I had a 1965 Austin Healey Sprite that I bought when I was a a young adult for $1500 in the early 80s. My sprite sounded exactly like this. I sold it after 3 years because I couldn't afford to keep fixing it. I was so sad as I loved the car, but it required constant tinkering to keep running. Wish I still had it today. This brings back memories. Great audio that captures the car's personality. Thanks!
My dad and grandfather purchased this Sprite in 73, more or less as a junk car. They fixed it up, painted it a few times and generally restored it. When my grandfather was done enjoying the car he gave it to my twin and I, it hadn't been driven for 7 years and just needed sorted. At this point, 5 years later it runs perfectly, we put 1500-2000 miles a year on it and it's never left us stranded to the point it couldn't be fixed.
Nice video and once again thanks for letting us hear it run....no music overlay. I was searching for my first car and discovered two Sprites. One was a tired looking faded red one with a custom front end ($850) and the other a beautiful tan one with over-sized tires that looked really great ($900). I had my heart set on the second one that was going to be used to drive to work and school. However, our insurance company (AMICA) would not cover me with a "sports car", never mind that a 409 Chevrolet would have been OK (DOH!). Missed my chance that would never resurface. Damn!
Just excellent my friend ! Finally someone on utube that knows how to drive one of these little beasts ! So many granny shift the thing like there afraid of it or something. The joy is in letting it rev ! Sounds perfect I feel like I'm 18 again.
TOTAL FUN, totally reliable, totally simple to service and work on. A true owner’s car, I owned a 1098cc Mk 2, and thrashed it to bits, service it regularly, which is simple, it never let me down. Just put good parts on, and it will never let you down. All you need are carb balancers, a strobe for timing, gap gauges, there must be a load of info available, just waxoil underneath each year in wet salty situation, have it wax injected. SUPER FUN MOTORS, there is a shear mass of sports stuff available if you are not worried about strict heritage, BMC made a lot of sports racing equipment anyway for their sports fun cars. I love old fashioned cast iron : no stripped threads or warped heads if a hose goes or stone through the rad. NO FANCY ELECTROINCS, no silly bills anymore.
What’s your exhaust setup on this, is it straight piped? Sounds amazing! I don’t have a sprite but an 1100 which uses the same 1098 block which I’ve overbored by 40 thou and will be fitting a skimmed 295 head with dual HS2 carbs.
I believe it is completely stock. The engine is stock, the exhaust appears stock though I don't know how to confirm that. It has a factory looking resonator and it has stock cast headers. I am running dual HS2 carbs with small "stub stacks" inside the air filters that I machined to give it a radius on the intake. Additionally I am running K&N filters inside the stock filter housings. From what I read, the Sprites received the second hottest camshaft of the vehicles with A series engines, only the Minis had a hotter cam. I suspect the awesome sound of the 1098cc A series is due to the very long stroke to bore ratio compared to the other A series.
@@Rustin-wy6yf they sound great with a cam. I’ve got videos of my 1098 with cam but it’s straight headers right now. Plan to build a custom exhaust on it
Such a buzzy little engine, sounds fantastic! How do you find engine temperatures? I’m trying to find one in Australia and I’m not quite sure whether it’s such a good idea, just because it’s so hot
The cooling system is the stock pressurized system. With the carbs tuned correctly and ignition setup correctly it runs at quite reasonable temps. The gauge needle is almost always between 160 and 190 deg F. In slow stop and go traffic on a hot day, it will creep up in temp, but I have never had any issues. I don't think I'd have any reservations driving it in super hot weather, other than it being super uncomfortable driving an open top car with a black vinyl interior. I understand the later 1275cc cars have a different more efficient radiator setup if you are concerned.
I have since replaced the original brass radiator with a cheap aluminum replacement as I couldn't manage to fix a leak in the brass one. The Aluminum one runs notably cooler.
Completely stock 1098 cc A series. I did check once with an indicator, it is a stock lift cam. It has always had a bit if a lumpy idle, it's difficult to nail the synchronization of both carbs at idle.
It's a cheap dual microphone setup for interviews. Each microphone is a channel going into a GoPro Hero 7 in stereo. Good luck! As far as I can tell my Sprite is 100% stock, engine and exhaust are unmodified.
What is the switch you play with above your ignition key ? Overdrive? Headlights? Heater? ?????? Love the exhaust tone !! Great double clutching too!! (I own a ‘67 Austin Healey 3000 )
Indeed that is the stock turn signal switch. Later Sprites had the turn signals on the column like a modern car. Actually I wasn't double clutching, hehe. I was being lazy and letting the revs drop too far before I shifted, just rev matching for a smooth shift. An AH 3000 is an awesome car, one that I'd like to take a for a spin someday.
I've driven a few cars with Austin A series engines and I've found the 1098cc to be the best sounding of them all. This particular 62 is completely stock, original cast exhaust header, pipes and muffler. Generally I've found the over run burbbles are most affected by carburetor tune. It makes the most brubbles at about 3500 rpm and it's tuned slightly rich.
No, just me being slow at shifting. The engine revs up and down so quickly that I have to blip the throttle by the time I have it in the next gear. It has a synco on 2, 3, and 4. I never shift into 1st while rolling as it has plenty of low end torque.
That is one beautiful car. I have a Austin Healey sprite mk3 with a 1275cc engine. My tachometer isn't working. Do you have any tips to get it working?
Send it to Nisonger Instruments and have them rebuild it. They are the experts in Smiths gauges. It wasn't cheap but mine needed some capacitors replaced after they diagnosed what was wrong.
Thank you for not putting any music over it
There is no other way to do a car video in my opinion. The sound is a lot of the reason I watch a car driving video.
I had a 1965 Austin Healey Sprite that I bought when I was a a young adult for $1500 in the early 80s. My sprite sounded exactly like this. I sold it after 3 years because I couldn't afford to keep fixing it. I was so sad as I loved the car, but it required constant tinkering to keep running. Wish I still had it today. This brings back memories. Great audio that captures the car's personality. Thanks!
My dad and grandfather purchased this Sprite in 73, more or less as a junk car. They fixed it up, painted it a few times and generally restored it. When my grandfather was done enjoying the car he gave it to my twin and I, it hadn't been driven for 7 years and just needed sorted. At this point, 5 years later it runs perfectly, we put 1500-2000 miles a year on it and it's never left us stranded to the point it couldn't be fixed.
I had a baby blue 1960 Bug Eye for several years. 1970-1975. Loved it. Great little car for a young man in SoCal.
Nice video and once again thanks for letting us hear it run....no music overlay. I was searching for my first car and discovered two Sprites. One was a tired looking faded red one with a custom front end ($850) and the other a beautiful tan one with over-sized tires that looked really great ($900). I had my heart set on the second one that was going to be used to drive to work and school. However, our insurance company (AMICA) would not cover me with a "sports car", never mind that a 409 Chevrolet would have been OK (DOH!). Missed my chance that would never resurface. Damn!
For such a small engine, it sounds insanely good. I’m daydreaming about daily driving one of these hahaha.
Just excellent my friend ! Finally someone on utube that knows how to drive one of these little beasts ! So many granny shift the thing like there afraid of it or something. The joy is in letting it rev !
Sounds perfect I feel like I'm 18 again.
excuse my language but that's fucking great
Magical sound!!
Great wee drive. Amazing audio indeed- thanks for letting the car spool up, most people short shift these a-series engines.
Loved your video and great sound. I can't wait to get my mk2 with 948 engine on the road.
Sounds Beautiful
That’s bloody awesome
TOTAL FUN, totally reliable, totally simple to service and work on. A true owner’s car, I owned a 1098cc Mk 2, and thrashed it to bits, service it regularly, which is simple, it never let me down. Just put good parts on, and it will never let you down. All you need are carb balancers, a strobe for timing, gap gauges, there must be a load of info available, just waxoil underneath each year in wet salty situation, have it wax injected. SUPER FUN MOTORS, there is a shear mass of sports stuff available if you are not worried about strict heritage, BMC made a lot of sports racing equipment anyway for their sports fun cars. I love old fashioned cast iron : no stripped threads or warped heads if a hose goes or stone through the rad. NO FANCY ELECTROINCS, no silly bills anymore.
Thanks you for the ride. Nice car!
Great sound
Nice! Thank you! I'm glad you didn't put any lame music on this so we can hear it.
Mine is a 1960 primrose supercharged. Luv it
The closest thing to actually driving one .
Beautiful car men!
What a little beauty
The dash is your Sprite has so little clutter. This is what a proper dash should look like.
What’s your exhaust setup on this, is it straight piped? Sounds amazing!
I don’t have a sprite but an 1100 which uses the same 1098 block which I’ve overbored by 40 thou and will be fitting a skimmed 295 head with dual HS2 carbs.
I believe it is completely stock. The engine is stock, the exhaust appears stock though I don't know how to confirm that. It has a factory looking resonator and it has stock cast headers. I am running dual HS2 carbs with small "stub stacks" inside the air filters that I machined to give it a radius on the intake. Additionally I am running K&N filters inside the stock filter housings.
From what I read, the Sprites received the second hottest camshaft of the vehicles with A series engines, only the Minis had a hotter cam. I suspect the awesome sound of the 1098cc A series is due to the very long stroke to bore ratio compared to the other A series.
John Pearson - Sorry, I must have missed this. Great info, I may install a hotter cam in the future. Cheers!
Are you on Instagram?
@@Rustin-wy6yf Nope, just CZcams.
@@Rustin-wy6yf they sound great with a cam. I’ve got videos of my 1098 with cam but it’s straight headers right now. Plan to build a custom exhaust on it
Such a buzzy little engine, sounds fantastic! How do you find engine temperatures? I’m trying to find one in Australia and I’m not quite sure whether it’s such a good idea, just because it’s so hot
The cooling system is the stock pressurized system. With the carbs tuned correctly and ignition setup correctly it runs at quite reasonable temps. The gauge needle is almost always between 160 and 190 deg F. In slow stop and go traffic on a hot day, it will creep up in temp, but I have never had any issues. I don't think I'd have any reservations driving it in super hot weather, other than it being super uncomfortable driving an open top car with a black vinyl interior. I understand the later 1275cc cars have a different more efficient radiator setup if you are concerned.
@@johnpearson492 Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind. It’s definitely top of the list now!
There was never a heat problem, they raced them flat out. Cast iron does not distort like alloy.
I have since replaced the original brass radiator with a cheap aluminum replacement as I couldn't manage to fix a leak in the brass one. The Aluminum one runs notably cooler.
what is the spec of the motor? It sounds like you have a reasonable cam :-)
Completely stock 1098 cc A series. I did check once with an indicator, it is a stock lift cam.
It has always had a bit if a lumpy idle, it's difficult to nail the synchronization of both carbs at idle.
Oh that sound. It's music.
Nicee sounddd👍🏻👍🏻
that is nice
That‘s music 😃
Loved the audio! What microphone did you use? And any post processing? Trying to get my Healey sound like yours!
It's a cheap dual microphone setup for interviews. Each microphone is a channel going into a GoPro Hero 7 in stereo.
Good luck! As far as I can tell my Sprite is 100% stock, engine and exhaust are unmodified.
What is the switch you play with above your ignition key ? Overdrive? Headlights? Heater? ?????? Love the exhaust tone !! Great double clutching too!! (I own a ‘67 Austin Healey 3000 )
Hi, I think it’s a dash mounted turn signal switch.
Indeed that is the stock turn signal switch. Later Sprites had the turn signals on the column like a modern car.
Actually I wasn't double clutching, hehe. I was being lazy and letting the revs drop too far before I shifted, just rev matching for a smooth shift.
An AH 3000 is an awesome car, one that I'd like to take a for a spin someday.
My first girlfriend. in oz had one.i had a honda s600 convertible. Great fun years
How does this car sounds so pure and beautiful? I'm planning to buy one but other cars doesn't sound like this. Could you explain ?
I've driven a few cars with Austin A series engines and I've found the 1098cc to be the best sounding of them all. This particular 62 is completely stock, original cast exhaust header, pipes and muffler. Generally I've found the over run burbbles are most affected by carburetor tune. It makes the most brubbles at about 3500 rpm and it's tuned slightly rich.
Are those throttle blips double clutching? I don’t even know if these have a synchro trans but I want one.
No, just me being slow at shifting. The engine revs up and down so quickly that I have to blip the throttle by the time I have it in the next gear. It has a synco on 2, 3, and 4. I never shift into 1st while rolling as it has plenty of low end torque.
Double declutch 1st gear, rev up high going down the gears.
That is one beautiful car. I have a Austin Healey sprite mk3 with a 1275cc engine. My tachometer isn't working. Do you have any tips to get it working?
Send it to Nisonger Instruments and have them rebuild it. They are the experts in Smiths gauges. It wasn't cheap but mine needed some capacitors replaced after they diagnosed what was wrong.
Where did you place the microphone- I get so much wind noise
Clipped to the license plate between the plate and the trunk.
Out of curiosity, how tall are you?
5' 11", long arms and legs with a short torso. Early Sprites are far roomier inside than you'd expect, once you figure out how to get into them.