tfreer85 Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Back in the 60's I believe didn't Shelby Racing outfit the Sunbeam Alpines with Ford 289 V8's? I'm trying to find out some info on them, theres one local that I could get for uber-cheap. Thought it would be a cool little sleeper, power to weight ratio would be pretty sweet. Any opinions about the car and possible hybrid engine swaps? Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(goldfish) Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 I don't know the specifics, but do a search on the Sunbeam Tiger. I'm told one of my uncles had one. Looks like an alpine but had the v8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 If I'm understanding you correctly, your in the wrong forum entirely. I like the sunbeam's, nice cars, can be made to be fast. Should be an interesting project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 I know its HybridZ is a Z place. Just didn't know if anyone knew anything about them. Thought it would be a fun little project until I could build my Z the way I really want to. A little more searching, says that you could drop a V8 in with some modification to the fire-wall. And it was a 260CI that Shelby used. Now I've got to find out about Ford block dimensions to see if a 5.0 is comparable in size. Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 A few years back when I used to work at Shelby in Las Vegas, they had an orange Alpine in their showroom in the front office. I'm guessing that this was one of the early ones converted by Shelby as it had a V8 in it, but unfortunately I don't have any specifics on what size engine it had, or what was done to it to make the conversion work. Looked like a very fun car, too bad I didn't work there long enough to learn more about it. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
660Z Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Shelby tried to make lightning strick twice by putting a V8 in a british car, though they never had the popularity or following as the Cobra did. When Chrysler bought the company that made the Sunbeam Tiger they acually had to warranty them with the ford engine. When a Chyrsler engine was too wide to put in the Tiger body the car was discontinued. My cousin knows a guy restoring an old documented racer says, they require a one off oilpan that goes for big bucks. I say get it and enjoy a piece of history!!! Also,Maxwell Smart drove one in the "Get Smart" tv series. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 Cool thanks for the replies guys. Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshB 240Z Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 660Z is right on. Just one more tidbit.... The external dimensions of the 260/289/302 engines were all the same so a 302ci block will fit in the place of a 260ci block. Bore and stroke changes were made to increase displacement. We autoX with the local (NorCal) Tiger club sometimes and they are a great bunch of people who like to drive their cars. If you want more info search the internet for a local tiger club and shoot them an email. Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 The Tiger's were basically an Alpine with the V8 dropped in. They had a terrific power to weight ratio, but had a lot of front end weight and didn't handle that well, and were prone to overheating. One of my friends used to own one, and we were lucky to live thru that experience, It would absolutely fly. There's a rusted out hulk of one sitting in a field not far from here, it's still got the v8 in it, and about a 10" pine tree growing up thru the floorboard. Unfortunately it's too far gone for even a major restoration. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 If it's original, there maybe some value in parts alone. Check it out on eBay on Tigers for sale. Just like Mustangs and Cobras there are a lot of Shelby clones Should be a registery and club websites. The Cobras amounted to a little over a 1000 in production and I imagine the Tiger's had a larger production rate. About every Tiger I ever saw was black or datk blue and had trouble staying on the road. The muscle cars of that period had better performance and most times better handling if equipped with a front and rear sway bar. The Sunbeam Alpine was a very popular import at the time for women. Shelby was hustling every one to support the transplant of any type of v-8 conversion in a European vehicle along with his chili seasoning that sold in paper bags at grocery stores. There was a website that probably accurately portrayed this "automotive legend" as he was and still is. Ford at the time tried to buy Ferrari in a bid to sell more cars and was turned down. As a personal grudge and humilited, Ford set out to beat Ferrari at racing which eventually resulted in a 1-2-3 win at LeMans in Ford GT 40s. With that win Ford dumped the race program along with Shelby and went back to selling Fords on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preith Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 And it was a 260CI that Shelby used. Tyson The original Cobra was 260 powered' date=' but the went to the 289 very shortly after, and the Tiger was 289 powered from the onset, or so I thought. Shelby tried to make lightning strick twice by putting a V8 in a british car, though they never had the popularity or following as the Cobra did. As far as I know, it wasn't Shelby's idea, but the owner of Sunbeam who approached Shelby because of the Cobra's success. Shelby did the prototype, but that's about it. I think I remember a pretty good article in Grassroots Motorsports about the Tiger. One thing that stands out in my mind is they actually had a guy on the line with a sledge hammer to "massage" the tunnel for clearance. Another main reason for going Ford was because of the distributor location. EDIT: The car is very, very far from original, but worth mentioning. Tom Patton (the '99 Runoffs champion) has been racing a GT2 tiger since the early 80's, and has had considerable success with it. EDIT#2: I came accross this website which looks to have pretty much all you ever wanted to know about the car: http://www.tigersunited.com/history/ Also, I stand corrected, it looks like a 260 was in fact used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie-GNZ Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 A Tiger is more than just an Alpine with a modified firewall. I owned 3 of them and while a classic and a car with performance potential when the right mods are done, in stock form they were not a very good or fast car. Having owned and worked on them, my advice would be to not attempt this swap. Not only will it be a major PITA, but if it ends up as good as a stock Tiger, you do not have a Tiger but you have all the flaws of the stock Tiger. Just my $.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Good advice Scottie. I thought about the doing a home-made Tiger myself. The engine bay of the Z looks like the Grand Canyon by comparison. Very tight in there. Not only is the pan a Tiger-only item, so is the intake manifold. I have a friend who was practically given a Tiger by the original owner when it was only a year old. The handling was so bad that when the guy "parked" it on a turn island that was the end for him. Wouldn't even get back in the car. He called my friend and told him if he would tow it away he could have it for a hundred bucks. My friend owned it for a few months and summarily disposed of it in a similar fashion. He said the brakes were even worse than the suspension. If you have the time and money it could be a fun project. To make it right it would be a much bigger project than the Z though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 Well thats some interesting info and good opinions. However it does seem like I could swap in a different motor, not necesarrily a V8 (though V8 would be wicked as hell) but possibly an SR20DET or KA24DE-T or even a rotarty if I wanted to go really light. What are your guys' opinions on other type of engines, I don't like building things for or to stock looking, I'm all about changing it, also the engine choice the cheaper the better. Thanks again for the links and info. Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 I have a friend who was practically given a Tiger by the original owner when it was only a year old. The handling was so bad that when the guy "parked" it on a turn island that was the end for him. Wouldn't even get back in the car. He called my friend and told him if he would tow it away he could have it for a hundred bucks. My friend owned it for a few months and summarily disposed of it in a similar fashion. He said the brakes were even worse than the suspension. That's what I had always heard about the Tiger. Neat idea, poor implementation, especially with regards to the suspension. Didn't that white one win GT2 more recently? I thought he won just a year or two ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preith Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 Didn't that white one win GT2 more recently? I thought he won just a year or two ago. No way. He's been up front quite a bit, but never had a chance of winning. After he won the championship in '99, they slapped 390cfm carb requirement on him. I talked with him at the Sprints the following year, congradulated him, and he said "they made sure I'll never win it again". The SCCA competition board always had some opposition to letting that car run in GT2, when they felt it should've been in GT1. All the other cars in GT2 are about 3L or less. He would have been way out classes against the ex-Trans Am cars, but perhaps they were right. I frequent gt-racecars.com. All the Runoffs participants frequent it, including Mr. Patton, and it's a never ending soap opera with how much hp a car supposedly has and what the minimun curb weight allowed should be. Plus the SCCA is gradually implementing SIR's (single inlet restrictors), and then the squabling is ten fold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted December 29, 2005 Share Posted December 29, 2005 I have a friend in Connecticut that has a Tiger. As far as it being a Sunbeam with a V8 that is a relatively accurate description. They originally had the Ford 260 V8 but transitioned to the 289 like the Mustang. His has a 302. He also has a Wilwood disc brake upgrade all around similar to what we do with our Z's. He races it frequently at Lime Rock and does pretty well. Like any car that gets a lot of track time it ends up needing a fair amount of TLC but he really enjoys it and speaks highly of it's performance/dependability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottie-GNZ Posted December 30, 2005 Share Posted December 30, 2005 Personally I do not think an Alpine is good car to do any kind of swap but the SR20 would probably be a nice choice. BTW, wanna know just how tight the engine compartment was? The tranny tunnel had a hole on each side with a rubber plug. Those were there so you could get the rear spark plugs out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted December 30, 2005 Author Share Posted December 30, 2005 BTW, wanna know just how tight the engine compartment was? The tranny tunnel had a hole on each side with a rubber plug. Those were there so you could get the rear spark plugs out. That sounds pretty gosh dang tight. Maybe I'll pass and just save the money... Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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