Bond Bug ZZR1400 Project

Back in 1984 at Burford Rally

I have owned TUF415J since 1983 when I bought her for a princely sum of £100 back then. It was in very poor shape and I spent the whole of the next year completely restoring it from scratch.

The original engine was a 700cc Reliant alloy engine developing 28bhp. I replaced it with an over-bored 850cc Reliant engine with as many performance upgrades I could do. I had a 'Mike the Pipe' extractor manifold and exhaust made,
engine head was skimmed and gas flowed, electronic ignition, twin 28/36 weber carbs fitted etc which after a rolling road test developed 60 bhp. In 1984 I attended the Burford Micro Car rally and won 1st price for concours.

I used the 'suped' up Bug as my daily mode of transport for many years until my gearbox failed and I was in the process of converting an 850 cable operated box to the Bug hydraulic type. Kids came along and the Bug never got put back on the road.

Now I have more time on my hands and more cash to spend I decided to completely restore the Bug but this time bringing it up to more modern performance and getting experts to make most the bits.

The result is a 200bhp Kawasaki ZZR1400 engined beast, into a Quaife reversing gearbox, into a BMW 316i limited slip diff with MGTF independent rear suspension.

Updated 20th Dec 2020

The links below that are active and have been uploaded

Added custom made steel boot with mess insert to bodywork page

Current project is the bodywork +