Los Lunas Tiger Finished!
In October of 2014, I hauled the 1964 Tiger from behind the woodpile to finally fix it up. When I saw the extent of deterioration, rust and need for fabrication needed, I decided what was needed was beyond my skill set. In retrospect, I was very lucky to develop a relationship with Jim Hardyman of Color Me Crazy Hotrods, a local craftsman (Los Lunas) who restores muscle cars. Although this was his first Tiger, we were able to develop a working relationship. I did the research, chased parts and made sure the Tiger was restored with respect to Sunbeam.
The goal of the restoration was to keep the best aspects of the Tiger, which basically was most of the car, but improve the limitations, which were few. This involved replacing the front suspension with a suspension with out the problems which have been described (Dale's). The gears in the transmission were changed to wide ratio which makes the car more responsive on the street. The rear end was changed to a Ford 9 inch with Tru-Trac and ability to have 5 lug wheels. The stock dana is adequate but I didn't have a good one, and the 9 inch is stronger and easier to work on. The stock Tiger 13 inch wheels and 4 lug axles were really made for a 4 cylinder Alpine and are marginal on a Tiger which makes higher horsepower than the stock 260. The engine was changed to a later model small block with increased power. A Miata will not out run this Tiger! Other mods included replacing the wiring with adequate fuses, dual master cylinder brakes with improved 4 wheel disk brakes and tires which match the horse power potential of the engine. The beauty of the MKI Tiger was respected by keeping the exterior and interior stock. The pictures accompanying the past posts were lost, but photos of the restoration are available on my album (just click my name).
The Tiger was finished in time for the Supernationals in Albuquerque on February 3-5, 2017. It was the only Tiger and drew much more interest and attention than I expected. Comments made include how rare Tigers were, and how many people knew about them, and, of course, it was Maxwell Smart's ride. Out of 180 cars it won 1st in Sports cars (ahead of a Jaguar XK and a Porsche 911) and Sweepstakes Award for Sport (with $200). I started this just wanting to get the Tiger on the road, and now that is possible. Hope to see everyone who can come to Tiger United in June. Cliff