• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Sunbeam V8 Tiger - any info ?

Share this page

beaulieu

beaulieu

Jedi Warrior
Offline
I am supposed to look at a Sunbeam Tiger in the next few days,
Is there a website that will show me how to tell if its a REAL Tiger or a converted Alpine

thanks Beaulieu
 
Beaulieu, One of the things that can give a converted Alpine away is the firewall/tunnel area. The Alpine firewall was not cut back like the Tiger. Look for the access holes to the #8 spark plug and rear valve cover bolt. These should be located above the accelerator pedal. Though this picture does not show the entire firewall, you can see the rubber plug in the sparkplug access hole and the valve cover access plug above and to the left of it. If you know a Tiger owner that could go with you, that would help assure the authenticity. Good Luck, Rick
Tigerfire.jpg
 
A converted Alpine will in all probability have the firewall cut back like a Tiger.If it was done real good it may be impossible to tell.Look at the battery box area as in Alpine.A poor cut and weld job removing it may show up here as many think it will never be seen.The early tigers had the fuel pump here.In any case if the battery box is still there it is not a Tiger..Look at the steering rack mounting as well to see if it was converted.Tiger mods and the crossmember were spot welded.saying that it is possible an owner continuosly welded all the seams of the crossmember when doing the teck advisory of rewelding the shock towers but not likely.I did do mine when I redesigned my front end.
If possible do take a Tiger owner along as it is sound advice.If it is a very well done conversion it may still be a good buy if it is being sold as a conversion such as an Alger.
Good luck
 
The first step is to check the chasis number. Correct Tiger numbers are as follows:
Mark I: B9470001 to B9473762;
Mark IA: B382000001 to B382002706;
Mark II: B382100001 to B382100633.
Of course it's possible that a converter could have taken the tag off a totalled Tiger and transplanted it onto a conversion, so the inspections described by the earlier posts would be your second step. I believe that there is also a Tiger registry that you could consult.

Good luck, and please let us know the results!
 
thanks where is the ID tag ?
and how was it originally put one ? screws or rivets

beaulieu
 
Also look for the JAL/SAL tag. Although this is screwed onto the chassis next to the Chassis Number if it starts with SAL you know its an Alpine. If it has a JAL number, contact the tiger registry and verify the JAL number goes with that Chassis Number. Don't be too alarmed if it is not there though.

https://www.rootes1.com

This website has tons of good information about the Tiger and also contains the Tiger registry.
 
Yes that sight is a great one for Tiger information.I also believe it is possible to ID a tiger from the axle housing numbers.I seem to remember that part.
 
The rear axle and the steering rack are unique to the tiger. You would have to have a parts Tiger to make a beleivable clone. The only way to tell them apart would be to look for body modifications.
 
Hi guys

well I went and looked at it today,
very solid , all there , hardtop , no idea if there is a softop frame, wrong steering wheel
4 point rollbar
weird aluminum center/steel outer rims
all the trim and bumpers are on it ,

Motor has been worked with Edelbrock manifold etc, but its sat 12 years so its stuck.

front hood has a scoop molded in it to clear the aircleaner,
black paint not sure if original paint but is original color.

anyway looks pretty good, no price yet but will let you know,

Thanks for your help so far

Beaulieu
 
yep its a real one , with a box full of old receipts etc

One more question ,
if I need to change the rims are they the same as any modern car ?

Beaulieu
 
They have an unusual bolt pattern shared with the Mustang II. There will not be a whole lot of different wheel styles. Minilites are the norm aftermarket wheel.
 
[ QUOTE ]
yep its a real one , with a box full of old receipts etc Beaulieu

[/ QUOTE ]

A great find then!!!!

Bruce
 
Back
Top