It Took 12 YEARS To RESTORE This Austin-Healey Sprite!

It's been years since I started working on this 1962 Austin Healey Sprite restoration with @The Fractured Rooster Garage . We've been through every inch of this car and almost every part is new at this point. The engine runs like a top, the transmission shifts like butter, brand new tires just went on... honestly I can't begin to list everything we did to this car. All I can say is it drives like brand new and it's time to sell it. Josh is selling it for $13k which is less than he has in it at this point.
MERCH: shopWatchJRGo.com
Shop Motul: motul.com
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Common Questions:
What motorcycle do I ride? A few. Ducati 1198, Honda Goldwing, Honda Grom, Honda Ruckus
What do I do for a living? Make KZbin videos.
Can you wheelie? No, I suck.
Are you fast? Sort of. I suck mostly though.
Where can I keep up with you off the bike?
Instagram: WatchJRGo
Facebook: WatchJRGo (or JRGo, FB hates my branding)
Do you go to school? College, for 2 classes.
Why do you ride so dangerously? What do mean? I was doing 25.
Do you go to the track? Of course, hopefully there will be videos in the future.
Do you play video games? No, but I might stream N64 Goldeneye at some point. Twitch: WatchJRGo
Are you afraid the police will watch your videos and arrest you? Something something evidence something something warrants and due process of law
#ClassicCars #AustinHealeySprite #Healey

[@glassvial]

Congrats Josh! There's nothing more satisfying than finally finishing a LONG term project! 👍

[@McGruff2008]

I'll bet there's a subscriber that can whip up the badge. There are some amazing, talented, people out here.

[@nbrowser]

That Healey is a beautiful car, you folks did right by this car and it shows. The love given to it by Josh and yourself is sweet.

[@andrewhillman9632]

I remember when that Sprite 'big block' was sitting in Josh's garage during a Trailblazer SS episode.

[@kalebkaschalk7302]

I had a 63. Fun car. There are door straps to prevent the doors from opening too far and causing damage. Bugeye guy has them and most other parts you'll need.

[@RetroMotiveAdventures]

Absolute beautiful restoration! That engine bay looks fantastic.

[@billa2967]

Wonderful little cars, I would install the heater and a tonneau cover, for those chilly nights. I absolutely loved driving around in my MGB at night! But of course the next owner can do that, because you always need to leave a little for the next owner to do. British roadsters always need to be “tinkered” with. The price sounds good, for an AH with that much work, beautiful paint and interior.

[@69Dartman]

Remember as a teenager riding in/on a MG midget, fun little car one of the gals that ran our berry picking crew had. I think the bus broke down so she pulled up in it and some of us managed to get in somehow. Lotta fun back in the day 🤣

[@PaulTC777]

not to be confused with a Daihatsu Midget

[@balesjo]

The Austin Healey turned out really nice. I did love the look with the "AH" on the hubcaps painted. It makes what would have been a bland hubcap stand out.

[@kerrylewis2581]

The AH has to be worth every dime of that $13,000. I agree with Josh. No heat, wipers, or cover is needed. I only ride my motorcycle in fair weather, so why not a topless AH.

[@targetglen]

Steve on "This Week With Cars" is the greatest American authority on these vehicles, but Josh has done just as good a job. Well done.

[@HiggsBJ]

I remember you guys working on this in Josh’s garage! Cool to see it finished!

[@mybugmy64bug31]

You can probably get a hood badge 3D printed? im sure there's someone who can reproduce one- beautiful car!

[@jeremywimer8842]

Finally a video worth watching, I stop scrolling aimlessly! Thanks for another great upload! The Sprite turned out awesome!

[@moschops2002]

Beautiful job there guys. Same engine as my Morris, and those tappets need looking at! That's noisier than it should be on tickover.

[@died4us590]

I remember when this was a whole lot of parts, glad to see her done, and it looks good. I like it when Josh and Gabe come to the busted you tube garage, and then it all gets fixed. Thanks JR, you should have more subs, because i would rather see you actually wrenching on stuff, instead of watching the wiz fix stuff, and not test drive it, and then it needs more money. Hoovie just gives a run down on a broken exotic, gets the same car fixed 5 times at the wiz shop, and not that interesting unless the car ninja fixes it once, and knows what he is doing. I like your dad, and am waiting to see the crusher crush something. God bless.

[@B0xlife1]

And the wizard doesn’t wrench anymore either sadly he has his employees do it all, but I don’t blame him one bit.

[@aberratic]

Most of the cars hoovie buys are intentionally bad so he can make content. The whole farce of him losing money is just that. A farce lol. He may take hits on some of the cars he sales after repair bills and shipping and all that jazz, but the money he makes in content quickly, quickly overwhelms that.

[@died4us590]

@Abberratic Abberation, hoovie does do a lot of thing's for content, which is the one thing i don't care for. I like seeing the struggle, then the finish, and 100% jake comes to mind with the struggle bus, but he fixes everything, even though he has some bad luck. JR tries to flip a car doing it right, and being straight up, and no created drama is the best. The car ninja does such good work to. I like them all actually, but a couple of them are last on the list. You should watch western truck and tractor, the guy work's on anything, in his shop, or on sight, and he is always telling stories, and ranting about stuff, but it's funny. He can diagnose really well, and is a one man crew. God bless.

[@blackcountryme]

He's a lucky man, that's a beautiful car, a perfect "Sunday drive" car. A great restoration

[@jetski54]

Thanks for the rebuild! One of my first cars was a1960 Bugeye! Learned a lot keeping that on the road! Never had the money to do it all. Sad day when I got rid of it.

[@CarswithNash]

That Healy is beautiful, great work guys!

[@mycosys]

You put the wing mirror on wrong - it hangs out the side. (one of my mum's best friends had the near identical MG Midget, but you can google image search to confirm)

[@PaulBarwick]

Josh, that's a beautiful car. I used to have an MG Midget that looked just like that, same color and all. I hope you find this car as enjoyable as I did that Midget.

[@alexandrecouture2462]

Beautiful little car! Just like on an old Jaguar, the best way to close the hood, the trunk or the doors is to gently push until the latch click. You can drop it, like an old Ford, but it will end up bending the metal around it.

[@jeffhildreth9244]

NEVER drop an MG hood/bonnet. Disrespectful and may cause damage.

[@brucegenest7012]

That was my first car that I bought with my own money, legally registered and I drove it from my sophomore through senior years in high school. I live in New England and it was a little chilly in the winter months even with the "top" up. The visibility was a little sketchy with the top up and the side curtains installed (I didn't have fender mirrors). I'm almost seventy now and the memories are coming back! Wish I could afford another. I watched every episode (even if was only in the background) just to get a brief view of the car. Great job! Thanks Josh.

[@mrc7478]

What engine did you have in yours, Bruce?

[@red58impala]

That Healey turned out amazing! I wish I had somewhere to store the Healey if I could buy it. My garage is full of other projects that need attention and without a top there is no way it could sit outside.

[@wjthehomebuilder]

My first car was a 61 Sprite. Daily drove it for 6 years!

[@michaelgill7994]

Great restoration. I would love to make a car like this my daily driver when I retire

[@randygranger2294]

Such a beautiful car! Seriously GREAT JOB!

[@silverstreak1001]

I don't understand why JR doesn't have 1 million subscribers yet....

[@Cartier_specialist]

That's probably one of the nicest Austin Healeys in the USA.

[@generatorjohn4537]

I like the look of the steel wheels better than the chrome hub caps. That car has an actual working trunk. The original "Bug Eye" Sprites didn't. Nice restoration!

[@AZBEEMR]

Dave,(6’1’’),Mike(6’)and me(5’7’’)drove around in the snow with the top up in an MG midget. Oh yeah Mac (95 lb German Shepard) shared the space behind the seats with me!

[@TheBrokenLife]

_Ouch_ on the Durango. I imagine a large V8 SUV is a tough sell with gas prices as they are. Glad to hear it's finally on to the next life though.

[@kerrylewis2581]

That was my first thought. Fuel prices must have influenced the price.

[@mattmalenda6585]

@@kerrylewis2581 kinda sucks that the fuel prices don’t even need to be that high since supply is back to normal. It’s just profiteering.

[@davidbeattie4294]

Josh, I drove a 62 Sprite for a couple of years in my University days. We used to drive it all the time in the spring and fall with the top down and the heater blasting into the footwells. You still needed gloves and a toque (beanie) but it made cold weather topless motoring fun and comfortable. Loved that car and still regret getting rid of it.

[@mrc7478]

Being cold makes you drive it faster to get there quicker David!

[@jeremydiamond8824]

Looking great

[@bmh67wa]

It turned out beautiful. It's too bad it's missing the front emblem but that red paint job pops. The hubcaps do look better with the black letters too.

[@trainmanbob]

Congratulations to Josh. Bonnet badge probably available from the Austin Healey owners club here in the UK. Nice to see it finished.

[@richardirish2153]

What a beautiful car! Someone is going to get a great car! Thanks!

[@IKhanNot]

Oh that is a brilliant little car.

[@Viewer19]

Nice MG Midget well done. I'm partial to our '59 bugeye that had a removable hardtop.

[@georgeemeny6123]

My first car was a '62 Sprite, When I bought it in '67 it was pretty beat. Bald tires, clutch slipped, popped out of third. Wasn't much good at the High School submarine races. lol Looking back, I was lucky I wasn't killed in that car.

[@CJLeTeff]

Someone can buy the Sprite and put it in their living room as a conversation piece! 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Repaint the Vette!

[@terrylessmann2274]

Granted, A-Hs aren't in my Wheeler Dealer wheel house but $13K seems low. Did a quick check on autotempest and for a restored version you appear at least $5K light. My dad liked to say "you can always come down in price, but you can't go up". Something to consider...

[@jeffhildreth9244]

You can't be serious.. this is not a "restoration" it is a resto-mod which devalues the car. And there are too many details that just aren't right.

[@rsvp-realscalevehiclesproj6965]

Emily and Aaron at Flying Sparks Garage have a rubber bumper one of these. I hope they see this video! Nice work guys!

[@nukedathlonman]

Ratvette is really shaping up. :-) The Austin is really nice - Josh has to be proud of that long term project.

[@alansmith4734]

Wear some type of cover on the head, while driving the Sprite. Sunburn on the top of the head hurts real bad! I speak from experience!

[@loganholmberg2295]

Ah man I was hoping to see you guys take it for a drive.

[@WatchJRGo]

I think we drove it in the last video, it was wild (or that video was on Josh’s channel) 🍻

[@joebarranco2964]

The car is beautiful. Maybe you should seal or clear coat the black paint on the hub caps?

[@tinymotogarage]

I had a 69 in the UK back in the early '90's - I believe they were twin-produced with MG (Midget) that year so same car, different badges. Fun car - I miss it.

[@smootheskobar3946]

That Car Is Beautiful

[@rickbarganier2418]

JR -- you should put a link on all your videos to a page that lists all the vehicles you have for sale.

[@Uathankicks]

Wow looks amazing, this is one of my favorite cars/series I watched you guys working on 🤙

[@kirkacola7942]

No More Secret Projects JR!!! 🤣 Also that Austin Healey is a sweet cruiser and if I didn't live in NW Pennsylvania I would buy that car and drive it Everyday! 🤠👍🏻

[@Drewmk-sc9zv]

Nice job Josh ,everything looks superb .Can't wait to see the audi get some attention.

[@philipwalker1243]

The pride of GB 🇬🇧

[@toolzshed]

Wow it looks amazing 😲❤️

[@DonVDBorgh]

I like the painted hup cap letters. Seen some Austin Healy hood scripts on eBay. Car looks great! 👍👍

[@possessedjake13]

on the touch up pin if you take the wight cap off there is a fine point wich you can press down on that lets the paint out in a precise manner

[@T.S.T2014]

Such a great job guys, all projects take time and from over here in Australia 🇦🇺 it looks like you have done a great build.

[@michaeltutty1540]

Great video, JR. That car is immaculate. The Spridget has always been a car that is pleasing to the eye. Too bad I'm a bit too tall to fit in one properly. I would need the MGB or, even better, Sprite's bigger brother the 3000 with that glorious inline 6.

[@donreinholz8121]

Hubcaps look great.

[@paulnielsen8528]

As you're painting the hubcaps I'm thinking "how will that stand up in the car wash?" and then immediately "This car can't go through the car wash - no top". Doh!

[@KeithZim]

I really wish I could drive this around introducing myself as Zimmerman, Keith Zimmerman!! 🤣

[@mrc7478]

I'd love to see a video of you doing that, Keith.

[@bradpittiful7288]

great job on the AH....its a beauty!

[@guardian1102]

Reminds me of the thought experiment "Ship of Theseus". You have to wonder if this is the same car you had with some new parts or a completely new one with just old bits and pieces attached to it.

[@frankdeboer1347]

Love this car and love the way you finish it to be a car nearly anyone could own

[@nadenolam8368]

It was 2 years ago I met you and Josh and gave you some parts for that LBC.

[@greathornedowl3644]

Special Guest Star Josh, love the Austin Healey although British I'd like to own one

[@nadenolam8368]

Sold mine a few years back, don’t miss it.

[@MegaYoteStuff]

very beautiful car

[@edjacobs8876]

Owned my share of British sports cars. Back I the 60s my friends dad blew up his E type and gave it to his son. We squeezed a 283 in it. Ran and drove, way more reliable than the 3.8L. I now equate that to current hot rodders putting small blocks in their Ford's.

[@jeffhildreth9244]

Unfortunately you tossed out the best thing about an E Type. The 3.8 is bullet proof, it takes an idiot to blow one.

[@edjacobs8876]

@@jeffhildreth9244orthodontist. Maintained his British fleet. Morgan's, Tds, Vauxhalls, e types. Hardly an idiot.

[@17buckrogers]

red on the hub caps would have been better

[@robprice6573]

Looks nice the hubcaps, maybe you should have gone red to match the body

[@julias-shed]

Nice to see the MG finished 😀

[@Duke_Nuke]

13k seems like a steal for that.

[@gregorymaupin6388]

Yeah Baby Yeah Don’t you mean quid? 😁

[@garywomack6026]

Should consider contacting Dennis Collins in TX (Collins Brothers Jeep). He’s a huge Austin-Healy guy. Buys them all the time.

[@Bumblebee4788]

"Coffee Walk"on KZbin....

[@rogerking7258]

I have a Frogeye. The best question I ever got asked at a show was "why does it have Adolph Hitler's initials on the wheels?"

[@brianiswrong]

As Bill A says, just enough things to do,to allow the new owner something to tinker with 👍

[@snowyowl7042]

Welcome fractured rooster, love the car

[@toolzshed]

That's a great price too 😲👍🏾

[@Vegasoutlaw]

AH looks awesome guy's. JR are you going to get that ratvet painted?

[@RyansuBike]

Lets see a race of the Healey and Saturn when the Josh/Gabe builds are done

[@bobstroud9118]

“Do what ever you want to do!” Life advise for the retired old man. 🍪 🍩 N.E.OH Bob

[@johnnythefixer]

Great restoration but you could do with some 'Dedsheets' under the bonnet to minimise noise by sound damping

[@thinkdesignbuild8893]

Dads had over 60 of sprites/midgets, this one reminds me of the mk2 sprite dad had when I got my learners license. As a learner a car that low is interesting next to a semi trailer, looking right at the centre of the trailers wheel!

[@mrc7478]

60? For real? Wonderful stuff.

[@thinkdesignbuild8893]

@@mrc7478 I think it's closer to 65 but yes he's been racing them since the 70s

[@mrc7478]

I wonder if he's ever thrashed one along a British 'B' road...? Such a light car, they don't need big engines.

[@thinkdesignbuild8893]

@@mrc7478 I think he drove a BMW alpina in the UK when he visited and an mgbgt v8 in the states. His last midget had a 13b rotary street port engine he often street drove

[@normangallant9879]

Cool hub caps

[@31dknight]

Great video from JR.

[@Rolexor]

Am I remembering correctly that Josh bought this from a restaurant that had this on display?

[@WatchJRGo]

Yup 🍻

[@clifbradley]

Hubcaps look amazing. Does that have exhaust exits right in front of the car door like a a Viper ?

[@pnwthings5419]

Looks really nice!!

[@michellericard4850]

Rally Fighter 💪🏼 RALLY FIGHTER PLEASE 🙏🏼

[@randyratcliff8790]

Take ratvette to Macco for a quick paint job.

[@P.Galore]

JOSH Cameo!.....great job. A LOT of Healey badges on eBay....one of them should work. left tail light bulb is out.

[@tylerherring4883]

Man I wish I could do what you do. I hope for much success for you brother!

[@gertraba4484]

My first car 50 yrs ago back row chevy dealer for 50 bucks tires tune up radio parts from local junkyard...new firestone tires 12 bucks apiece and dealer happy to get rid of em from 1965,,,,flipped it for 1500 bucks summer. 1973

[@unstablebobgable]

If I could work on the Austin Healey Sprite with Watch JR Goes and Joshs I would drink the shot of whiskey and the cold Bartle Skeets and puff on the Cannabis Cigars with them and get all schmoked up

[@damondurham5683]

Seems like a good deal on the AH. Saw you struggling to get in it and had to laugh. I'm so big I would need one for each foot! 🐀 vette almost sorted- wtg

[@mju7752]

5am 🇬🇧 early crew. Wassup Jr.

[@WatchJRGo]

Yo! 🍻

[@AccessDeniedCloudStrike20001]

Great looking HA! Nice restoration. Not surprised about the $$$ lost on the Durango… so typical of US made SUVs.

[@dougcop7253]

Just had a look if Josh goes to AH spares they sell Austin Healy Sprite Badges

[@VanisleNSX]

Agh, losing 5K on the Durango sucks! You win some, you lose some!