Tiger Tamers 1964 Hillman Minx Project

[Tiger Tamer]

Tiger Tamers 1964 Hillman Minx Project - Project Discussion - oldschool.co.nz

Here is the car as bought a couple of years ago. Powered by it's original 1600 engine with 58hp. She's no rocket ship so I will need to get it going a fair bit better. 

At first I was going to rebuild the engine with a head porting job, Cam , more compression which should get it to approx 90hp. Then had thoughts of Supercharging or Turbocharging it but have finally decided to repower it with a Honda K20a engine out of a Accord.

I have done some lowering of the car as they sit so high in the front especially, but  still another 50mm  needed. It seems the combined engine gear box weight of the Hillman unit will be quite similar to the Honda engine with the Toyota R151 gearbox. 

Also a couple of photos for some inspiration of one done before with a lot more mods than i will be doing.

[Tiger Tamer]

I have the Hillman engine out and the engine bay ready for the first see how it fits. Also the bellhousing mounted on the back of the engine with the obvious in the way, need replacing parts removed. The gearbox turned up today and is a whole lot fatter than the tiny Minx gearbox. Overall the shifter should come out in the same position as the Minx, so that will be helpfull.

[Tiger Tamer]

The second drop in to see how much room I have and to figure out what I will need to alter. It can go back about another 25mm but I will have to cut into the firewall a bit as these engines have their water outlet at the now the rear of the head. I will need to replace that with one that doesn't have the hose connection going rearward into the firewall. 

The front cross member will not fit as is. I will need to see if it can be modified or remake it using the original A arms etc and geometry. 

 

[Tiger Tamer]

Nearly stripped out. I am going to have to set the engine back 100mm max so the firewall will have to be cut a little into the heater box area. I will also need to open up the front opening of the gear box tunnel.

It's good by the steering box so I will need fit a steering rack and steering column. I would think a Avenger or Mk2 Escort column and rack may work. I know how to set up a front steer rack on these cross members but you end up with a turning circle of a Bedford truck. Perhaps a new cross member with Mustang 2 components maybe a better way to go.

Here is a comparison custom x member which was built for the Sunbeam Tiger which just happen to use the same x member as the Mighty Minx . Something like this would be ideal.

 

[Tiger Tamer]

Decided to set the engine back as far as I can. I will now need to go front steer steering rack. I had a little trimming to do to get the trans tunnel wide enough for the additional width of the Toyota box. Glad it wasn't to much LOL.

[Tiger Tamer]

A bit more progress. I removed the intake and water pump which you need to do to get the intake off. I have the engine in the position I want it, which clears the cross member and means I can mount a front steer rack, the same as the Sunbeam Tiger. Made up the engine mount brackets and hangers which mount to the old steering box mounts. I found some poly mounts for a BMW. 

[Tiger Tamer]

I am told that the steel is too thin and should be 6mm for engine mounts which is at least twice as thick as anything stock. I will change the design and extend the hanger so the mount sits another 30mm lower when i remake it, but for now I have it stable where I want it.

I have bought a MX5 steering column and rack and a MR2 elec hyd pump for the steering. I know the rack and pump will work and hoping the column will be usable as well.

 

[Tiger Tamer]

A Pic of the rack sitting how it would for a Sunbeam Tiger. I could mount the rack here but I would really like it to go back further closer to the engine. It would be nice if the hyd fitting in the center could be relocated so I can set the rack closer to the engine. The further I can get it back the less of an angle the tie rods will have to the steering arms. Someone told me he had heard the tube can be spun on the aluminium which would have the same effect. I will need to speak to a rack reconditoner i suppose. 

I am going to need to find a oil filter relocation kit and straighten out that rubber water hose. Also notch the inner guard support, but it's looking like it will work.

 

[Tiger Tamer]

I have fitted the MX5 steering column today, which seems to have worked out quite well. The spline is the same as the Hillman spline which was handy.

[Tiger Tamer]

The cooper primed bracket is just tack welded in place to the brake and clutch brackets as they are the most solid place to weld it to. I will weld it fully after it's given the OK. Two extra bolt holes were for my MK1 attempt.

[Tiger Tamer]

The steering shaft is just a bit long with the rack in this position and I want to move it closer to the engine so hopefully I can have it shortened. The pin holding it together at the column end can be removed so hopefully the shaft can be shortened and the pin hole re-drilled. Probably hardened steel so I don't know.

[Tiger Tamer]

The new K Power intake turned up today. Only took a week to get to me once sent and came straight to me without getting stung with gst etc.

Can a moderator move this to the project build and i will start a discussion thread Pleeease. Sorry for getting it wrong at the start.

[Tiger Tamer]

Engine mounts nearly completed , but now the engine is bolted in and the wooden chocks under the sump can go. Gearbox mount next. 

I now need to build the header around the engine mount. Should be fun.

 

[Tiger Tamer]

Radiator mount sorted and working on the fan mounts. I need to get back to the steel shop to get some more 3mm flat.

Also checking the fit of the intake. It's good that I don't have to notch out any more of the firewall.

[Tiger Tamer]

I decided to replace the front seats with something that gives some lateral support. The original bucket seats didn't provide much more than a bench seat and one had been reupholstered in a different green so I thought these would do the job nicely. These seats have detachable head rests. I will need to get the rear seat redone to match and spraying the door cards with black vinyl spray should do as they are in good condition. 

Just working out how to mount them. The original seats were held in with two bolts at the front and the rear of the seats were on slides. The bits that were bolted to the seats and engaged the slides were only made of plastic.

[Tiger Tamer]

I have been working on the front x member setting up the steering rack. The jig i am using I used to set a mx5 rack on my Tiger which uses the same X member.

I managed to get the bump steer down to 3mm on a bump steer check so I should be close or the same here. Not the best pic but I will add more in the future.

Bought a new welder as the BOC 175 was nearly 20 years old. The new welder is another BOC, but upgraded to a Raptor 200 which welds much better than the 175. 

So happy with the upgrade.

Second pic is measuring the bump steer on the Tiger upgrade.

[Tiger Tamer]

I have the car back on it's wheels for the first time, though all just tacked and cobbled together. I need to space out the steering arms another 5mm as they are just contacting the brake disc. I will probably try and find some Brembo front brake calipers and disc's out of a 406 Peugeot. They share the same mount spacing as the Hillman and give you 4 pot calipers and vented discs of a larger dia.

Here are a few pic's of progress so far. 

This is the change from being a rear steer steering box set up to a front steer steering rack set up. The steering arms are from a MGB and the rack, column and the bit in the middle is all MX5 and I haven't had to shorten it at all. 

 

The interior shot shows progress on the gear box tunnel and seat mount frame which uses the Hillman front mounts. I still need to make up the sandwich plates for the rear mounts.

I have spoken recently with the certifier and I seem to be on track with what I am doing. I want to replace the front suspension bushings with poly bushes ands then do my bump steer measurements. If all good I can weld it all up and get them officially measured.

It was nice to be able to drag it out and degrease the engine bay and give the car a good hose down.

 

 

[Tiger Tamer]

I have finished the gearbox tunnel on the underside. Since I am not going to clean off all the original underseal which is still in good nick I sprayed it with a textured finish which has turned out ok. Now to clean up the rest of the engine bay and tidy up the original assembly poor finish. 

[Tiger Tamer]

I did a bump steer check today to see if I had the rack at the correct height.  

 

The first time I measured 50mm up and 50mm down which is from bump stop to bump stop I recorded 6mm of toe change which is getting a bit close to the max 8mm it can be. Didn't want to weld it all up only to find out it was just over when it was measured officially.

I used some 3mm packers under the mounting brackets to lift the rack and remeasured it and it made a huge difference in the wrong direction with 26mm toe change. 

I removed the mounts which were only tack welded to the X member and lowered them 3mm and did another swing check and measured only 4mm and it was pretty much 0 through most of the travel so i am happy with that. I will finish off the X member withe the mounts at this height. 

 

[Tiger Tamer]

I decided to make up a shroud for the radiator fan which is a 16" Davies Craig so it should provide plenty of air flow when needed. It turned out ok since i don't have a bender for sheet metal, just a couple of pieces of steel and panel beaters hammers.

I have also repositioned the center hyd port in the steering rack and had it leek tested and rebuilt. Bolted it all in to check any other clearance issues with the rack and radiator. The aluminum bottom radiator hose is quite long and not giving me enough clearance for the hose to the steering rack. I may get away with it, we will see.