

There's plenty of foot room!
I'm excited for you...especially if you're gonna be this thorough in your documenting everything you do!

 

Similar to the Lotus. Lots of photos, so I can look back at how things were when I inevitably forget something.

 

Ordered the first batch of parts to get the immediate needs addressed
New front calipers, steering tie rod ends, fuel cap & thermal spring for the Weber.
Under $250
After those are done, all fluids will be replaced, as a precaution.

 

easy ass car...
fuck you, bro!

 

I hate you.

 

Definitely loving how affordable this is, so far, to fix up.

 

Bro...
we just said that! Now you're rubbing it in.
At least you'll have a midget cause with attributes like that you sure as shit ain't gonna have friends!

 

Officially own the Midget. Finally made it to the tax office & got the title transferred,
Antique plates, $50/5yrs

 

Spent a few hours on the car on Saturday
Got the tear in the top stitched up & 2 beads of the barge cement applied.
It's not pretty, but it should work to keep the weather out when it's parked with the top up. If it's moving, the top's down.




Got the tie rod ends & front calipers replaced, pretty much drained the brake system with how much fluid was lost in the transition from the old caliper to the new. Next trip I'll top it up & get it bled.



Got the oil changed & the new thermal spring on the e-choke. Thinking I need a new ignition coil & ballast, seems like it's got weak spark.
Hopefully the next trip I can finish the brakes, fluid swap on the trans & diff, and get her on the road for a spin.

 

Recommend a aftermarket CDI and perhaps a hotter coil. Does wonders for old Lucas ignition systems.
One of my brother's friends put one in his '66 E-type hardtop as well as Wilwood brakes all around which solved the majority of issues with the E-type.

 

This mofo spittin, take his advice!
Love this project

 

When does the LS go in?

 

There's a few V8 Midgets running around, but it takes some serious chassis bracing to handle the torque.
If it gets a new engine, maybe a 4AG, F20/K20 or NA/NB Miata. But, all of those would require a new rear end as well, as from what I've read the OE rear end can't handle a ton of torque (eats half shaft splines).

 

I'd probably go simple and cheap and get an early 1.6 Miata engine or, if displacement is your desire, a KA24 from a 240.

That engine bay looks tight, and the trans tunnel looks small too. I can't imagine one with a V8 in it.

 

imagine harder.

 

Yeah, some tunnel work needed to fit even some of the stock 1500 compatible Datsun 5spds

 

Hammer time and you are probably too legit to quit.

 

It's cheap, shitty british construction. You can probably cut that trans tunnel up with a butter knife. Worst case, use an angle grinder.

I'm more biased to a Coyote swap but I'd be fine with a LS.

 

Maybe the 2.3EB from the Mustang with a 6MT
300HP in a 1800lb car would be a handful, a Coyote with 400+ would be pretty insane. Might give @BEAR-AvHistory 's Cobra a run for it's money

 

Fuck it. 13B swap. Small, lightweight, revs to the moon, and doesn't make too much torque that it'll overwhelm the chassis.

 

Have thought about that too.
Renesis with the 5MT is relatively cheap & a lot easier than the 6 Port Renesis

 

You'll only overwhelm the chassis if you have grip in the tires. Keep the skinny bottle caps and let them roast!

 

let em EAT!

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6QHwrgTdmYG53sM7A

Success!
Got up to wrench on the Midget on Saturday.
Changed the diff fluid, after making a custom tool for the drain & fill plugs. Had to grind down a 1/2" socket extension, the square hole was just a bit smaller & this was easier/cheaper than finding the proper size square bit.
Quick & easy

Got to the trans, bit tighter to get to & it's a square head bolt, open end wrench took care of this one. Turned out that the fill bolt was just finger tight
Drain bolt took a bit of effort to break loose, but uneventful.
Really glad we trailered it home when we bought it. Pulled the drain plug from the trans, and only got a couple ounces of fluid out.
Topped her up with Redline MT90

Bled the brakes when I had a 2nd set of hands [feet]. Had to bleed her 1.5 times (rear, front, rear again)
First round, barely got any change out of the rears when bleeding them.
Moved to the front, where I'd put in new calipers, and had to bleed them enough that I had to top up the master cylinder twice.
Did the rears 1 more time, and they behaved like normal.
The rear drums were way out of adjustment. The PO had put in new wheel cylinders, but I guess didn't adjust them.
Non-boosted brakes, but they perform much better now.

Also put in a new ignition coil, as we felt it was getting weak spark last time we were working on it.
Probably put in a new set of spark plugs & maybe new plug wires next time I order parts.

Tossed in about 1/2 tank of gas from my dad's supply of treated fuel, cranked her up (which took a bit of effort, after sitting for a couple weeks), wheels on & torqued & went for about a 10 mile drive.
Runs great, and sounds pretty good, IMO. Will be better when the exhaust is matched up to the header, I think.
Bit of seepage from the oil pan gasket on the driver's side, so may have to plan to replace that soon. Also has a small grind in 2nd gear, small on upshift, a but louder on downshift, but otherwise it shifts great.
Took a bit of adjustment to the size & the roller skate wheels/tires, but she'll jump to 70mph pretty easily. Definitely quicker than I expected for only having about 60-65hp.
My dad is going to take it for an alignment, if it'll fit on their rack.
Then it's just down to the small issues & cosmetics.

Our town is having a July 4th parade & car show,. Might put her in it, if I can get it done enough to bring home & get the car cover built.

No pics from the weekend, just the 1 video, which didn't really turn out great. My attempted phone mount didn't work & ejected my phone into the seat when shifting to 2nd.

 

And, the full [longer] video from Saturday's short drive
Phone mount didn't work, magnet is sufficient in the Exploder & MiniBus, but in the Midge it wasn't cutting it. Phone got ejected into the seat shifting to 2nd
Waze shows the speedometer is just a bit underspeed. Was showing about 50 & Waze showed 53mph. Close enough

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VJg3BvpDrHrXbgVX9

 

I got ridiculed so badly for wearing jorts about 15 years ago. What gives?!!?
Sounds healthy, loving this thread!

 

Dad-mode engaged

 

All I can wonder is why are you doing all this work just to swap in an Ecoboost motor boosted to the moon?