Frame rail replacement

[Gerhard & Joan Pechmann]

Well the time has come to start (maybe) my Tiger project. The Tiger was hit hard in the left front, damaging the frame rail and most of the sheet metal. I have Tiger inner fender along with a same series Alpine. Can an Alpine frame rail be easily modified to fit or are the Tiger frame rails pretty specific? It appears the drivers side has some small kinks, however I am sure I can fix those. Doug Jennings had this car in storage for a friend and I ended up with it and a second, unrestored Tiger I can take measurements from. Any advice??

[Bob and Jean Webb]

I would suggest you call doug. I think I know the two cars you’re talking about and doug could walk you thru what the original plans were for repairs.

[Gerhard & Joan Pechmann]

I did meet with Doug and we talked about the repairs needed. I actually (almost) had him talked into helping me with it. But retirement is really more important and I’m sure he is enjoying it. Our plan was to make a jig using the other Tiger and then putting the damaged Tiger on it. Then building the damaged one to fit the jig. If you know the car, it is a good candidate for the repair because the balance of the car is rust free. When I first saw the pictures I thought that everything looked so clean, I couldn’t pass it up. I have the skills to make a rail(time is the issue), however at age 57 it would be easier to stub in a correct rail. I am open to someone else doing this repair, perhaps someone who has more Tiger experience than I. I am located in the Madison, WI area.

[Bob and Jean Webb]

did you ask if he might have a frame rail available so you don’t need to cut the other car?

[Gerhard & Joan Pechmann]

Our son brought up a good point when I first brought the Tigers home and again this afternoon. His comment to me was, "Why are you fixing a non-stock Tiger when you have an excellent original to restore?" "You have everything here. This one is not wrecked and look at the door seams. They are almost perfect!" So after sitting down and contemplating both Tigers, I have decided to work on the original tiger. The paint is original to the car and can probably be buffed, keeping it as original as possible. There is some underbody rust and the interior is in need of replacing, so maybe keeping the original paint is not going to be an issue. Once on the lift for a complete inspection, I will determine which direction I will go in.Once complete I will put the damaged Tiger up for sale.

[Roger Nyberg]

Some time ago there were similar posts on the CAT forum website. Randy Willett’ s fabricator made a new right side frame rail to replace the damaged piece. You might contact someone in your area with a frame machine to pull it back into spec then replace it. My daughter’s Grand Prix got rearended and the left rear frame got kinked and that was how it was repaired before the quarter panel was replaced.

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