A little about me…

Before jumping into the car I thought it might be useful to share a little about myself.

My name is Tim, I’m in my late 30s and, amongst some other hobbies, I love cars and motorsport. Other than helping my brother restore a trials bike when I was in my early teens, I have no experience of working on cars/bikes. This has always made me feel a little sad as I’m quite mechanically minded and it felt (or perhaps feels!) like I should know a little about how things work under the bonnet.

Whilst I do enjoy getting a bit greasy, and learning about how cars work, I really enjoy driving fast and being on circuits. I have some karting experience and have spent too much money on ‘Red Letter’ experience days. I’m lucky enough to be at a point where I can spend a little money on indulging myself. So that leads me to be here, a proud owner of a Tiger Super Six which I bought two weeks ago. I’ll post separately about what I know about the car.

So why am I blogging publicly? For two reasons. The first is to help me create and maintain a history of the work done to the car. At some point I will, probably rather sadly, sell the vehicle. If the new owner is anything like me they will appreciate the extra information. The second reason is that there is a great community around the Tiger cars (including a forum). Jumping into the world of owning a kit car can be a little intimidating! There are some very knowledgeable people out there and starting from scratch feels like there is a long way to go. Perhaps by sharing my story others that are thinking about taking the plunge into owning a Tiger, or other kit car, might feel more comfortable (or perhaps not!).

I guess finally, this blog will give me a way to connect to the community and others with similar interests. I expect that I will get things wrong, get things right and perhaps get things somewhere in between but I will share each step and look forward to learning along the way.

Introducing the car…

Tiger Super Six with a 2.0L Zetec

I bought my Tiger at the end of August 2019. The car didn’t come with a wealth of history because it had a build blog on PistonHeads.com. I haven’t yet been able to find this blog (I hope I do!) but I will share what I discover about the car as I go.

Here’s the basics. The car was first registered in 2003 and initially had a pinto engine. The pinto let go at a track (the best ending for an engine) and a 2.0L Ford Zetec engine was added as a replacement. The Zetec has had twin Weber carburettors and a modified sump has been fitted. This was done three or four years ago. Since then the car has only done 1,300 miles. I suspect that there is an upgraded head and something has been done with the cams as well but I’m not sure. Best estimation of horsepower is 150 – 155 bhp.

The car look like it has been setup as a track toy. It has an aeroscreen rather than a windshield and no attempt to add comfort items such as a heater (not needed with engine so close to your feet!).

There’s a five speed gear box with a really nice short-shift action, racing/sports clutch and fancy racing cluster (RX-2N).

Block: 2.0L Zetec – Engine Code EDDC (Standard 135PS @6000, 180Nm @4000), Phase 3, Manufactured 1998-2004 for Focus 2.0L, Raceline baffled sump.

Intake: Twin Weber 45DCOE Carburettor

Fuel pump: Inline Facet electronic fuel pump

Cooling: Was a copper radiator with a leak (!), now custom made aluminium radiator by Custom made Rads

Brakes (Front): Was: VW Golf Mk2 – ATE 48mm (?) diameter single piston discs, now replaced with Tiger branded Hi-Spec four piston, fixed brake callipers with EPC green stuff brake pads.

Suspension (Front): Double wishbone with Protech 400 series shock absorbers and 8”, 2.25” ID – 275lb springs

Suspension (Rear): Protech with 8”, 2.25” ID – 180lb springs