I am replacing the frame on a 1967 MK1A, purchased a wrecked car and putting it back on the road. My donor car is 65 Alpine. Is there anything that I should be aware of to keep it an authentic tiger? Replacing from the firewall forward. If anyone has a left front frame bumper ear I would be interested as my donor car has been slightly bent.
Frame replacement
- Thread starter Tireguy
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Ditto!
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Having it TAC'ed doesn't seem to mean much to some folks. There's a Tiger for sale with the certificate that was repaired with a front clip among other items. A previous owner did his usual fantastic fabrication work and the usual folks have said all kind of things about that car.
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That's a little bit of a false positive.
Depending on the work done after it may void the TAC.
What would be best is have an expert/inspector look at the car and see what can be salvaged. From the sounds of it the intent is to replace the whole front clip firewall forward.
There are a lot of TAC identity points there I'll be removed .. but there are still a lot from the scuttle back
IvaTiger
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So when does a tiger stop being a tiger when parts are chopped out and either fabricated or salvaged from an Alpine , it also seams that the 260 engine is replaced with a 289 or larger rather than restoring the 260 in a lot of cases ?
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A very quick TAC summary.
TAC doesn't declare a car a Tiger or not ... It is a process that identifies the unique modifications and process that Jensen used to produce a Tiger and some of the unique aspects of the Tiger shell from pressed steel vs and Alpine.
There are signs of this on the cars front to back.. drive line, trim etc have nothing to do with TAC... It just looks to identify the lineage of the body
You could replace all the outer panels of a car with some from a donor and you can still identify the tiger sheel... I know you could add a complete from clip firewall foward to a car and it would still pass TAC if the rest of the identifiers are there from the firewall back.
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NOPE! You're seeing two different cars. My series 4 Alpine with no primer and an original Tiger. Both at the same shop. These photos show the series 4 at a later date and the Tiger engine compartment after paint and the start of assembly.
Austin Healer
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This last picture shows an Alpine shell with a Tiger trans tunnel and bulkhead... forgot to flame cut something, Bob! Additionally, the car is clearly a series 5 Alpine (footwell vents) but the tunnel has no holes for the outboard drains from the footwell vents, hence a MK1 trans tunnel bulkhead.
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Not Roberts car, he isn't really a Tiger guy ... But also can't attribute that work to Robert either...he has Doug do all his bodywork... so assume this is his work.
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Are you sure? Get your facts right.
Austin Healer
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yes, positive.
Austin Healer
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in any event, I stand by what I said. The lower heater mounting tab is modified on a genuine Tiger shell.
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I drove Tigers before you were born.
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Are you sure?
Austin Healer
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That would be a neat trick, Bob... I was born before they were even thought of.