Might be picking up a very rough but very cheap Sunbeam Alpine. Thinking of making it into a ratty fun car for hooning around in - fender flares, big Minilites, V8 of some description and maybe sidepipes. Anyone got any good pics of old race cars or Sunbeam hot rods for inspiration?
wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) said:
That was the one I was going to post. Ooooh, that one was nasty. It had a 427 FE as I recall. And NASCAR steelies
Took these a few weeks ago. Owner said he drives the hell out of it.
I'm no expert on these.
I suspect that it would have to be pretty trashed to not be worth it much more financially to restore.
NickD said:wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) said:
That was the one I was going to post. Ooooh, that one was nasty. It had a 427 FE as I recall. And NASCAR steelies
That's gnarly, love it!
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:I suspect that it would have to be pretty trashed to not be worth it much more financially to restore.
Nice Tiger. I'm looking at a very trashed Alpine, it would not be worth the money to make it nice.
Problem with your concept is that any trashed Alpine is almost sure to be seriously rusty and fixing that style of body design can be pretty expensive (just ask any Austin Healey or Jensen owner). Plus the inherent limitations of the rather odd choice of wheel size (13" doesn't allow air to cool the existing brakes, much less the fitment or larger brakes to give really decent stopping) is a consideration.
They were a bit heavy and fairly slow, but neither of those matters for your purpose.
I don't think that an Alpine in poor condition would be my chosen starting point for a project, but good luck and report back on how it goes if you do it.
Racingsnake said:Might be picking up a very rough but very cheap Sunbeam Alpine. Thinking of making it into a ratty fun car for hooning around in - fender flares, big Minilites, V8 of some description and maybe sidepipes. Anyone got any good pics of old race cars or Sunbeam hot rods for inspiration?
Might I suggest an easy way to repair your rusty floorpans? Just slip one of these handy floorpan repair panels in place. Once the floorpans and structural rust ( and damn near everything else that is Fubared) has been dealt with by this single repair panel, engine options become much easier than with the Alpine infrastructure. Chances are you can find a rust free Miata roller for less than the cost of a couple of Alpine floor pans. If you want to leave the Miata drivetrain in place, this means the Miata can be driveable the whole time and the project can be both cheap and quick.
NickD said:wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) said:
That was the one I was going to post. Ooooh, that one was nasty. It had a 427 FE as I recall. And NASCAR steelies
I'd love to know how they keep that cool. It's hard enough with the 289.
Check out the hagerty youtube channel. There are a series of Tiger videos with a 289 swap.
Whenever there's a performance test of one of the original Tigers, I'm always surprised that it isn't faster than it tests. Seems like a 289 Cobra will smoke a 289 Tiger usually. Am I misinformed? Or are there inherent defects in the genuine article?
So basically an Alpine with a V8. What's commonly known as an Alger. Look up some of the issues that go along with that. Unibody Alpine would be the weak point, needs some structural reinforcements, more than the Tiger got to prevent structure cracks. Not trying to stop you, would be a great and fun car when done right. Address potential future issues before they arise. If I remember right, CM did some articles on Tiger and Alger issues. Believe Tim still has the Tiger.
In reply to NOHOME :
I'm in California so even a trashed Alpine still has floorpans. Some of the body panels are a bit bashed and crispy but they'd be good enough
Found this one online - pretty close to the sort of look I want
Doane Spencer's Tiger Has the right look too - way nicer than my project is likely to be though
In reply to Kreb (Forum Supporter) :
Tiger is heavier and has a lot less tire contact patch, so with equal HP the Cobra would win. They did not have that though. Tigers were low HP engines.
In reply to Racingsnake :
The floorpans are the least of it. You get modern suspension, steering , seats,wiring, seatbelts, and HVAC in one rolling package. Even the interior comes along for free.
The Alpine is a bit of effort to get the 302 jammed in while the Miata easily takes a 302 or LS with kits available if you so wish.
This is the P1800 that I built on that Miata Chassis with a 302 engine.
If doing a pure race car, I would tube frame the Alpine, but for a driver, it is hard to beat the amount of OEM engineering that comes with a modern chassis platform. And whats a running Co-part Miata worth in California? $1000?
In reply to NOHOME :
I love the Molvo and think it turned out great. Would be easy enough to find a Miata for $1k here but I don't want any HVAC, modern interior etc. This would just be a stripped down fun car. The steering and fitting the engine would be a bit of a hassle on the Alpine but way easier than a body swap.
In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) (Forum Supporter) :
That green one sits so nice!
In reply to Racingsnake :
Ok, I'll play along too.
In reply to noddaz :
That is an Alpine in Tiger clothing because the gun won't clear the big engine. I just noticed the lack of Sunbeam logo on the nose too. Swap the letters to spell Meanbus.....
So, I got round to picking it up. Photo shows its best angle. Other side is - less good.
Did have some NOS OEM spares in the trunk, but they're a bit crispy now...
Time to ponder
LS swap.
Just sayin'.
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