New Toy

[Cal44]

I had to make sure it was in my garage and registered in my name before I posted. This garage find lived most of it's life in Hollywood-L.A area then to the central part of California where is sat in a garage for eighteen years.

Twelve years ago I foolishly sold my first San Diego Tiger. I never thought I would find another rust free Cat again.

This '65 still retains it's black plates. I have the gas tanks out for cleaning and sealing as they were gummed up. The fuel line was so clogged with dead varnish even an air compressor would not blow through.

The paint is old and cracked. The engine compartment is, well, not pretty.
The car has been TAC'd and all is right with the world.

I hear people state, "all the good cars have been found". Not true. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Is the car perfect? far from it.

Since I have decided to live the rest of my life in the '50's and '60's I will not restore it. It will be made safe and reliable to drive and that will be that.

My next goal is buy a pair of Ray-Bans.............and watch old Peter Sellers movies

 

[AshUK]

Original is the new Restored!!

In this age of trailer queens and better than new resto's it is so nice to see an original car retaining its charactor with 45 years worth of dirt and faded paint. After all, you wouldn't re varnish a Chippendale antique cabinet would you?

It maybe worth getting some decent rubber on it though Mike!

 

[michael-king]

Mike the car is truly a great survivor and i know it has found a worthy owner.. will be nice to take it around and show people how a factory tiger looks!

 

[Cal44]

Yes, I know the those dumb speakers are not supposed to be there. I will order new panels, and, the seats have to be done. The foam is coming out the bottom in big chunks..........
It is like sitting in a metal bucket.

I also am not certain I can leave the the painted items under the hood they way they are, shroud, oil cap etc. They are just so darn rough.

What do you guys think?

 

[michael-king]

Mike,

See if you can find nice used items to replace parts.. there will be someone who has decent original door cards (there are great ones on ebay at the moment.. but for the GT style unfortunatly) things like the shroud and caps etc should probably be refinshed.. issue is if you do them as new.. then they stand out and make other things look shabby, so how to give them patina.

BTW tried to email you from work account and it bounced.. will try of personal account later.

 

[AshUK]

Get some oil on the tatty parts and leave it at that otherwise if you start painting bits they will look out of place and you will end up with a detailed engine bay and the originality will be lost!

Hey its only my opinion but you did ask

 

[0neoffive]

The unrestored but originals

Nice going, we're jealous: When I first brought TAC # 009 back east from SD we had the same family debate over leaving it as original or doing what we do for our customers and make it all new again. A couple of show trophies later it was evident that "preserved" won out over artificial perfection. The kitty has since returned to a dry air climate with a capable & appreciative owner. OPINION # 47-2/3 ; Although I could not resist cleaning & repainting the various rusted components and helping the interior, the rest looks fine. You should just maintain it & drive it. . . .randy