Steve's Sprite

My goal was to have a car project to keep me busy after retirement . I already owned a very nice supercharged MG Midget, but I am a Healey fan having previously owned a BJ8 Healey. I wanted to restore a Sprite with a 1275cc engine, a roof which was permanently fixed to the car and be as close to original as possible which meant it had to be a Mk4 Sprite. Austin Healey Sprites were also assembled in Australia, with the Mk3a being the last of these cars assembled here. Unfortunately the Mk3a was only fitted with a 1098cc motor and didn't have a fixed roof. This left me with only two options, either find a Mk4 which had been privately imported into Australia or import one myself.

After several months of looking, I managed to locate a 1969 Mk4 Sprite for purchase near Sale in Victoria. I bought the car sight unseen as I planned to do a full concourse restoration and in January 2019 the dissasembly process finally began.

I had met Colin Dodds from Sprite Parts in Dural a few years previously when my son bought a beautiful Mk1 Sprite from Colin that he had restored. I had mentioned to Colin that I was thinking of buying a Mk4 Sprite and I remember him saying "are you interested in the journey or the destination?" My answer was "both" as I wanted a project in retirement and I wanted to do the best restoration I could afford. Colin very generously offered to mentor me through the restoration process.

The car I bought had been imported into Australia in 1997 after having had a partial restoration in the UK. During disassembly, It looked to have a bit of rust in the usual places like the wheel arch, floor pans and wheel wells. Unfortunately a lot more rust would be revealed following the acid bath. In February 2019, the car body less external panels was retrieved from the acid bath and taken to the Classic Factory in Smithfield where Darryl Carthew would commence the bodywork. It was going to be a challenging project!

Shortly after arriving at the Classic Factory, Darryl gave me a call to give me some bad news. The acid bath had revealed some major rust issues which would ultimately blow out the budget. I joined Daryll to inspect the car body and it was very disappointing to see how extensive the rust problem had become. Decisions had to be made, do I scrap the project and lick my wounds, or do we press on and do an average restoration, or do I throw the budget out the window and proceed with my original plan to do a concourse restoration. I decided to go ahead with my original plan. The car would be in the body shop for nine months and would cost approximately twice the original estimate of $20k to $25k.

While the bodywork was being done, it was time to start the reconditioning, rebuilding and replacing of other parts and components. The car had to be as close as possible to original, which meant that every part had to be either reconditioned if original, or replaced with a NOS part where available, or a reconditioned second hand original part, or as a last resort a reproduction part.

There were many hours spent bead blasting parts and Colin very patiently guided me through the disassembling and rebuilding process. When I needed parts, Colin would be able to provide them. I would like a dollar for every time I'd ask Colin if he had a particular part. His usual reply would be, "Steve, when are you going to learn I have most parts". How true that statement proved to be and on the rare occasions he didn't have a part he would get one.

The car body arrived back from the Classic Factory in November 2019 looking fantastic. The paint colour is Mineral Blue which was the car's original colour when it came off the production line on 14 April 1969. The car also had some optional factory fitted equipment including wire wheels, oil cooler and tonneau cover.

The plan was to have the car completed by the end of 2020, but Covid, medical issues and a few hiccups blew the timeline out to January 2022. To say that the restoration stretched the budget is an understatement. I spent approximately $80,000 on the restoration alone, which does not include the original purchase price of the car. Was it worth it? Absolutely it was!

I learnt a lot about Sprites and myself during the 3 years of the project and had the privilege to meet some very nice people along the way. The journey was definately the best part of the restoration!

There were a number of people along this journey who were responsible for making it all come together and I thank them all for their help and advice. I would like to thank my wife Sally for her love and understanding of my obsession. In addition, there are three gentlemen who deserve a special mention. Colin Dodds from Sprite Parts in Dural NSW who very generously and patiently mentored me through the process and supplied nearly all the parts including some very hard to come by bits. Rob Howes who has built a number of Sprites and Midgets and assists Colin with various projects. Robs experience and nimble fingers were of great help. Darryl Carthew from The Classic Factory who did a wonderful job in restoring and painting the body and panels.

Steve Rivett
February, 2022

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