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Thread: My other expensive hobby - 1963 Sunbeam Alpine - Adventures in Cars

  1. #11
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GardoneVT View Post
    Rob, you're a braver man then me.

    I love the look of Classic Brit cars (by my standards)like the XJS and XK8, but then I see posts like "Octopus Coolant Lines" and "Lucas Electrics" and run away to my safe space- a garage with two American cars in it.
    I dunno man, this car is less complicated, easier to fix, AND more reliable than the 2004 Saturn Ion my wife had when we first started dating. Of course it has the benefit of being a very simple, 53-year old car, too. The most complicated thing about this car is the positive ground charging system. Which just means you have to remember to attach positive wires to grounds when wiring new things in. Although, it does severely limit your ability to get a radio in the car.

    I had a customer for a long time who had an XK8, a nice '98 Vintage car...no Lucas electronics in that car...but the Bosch Electronics in it made Lucas Electronics look like the pinnacle of electrical engineering. The customer finally sold the Jag and bought a mid-70s vintage Rolls Royce Silver Shadow...WAY better car by comparison, despite being 20 years older.

  2. #12
    Licorice Bootlegger JDM's Avatar
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    Feb 2011
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    Albuquerque
    Quote Originally Posted by GardoneVT View Post
    Rob, you're a braver man then me.

    I love the look of Classic Brit cars (by my standards)like the XJS and XK8, but then I see posts like "Octopus Coolant Lines" and "Lucas Electrics" and run away to my safe space- a garage with two American cars in it.
    Safe. American cars.

    That word, safe, it does not mean what you think it does.

    Nobody is impressed by what you can't do. -THJ

  3. #13
    Member
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    Oct 2013
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    East Greenwich, RI
    Cool, thanks for sharing! Good luck!

  4. #14
    Site Supporter hufnagel's Avatar
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    A someone who assisted in the restoration of my mom's 1972 MGB, the hardest part is finding the right parts sometimes. Good luck on your adventures with the Sunbeam!
    Rules to live by: 1. Eat meat, 2. Shoot guns, 3. Fire, 4. Gasoline, 5. Make juniors
    TDA: Learn it. Live it. Love it.... Read these: People Management Triggers 1, 2, 3
    If anyone sees a broken image of mine, please PM me.

  5. #15
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
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    May 2014
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    Parts. I swear, parts will remain the bane of my existence for the rest of my life. I ordered some fittings from Jegs...unfortunately, I did not order a -4 AN to 10mm adapter, so the clutch is still non-functional. I've now ordered the correct fitting...

    I did, however, get the brakes hooked up tomorrow I'll power bleed them and that should leave only the clutch left to deal with. I wired in the switch for my electric fan. Fitted my sheet-metal top covers, and began fitting the new soft-top today. Which is actually a bit easier than I expected it to be...although it's still not simple by any stretch of the imagination.








  6. #16
    Site Supporter hufnagel's Avatar
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    wait'll you get to the paint part.
    half our budget during restoration was eaten by paint and body work alone. the results were worth it though.


    from when she was basically new. yes, it was bought in Hawai'i


    taken a couple years ago, after a $20,000 restoration (in late 1990s money.) pictures do NOT do justice to how DEEP the paint looks in person.
    not bad for a car that was dropped on its side when being removed from the boat ride back from Hawai'i to the mainland in the early 70s. the body guy spent many an hour straightening out the metal before even thinking of applying any bondo, 5 primer/filler layers (sanded in between, only the last one was left to do the final leveling out), 4 layers of color and 3 layers of clear.
    Last edited by hufnagel; 07-22-2016 at 10:47 PM.
    Rules to live by: 1. Eat meat, 2. Shoot guns, 3. Fire, 4. Gasoline, 5. Make juniors
    TDA: Learn it. Live it. Love it.... Read these: People Management Triggers 1, 2, 3
    If anyone sees a broken image of mine, please PM me.

  7. #17
    Site Supporter Maple Syrup Actual's Avatar
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    Northern Fur Seal Team Six
    Super cool thread man. I know nothing about old British cars but I love simple, archaic machines.

    Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk
    This is a thread where I built a boat I designed and which I very occasionally update with accounts of using it, which is really fun as long as I'm not driving over logs and blowing up the outboard.
    https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....ilding-a-skiff

  8. #18
    Site Supporter hufnagel's Avatar
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    it was ready in time for Y2K. you know, just in case. damn thing still as points!
    Rules to live by: 1. Eat meat, 2. Shoot guns, 3. Fire, 4. Gasoline, 5. Make juniors
    TDA: Learn it. Live it. Love it.... Read these: People Management Triggers 1, 2, 3
    If anyone sees a broken image of mine, please PM me.

  9. #19
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    They are very cool cars - a few months ago at the shop, we went through a '64 Tiger that had been nicely restored in the 90's, that also had some substantial upgrades. The engine was a 289 with aluminum heads and a decent intake manifold, but we ended up replacing the 4bbl carb, dizzy, plugs, wires, coil, etc and a small fortune's worth of suspension bushings as well as a new set of bespoke Koni shocks from Rootes - those are some cantankerous dudes, but they know their stuff on these old Sunbeams!
    I removed the oil pan to replace its decades-old cork gasket with a modern rubber/steel one for a 5.0HO, and the cast aluminum oil pan itself was a work of art. Pulling the #8 spark plug was a PITA though!
    After a re-tune on our dyno it made 266whp and 251wtq SAE. Very respectable numbers for a carb'd 289 that can still run on pump 91.

    The Koni's were the second set of shocks we ordered for that car. If yours needs shocks, just bite the bullet and buy those. We learned the hard way. I'm not sure what gear oil spec your gearbox would have, but the Tigers called for an SAE 30 that doesn't exist anymore. After some sleuthing we found a lot of Sunbeam people recommended the Mobil 1 15w50 synthetic for the gearbox, and it worked great.

    Did the Alpines have the Dana 44 rear end that the Tigers had? I always wondered how much Sunbeam was actually left in that Tiger..

  10. #20
    The R in F.A.R.T RevolverRob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JRB View Post
    Did the Alpines have the Dana 44 rear end that the Tigers had? I always wondered how much Sunbeam was actually left in that Tiger..
    No, they have a proprietary rear end. How much Sunbeam is left in a Tiger? Well, the SUNBEAM badges...and the interior...and that's about it, actually.

    Tiger has the Ford V8, obviously, a toploader 4-speed, and Dana 44. Alpine is an overhead valve I4 that was designed, I think, right around the turn of the century...judging by some of the oddities of it (the first five years of Alpine production had smaller four cylinders with only 3-main bearings. The bigger motor (1725ccs) has five main bearings and fortunately, that is what I have. The transmission is a Rootes-designed little gearbox that looks about like a tinker toy which matches the rear end.

    A little engine rebuild can net me about 110 horsepower at the wheels, much more than that and I will destroy rear-ends annually.

    I've thought about how to upgrade the little car overall. Right now I'll leave the engine, because I'd like to run it in F-Street Prepared. Besides, this isn't my only car and I already have a small-block Ford powered car ('63 Mercury Comet). That car is the rip-snorting, wake-the-neighbors-loud, fast car. So, I'd prefer to use the Sunbeam as my lightweight, high-revving, fun little car. If I end up needing to do a new engine, I'll probably end up swapping the car over to a Miata drivetrain. It's essentially bolt-in and lets face it...I can actually get Miata drivetrain parts at NAPA Auto.

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