New Member

[KettleCarver]

Hi All,

I am a new member to this club, but not new to Tigers. I owned a '66 MK1a for a couple of years back in the early '80's. I always regretted having to sell that car.

I recently stumbled upon a partially completed project car, also a '66 MK1a. I am going to pick it up on the day after Thanksgiving. Really looking forward to getting the car and working on it.

Is there a registry with a list of Tiger serial numbers? I want to try and confirm that this car is the real deal. It is number 152. I know of some of the things to look for to verify that it is a real Tiger, such as: the indented area in the fender well next to the generator; the trap door behind the passenger seat above the fuel pump; and the #8 spark plug access hole in the firewall. Are there other things I should be looking for?

I look forward to tapping the knowledge of longtime members once I get into the project.

Thanks,

Marty

 

[Doug C]

New

Welcome to CATS and you’ll get all the help you need on this site. If I may ask what city do you live in?

Doug
Valencia, CA

 

[0neoffive]

It's a mania fer sure

Welcome to the soft brain ward. The Rootes 1 registry should give you all the info you want after you learn to navigate the site. Serial #, JAL #, tranny tag # and the under pinion stamping # should all jive together . This forum has a lot of good people handy to help, comment, or just plain bore you to death.

 

[HolyCat]

TAC

Many of us have had our cars undergo a TAC inspection to confirm the car started off as a Tiger and not an Alpine. For more information about the TAC program, check out the website that explains what it is and what it does.

https://sunbeamtiger.org/index.php/component/content/category/16-club

There are TAC inspectors located in different parts of the country. You can arrange an inspection with the closest senior inspector. TAC inspections are also scheduled during major Tiger events.

Good luck with your latest Tiger!

 

[KenF]

Welcome!

Awesome! Can't wait to see some pics and progress to get it back on the road. Folks here can offer tons of advice, which helped me a lot last year while resurrecting my Mk1. And also help round up any missing parts if needed.

Ken
Elk Grove, CA

 

[Warren]

United States

First name and town would be great. Then it's easier to narrow down your local Tiger guys. And yes CAT is more than California as is STOA and TEAE and the Pacific coast club.
Lots of guys in Florida and Texas.
Getting to and finding the information while retaining the integrity is the biggest concern.
Ken refered to the fill in the blank Tiger registry to verify the drivetrain components. There's little tricks I have used to photograph transmission tags and rear end number. But as Dave suggested the shell is a different story a lot has happened and a car put together like Lego blocks of different colors can be the case. Trust but verify.
If you are concerned about sharing pictures use the private album option here, or a photo sharing that you can control mostly.

 

[KettleCarver]

Welcome to CATS and you’ll get all the help you need on this site. If I may ask what city do you live in?

Doug
Valencia, CA

Thanks for the welcome! I am pretty excited about starting this new journey.

Somehow, I thought my location would show up under my user name, as on other forums I am on. My name is Marty and I live in Elkhorn, WI. (Ha, ha, that sounds like an opening intro to Tigerholics Anonymous!!) It is a small town about 40 miles west of Milwaukee. I bought my first Tiger in Milwaukee all those years ago. This one I will have to make a 14 hour roundtrip to collect. I will give you guys the story once I get back.

Thanks,

Marty

 

[HolyCat]

Somehow, I thought my location would show up under my user name, as on other forums I am on.

HI Marty!

To fill in more information about yourself, click on Quick Links in the blue bar near the top and select Edit Your Details. You can put in as much information about yourself as you want.

Welcome to the Forum!

 

[ABSunbeams]

Thanks for the welcome! I am pretty excited about starting this new journey.

Somehow, I thought my location would show up under my user name, as on other forums I am on. My name is Marty and I live in Elkhorn, WI. (Ha, ha, that sounds like an opening intro to Tigerholics Anonymous!!) It is a small town about 40 miles west of Milwaukee. I bought my first Tiger in Milwaukee all those years ago. This one I will have to make a 14 hour roundtrip to collect. I will give you guys the story once I get back.

Thanks,

Marty

Hi Marty- PM’d you, Just down the block in Union grove Wisc. Good to know there is another Tiger in the vicinity. Welcome! Al

 

[cobrakidz]

Welcome to the club

 

[KettleCarver]

Well, yesterday was pick up day! My day started before O' Dark thirty. Left the house at 3:00 am. I was supposed to pick up a car buddy along the way, but his wife tested positive for Covid the night before Thanksgiving. My son Mike graciously volunteered to step in as co-pilot on the trip.

Luckily at that ungoddly hour the traffic was almost non-existant. I think being the day after Thanksgiving helped too. The trip down was pretty smooth. The car was at a restoration shop just S.E. of Louisville, KY.

It turns out that the shop was restoring the car for its original owner. Apparently midway through the process, the owner died and they were unable to find any heirs to claim the car. After several years, they were able to exercise a mechanics lien and get title to the car.

The car has been mechanically restored, with rebuilt engine, trans and diff. The body has also been cosmetically restored to a pretty high standard. The interior was also mostly restored with a new dash, carpets and seats. The shop owner has done several movie cars, including a couple of the Batmobiles, a Dukes of Hazard car and a couple of others. I have a really good platform to start from. The car just needs final assembly and sorting. The hard part right now will be identifying the parts that I have and figuring out what I don't have.

After an 867 mile round trip, I got the car back home at 8:45 pm, almost 18 hours total travel time.

This should be a fun project to complete. Here are a few pictures of the car as it was when I brought it home. I hope I can tap your knowledge of these great cars to finish putting this one back together properly.

Thanks,

Marty

 

[KettleCarver]

The pictures did not attach for some reason. Let's try that again.

 

[HolyCat]

Looks Like a Good Start

It appears that the restoration shop did a good job with the body work and paint. You have a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, but no picture to use to put it together. In addition to the folks here offering their knowledge, there are a few references that can help you (but even they lack some of the details). I would suggest you consider obtaining a copy of the Rootes workshop manual for the 260 or the same one that covers both the 260 and 289. Also, since the Tiger shares many parts with the Alpine, the Rootes Alpine parts manual is helpful - as long as it includes the Series IV and V Alpines. Rootes issues a supplement parts manual for the 260 and later 260 and 289. Hopefully you already have these. Original books are available on eBay, but there are also CDs of these books at a cheaper price. Since you have a Mk IA, be sure that any Alpine parts book you get includes the Series V Alpine.

Good luck with your great adventure! It looks like you have a good base to start with.

 

[michael-king]

Nice start to a project.. You will need to find a Tiger speedo, i believe there are repro ones now available.
Same for the header tank, a group in the UK makes factory correct ones.

A quick warning on the front wheels.. The offset and tyres on those worry me a bit... If someone hasnt trimmed the fromt valence id be very careful to check that the leading edge of outer side tyre on the outside wheel when turning doesnt touch the wheel arch lip where it joins the valence.... Thry have a habbit of catching and will ruin your day.... And paint/wheel arch lip

 

[KettleCarver]

It appears that the restoration shop did a good job with the body work and paint. You have a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle, but no picture to use to put it together. In addition to the folks here offering their knowledge, there are a few references that can help you (but even they lack some of the details). I would suggest you consider obtaining a copy of the Rootes workshop manual for the 260 or the same one that covers both the 260 and 289. Also, since the Tiger shares many parts with the Alpine, the Rootes Alpine parts manual is helpful - as long as it includes the Series IV and V Alpines. Rootes issues a supplement parts manual for the 260 and later 260 and 289. Hopefully you already have these. Original books are available on eBay, but there are also CDs of these books at a cheaper price. Since you have a Mk IA, be sure that any Alpine parts book you get includes the Series V Alpine.

Good luck with your great adventure! It looks like you have a good base to start with.

The jigsaw puzzle with no picture is the perfect analogy, LOL! How usable are the CD versions of the manuals? I have seen them on other cars and sometimes the information is so small to read on the computer, that it makes them difficult to read. If that is the case, it would be worth it to spend the extra money and get a hard copy of the manual.

Thanks,

Marty

 

[KettleCarver]

Nice start to a project.. You will need to find a Tiger speedo, i believe there are repro ones now available.
Same for the header tank, a group in the UK makes factory correct ones.

A quick warning on the front wheels.. The offset and tyres on those worry me a bit... If someone hasnt trimmed the fromt valence id be very careful to check that the leading edge of outer side tyre on the outside wheel when turning doesnt touch the wheel arch lip where it joins the valence.... Thry have a habbit of catching and will ruin your day.... And paint/wheel arch lip

Thanks for the heads up on the tires and wheels. I am considering getting some 15x6 Panasports. I will also need to figure out what size tire to get. I'll check the fender lip to see if it has been trimmed.

Can you send me a picture of a Tiger speedo and the header tank?

Thanks!

 

[0neoffive]

Lots-O-stuff

The pictures did not attach for some reason. Let's try that again.

Well it sure looks like the modified crew has been at it. It has the 7" brake booster mount for the later serial #'s. The whole project should keep you in the garage for a while. Good luck & enjoy.

 

[ABSunbeams]

Some assembly required

The pictures did not attach for some reason. Let's try that again.

Nice Tiger! What is the paint code? Looks like it will keep you busy with assembly, since it’s been painted the hard part is done (unless there are underlying things). Have manuals you can use plus Tigers and an Alpine for examples. Bruce Paul in Milwaukee is a good source of information if needed, he’s done a few.-Al

 

[venice532]

rootes parts manual

David mentioned how valuable the Rootes Parts manual is.

The tiger supplement is online here on the Tiger's United website that Theo still maintains:

http://www.tigersunited.com/resources/factory_parts_list/Tiger/tiger_part_list.asp

While you are there take some time and poke around the site, it's got a lot of useful info.

 

[Warren]

Tank and

Stock AC housing are available. Rick at Sunbeam Specialties sells the Header Tank aka expansion tank if you want a new one. Ask me about the air cleaner housing. The picture is my spare tank they didn't come chrome plated. The original color is satin black .