1965 Sunbeam Tiger from AMT

I started this build when I found a bit of white flake in my 1961 Ford Ranchero that stuck in the clear coat while drying. Figured while I'm waiting for the clear coat to harden so I could try to polish out the spooge. I always wanted a Sunbeam Tiger as a kid. It was a Sunbeam Alpine with a Ford 260 V8 shoehorned into the engine bay. The car was pretty popular but then Rootes was owned by Chrysler and they killed it off, or so the story goes. My kit is an old AMT Blueprinter version in a plain white cardboard box so I've posted an snap of the instruction sheet to  give an idea of the kit. I planned to build is as an SCCA club racer in the  late sixties/early seventies and use the kit Minilite wheels, but quickly discovered that the wheels don't fit the  wheel wells.




The kit came with hideous add-on parts. The fender flares were grossly over-sized and the suspension parts and tires would have raised the car to look like some sort of off road vehicle. The front air dam was an 80's type of part. The rear spoiler covered the entire rear end and didn't fit well. Instead of a roll bar the kit included a squared off unit that looked kind of like the one on a Porsche 914.



I looked for wheels/tires that could fit in the wheel wells that would look period correct and quickly discovered that the front suspension lower A-arm and shock tower would keep anything I had from fitting. I found some 17" modern wheels that would allow the A-arm to slide inside the wheel so that the shock tower was the only big issue. Cut out the shock towers and then continued removing wheel well material front and rear until the wheels fit inside, albeit barely. Another nice thing about the modern wheels is that they included some nice disk brakes. Like the wheels not period correct, but they look good.




I used the rear spoiler and cut it down so it fit only on the trunk lip and didn't cover the rear of the trunk lid. I decided that as a racer I would fill the trunk lid in the back and on the spoiler and then scribed an opening on the trunk lid along the front edge of the spoiler and removed the molded in trunk hinges to give it a lift off look. I filled the gas filler in the rear passenger side fender and then made a cutout for a racing style filler in the center of the trunk. I have some HO scale bolts that I think I can turn down to simulate hood pins. If they look good I will use them on the hood as well. I added a chin spoiler I made out of 1 mm strip. I tried to give it the look of period. I removed all the trim and the badges off the body. Since I took these pictures I tried drilling out the door handles. Passenger side came out quite well, but the driver side has some problems. I think I will cut part of it off and replace it with some brass or plastic rod.




I crafted a tonneau cover out of plastic sheet to cover most of the interior. To get it to fit down in the front I carved out the passenger side of the top of the dashboard. It will be attached to the body and painted body color. I also removed the vent window frames and cut down the windshield to give it more a racer's windscreen. I also removed the molded in wipers. I may fill the air vents on the cowl.






More to come.

SWEET! I started one of these some years ago when the kit was re-released but never finished it. This thread could be dangerous for me

I love Tigers Dave, it was repopped in the last few years, but I missed out in getting one.

I tried in vain many time to get one of these!!! 

Nice work Dave as usual.

Have you considered removing the A pillars altogether and scratching an aero screen instead. I think that would look way cool.

Maybe something like this:




Or maybe the traditional style:

never knew there was a kit of this!......another on the grail list!

Thanks, Dirk and Paul. I'd recommend building it stock. The racer parts aren't very well scaled. It is almost a shake and back as a stock kit. Al, I thought about the aeroscreen but don't think I'm up to the task if I want to get the kit finished. The chassis is finished. I decided to glue the disk brakes to the wheels only to find out that when attached to the axles they no longer fit into the wheel wells. Did some serious machining to hog out the space and now they should fit. I didn't like the shiny aluminum look of the wheels so I painted them Tamiya Metallic Grey (XF-56) which gives them more of a magnesium color.




The engine just needs the distributor, the exhaust, and a bracket to change the upper water outlet to a right angle. All are done just need to be installed. The water pump didn't include an intake so I crafted one. The starter was part of the oil pan so I removed it so that I could mount it to the block. I also removed the oil filter and then crafted a new one.







The body has the second coat of primer. The passenger side still shows a ghost line from the trim and the cowl needs some more filling to do. The pictures show the wheels before I fixed them so they stick out of the fenders and the body doesn't sit all the way down. I'll wet sand this primer coat and then apply (I hope) one more coats since the primer influences the finish color. In the last photo if you look closely you can see how I cut out the door handles. I had to remove the handle in the middle of the drivers side and replace it with some evergreen, but I'm really pleased with the result.







I wanted to go with a dark green but didn't want British Racing Green. I using Duplicolor Ford Deep Jade Green. Depending on the primer you use the color is deeper. I didn't like it over white primer. Dark gray primer and flat black gave me the color I wanted. My wife likes the dark gray primer better so I'll use it over flat black on another build. The right spoon is over dark gray primer, the left spoon is over flat black.

Looking good. but please stop. Please stop because if you go any farther I will want to dig mine out and try and finish it....

Dave, this is a very enjoyable build to watch. The work on the chassis really paid off as you nailed the tires and stance. Much to admire about your body work and I find that rear spoiler very striking,

Still working on the kit. I keep having issues with phantom trim and the cowl vents showing, so it's been fill, prime, sand, fill, prime, sand, but I think I now have it good. Still need to apply primer and then sand before the finish coat goes on. Right now it is too windy to paint, but I'll something to work on. The chassis and interior are completed and mated. I need to install the radiator and connect the hoses. I discovered when I went to mount the engine that the alternator butted the inner fender and the engine would seat correctly. Grinding of the fender and the side of the alternator and bit of a modification of the engine mount and I finally got it in place. The steering wheel is from my parts box and I scrapped off the chrome on the rim and then finished with a furniture scratch pen and then clear. Give it sort of that Emerson Fittipaldi wheel look which I thought would fit a club racer. The roll bar is crafted from Evergreen rod.

im liking where this is going

Ignore all the dust all over the engine bay, but I got the radiator in and the brake lines for the master cylinder. There is a lower radiator hose in place, but even holding the chassis in your hand you can't really get more than a glimse and couldn't find it unless you put it in. But I know it's there.



All that is left is to paint the body, install the side pipes and the windshield. With the winds I can only install the side pipes right now.

Nice work Dave, the tonneau cover looks bril.

Brilliant work Dave, looking forward to seeing the body painted.