It all started when I was about 15. I saw a Cobra and said I have to a have one of those. Of course they were in short supply then I saw a Tiger. What a car! My dreams were set.
Somewhere down the road I bought a 61 Alpine with the thoughts of stuffing a V8 in it. In 1977 I started looking for parts at different salvage yards and stopped in one in Haw River, NC and asked if he had any Sunbeam parts. His response was I had some kind of Sunbeam out there. Let's go look at it. Well it was a 1965 Tiger and I bought for $650 it immediately. It had some body damage and the left front wheel wasn't attached. I had it towed to Charlotte, NC and got it running, fixed the broken control arm and drove it around the neighborhood.
I enrolled in Auto Body repair classes a the local Community College and took my car to school with me. VA benefits paid for the classes so I was home free. I got the body straight and it looked good
I pulled the 260 and found a 5 bolt bell housing 289 that I built with a mild cam and an Edelbrock Torquer Intake and a Holley 4 BBL. I also had louvers stamped into the hood by a local guy. I ran across a another Tiger owner that has a LAT fiberglass hood an we swapped hoods.I drove the car for several years and one faithful day my wife drove it to work. As she was leaving work that P.O.S. Holley dumped gas all over the intake and the car went up in flames. She was waiting for me in the driveway when I got home to tell me what happened. I dumped 2 quarts of oil down the intake and turned the engine over by hand several times and left it in the garage. My son and I disassembled the car completely. I ordered all the replacement parts to start over but my heart wasn't in it.
A few years back I started work with a Corvette owner and we were talking about cars and I told him I had a Tiger. He was on me immediately to get it on the road. I finally decided she had been sitting in the garage way to long. I took apart the from cross member and had it powder coated and reassembled with new font end parts. I pulled the heads off of the engine and had new valves installed along with roller rockers. I powder coated the intake, bought an Edelbrock Carburetor, no more Holley for this car, reassembled and installed in the car. Tried to go with a MSD system but nothing but problems so I finally went with a GM HEI distributor. Started installing the wiring harness which is where I am today. She starts up an sounds real good and it gives me chills if you know what I mean!
Body damage from the fire wasn't too extreme buy any repairs that I had previously made on the front end will have to be re-done which is my next step. I also had to replace the radiator, purchased on from Griffin Radiator and it slipped right in. I also purchased Evans water less coolant.
Thought and comments are welcomed.
Coy
Somewhere down the road I bought a 61 Alpine with the thoughts of stuffing a V8 in it. In 1977 I started looking for parts at different salvage yards and stopped in one in Haw River, NC and asked if he had any Sunbeam parts. His response was I had some kind of Sunbeam out there. Let's go look at it. Well it was a 1965 Tiger and I bought for $650 it immediately. It had some body damage and the left front wheel wasn't attached. I had it towed to Charlotte, NC and got it running, fixed the broken control arm and drove it around the neighborhood.
I enrolled in Auto Body repair classes a the local Community College and took my car to school with me. VA benefits paid for the classes so I was home free. I got the body straight and it looked good
I pulled the 260 and found a 5 bolt bell housing 289 that I built with a mild cam and an Edelbrock Torquer Intake and a Holley 4 BBL. I also had louvers stamped into the hood by a local guy. I ran across a another Tiger owner that has a LAT fiberglass hood an we swapped hoods.I drove the car for several years and one faithful day my wife drove it to work. As she was leaving work that P.O.S. Holley dumped gas all over the intake and the car went up in flames. She was waiting for me in the driveway when I got home to tell me what happened. I dumped 2 quarts of oil down the intake and turned the engine over by hand several times and left it in the garage. My son and I disassembled the car completely. I ordered all the replacement parts to start over but my heart wasn't in it.
A few years back I started work with a Corvette owner and we were talking about cars and I told him I had a Tiger. He was on me immediately to get it on the road. I finally decided she had been sitting in the garage way to long. I took apart the from cross member and had it powder coated and reassembled with new font end parts. I pulled the heads off of the engine and had new valves installed along with roller rockers. I powder coated the intake, bought an Edelbrock Carburetor, no more Holley for this car, reassembled and installed in the car. Tried to go with a MSD system but nothing but problems so I finally went with a GM HEI distributor. Started installing the wiring harness which is where I am today. She starts up an sounds real good and it gives me chills if you know what I mean!
Body damage from the fire wasn't too extreme buy any repairs that I had previously made on the front end will have to be re-done which is my next step. I also had to replace the radiator, purchased on from Griffin Radiator and it slipped right in. I also purchased Evans water less coolant.
Thought and comments are welcomed.
Coy
