Joey:
Once you get the brakes done and the spark and fuel going okay (but
before you do any major driving--like other than around the block once
or twice), here's something else to think about:
The lower fulcrum pins (check your shop manual to see what they look
like) on a Tiger are likely to break without warning. When that happens
the front suspension will collapse. It usually happens at low speeds
backing out of the driveway or making a turn from a stop sign, but the
Tiger has plenty of power and you can do some real damage if this
happens. It usually looks like driver error, but it's not.
Dave Johnson related that his son was driving Dave's Tiger and had an
accident. Dave was pretty ticked at his son until he did some
investigating and discovered that it wasn't driver error--the fulcurm
pin on one side had busted (Dave, if I've got any of this wrong, or if
you have some input, please jump in here).
Not saying it'll happen with your car, not saying it won't. Partly it's
a function of having wide tires on the front of the car--wider than the
stock 155 or 165-13's. I recall you mentioning that the car hasn't been
run in some years, but the damage could've occured before that, just
through regular use. It's a design flaw that the factory built in, not
something a previous owner/driver did.
Best thing to do before driving the car would be to apply John Logan's
Ackermann fix. I believe there's an article at www.tigersunited.com.
This requires some welding, but it provides a support in the event one
of the fulcrum pins does shear, and will keep the suspension from
collapsing.
Budget or no, it's best to pull the lower control arms and, if
necessary, pay someone to do the welding. At the same time, you can either:
1. have a machine shop magnaflux the existing fulcrum pins to check for
cracks or
2. purchase a pair of used lower fulcrum pins off an Alpine--they're the
same, but because the Alpine's steering setup is different than the
Tigers, they won't have cracks.
If budget permits, you could purchase upsized diameter pins, but for a
quick, inexpensive fix, I'd go with the used Alpine pins and John
Logan's fix. Might as well put new bushings in at the same time, but
don't use the really hard bushings--they help cause the pins to fail.
Rick at Sunbeam Specialties has some soft urethane bushings that'll work
till you get everything else on the car sorted out.
Oh, and narrow tires. If your car hasn't been run in 12 years (I think
that's the number mentioned), you'd want to upgrade the rubber to new
anyway, and you might stick with narrow tires for a while.
Your safety is important. Any car is a complicated bunch of mechanisms
and the Tiger is no exception. And the tendency of young men to test
themselves and their machinery cannot be overstated. At 17, I *knew* I
was going to live forever and that my reflexes were better than the old
f*rts I saw driving around. 3 days after I bought my first car ( a 90
hp.Alpine) I ran it into the back of a Chevy Vega. At 48 I know I won't
live forever, but I also know that Youth and Beauty are no match for Age
and Treachery.
Your eyesight and reflexes are much better than mine. Your intentions
are good and you sound careful. However, your driving experience is
limited. I'd hate to see you total your car, and possibly injure
yourself with what is still, by today's standards, a powerful vehicle
that'll move at pretty high speeds.
Please be careful when you get out there.
Best Regards
David Sosna
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