Hints of black.........

PITT40

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A few pics. and an update.....

I got it vacuumed, carpet remnants removed and rolled it out for a hosing off. Not a wash, just a spritz.

I also installed my Nardi wheel. I was dying to see it on there.

The trunk was full of tree-rat (squirrels) debris and waste. It had all kinds of shells, seed pods (helicopters) and such. It smelled of urine pretty badly in the trunk and the Alpine spare tire well was about 3 inches full of this crap. Because that was their "potty" it did create and rust hole and thin area there. Those bastards!!! Outside of that, there is no speakable rust on the car that I can see other than surface rust. The paint is 45 years old, so it would be rearing it's ugly head by now.

I got it running tonight. The water pump bearings are shot. But it starts right up and sounds good. The accelerator pump on the 2 barrel is leaking and the electric fuel pump has voltage but does not work. So I need a water and fuel pump and have a good excuse to pull the 2V intake and add the 4V right now.

I added brake fluid and the master cylinder pumps up to about 2/3 pedal. I'm gonna try bleeding them tomorrow. The clutch works after sitting for 45 years. It would be mind blowing if the brakes do too.

Stay tuned......
 
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Looking good so far, it's always heartening to see machinery revived after a long slumber. In many cases if they had been left in circulation goodness knows where they'd be now. My own car was asleep for close to 20 years in CA as part of a deceased estate before it was revived and finally made it's way to Australia.

Continuing with the mystery paint theme, what are the black bits on your r/h/f fender? Undercoat? Also the red oxide in the trunk is odd, can you determine what lies beneath it? Assuming the white repaint didn't extend to the underhood area someone with a good eye may be able to identify it as Moonstone (19) rather than Polar White (108). That way the "someone's taken my number 9 punch..." when the tags were being prepped may make more sense...:rolleyes:

Lance.
 
The black on the front fenders was from Naval Jelly beings put on the bare metal years ago when the paint began to chip. My seller's father did that. I thought that for a bit too.

The red oxide is actually part of the tech school repaint that it got in 1970. They just failed to color paint the trunk after they primered it. There is overspray on the canvas that separates the trunk and soft top well as well as the side panels. They did a poor job of taping up. Plus the red oxide also oversprays the white behind the gas tanks.

Good point on the paint code. What does Moonstone look like? What is the difference between Arctic White and Polar White too? Both sound like clean, pure white colors.
 
...........? Or is it my imagination? Both sides near the motor mounts and under the firewall supports. After I pressure washed the motor, what I thought was grease is black paint. Thoughts?
 
Could be but I would think there would be much, much more. Unless that car was completely disassembled and the body dipped, there should be lots of black paint on it.
 
Power wash

Close up that motor tight and spray the critter down with light bleach and power wash it. I hate rodents as you do even the cute ones.
Great looking pics so far. I pull spark plugs and give a good spray of fogging oil or others use diesel fuel before moving motor for first time after long time parked. Was the hood always down and the carb covered?
More than one engine I've tried to rescue had water in crankcase. Would not hurt to drain it and see what comes out...

Keep up the great work..
 
It sounds like you really want to believe it was black-I say don't worry about it and build it the way you want it to be. You have a Tiger and enjoy it. The way it has been looking the car may have been completely stripped/dipped before the paint job, but then again I am not sure how many shops did that back in the 60's. :confused:
 
Mice Infestation is Not a Joking Matter

Pitt

Please be extremely careful cleaning that rodent mess out of your recent acquisition. The excrement of mice are the cause of the hantavirus. :eek: It is transmitted through the air and when you stir things up during clean up the virus gets airborne...you breathe it in...and the next thing you know you can not breathe and are in the hospital.:(

I just read about that exact scenario on another car forum. Some guy was cleaning a mouse nest out of his classic car and the next thing he is in the hospital fighting for his life. Hanatavirus can be fatal.

So enough said. Good advice for all...wear respiratory protection and keep the area well ventilated when cleaning up after mice. Better yet, protect your cars before the little b*****ds set up house.
 
Great shots, looks to be very complete. Were the side trim holes filled or is the chrome just off the car? Nice steering wheel.
 
Protect Yourself

Also be sure to wear rubber gloves when changing the fluids, that's how Ebola is transmitted.

Just sayin'....
 
Hey Pitt,

Please get me some really good close-up pics of all the heater hoses and clamps. Front and back of carb please. What clamps are used on the water pump?

TIA!
 
One other technique I would suggest is to treat the cylinders and most importantly piston rings with marvel mystery oil. I work with antique airplanes frequently and have revived a number of engines that have been sitting for 50 years or more. It's best to do it before firing it up but sounds like you are past that. Piston rings that are frozen in their grooves may not be immediately evident. A frozen ring can do a variety of bad things but may be benign too. I would suggest a compression check to see where you are.

Cheers! -Kevin
 
If you really want a definitive answer to what colour it originally was, pick an area adjacent to a chip where you can see red primer, so you know that area hasn't been stripped back to bare metal, get some wet & dry and start rubbing.
The colours that you find will be the colours it has been.

If you only find white and the red primer......
 
Be aware too that any of the sheetmetal areas that Jensen had to "remodel", (top hats on inner fenders, header tank brackets etc), have no evidence of the red oxide primer used on the Rootes assmbly line. It appears a matching top coat was simply sprayed over bare metal after the welding and hammering was completed. That's why the paint is often flaking in these areas 50 years on.
 
Warren:

The car was always inside with hood closed. I pulled the plugs the day that I got it, squirted WD40 in each cylinder and let it soak for 48 hrs. Last night I put a new cap, rotor, points and condenser on it and after a few pops and tries and repushing plug wires fully on, it started. After that, you hit the switch and it started right up. Water pump is shot and crab leaks gas at accelerator pump. So today the aluminum intake goes on. Not putting any money into a 2v carb.

VatCat:

Never heard of such a thing, but already did the deed. It's contained in my shop vac now.

CobraKidz:

Yeah, I guess I do want it to be black. That's what the code says, so I'm going to blow t apart and paint every inch eventually and it will be black.
 
Not putting any money into a 2v carb.

I would love your carb for my display engine....I'll even give it back to you if you want it in the distant future.

And several other items off of that manifold. We should talk...
 
Lucky guy

Good to hear it's alive... nothing like that Dr. Frankenstein feeling is there.
All I can add is get a screen filter to catch the chunks of cast iron before they get into the radiator and by pass the heater core for now as it may have lots of loose metal in it too.
 
Congrats on getting it started---now be careful of the brakes before that first test drive.... :)
 
Looking around, the Jensen guys were not real craftsman were they? I didn't notice it as much with my first 2 Tigers, although one was almost 30 years ago. They really hacked and sloppily welded things in didn't they?

I only noticed the trans tunnel being hacky looking in my last Tiger. Then again, it had been restored before it's fire and special care may have been taken to cover and smooth the rough edges.
 
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