Modifications
|
Seeing as I have spent the last 7 weeks with my leg in a cast and unable to drive the car, I thought I would
make use of the time by carrying out some of those niggling jobs... The Tiger cooling system was a bit of a nightmare, way too much plumbing
around the Zetec thermostat housing and lots of leaking joints. A good solution to this was to purchase a Zetec water rail from Raceling, and some silicon
hoses which not only look a hundred times better, they dont degrade like the std rubber ones. Click Here for a parts list and plumbing diagram |
|
This shows the water rail fitted. It effectively moves the thermostat from the back of the engine to the front, and also does away with all the unecessary plumbing for the heater. A Ford X-flow thermostat housing is fitted to it, with an 82 Deg thermostat. I have drilled a 5mm hole in the stat to allows a small amount of water to bypass the stat into the radiator before the stat fully opens. |
|
The water rail can be used without a header tank, but this would mean keeping a constant eye on the water level. I decided to retain the std header tank so I can easily see the coolant level. I also picked up a catch tank on good old ebay, this has 2 connections, one that goes to the crank case breather, the other to the cam cover, and its finished off with a nice K&N breather filter. |
|
Catch tank in place. |
|
The Ford X-flow stat housing. When the pressure in the cooling system gets too much, the spring inside the rad cap is forced up and the excess coolant return via the small diameter pipe to the header tank. |
|
The water rail simply bolts to the head where the stat housing would normally go. |
|
Silicon Hoses used throughout. |
|
The Tiger supplied fuel cap wouldnt stop leaking, so I replaced it with the rather nice aero filler cap from Burton Performance. |
|
The Tiger exhaust was way too loud, I picked this carbon fibre Westfield can up on ebay. Its re-packable and I have also fitted it with a dB killer to keep the noise level down. |
|
I (like a lot of Tiger owners) have a real problem with under bonnet heat build up. I decided that I would fit a bonnet vent to try and keep the temperature down to a lower level. I decided upon an Escort RS Turbo vent, and have nearly finished spraying it and should hopefully have it fitted soon. |
|
The ERA cast sump has leaked ever since I fitted it, I returned it to Tiger a few days ago to see if there was anything they could do about it (casting fault). The very next day a brand new sump was dispatched - woohoo no more leaks! |
|
Clutch travel was becomming an issue as the pedals are too near the firewall panel and I couldnt get enough adjustment on the std sierra clutch ratchet. I replaced the cable with a hydraulic system. This uses a Wilwood pull cylinder attached to the type 9 clutch arm, and a landrover clutch master cylinder attached to the clutch pedal. |
|
A poor quality shot of the pull type Wilwood cylinder (mobile phones will never replace cameras!). |
|
The Landrover master cylinder. |
|
It bolts to the top chassis rail, and the 5/16" threaded actuator goes through the firewall, and bolts into a hole I drilled in the clutch pedal. The difference it makes is amazing, plenty of clutch travel, easy gear selection, and not too heavy on the foot. |
