Rusty Tiger questions?

[Cdntiger]

Hi,
I'm a long time vintage car guy, I've always loved Tigers but I've never owned one.
There is a local Mk1a that I've known for many years, missed my chance at it about eight years ago, it's for sale again.

Unfortunately the condition has deteriorated over the years, I now see rust bubbles on the lower part of the right front fender, I can tell that it had been roughly repaired once before, but the portion up near the headlight is fine, it had had a proper repair many many years back.
The rockers appear fine (they may have been previously replaced), but there is rust perforation at the bottom leading edge of the quarter, as well as on he inside of the tire lip with a couple of bubbles on the outside.
The drivers side appears fine all the way along, except for maybe an issue at the rear section of the X ?
This was a nice original car, about 95K miles, engine never opened, the Autolite and air cleaner still there.
It also needs a top and some interior refresh, but that I can handle myself.
I figure about $5K for paint and body work, what do you think?
Thinking nice driver, not full resto.

:cheers:

Paul

 

[Moondoggie]

Paul,
It would be helpful to know where this Tiger spent most of it's life to give an honest appraisal. Salty roads can cause more rust than you can see. Just looking at the few pictures I'd say you are very light at $5k. Out here on the west coast show quality body work and paint is going for $90/hr ++. Floors and x frame repairs can cost a ton and repair panels are hard to find which means a donor car would be necessary. My advice would be to find a west coast Tiger that has no or very little rust to start with and you will be money ahead. You can spend upwards to $80k on these cars just in repairs......

Moondoggie

 

[norm1]

I figure my paint job is going to be about $5,000 and I have done all the repairs, primed and sanded myself.

 

[cobrakidz]

Not sure how bad the rust is all over but $5k should hopefully cover that damage--then it's off to paint. The only way to cure rust is to cut it all out--think of it as cancer, it keeps on spreading.

 

[Cdntiger]

Paul,
It would be helpful to know where this Tiger spent most of it's life to give an honest appraisal. Salty roads can cause more rust than you can see. Just looking at the few pictures I'd say you are very light at $5k. Out here on the west coast show quality body work and paint is going for $90/hr ++. Floors and x frame repairs can cost a ton and repair panels are hard to find which means a donor car would be necessary. My advice would be to find a west coast Tiger that has no or very little rust to start with and you will be money ahead. You can spend upwards to $80k on these cars just in repairs......

Moondoggie

Thanks Mr. Moondoggie et all, Carmel by he Sea, I'm a jealous man
I had a good chunk of the history on the car when I was going to buy it eight years ago, but unfortunately I can't lay my hands on it now.
The car had been in Alberta, but not sure it was originally from there?
The floors are solid and so is the trunk, so I don't think it ever saw salt.
The car comes with the repair panels, I'm not really going for a show car, more a nice number 3~2 diver.

A few more pics.

:cheers:

Paul

 

[Warren]

Beat it

Just beat it, With a scratch awl everywhere it goes thru beat the buying price down to match. Repairs cost more for Pebble Beach then Virginia beach just stop the rust. 5000 sounds like a price for paint alone and that's cheap.
Tell us about the rest of the car everyone loves a sales comp.

 

[CT Tiger]

Just a chime in from the good ol rusty noreast , comparing that car to a 95K northeast car of the same vintage , it aint bad .
That being said yes if there is rust showing you can bet there is more hiding . I have done a ton of vintage cars with far worse rot than that over the years , If you are just shooting for a nice sunday driver or cruise night car , it shouldn't take a huge effort to get there , but I do my own work including paint . So you will have to factor labor in if you send it out for repairs . For some reason Tigers seem to rust from the inside out , probably due to lack of primer on encapsulated body parts like inner rockers .
I took mine apart to fix some outside storage neglect and erase the PO racing modifications , and it ended up on a rotisserie stripped to the bone, I guess what I am saying is once you start ............
If the price is good and you like the car , get it , fix what needs to be done and drive and enjoy it , then you can decide if you want to go all the way ......

 

[0neoffive]

Structural Rust Cautions

OK, reality check one more time: Structural rust loves to hide INSIDE the bottoms of the A-post and B-post. It also hides along the inner straight frame BEHIND the rocker. These areas alone will blow your guestimated budget and MUST be dealt with in order to have a safe driver quality car. Check the door sag ; are the dove tails split yet or is the upper rear door gap touching the rear quarter. If you open the doors slightly, can you grab the handle and actually move the structure up & down? Buy with your budget, not your desire. My 2 - cents

 

[Cdntiger]

OK, reality check one more time: Structural rust loves to hide INSIDE the bottoms of the A-post and B-post. It also hides along the inner straight frame BEHIND the rocker. These areas alone will blow your guestimated budget and MUST be dealt with in order to have a safe driver quality car. Check the door sag ; are the dove tails split yet or is the upper rear door gap touching the rear quarter. If you open the doors slightly, can you grab the handle and actually move the structure up & down? Buy with your budget, not your desire. My 2 - cents

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone, I really appreciate it.
I have a bore scope, is there access to see inside the straight rails? When you say the dove tails, do you mean the the joints between the rockers and quarters?

Thanks again,
Paul

 

[Erich]

Dovetails are the chrome door latch on the end of the door. Its a brittle casting so stresses from a sagging car will cause it to crack.

 

[Cdntiger]

Dovetails are the chrome door latch on the end of the door. Its a brittle casting so stresses from a sagging car will cause it to crack.

Thanks, I was going to pass on it, but now I think I'll go give it another look to verify the points that you guys have mentioned re. the structural integrity.
The owner is a very nice fellow but not a real car guy, I'll share anything I learn with him to help him out even if I don't buy it.

Cheers,

Paul