Sunbeam Tiger in Luxemburg

[julijuli]

Hi everybody,

first I want to say hello to everybody in the forum. Here is a short description of myself: I am 33 years old, married, father of a 2 year old daughter and I am coming from Luxemburg. Actually I am a proud owner of a Sunbeam Tiger MK1 B9472371 LRX FE and an Austin Healey 100/6 BN4.






I bought the Tiger 1 month ago and it is not running as it should be. As you can imagine, I have some questions and that is why I am hoping you can help me.

Originality is not so important, as I want to have an all-day driver-car and the car has to be reliable.

Brake upgrade:
Front:
Both front brake calipers are leaking brake fluid. I surfed on the net and I found an upgrade in the States from Wilwood that can fit the front brakes. Is this a could solution or are there better ones? I read here in the forum that somebody uses Brembo calipers and Peugeot discs, do they fit immediately or is there a lot of work to make them fit.
Rear:
I wanted to upgrade the rear brakes too on disc brakes. I got this on the Austin Healey and I would never get the car back to drums. I found on the website from Dale's restoration an upgrade for the rear brakes: http://www.dalesresto.com/parts.html

I hope this kind of links are allowed. On this website you can see the Wilwood front upgrade too.

Do you know alternatives or where I could get this parts in Europe?

When I change to this disc brakes, do I have to change the brake master cylinder too, or will it be big enough?

Carburetor and manifold:

The carburetor seems to be an original one, but it is not working well. I wanted to change it for a Holley or a Edelbrock.

Which one would you recommend and shall I change the manifold too, and which one to take.
Actually the car seems to have no real punch as the carburetor is not doing what it should do → give the engine life.

Wheels and rims:

Actually Minilite 5,5x 15” are fitted with 195/50 tires on both axles. The front wheels are scrubbing in the inside and as you can see on the pictures the front is too low, I will change the springs and the shocks as well. Which rims would you suggest and which ET?

Radio console:

Actually the car has no radio console but I wanted to fit a radio in the car. I surfed in the net, but I could not find one, where could I find one.

Cooling:

For the cooling I wanted to fit a Kenlowe fan and improve the air flow with some flaps in the front. Does the fiberglass-bonnet with air-hole bring a great improvement? If yes, where can I get one in Europe?

I wanted also to fit an oil cooler on the car, what do you think of this improvement.

That is all for the moment, but I think more questions will come when the car is getting in parts.

Thanks in advance for your precious help

Adrian

[martin172]

I can be of no help at all to you, but can I just say that that is a very nice car you have there.
I admired it on a daily basis when it was for sale.
I do feel that you should post some pics of the Healey too.

Welcome to the club btw.
Cheers, Martin.

[michael-king]

Adrian,

Fisrtly lovely car, and nice to see another younger owner in the marque! Is this B9472371LRXFE?

Brakes:
Dales upgraded brakes are very good, i have them front and back. There are several kist for the front, stock caliper/disc replacement, 10.5" vented 4 piston and 12" 4 piston. The 12's require 15" sheels and the 10.5's need 14's in most cases.

I have dales brakes front and rear on my car (and his upgraded springs) they are good products and well known, with the low USD they are a good buy at the moment probably.

Ther are likely some good options in the Uk from the several specialists offering parts there and im sure some will chime in with their experiences.

Carburetor and manifold:

The stock carb is a 2BBl autolite, you can replace with a 2BBl holley, most people upgrade to a 4 BBl setup, good modern manifolds are available from weiand and edelbrock, and there are period manifolds like the Edelbrock F4b. Carb will depend on engine size, make sure you dont over carb it. I have an edelbrock and am very happy, others like the holleys, carters and some bespoke setups.. which ever you go, dont make it to big.

That said, before buying new parts establish why the car is not running right. Check the carb doesnt just need a rebuild, your pump is working well, lines are not blocked, timing is correct etc..

Wheels and rims:

The tyres on full lock tend to scrub on tigers, larger wheels and tryres do not help. Where are the tryes making contact? Leading edge os the valenece? Inner arch? on the arms? This can be due to the offsets of the wheels or the radius being to large as well.

Radio console:

The factory fitted them under the centre of the dash in consoule, they are quite pricey, some have been reproed, ask around the club, check ebay, or use an aftermarket support and bracket.

Cooling:

Check the "cool it buddy" article on tigersunited, the LAt bonnets might helpa bit, but a good coooling system and improved airflow through the radiator will do more. A STOC member in the Uk repros the LAT bonnets.

MKII tigers had an oil cooler stock, most cars do not run tem, they are a personal preference for road use in my opinion.

[gtsmrt]

Hi Adrian,

There is something about a white Tiger, especially one as nice as yours. Most of your questions have already been answered, but I would suggest if you are going to upgrade your brakes, for ease of installation a kit like Dale's would be the best way to go as it is proven (he would also have instructions for the install). You have come to the right place, as there is a wealth of knowledge on this forum.

Regards, Robin.

[julijuli]

Hi,

yes the chassisnumber is B9472371LRXFE.

Thanks a lot for the information, now I can go further with my selection of parts. I will give you feedbacks on the progress of the project and I am sure I will need more help from you guys.

@Martin172

I will post a pic of the Healey something later.

Greets

Adrian

[tigerman7347]

Welcome to the forum,and nice to have a younger generation looking after these cars. What a lovely car. I have a white Mk1a and I notice that the mouth of the Tiger is white. I have posted below a photo for you of mine as it should be Matt Black.




Regards Rob

[Tomaselli]

Lots of great questions and welcome abroad Adrian

I wanted also to fit an oil cooler on the car, what do you think of this improvement.

..... do you really need one, unless you intend to race the car then I'd say with modern oils today and they are a lot more efficient (lubricating and lasting properties) than 40 years ago! then it's just something else to go wrong that's unless you live in a hot climate and keeping cool is important. The LAT bonnet will certainly help keep things cool under the bonnet, together with an electric fan (recommend Pacet) - the latter is a must today with "modern" traffic.

My Tiger came with the factory oil cooler, and that soon came off and is now in storage. The only purpose is served when on the car was to drip oil all over my driveway

If you are running hot, then check carb/ignition/timing first as that all has an effect

[julijuli]

Hi,
Sorry that I have not posted some news for a while, but there was no real infos about the restauration process. What are the standings?
My Tiger is still at a workshop in the Netherlands.
I waited over a month to get the disc brakes from Dale's resto-shop. The guy was very nice, I ordered the upgrade kit for front and back brakes, Carrera shock absorbers front and rear and a pair of front coil spring - street version. Transport was very fast, but Dale did not have the coil spring in stock and so I took a little longer.

Here the pics of the installed front brakes and the nearly finished rear brakes.




Unfortunately all the bushes were in a bad condition and they needed to be replaced as well.

Now I will need a new brake master cylinder, may be a bigger one, as the car will have front and rear disc brakes and a new clutch servo. May be you can give me a tip where I can get those.
Take a look at the bad condition:

All the gaskets - engine - carburator - ... are also in a bad condition, where can I order those in Europe, as I do not want to wait again over a month to get them.

Thanks in advance

Greets

Adrian

[gtsmrt]

Hi Adrian,

The brake upgrade looks great and something I wouldn't mind looking at at some stage. You could try some of the UK Sunbeam suppliers like Sunbeam spares Co or Sunbeam Supreme (both have web sites). They could certainly help out with the bits you need. What carburettor are you running (Autolite or Holley)? Good luck with it all and keep up informed.

Regards, Robin.

[michael-king]

The brakes look good, you wont regret it, i have dales setup (springs included) and they make a great upgrade. As for the Brake M/C are you still running a servo? If so, i'm not sure you need to change the M/C. If you are not running the servo you are likely wanting to go to a smaller M/C as used on the early alpines without assistance. Getting the right size can be tricky, the brake pedal will feel a little soft and unresponsive otherwise.

The other option is to switch to a dual M/C setup, you can adapt a datsun 260z, 510 or go aftermarket willwood... i think Dale sells a modified 260Z setup thats LHD application. Otherwise see what guys on this board are using.

As for Carb gaskets etc.. Summit racing in the USA gets stuff out very fast and cheap.. if looking in the UE.. i guess europaspares or thunderroad motorsports might be worth a try. The other thing to get if the carb is off is a Phenolic carb spacer.. stops the car suffering hard restarts and also helps in traffic from letting heat soak into the carb when stationary

[julijuli]

Hi,

thanks a lot for the infos, I am already looking them up.

Some guys asked pics from my Healey.

I hope it is ok to post them here as well.










So it is a 100/6 BN4 - some major engine mods - big bore 3000 ccm - fast road header, oil cooler, triple Weber carbs, 1-2-3 ignition, front and rear disc brakes, Bilstein shock absorber, 80l alu-reservoir ... and ... the car was rebuild frame off and I am glad that I did it, now it looks like I always wanted.

Best regards

Adrian

[martin172]

Wow.
The Healey is making me drool.

All it needs is the steering wheel to be on the right side and it would be perfect.

[gtsmrt]

Looks very much perfect from here. Great choice for carburettors... awesome looking Healey.

[Tomaselli]

Great taste Adrian

[garyv8tiger]

Great taste Adrian

you must be bored going on a forum on holiday expect ur watching stocks too