Panels all fitted

Finally finished all of the panels for now. I've left the battery tray and top tunnel panel till later for easy access. Had to make a few extra ally plates on the tunnel panels as the ally sheets from tiger were slightly too short. No big deal though. Sealed it all up this afternoon and mounted the brake pedal bracket to the floor.

I had a problem with the pedals back plate which the master cylinder bolts to. It is slightly too narrow to fit four bolts through so I have put 2 through for now and will get it welded in a week or two for extra strength, hence why the driver footwell panel has to cut-outs on it. A few photo's below of the panels finished and sealed.

Panels all finished

Holes for the master cylinder

Sealant applied

Drivers footwell panel with cutouts for the back plate to be welded to the chassis

All sealed and brake pedal bracket bolted on

Next job will be to weld the back plate to the chassis for the master cylinder and get the brake lines in.

Need more hours in the day

I haven't had as much time as I would of liked over the last week or so in the garage but am pleased with the work I have managed to get through. After finishing the floor panels I decided to do the back panel and side panels. The back panel wasnt as difficult as first thought but marking the centre the of the chassis members on the panel was. I deicded to rivet the panel to the diagonal supports as well as the straight chassis members for additional hold even though it did take a lot longer. I got the side panels out of the way pretty quick and cut the sheets ready to rivet the central tunnel.

2 panels down, 12 to go

Back panel being marked up

Back and side panels complete

Tunnel panels layed up

Next stage is to try and finish off the panels this week and think about the floor mounted pedals and brake lines etc.

Had a spare few hours

Finished Uni early today so had an extra hour or two in the garage. I gave the floor mounted pedals a coat of paint and then decided to start on the panels. Decided to do the drivers side floor panel. Clamped it up and marked along the chassis. Got out the aviation snips and cut about 1mm inside the line. Filed down the edges, put masking tape roughly where the chassis members were and marked the centre lines of the chassis members. I decided to put rivets every 2.5 inches on the panel and centre punched the marks. I put the panel back on the chassis then drilled and riveted the four corners to secure the panel a bit better than the clamps. Finished drilling the rest of the holes then took the panel off to de-bur the holes. Wiped down both surfaces and applied a fairly thin bead of sealant to either side of the holes on each chassis member. Put the panel back on and riveted it all up. I must add I purchased an air pop riveter from Ebay for £20, this is the best £20 I have ever spent. Worth every penny.

Heres some photos of the process.

Clamped up on the chassis

Cut and filed to shape

Marked the centre lines of the chassis members

Markerd the 2.5inch increments and centre punched

Drilled through

Riveted the corners first then placed the rivets in

(stupid idea because they fall out when close the rivets)

Finished panel

I'll use the same process for the rest of the panels and hopefully get a few more done by the weekend. Will post up some more photos when I'm done.

Chassis painted

Just a quick update.....Finished painting the chassis this morning so going to give it a few days to cure properly. Also started to paint the floor mounted pedals and brackets. Got a few days now to plan the brake line routes and fuel lines. Heres some pics of the chassis and the first coat on the pedals (excuse the brush marks)...

Trip to Tiger

The day finally come to take a trip up to Tiger to collect the chassis. Picked the van up at about 8 o'clock, 4 and a bit hours later I arrived at the village of Throney. We loaded the van up and headed over to Thorney Toll to take a look at some other Tigers and have a word with Paul. Both Paul and Jim were very friendly and allowed me to have a good nose around the garage taking photo's of an Avon that was being built.

After the long drive back (too long), I arrived back at about 7ish. Unloaded the van and had a look through the parts. I noticed that the throttle pedal from the floor mounted pedal kit was missing, I spoke to Laura today and she said she will sort it out for me. Sunday morning after returning the van I started to prep the chassis for painting as I bought the chassis bare steel from Tiger. I managed to get the first coat of primer done by the end of the day and thats how I left it.

Heres some photo's of saturday and the chassis so far:

The van


A Tiger R6 (Ithink)


Another Tiger on display

The chassis

The chassis cleaned up and ready for the primer

After a coat of primer

Next up is to get painting of the chassis finished and start on the panels.

First Post

Right, where do I start. I have been thinking about buying a Tiger for a few years now. Why a Tiger? It fits into my budget nicely and from the research I have done, it is very good value for money and support from Tiger is superb. Few more reasons but dont want to drag this first post out.

I am planning to buy the parts as I need them as opposed to buying the major or full kit due to the fact I havent got a good 10k in the bank just yet. I plan to use a 2.0ltr Zetec engine, still deciding over carbs or injection. I am going to add a few different parts to the car to make it different from the standard tiger kits, Digidash, Bucket seats, custom mirrors etc.

Anyway, I ordered the chassis, aluminium panels, floor mounted pedals, brake lines and a few other things about two weeks ago and the time has come to pick them up on saturday. Im looking forward to having a good nose around the factory and to finally start the build process.