Restoration help needed...

D

draggin49

Bronze forum user
Messages
13
Hello,
I had some questions regarding restoring a 65 sunbeam mark 1A. The car belongs to my mother . She attained it in my parents divorce over 15 years ago. The car was running when parked and has been garaged ever since . I believe she is the second owner , the car is all original , 31,000 miles, has the removable hardtop. Interior is all original and in great shape aside from the carpet being faded. It definitely needs paint, however , it has almost no bodywork needed. It is British racing green ( I think it's the original color)

I'm trying to maximize the value selling it. I'm gonna spend my own money fixing it up then sell it and let her keep all the profit .With a car like this what steps / items and in what order should I have them tackle them. Thanks !!
 
Looks like you got a lot of good advice earlier this year from members of this forum. Have you had a nearby Tiger owner drop by and offer advice/help? Maybe put it on a trailer and take to a CAT event and talk to the experts-that's what I would do but I am on the East Coast! Eric
 
Where

Could you and the car be? You can PM or e mail anyone in the forum directly.
Most would want anotherTiger.

Hard to tell of you want step by step or to drop car off at repair garage.

I get the most satisfaction from starting and sorting a long sleeping motor be it car or motorcycle.

Even disposing of stale varnish gooey fuel can seem to be a big task till you get to it.
 
I live in a small town called Ojai . Zip code is 93023.
I do not have the area/tools to do the work. A friend who is a mechanic who has done mechanical/ motor work on 3-4 sunbeam tigers would be handling the task of going through the sitting motor. I'm currently building a full custom chopped 1949 ford shoebox. The body/paint would be done by the same guy handling my car. I will have to verify that the green is the original color , I'd like to paint it the correct color it came from the factory since the car is original.
The effort is mainly to try and sell it because my mother is retiring soon and the money will help her quite a bit. Plus I'm guessing low mileage ,original tigers are getting harder to come by and I would love to see it brought back to its former glory and enjoyed by a tiger enthusiast.
 
How Deep is the Ocean??

draggin49 said:
I live in a small town called Ojai . Zip code is 93023.
I do not have the area/tools to do the work. A friend who is a mechanic who has done mechanical/ motor work on 3-4 sunbeam tigers would be handling the task of going through the sitting motor. I'm currently building a full custom chopped 1949 ford shoebox. The body/paint would be done by the same guy handling my car. I will have to verify that the green is the original color , I'd like to paint it the correct color it came from the factory since the car is original.
The effort is mainly to try and sell it because my mother is retiring soon and the money will help her quite a bit. Plus I'm guessing low mileage ,original tigers are getting harder to come by and I would love to see it brought back to its former glory and enjoyed by a tiger enthusiast.
Click to expand...

What I have been thru 100% of the time with all of our restoration customers is this: Once you start a Tiger project, it accumulates needs and costs at an alarming rate. If you really want to maximize profit for your Mom, sell it as is. Because once you start piling on the man-hours, that money will never come back. . . . . lifetime of 2 cents worth
 
I am with Randy on this one. If you don't have the money to do it right
then you are way better off selling "as is" especially if it is all original. Otherwise plan on spending way way more than $50k over the course of a year minimum.

Moondoggie
 
Sounding more and more like make it run/ sell as is.Would an all original car with low miles even draw decent money??
 
We would need to see good quality pictures that also show the vin plates

What do you consider decent money ???

Moondoggie
 
It all just depends I guess, if as is condition ( not running / needing paint)brings minimal money , not much point in selling it. Like I said was running great when parked so getting it running isnt a big worry or task that i dont see doable.May have some money coming in soon ,so if the car will not bring much by selling I'll just give up some of my own money for her to have in place of what the car would've sold for.she doesn't need the garage space so she doesn't care that it's in there.
 
if it purrrs.

draggin49 said:
It all just depends I guess, if as is condition ( not running / needing paint)brings minimal money , not much point in selling it. Like I said was running great when parked so getting it running isnt a big worry or task that i dont see doable.May have some money coming in soon ,so if the car will not bring much by selling I'll just give up some of my own money for her to have in place of what the car would've sold for.she doesn't need the garage space so she doesn't care that it's in there.
Click to expand...

Raising the dead ain't simple. BUT, a bit of motor care such as fluids, etc. should find out if there is a spark of life. Then it's the brake system for sure. Once those seals sit for a while, they're toast. The fuel tanks & lines will want to be babied. Lucas electrics will want each and every terminal contact and blade plug cleaned. A test drive that both goes out and comes back makes it a saleable driver, worth much more than a waiting fix-it project.
 
That make sense . I'll focus on just making it road worthy , then I'll debate on redoing the factory paint color or sellin as is
 
Doing the paint.. im tipping if its being sold as a rolling resto.. leave the paint.. an average paint job will look as if you are hisding whats goign on under it.. "tarted up fr sale" if someone is buying it to restore they are likely goign to want to do their own paint .. also if you rub it back nd find problems.. you open up new expenses.

get it running so that it is a rolling resto or preservation car...
 
Also remember if you want to sell it as an "all original" car then leave the original paint on there, someone might desire a tired old paint job over a repaint. Good luck with this one, wish you were closer, would love to see the car.
 
draggin49, Please post at least one photo of this Tiger so we can see what you are working with, it will help a great amount.
I am in the get it running and leave all else for the next owner group and here is why. When looking at a possible new old car I will always purchase the untouched original in so-so shape over the fair to even nice partially restored vehicle. The untouched car tells you an honest story and leaves little to the imagination. Scratches, dents, rust, faded paint and all other flaws are a real part of an aged vehicle. When I can see what is there, unmasked, I feel much more confident going in on the deal because I can see what is actually there and thus I know what I am getting into. With a repaint and spit polish to sell routine I immediately think, "What is being covered and why are they hiding something". Also, todays car market is more in tune with an original patina than ever before. There are collectors seeking the "right" patina and fully enjoy a car in "survivor" trim. These original, yet often imperfect, cars are fun and enjoyable and gather a good amount of attention as well. Once the original is gone it can NEVER be regained. Yes a car can be made very nice again but it will NEVER be original once redone. The 260/289 is a durable motor that has great parts availibility so get that running with the minimum of parts changing, replacing only what is NEEDED to get it running. Not being a Tiger expert you may just toss that seemingly benign old part not knowing it is actually ultra rare and valuable. The brakes will most likely need attention so fix them with proper parts and do that job well to increase value, do not skimp on the brake work. Let the next owner decide what to do with. You did not answer the value question asked in an earlier response. What do you think the car is worth now? What do you expect to get out of the car at sale? We can help guide you with a bit more information and possibly set some real world expectations. Who knows, you may undervalue your Tiger. We can help and enjoy doing so. Good luck.
 
I'm with the others 100%. Unmolested survivor cars are becoming more and more desirable and valuable. Doing any kind of restoration work on an otherwise solid good running original car, including "just" a paint job, will end-up costing you unrecoverable money out of pocket.
As far as the brakes are concerned, the entire system will likely need to be replaced/rebuilt. If the car still has the original power booster I recommend that you leave it alone and in the car. Instead, install a booster bypass adapter, and as the master cylinder will very likely need to be replaced (don't try to rebuild it), replace it with the smaller bore Alpine series 2 unit to reduce the manual braking effort a little.
 
SAVE THOSE PARTS!

To repeat what has been written earlier, be sure to save whatever parts you take off and / or replace. The eventual buyer might want all of the original parts (including the master cylinder, for example). Clean them up so they won't deteriorate quickly and box them up for the next owner.

And I agree with most of the folks have said. Do the minimum work necessary to make the car a driver. If the next owner wants a restored Tiger, he or she can get it restored the way they want it restored. If you do something, the next owner may want to change it and won't put much value on the work you did.

One thing you might consider is going ahead and getting the Tiger certified through the TAC (Tiger Authentification Certification) process. There are not a small number of Alpines which folks have converted to Tigers, so some buyers are leery of buying a Tiger which has not been certified to be one. This may be a little difficult, depending on if you can get your car to somewhere that TAC certifying is being done.

As far as value, keep watching eBay as well as the cars for sale section in this Forum.

Good Luck!

David

Good luck.
 
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