Hello CATS, I'm a new owner of a '65 Tiger with a 289 install and an automatic 3sp. That's a long story! Has anyone advice on installing seat belts? In the near future I'll also ask if anyone has installed a AOD transmission. I'll be as old as the year of the Tiger in a few months and am not too ashamed to say, an automatic is a welcomed relief on my arthritic shoulder. Words I never though I'd say! Thanks for any help CATS!
Seat Belt Installation
- Thread starter Mike
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The tiger has sets belt mounting positions from the factory.
In the rear wheel arches in the back parcel shelf there are captive nuts welded on for the shoulder belts.
You can see them from inside the rear wheel arch...of belts were not fitted there is usually a nylon scree plug in there keeping the threads clean. You can poke a small sharp object through and that will locate it for you in the interior.
There are also captive nuts each side of the seats for the lap belts.
The issue with the shoulder belts is the low position of the mourning angling down from your shoulder. If you have a roll bar it would be better the shoulder belt is mounted there.
In the rear wheel arches in the back parcel shelf there are captive nuts welded on for the shoulder belts.
You can see them from inside the rear wheel arch...of belts were not fitted there is usually a nylon scree plug in there keeping the threads clean. You can poke a small sharp object through and that will locate it for you in the interior.
There are also captive nuts each side of the seats for the lap belts.
The issue with the shoulder belts is the low position of the mourning angling down from your shoulder. If you have a roll bar it would be better the shoulder belt is mounted there.
Michael,
Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks a ton for the seat belt mounting position info. The Tiger is in Ohio and I'll be there tomorrow. The previous owner installed his own carpet which I'll need to remove to find the seat mounts. I'll poke around for the wheel arch/package shelf mounts. Thanks Michael.
Might you have any suggestion on replacing the heater selector cable? It broke just behind the control on the dash.
Thanks!
Sorry for the delayed response. Thanks a ton for the seat belt mounting position info. The Tiger is in Ohio and I'll be there tomorrow. The previous owner installed his own carpet which I'll need to remove to find the seat mounts. I'll poke around for the wheel arch/package shelf mounts. Thanks Michael.
Might you have any suggestion on replacing the heater selector cable? It broke just behind the control on the dash.
Thanks!
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The captive nuts for the lap parts are not in the parcel shelf, they are on the floors, next to the tunnel and next to the sills.
Heater cable snapped.... I suggest yoga ... Patience .. a bottle of scotch....
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you should be able to find the floor seat belt capture nuts from underneath as well for reference. Same with wheel wells for - where you would have to pull rear wheels
Hey there Michael,
I have a passenger side rear brake fluid leak. I'd guess the cylinder is shot. do you happen to know where I could purchase a new/rebuilt one? I suppose these are Girling parts?
Just curious what state you call home? I live in NC but the Tiger is currently in OH. I'm here now with mom.
Thanks a ton Mike!
Mike
I have a passenger side rear brake fluid leak. I'd guess the cylinder is shot. do you happen to know where I could purchase a new/rebuilt one? I suppose these are Girling parts?
Just curious what state you call home? I live in NC but the Tiger is currently in OH. I'm here now with mom.
Thanks a ton Mike!
Mike
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The brake parts are common to a few models.. often suppliers like MOSS will carry them, personally I'd order via sunbeam specialties as they will have the right parts specific for the cars and also know the cars so can give advice...always best to browse the catalogue with them and see what else you might need . Better to do a single order and consolidate postage.
My home state is Victoria... Australia
Hello Mike!
Hows Australia? Any new Tiger stuff happening? I have a bit of an issue... I was ordering those brake parts from Sunbeam Specialties the other day when Kelly noticed (in photos) that my "Tiger" has a SERIES lV badge under the Tiger badge on both fenders! She said that the SERIES lV badge was a Alpine designation, not a Tiger designation. she also noted that the side body chrome trim is missing. The I.D. plate shows that this is a first year (1964 production date Tiger) that came with the 260.
A little history, the car was owned by very close family friends for some 50 years. My buddy had a fender bender on the drivers side in 1979. The story as I recall it, a doner "Tiger' was found and body panels replaced. The doner Tiger had the 289 so, the 260 and 4 speed was swapped out for the 289 and an automatic transmission at this time, I still own the 260 drivetrain. The curved lower front door corner remains on my car however, the bonnet corner is the later "squared off" version. Years later, the brother of the original owner did some minor rust repair. I'm uncertain if body panels may have been replaced.
So, I never recall the Tiger being spoken of as originally an Alpine. The previous owners were brilliant car guys but I'm not certain they would have known the correct badging for a Tiger vs an Alpine, internet wasn't around in the 70's. If they would have known, they would have removed the Alpine badges if they were trying to produce a Tiger clone. There is also a V8 badge on the rear.
Obviously, I'm looking for your opinion on this matter. Were the SERIES lV badges exclusive to the Alpine? The chrome strip could have been too mangled to salvage and thusly, it was removed. Im going to try and attach a photo file to this. You'll see all the badging, the I.D. tag, bonnet and door edges, etc.
Are there any other tell-tale signs of a production Tiger vs the Alpine? I have heard something about the holes cut in the frame at the factory for the exhaust.
Any help here would be greatly appreciated Mike. Feel free to send this to the group.
I owe you a tall libation of your choice!
If you can't open these pics, might I be able to forward them to you in another way? Text or other email address?
Hows Australia? Any new Tiger stuff happening? I have a bit of an issue... I was ordering those brake parts from Sunbeam Specialties the other day when Kelly noticed (in photos) that my "Tiger" has a SERIES lV badge under the Tiger badge on both fenders! She said that the SERIES lV badge was a Alpine designation, not a Tiger designation. she also noted that the side body chrome trim is missing. The I.D. plate shows that this is a first year (1964 production date Tiger) that came with the 260.
A little history, the car was owned by very close family friends for some 50 years. My buddy had a fender bender on the drivers side in 1979. The story as I recall it, a doner "Tiger' was found and body panels replaced. The doner Tiger had the 289 so, the 260 and 4 speed was swapped out for the 289 and an automatic transmission at this time, I still own the 260 drivetrain. The curved lower front door corner remains on my car however, the bonnet corner is the later "squared off" version. Years later, the brother of the original owner did some minor rust repair. I'm uncertain if body panels may have been replaced.
So, I never recall the Tiger being spoken of as originally an Alpine. The previous owners were brilliant car guys but I'm not certain they would have known the correct badging for a Tiger vs an Alpine, internet wasn't around in the 70's. If they would have known, they would have removed the Alpine badges if they were trying to produce a Tiger clone. There is also a V8 badge on the rear.
Obviously, I'm looking for your opinion on this matter. Were the SERIES lV badges exclusive to the Alpine? The chrome strip could have been too mangled to salvage and thusly, it was removed. Im going to try and attach a photo file to this. You'll see all the badging, the I.D. tag, bonnet and door edges, etc.
Are there any other tell-tale signs of a production Tiger vs the Alpine? I have heard something about the holes cut in the frame at the factory for the exhaust.
Any help here would be greatly appreciated Mike. Feel free to send this to the group.
I owe you a tall libation of your choice!
If you can't open these pics, might I be able to forward them to you in another way? Text or other email address?
Last edited:
Austin Healer
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Should have round corners on all of the panels and leaded seams at the rear rocker to fender and hood corners. Series IV badges are Alpine only, NEVER used on any Tiger. More than likely a donor Alpine was found for the body panels..
There are holes in the front legs of the cruciform for the exhaust (pic attached) if you remove the door panel and look at the inside of the door you should be able to see where the holes would be for the stainless side moldings. There are tons of other tell-tale modifications to the Alpine shell to transform it into a Tiger. MK1 Tigers also have a modification to the radiator support as the mounting points for the Tiger radiator are different than the radiator for an Alpine
Austin Healer
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You also have a late trunk lid, it should have round corners as well. The construction of the of the rear body structure for round corner trunks and square corner trunks is completely different. while you can make filler parts and fit a round corner trunk lid to a square corner rear body shell, It's not possible to do the reverse and have it come out looking "right" it's a confused body shell to be sure... series 5 hood and trunk lid, series 4 doors (Alpine models). conveniently, the holes in the fender for the Tiger script are in the same location for the Alpine script negating the need to drill new holes if using an Alpine fender (wing) on a Tiger. The method of fabricating the front fenders changed between the series 4 and series 5 Alpines. This change is in the headlight area. with a picture of this area taken from behind the fender, I could tell if the fenders are the correct type or have been switched from a later car
The rear badge would read "260" not V8 on a MK1 Tiger. The rivets on the chassis tag and lube plate are not original. Mk1's this early would have small diameter steel heads (pic attached)
Austin Healer
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In your first archive image I can see a vinyl top cover instead of the steel top cover doors... No MK1 Tiger was ever originally made this way. I requires a ton of modification to make this change, and a donor series 5 body shell. It would appear that the body is a series 5 shell that has been modified to take round cornered door shells. I would recommend you have someone who really knows Tigers come and inspect the car, It would appear to be rebodied. Pics attached of the top cover doors for a series IV or MK1 Tiger.
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Quite the mix of panels there ...
As mentioned.. all the panels should be round on your car... And on a SIV Alpine later cars had the square doors and bonnet.. the boot was still round... The square came in SV.
Your mix implies maybe the car had a front and rear clip done...or someone went to decent effort to fit a square bonnet and boot by opening up the bodywork...which would be kind of crazy when you can just trim the opening panels to round ...
Have you got a photo of the boot floor where the spare mounts and the rear area on the right where the battery is? A photo of inner wheel arches from inside the engine bay? A photo looking down into the hole where the fuel pump is behind the passenger seat
As mentioned.. all the panels should be round on your car... And on a SIV Alpine later cars had the square doors and bonnet.. the boot was still round... The square came in SV.
Your mix implies maybe the car had a front and rear clip done...or someone went to decent effort to fit a square bonnet and boot by opening up the bodywork...which would be kind of crazy when you can just trim the opening panels to round ...
Have you got a photo of the boot floor where the spare mounts and the rear area on the right where the battery is? A photo of inner wheel arches from inside the engine bay? A photo looking down into the hole where the fuel pump is behind the passenger seat