[Tigers] Tiger MK II Bargain I THINK

[Tony Somebody]

I have a painter/body man who did the body work on an Alpine for me- still a bit of work left but its been in primer a long time- I'm pretty sure it will be an Alger if I live long enough. Thanks Doug Jennings for the work you did. The shop my buddy worked in was a family owned(3rd generation) Ford dealership. The owner was one of the top sellers in southern IL. as he put not only his customers first BUT also treated his employees with the same respect while expecting work he could sign his name to. The body shop did quite well and had a good reputation. Some years back the dealership invested in a computerized frame machine. The main problem was no one knew how to operate it. My buddy ask the boss if he could start attempting to straighten wrecks and soon they sent him to a school that the machines manufactures taught. It wasn't long until he could take what I would never have thought repairable and he was fixing the wrecks. It told you where to weld
 lugs on to pull, how much to push and although I wouldn't swear to it, I think the machine also pulled and pushed fenders and other body parts- like I mentioned, I saw cars drive away that I would have bet would have gone to the masher for junk metal. Fixing the small differences in the two frame rails wouldn't be hard to do if it was taken to the right shop and if prepared to save time- like removing the front suspension etc, I'm sure the cost wouldn't be so much. It was mentioned the car was originally repaired by Tiger Auto. Doug Jennings restored Tigers while Tiger Auto worked on several foreign cars. I dint know if Doug did the work but in my mind I see him telling the owner what it would cost to be fixed right and I suspect he would have replaced the bent frame rail from the front back- to the place the frame rail wasn't part of the problem. I then see the owner deciding to take the cheaper repair and be happy with extra shims. 

My Mk1 broke a fulcrum pin and hit a deer- two separate accidents- the left side has two shims instead of one and it has to be for the same reason. I cant tell where the bend is but its obvious there is a slight twist somewhere and I dint remember the PO telling me which accident created the problem- the fulcrum pin or the deer. I'm not getting rid of the car. The front end alignment doesn't wear out tires, so I will live with the extra shim. 

Back to the Mk2-I think the buyer got a hellish of a deal. I do see him having problems getting the car back to original but even without the stainless molding, the car is a Mk2- one of only five hindered and some ever made and it can be repaired I'm certain and IF he finds the right shop, I dint think there are many man hours in tweaking the frame rails level and square. I remember seeing a drawing of the measurements of an original Tiger and with those and THAT computerized machine, that part is the cheapest of the problems to fix. ALL of this is my opinion BUT if I had the money I would have bid at least 30k. Of course I have a grill and spare air cleaner and steering wheel-- just finding that stainless- OOPS there was some Aussie guys making it a few years back- a bit expensive BUT they had some for sale at one time.

Someone mentioned the battery door- or fuel pump access door- did the Mk2 have this door or was it eliminated when the fuel pump went to the trunk?? Thanks for listening to my opinion(s) and responding to my question.
TonytheTiger
PS- I had the seller email me pics of the underneath- appears to be about 4 pieces of metal between the frame and the front suspension. I think I read the cross member had been reworked BUT part of the problem could be there.