V8 Alpine - Australia

ozicos

Bronze forum user
Messages
19
Hi all,
I am a new member. I am in Sydney Australia. I am new to posting threads, I have attached some photo's of my V8 Alpine(do not know if it has attached, please let me know).
It is not a Tiger it is an Alpine with a 302 ford V8. I bought the car like this and since I have owned it I have installed a fibreglass LAT type bonnet and at the same time I had the radiator rebuilt & installed a 16inch thermo fan.
The car used to overheat in traffic on a hot day, but know with the bonnet, thermo fan & rebuilt radiator she does not go over 90deg even in traffic.
I also fitted 17 x 7inch 3 piece simmons wheels with 205/40/17 tyres at the rear and 17 x 6.5inch 3 piece simmons wheels with 195/40/17 tyres at the front.
Looking forward to contributing to the CAT forum.
Thanking You

CosView attachment 2299

View attachment 2300
 

michael-king

Gold forum user
CAT Member
Messages
4,132
Welcome (name?)

The photos have posted, was this the alpine in sydney with the 302 and auto that was for sale for a little while?
 

ozicos

Bronze forum user
Messages
19
Michael,

Thats correct it was the one for sale for a while in Sydney.
Unusual for an auto to be installed. It was a bonus for me being an auto because it was easier for the wife to agree to buy it because then she could drive it as well. The car has been engineered & RTA approved with the 302 & auto.

Regards
Cos
 

ozicos

Bronze forum user
Messages
19
Duke,

They are 17 inch wheels. The ride is suprisingly not bad. It is a liitle bit firmer than the 13 inch rims with 60series tyres.
The big difference with the 17 inch wheels was the steering is not as heavy as before.

Regards
Cos
 

michael-king

Gold forum user
CAT Member
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4,132
Cos,

Do you know if the car is runnign an original Tiger front corss member and rack?

Im surprised you say the steering is lighter.. as i would assume that the 195's are wider than what you had on the 13's.. in theory the tyres would make the difference to the steering effort, not the wheels
 

ozicos

Bronze forum user
Messages
19
Michael,
Not sure about the cross member and rack, on some of the engineer paperwork I have read they mentioned modified steering with MG parts.
The original 13 inch wheels were 7 x 13 with 205/60/13 tyres but these used to rub on the front on full lock and would rub on the rear over bumps.
With the 17inch wheels I went 6.5inch with 195 tyres on the front which stopped the rubbing on full lock. The rears do not rub now because the 3 piece wheels allows you to have whatever offsets you need on the inner part of wheel & outer part of the wheel.

Regards
Cos
 

michael-king

Gold forum user
CAT Member
Messages
4,132
Cos,

A comon mod for tigers is to use MG migdet steering racks and MGB steering arms to help with the ackerman geometry of the stock setup (also to convert to RHD if the car was lhd as the original racks are not easy to come by), a pair of aluminium blocks is used to mount them onto the cross member.. sounds like what might be used for yours.

7" on the front is very wide.. can see why 205's would have caused the issues. Have you joined the club in NSW?
 

ozicos

Bronze forum user
Messages
19
I think your right Michael in respect to the alumium blocks on the rack.
I think that is how mine is mounted, will have to check when I get home.
I have not joined the club in NSW. Do you have their details.
Michael my 302 is very mild and it currently has a 2 barrel 500 holley.
I was looking to install a 4 barrel. Could you recommend a 4 barrel that would not be too large for a mild engine and if I would have to change my manifold.
I might have to post a photo of my carby/manifold to see if I would have to change the whole manifold or if a 4 barrel would bolt up to my existing manifold.

Regards
Cos
 

michael-king

Gold forum user
CAT Member
Messages
4,132
Cos,

the NSW club:
http://home.exetel.com.au/socnsw/Index/sunbeam_owners__club_of_nsw.html

On the carb.. what duke has mentioned is good, though if its a stock 302 you can probably use a smaller one and get as good bottom end go at a slight loss on top end.. but given you are running an auto the smaller carb will save alot in fuel. Yes you will need to change manifolds.

I like the edelbrock carbs, they dont leak like holleys and are easy to change jets in.

A friend here in Melbourne bought a brand new edelbrock 4BBl from summit and also a nice period correct edelbrock F4b manifold (optional on the tigers) a few months back. He was going to install on his car, but its a factory original unrestored vehicle and he has changed him mind i think, so he might part with them (or they may just end up on the shelf as a "perhaps one day" item)

Can get you guys in touch if you want.
 

ozicos

Bronze forum user
Messages
19
Thanks Duke & Mike,

Also I am looking at upgrading the front brakes, I have seen that Wilwood in the States does a kit, has anybody in Australia upgraded their front brakes, who supplied the upgraded brakes (Disc's & Calipers).
I am not really restricted in terms of size of the discs. Wilwood's kit stated you must have 15inch wheels which won't be a problem for me.
Does anyone know of an Australian company who can supply.

Regards
Cos
 

michael-king

Gold forum user
CAT Member
Messages
4,132
Cos,

i have dales wilwood kits forn and back on my car.. they are good.. but you have a better option given your wheel size.

Contact hoppers stoppers down in melbourne (hoppers crossing). they do a PBR based front kit with large vented disc and floating calipers that are the biz. They require 15" wheels. they also provide new hubs with better wheel bearings and location and can change offset geometry as required. I got a friend in the Uk a set of these and he loves them.
 
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