After 17 years with our "family heirloom" Tiger, I decided that I should get an Alpine/Alger to tinker with before I do something to the Tiger that I shouldn't. As much as I'm always thinking about how the Tiger could be "improved", I really do enjoy it as it is, 260 2BBL and all.
I had been pondering this for some time but hadn't taken any action towards it. Doing a conversion from a stock Alpine seemed like a lot of work-- especially a lot of body work that I don't really like doing. When I would see Algers for sale they didn't do much for me. They were either cars that had been been Tiger fakes, or a kludge of poor workmanship and goofy parts. I never did come across a "nice" one, but even so I was looking for a project and not a finished car.
A few months ago a car popped up on ebay that piqued my interest. It was an Alpine that had a EFI Ford 2.3 and an automatic, but said that it had Tiger sheetmetal. I was busy at the time and didn't pursue it, but it didn't sell. It was relisted and still didn't sell. Fast forward a few months and I wondered if it was still around. Contacted the seller and sure enough it was. I went to Florida to look at it and it seemed like just what I was looking for. It had all the Tiger sheetmetal (tunnel, inner fenders and braces, exhaust pass-throughs and pass-unders) as well as a Tiger rack, and had just had a lot of work done-- new weatherstripping, dash pad, rebuilt rack and front suspension with all new bushings and joints, rebuilt calipers with SS pistons and all new rubber lines, gas tanks cleaned with new hoses...
So now the project begins. I plan on driving it around for a bit while I decide what exactly I want to do with it. I hope to use this thread to get opinions and bounce ideas off those of you that have been through modifying your Tigers. This should be fun...
I had been pondering this for some time but hadn't taken any action towards it. Doing a conversion from a stock Alpine seemed like a lot of work-- especially a lot of body work that I don't really like doing. When I would see Algers for sale they didn't do much for me. They were either cars that had been been Tiger fakes, or a kludge of poor workmanship and goofy parts. I never did come across a "nice" one, but even so I was looking for a project and not a finished car.
A few months ago a car popped up on ebay that piqued my interest. It was an Alpine that had a EFI Ford 2.3 and an automatic, but said that it had Tiger sheetmetal. I was busy at the time and didn't pursue it, but it didn't sell. It was relisted and still didn't sell. Fast forward a few months and I wondered if it was still around. Contacted the seller and sure enough it was. I went to Florida to look at it and it seemed like just what I was looking for. It had all the Tiger sheetmetal (tunnel, inner fenders and braces, exhaust pass-throughs and pass-unders) as well as a Tiger rack, and had just had a lot of work done-- new weatherstripping, dash pad, rebuilt rack and front suspension with all new bushings and joints, rebuilt calipers with SS pistons and all new rubber lines, gas tanks cleaned with new hoses...
So now the project begins. I plan on driving it around for a bit while I decide what exactly I want to do with it. I hope to use this thread to get opinions and bounce ideas off those of you that have been through modifying your Tigers. This should be fun...