The Bridge Classic Cars team have been working on a 1959 Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite which our logistics coordinator Tony collected from its owner last week.
First off, the car arrived at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop as non-runner, so our workshop manager John started to dive into the classic convertible. The owner had told us that the car had gotten hot, and then began to run rough. First off, John check for fuel and spark which he find were ok, after finally getting the car to start, John found that it was only firing on two cylinders. After removing the spark plugs, of which two were very stiff to come out and when they did were heavily corroded (specifically number 2 and 3). Once these removed, John could carry out a cylinder pressure check – cylinders 2 and 3 were reading low. The next port of call was for John to remove the cylinder head from the 950cc engine.
As part of removing the cylinder head, John removed the water pump and radiator from the car which gave him a chance to investigate further. On inspection, he found a blockage in the water pump and thermostat bypass of corrosion and debris which had also blocked up the radiator and heater radiator. These were all removed from the car and steam cleaned to remove any corrosion from the system.
After thoroughly cleaning out the coolant passages and the radiator of the Frogeye until all that came out was clean water, John could begin the process of removing the cylinder head. Upon inspection, John found cylinders 2 and 3 to have corrosion on them cause by the head gasket failing between cylinder 2 and 3.