The Restoration of PRRROWL
TIGER # B382000221
An Article by John Crawley
February, 2001
Page 15
Top Of Firewall
I used the top of the TIGER firewall for a tool holder while I was working on the engine. The result was scratched paint that looked terrible so be warned to take care of your new paint by placing fender protectors over everything. Wear long tight T-shirts outside your pants to protect the paint from your belt buckle. Do not wear long loose shirts when you work on the car. I chipped the paint on my TIGER when I shut my shirttail on the bonnet. There was not enough room for the paint and the shirt and the shirt won.
Rather than have the firewall repainted I covered the top of the Tiger fire wall with a polished piece of thin stainless. I did this because I was building a practical runner rather than a show car. I trimmed the stainless to allow the back edge to friction fit under the rain drip that surrounds the engine compartment. The bolt through the top of the firewall on the driver's side was all that was required to keep it in place. It will not chip when I am working on the engine and need a place to put my tools. I think that it looks quite sharp. The concurs judges turn their noses up at it and some people think that it is hooky but "hey its my car".
Do not to drill the rivets out of the VIN number tag on the top of the firewall as this will devalue your TIGER in the eyes of some people. Mask of the VIN when you paint.
Washer Pump
The original washer pump is not the best setup for today’s traffic. When you need washers you need them right now, not ten pumps from now. I switched my washers over to electric by adding a pump from a VW RABITT and converting the old manual pump to a switch. The VW pump comes attached to an "L" shaped bracket and is easy to mount. I bolted mine to the inner wheel well under the brake "Vac" were it is out of sight and yet close to the hose from the washer bottle. A momentary-contact bush button filled the hole were the old push pump came out of the dash. I found one with a large black button and kept the original chrome bezel from the push washer pump. Under cursory inspection it looks quite original.
A more enterprising approach might be found to use the original dash pump plunger as the actuator to the new switch by letting the new switch holding nuts allow the switch to protrude our the back of the shell more. This could allow the old plunger to be in the front of the switch, rather than the large black button. Anybody succesfully adapting this should let us know.
Electric switch for Washer
Air Cleaner
There was no air cleaner with my TIGER when I bought it and I could not find an original without spending bags of dollars. I shopped around for a reasonable replacement and found nothing that was close.
I ended up buying a Cobra, cast aluminum, air cleaner c/w thin element from a Mustang supplier. This I mounted on the TIGER engine sideways! First I machined off the word COBRA and installed a spare TIGER script in its place. I painted the cover Ford blue with polished fins to match the set of cast TIGER valve covers I bought from Sunbeam Specialties. The end result looks like it came with the valve covers.
Air Cleaner and Stainless Cover
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