Intro and Project Start

Tweak

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CAT Member
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64
New member from MN here. My Wife recently procured the family cherished Tiger. This car was bought used in 1966 by my father in law and rec'd a nice fix up in the mid-70's. Since then it has only been driven on occasion and has spent most of it's time in the garage waiting for more active love and attention.

The car runs and drives, but it needs some significant attention. The interior is a mess and the underside has me concerned. It was undercoated/rustproofed after the 1975 re-do and there is significant corrosion underneath.

This could be a great project for me. I've always wanted to be involved in fixing a car up and this one seems really cool and fun. The fact that it is significant to my wife's family doesn't hurt either. Her interest helps with the budget.

My concern is to get the chassis looked and and repaired before doing anything else. Is this the best approach? Should the car be stripped, or should it be fixable as is?

Looking for advice and suggestions on this little gem.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/623s50agn11qlfv/AABGOomLElPGr9Vo648GALZUa?dl=0
 

HolyCat

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CAT Member
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1,241
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Tigers

Tweak,

Congratulations on your recent acquisition. Your car seems to have a nice paint job, but the interior and engine compartment look a little tired. And the underside does appear to show what happens to cars in the northern parts of the country.

This is the time to think about what do you want to have as your finished project. Do you want a solid, but not concours driver? Do you want a car that looks better than the day it was shipped across the Atlantic? Do you plan to improve the car's engine, suspension, steering, brakes, etc. or do you want to keep it as original and stock as possible?

Are you happy with the current paint job? If not, then the answer is easy - strip the whole car.

It seems to me that to do much in the way or repairs to the chassis, you will need to gut the interior of the car so that you can safely weld on the underside. There are people who do blasting with dry ice (frozen CO2) that knocks off the rust without taking too much good metal. I don't know if that can be done on the underside without putting the car body on a rotisserie.

There are a lot of folks on this forum who will be happy to offer their opinions, including folks who know a whole lot more about body and chassis repair work than I do.

Good luck with your project. The color combination of the dark blue and the light blue interior is a gorgeous one.
 

Tweak

Silver forum user
CAT Member
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64
I think the car is a bit past being made totally original again, and I'm not sure that would hold my interest either. I want it to look relatively stock and perform better than stock. Since new sports cars aren't cheap and this one has value in what it is, and to my wife, I am thinking about spending some money and making it more contemporary.

Wish List:

New interior of azure blue seats and such, but a deeper blue carpet than stock.
New paint of the original midnight blue
15" panasport wheels
remove the stock drivetrain and replace with a 302 and 5 speed
Dales Restoration front end
Radiator, alternator, rear end gear change and posi

It's quite a list!!!
 

michael-king

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4,132
I think the car is a bit past being made totally original again, and I'm not sure that would hold my interest either.

It's quite a list!!!

The car actually looks remarkably stock.... most would love such a complete and relatively unmolested starting point. Don't throw anything you take off it away. Sure upgrade the power train if you want, but just make sure the upgrades are reversible and don't require body mods.

Car looks like a great starting point.... bodywork can be pricey, but better to do it right and once.
 

Tweak

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CAT Member
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64
Thanks. It is relatively unscathed, and I have already begun sorting, labeling, bagging the extra parts it came with.

I don't want to mess this thing up. I've been reading posts on this forum like crazy. But I will be needing to enlist the expertise of the right shops.
 

0neoffive

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CAT Member
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2,853
Welcome to the mania

Thanks. It is relatively unscathed, and I have already begun sorting, labeling, bagging the extra parts it came with.

I don't want to mess this thing up. I've been reading posts on this forum like crazy. But I will be needing to enlist the expertise of the right shops.

Bag & Tag it all, is an all important move fer sure. I can't stress enough the need to blast the belly and find the sins. There are years of experience and talents on this forum who will all agree that the foundation needs to be put right before you stick a fancy house on it. Pick a weld shop with "Beam" experience as they ARE DIFFERENT than the average rehab guy will interpret. The gurus here seem to spend a lot of time "undoing" older repairs.
welcome to the fun . . . . .
 

Warren

Gold forum user
Messages
3,872
Good starting point

If you drive a modern front end car you will be spoiled. The 5 speed may or may not be in the cards. Look at the wide ratio conversion and 2.72 rear end. I have seen rougher cars cosmetically restored. If you can get the car up and blasted you can see what's left. I've had some really good results with an evapo rust like product, but on undercarriage it's goo like jelly isn't enough.

Usable hp is a big topic here. With a Dale's front end and bigger brakes 275-300 is street able but you need a place to go drive like a teen-ager ; )
 

Warren

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3,872
55 hours

If you roll back to last year there was a car in Scottsdale on Craigslist. I was not willing to go pay what they asked as it had riveted on rust repairs and came from Colorado and was hauled to AZ. It's next caretaker a 4 or was it 5 Tiger owner approached me at United and said he has 55 hours into the underside. That car is in truly good hands, man it had some nice bits included 2 sets of buddy bar valve covers etc. While she is getting her refit get a test drive in stock personalized and a modified car so you can feel out your needs. Thanks for posting!
 

tundratiger67

Bronze forum user
Messages
32
In the neighborhood, perhaps...

Hello Tweak,

I bought my Tiger from a guy on the north side of Chicago in 1994 and tackled many of the same issues that you're facing. Hard to believe 20+ years have passed now. Anyway, at the time I was living in St. Paul and really had to search for capable and trustworthy local sources to tackle rust, metalwork and painting. Overall, I was pretty luck to connect with good people who did exceptional work. I was very satisfied with the results.

I'm now living in the River Falls area of Wisconsin which may or may not be in your range. While I can't guarantee that I can provide all the answers to your questions or need for local sources, I can share my experience and offer moral support to the effort. I know there are more than a few Tiger and Alpine owners in the metropolitan Twin Cities region but recent efforts to pull them together have been unsuccessful. Online, this club and the Tigers East/Alpines East forums have been an invaluable source of knowledge, experience and support.

Good luck and send me a PM if you're interested in connecting at some point.

Randy Z.
 

Tweak

Silver forum user
CAT Member
Messages
64
Way more than expected

I read back on this and it’s funny to remember what I thought I was in for. WRONG!

It’s been two years or so, and the blasting revealed a lot needed to be done.

But yesterday it turned blue.

Thanks Randy!
 

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0neoffive

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2,853
It's Solid (finally)

I read back on this and it’s funny to remember what I thought I was in for. WRONG!

It’s been two years or so, and the blasting revealed a lot needed to be done.

But yesterday it turned blue.

Thanks Randy!

This one was a challenge. Once started, I actually got two calls from our media blaster asking me if we really wanted to continue!! The car was so flexible at first, some interesting jig geometry was created to keep it all straight for slice & weld. This earned the # 2 spot in difficulty for the shop lads. Fabrication was extensive as the historic rodent acids had won the day. But, here we are with a rescued piece of history. It's a challenge for owners to run this emotional gauntlet. Congrats!!
 

JB66CAT

Gold forum user
Messages
161
Good to see it in paint! Mine started out as a "hey I can get this running and fixed up" to wth did I get into. You'll get there and will be happy you went for it. Cheers
 
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