I am restoring my 1966 Tiger and I can sure use some help from this community. My Tiger is a non rusty, late Mk1 that I can trace back to 1977, when it was transferred into the name of Joe Davis. Joe received Tiger Tales, so I presume he was a member of C.A.T. way back when. The Tiger was last registered in 1981 and was bought from the Davis estate by a close friend of mine. He had the Tiger garaged for about 12 years until I bought it from him in 2003. The Tiger sat untouched in my garage until recently. My aim is to update the Tiger where I can, but in ways that can be reversed in case strict originality is desired in the future. I don't want to destroy the value of the car, but I plan to build a car that will be driven on Los Angeles roads. The first question I have is should I remove the original sound deadening material from the floors and under the seats? Most of the material was already gone on the driver's side floor, but all of the rest is in near perfect condition. I had planned to strip the interior to prep and repaint the interior sheet metal and then use a dynamat type sound deadener in place of the original pad. What do you think? Am I shooting myself in the foot? The second question concerns a roughly 1" hole located on the floor of the trunk where the battery tray and Alpine spare tire well meet. The hard fuel line runs under the hole and I have seen this hole in photos of other Tigers. I don't have a clue as to why it is there. I had planned to weld it up to get rid of the hole, but I figured I should ask the more knowledgeable first. I thank you in advance for any help you can send my way.
Need Tiger Advice
- Thread starter catatonic
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It's a Holy Hole
The hole is most likely the battery vent hole. This is part of the provenance proof of a Tiger vs Alger. Keep the hole and put a rubber grommet in it like most of us have done. The sound deadening choice is yours. I'm for keeping things original if they are in good shape. Opinions will vary on this one . . . .
The hole is most likely the battery vent hole. This is part of the provenance proof of a Tiger vs Alger. Keep the hole and put a rubber grommet in it like most of us have done. The sound deadening choice is yours. I'm for keeping things original if they are in good shape. Opinions will vary on this one . . . .
cadreamn67
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First, a hardy welcome to our little corner of the classic sports car world.
I will answer the easy question first.
The hole in the trunk floor is for a vent tube that ran to the caps on the original Lucas battery. If the battery got hot and spewed out acid/fumes, the bad stuff was vented to outside air instead of inside the trunk. If you are interested in originality and not doing anything that cannot be reversed, I would not weld it up. There are other ways to plug it.
It sounds to me like you want to make the car an enjoyable driver. Just from that perspective, I, for one, would vote for the modern, heat shielding material to replace the bad stuff. I cannot see how that would affect the future value of the car, unless you have in mind a museum condition car.
Just my 2 cents.
Gene
Opps, I see Randy answered ahead of my slow typing. I will leave this up for what little additional it may be worth.
I will answer the easy question first.
The hole in the trunk floor is for a vent tube that ran to the caps on the original Lucas battery. If the battery got hot and spewed out acid/fumes, the bad stuff was vented to outside air instead of inside the trunk. If you are interested in originality and not doing anything that cannot be reversed, I would not weld it up. There are other ways to plug it.
It sounds to me like you want to make the car an enjoyable driver. Just from that perspective, I, for one, would vote for the modern, heat shielding material to replace the bad stuff. I cannot see how that would affect the future value of the car, unless you have in mind a museum condition car.
Just my 2 cents.
Gene
Opps, I see Randy answered ahead of my slow typing. I will leave this up for what little additional it may be worth.
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As above for the hole.. rubber plug and you are sorted.
If the car is very original I would keep the original tar sheeting. However as you say soe of it is already destroyed, perhaps carefully remove the bits in good shape in the back and number them, that way if ou wan tto put them back in later.. they are there.
The modern dynamat is much better at heat and sound. so for comfort that's the correct choice. Really depends what you want from the car.. but always keep anything you take of a car.. and if its something you have to remove.. do it carefully.
If the car is very original I would keep the original tar sheeting. However as you say soe of it is already destroyed, perhaps carefully remove the bits in good shape in the back and number them, that way if ou wan tto put them back in later.. they are there.
The modern dynamat is much better at heat and sound. so for comfort that's the correct choice. Really depends what you want from the car.. but always keep anything you take of a car.. and if its something you have to remove.. do it carefully.
Thank you for responding so quickly to my questions. I have made a decision on the sound deadening thanks to your advice, but I want to make sure that the trunk hole I described is for the battery vent. I uploaded a photo of the hole I was asking about. I have only read about the vent hole, but I've never seen a photo of one. My car had a small clear plastic hose that entered the trunk through a different hole located on the vertical sheet metal, just forward of the battery (toward the front of the car) at about 12" off the floor of the trunk. I presumed I had found the vent tube I'd read about, but now I'm confused. Please enlighten me.
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cadreamn67
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The arrow in your pic points to the battery vent tube hole.
The clear plastic tube coming through the vertical back wall of the trunk is a fresh air vent tube for the original equipment SU fuel pump. As I recall it was supposed to be to a dry air source. I think it may have been related to the switching points in the pump.
Gene
FWIW, there was also a thin plywood plank screwed into that channel in the trunk floor under where the battery tray sat. No doubt for leveling purposes. It looks like it has gone away, but you may find a couple of sheet metal screws still hanging around in the channel.
The clear plastic tube coming through the vertical back wall of the trunk is a fresh air vent tube for the original equipment SU fuel pump. As I recall it was supposed to be to a dry air source. I think it may have been related to the switching points in the pump.
Gene
FWIW, there was also a thin plywood plank screwed into that channel in the trunk floor under where the battery tray sat. No doubt for leveling purposes. It looks like it has gone away, but you may find a couple of sheet metal screws still hanging around in the channel.
Warren
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What's the white powder hope it's bicarbonate of soda.
They are original once. Depending on the average drive and the time of year in LA you take that will determine the heat factor in the car.
My trips are under 5 to 10 miles so it is very tolerable with the stock insulation. Make it 15 to 20 then leave the black interior in the sun in June or Julyfor an hour and it is way past toasty. Make the same trip in late September or after and its a wonderful toasty place to be.
You can always add in the fact that a little leak around the steering or any other firewall hole can be really nice in winter or miserable in Summer. I think those are the bigger problems than heat from the mufflers coming thru the floor.
We love pics show us more!
What's the white powder hope it's bicarbonate of soda.
They are original once. Depending on the average drive and the time of year in LA you take that will determine the heat factor in the car.
My trips are under 5 to 10 miles so it is very tolerable with the stock insulation. Make it 15 to 20 then leave the black interior in the sun in June or Julyfor an hour and it is way past toasty. Make the same trip in late September or after and its a wonderful toasty place to be.
You can always add in the fact that a little leak around the steering or any other firewall hole can be really nice in winter or miserable in Summer. I think those are the bigger problems than heat from the mufflers coming thru the floor.
cobrakidz
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Warren, the heat isn't that bad in a Tiger, just gotta toughen up. haha. We went on a winery tour in the Tiger yesterday, it was around 90 and we had close to an hour drive each way, it wasn't bad. Our only problem was a sunburnt forehead.
BTW catatonic--welcome and we would love to see pics of the car.
BTW catatonic--welcome and we would love to see pics of the car.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to work on the Tiger, but I got a little done this week. The white powder, shown in the picture of my trunk, was from the battery I presume. I found the powder under two boxes of parts, though the battery was long gone by then. I cleaned it up and moved on with paint prep. I shot some paint in the trunk today. The color is a little darker than the original green despite supposedly being a color match. Maybe the poor color match was a stroke of luck, because I like the new color more than the original color. I did run into one problem that I hope someone can advise me on. I test fitted the trunk lid today and I have a large gap(7/16") across the bottom when all the other gaps(3/16") are correct and the lid is even with the body across the top of the lid. If I get the bottom gap right, the lid sits lower than the body up top. The car has never been in a major rear end collision and the trunk lid appears to be undamaged. It's as if the lid is 1/4" short across the bottom. It's a round corner lid if that helps. I never took good pictures of the trunk fitment before disassembly, but I do recall that it fit badly before I started. I included some pics of the painted trunk. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
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So just how good looking is British Racing Green
Catatonic, I had no idea HOW good a Sunbeam BR green could look till I saw one yesterday beat and take first place in a British car show against some of the best Mark 1s and Mark 2 s in the country!! That "flat" Sunbeam color can really POP when done correctly! David's FLAWLESS Mark 2 led the losers!! Your attachments show invalid so I can't see your paint work. Sorry. Same thing happened when I tried to post car show pixs last night on the CAT forum. Anyway, one knows some good Tigers are accumulating when stodgy college professors and picky British car nuts alike remarked all day "This is the finest assembly of Tigers we've EVER seen!! (held on the Faulkner State College campus) in artsy fartsy Fairhope Al.!! Yours will be the next 1st place British Racing Green Tiger!! Good Luck!
Catatonic, I had no idea HOW good a Sunbeam BR green could look till I saw one yesterday beat and take first place in a British car show against some of the best Mark 1s and Mark 2 s in the country!! That "flat" Sunbeam color can really POP when done correctly! David's FLAWLESS Mark 2 led the losers!! Your attachments show invalid so I can't see your paint work. Sorry. Same thing happened when I tried to post car show pixs last night on the CAT forum. Anyway, one knows some good Tigers are accumulating when stodgy college professors and picky British car nuts alike remarked all day "This is the finest assembly of Tigers we've EVER seen!! (held on the Faulkner State College campus) in artsy fartsy Fairhope Al.!! Yours will be the next 1st place British Racing Green Tiger!! Good Luck!
So just how good looking is British Racing Green
Catatonic, I had no idea HOW good a Sunbeam BR green could look till I saw one yesterday beat and take first place in a British car show against some of the best Mark 1s and Mark 2 s in the country!! That "flat" Sunbeam color can really POP when done correctly! David's FLAWLESS Mark 2 led the losers!! Your attachments show invalid so I can't see your paint work. Sorry. Same thing happened when I tried to post car show pixs last night on the CAT forum. Anyway, one knows some good Tigers are accumulating when stodgy college professors and picky British car nuts alike remarked all day "This is the finest assembly of Tigers we've EVER seen!! (held on the Faulkner State College campus) in artsy fartsy Fairhope Al.!! Yours will be the next 1st place British Racing Green Tiger!! Good Luck!
Catatonic, I had no idea HOW good a Sunbeam BR green could look till I saw one yesterday beat and take first place in a British car show against some of the best Mark 1s and Mark 2 s in the country!! That "flat" Sunbeam color can really POP when done correctly! David's FLAWLESS Mark 2 led the losers!! Your attachments show invalid so I can't see your paint work. Sorry. Same thing happened when I tried to post car show pixs last night on the CAT forum. Anyway, one knows some good Tigers are accumulating when stodgy college professors and picky British car nuts alike remarked all day "This is the finest assembly of Tigers we've EVER seen!! (held on the Faulkner State College campus) in artsy fartsy Fairhope Al.!! Yours will be the next 1st place British Racing Green Tiger!! Good Luck!
Where are the pics?
Moondoggie
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I can't see them either !!! Forest Green is not even close to BRG
it has way to much brown in it. Here is a picture of real BRG
Moondoggie
So many greens!
Wow, Having not been able to open Catatonic's pics I had presumed them to be the wonderfully flat Sunbeam BRG! Forrest Green is indeed a nice shade. I'll get with Rick and attempt to move the car show pixs over to the CAT forum. Although my photos don't start to capture the depth of paint on the Tiger that won the Sunbeam class, they at least show the different cars. Hopefully someone younger and more electronically adept took pixs as well! Love these Tigers as they earn their rightful place in the British car world.
Wow, Having not been able to open Catatonic's pics I had presumed them to be the wonderfully flat Sunbeam BRG! Forrest Green is indeed a nice shade. I'll get with Rick and attempt to move the car show pixs over to the CAT forum. Although my photos don't start to capture the depth of paint on the Tiger that won the Sunbeam class, they at least show the different cars. Hopefully someone younger and more electronically adept took pixs as well! Love these Tigers as they earn their rightful place in the British car world.