TIGER RAGSlowing a hot Sunbeam Tiger convertible with Wilwood Disc Brakes

The Wilwood brake installation kit for the Sunbeam Tiger is part number 140-11743 and it features Dynapro Calipers work-ing together with 11.75-inch rotors. The kit also comes with the aluminum caliper adapters, aluminum caliper brackets, BP-10 Smart Pads, and all of the hardware required to finish the installation.

The Sunbeam Tiger was an amazing car that wasunderestimated by many people when it was re-leased. The Rootes Group, that was building theSunbeam Alpine, was pleased by its rally suc-cesses until the competitors started using largerand more powerful engines. Sunbeam reallycouldn’t afford to design a new more powerful en-gine, so the company talked to Carroll Shelby tosee if he could install a small Ford V8 engine intoan Alpine, similar to what he was doing with theCobra. It took about a week for the Shelby engi-neers and fabricators to do the job and it wastested with good results. Shelby installed a 260engine backed by a Toploader four-speed trans-mission. The car was sent back to England whereit was met with mixed reactions until everyone gota chance to drive it.

It was agreed by everyone that the car should gointo production, so the Rootes Group commis-sioned Jensen to manufacture the Tigers with the260 Ford engines. The name Tiger goes back to1926 when a Sunbeam racecar called the Tigerset the world land speed record of 150 mph. TheMark 1 Tigers were built with 260 Ford enginesand there were two series of the Mark 1 cars. Theseries changed because the Sunbeam bodychanged slightly. There was also a Mark 2 Tigerproduced with some body changes and a 200horsepower 289ci engine powered it. There were7,085 Tigers built from 1964 to 1967 and only 536of them were Mark 2 Tigers. Production of theTigers ended when Chrysler purchased theRootes Group and there was no way that Chrysler

could sell a product with a Ford engine. Unfortu-nately Chrysler didn’t have an engine that could beadapted to the Tiger.

The Tigers sold for $3,500 when they were releasedin 1964 and that was considerably less than the Co-bras. Shelby really liked the Tigers, so he raced oneand won the 1964 SCCA Class B Pacific Coast Di-visional Championship competing against Jaguars,Corvettes and even Cobras. Drag racers noticedthe small lightweight Tigers and a warmed overTiger set the AHRA National Record with an ET of12.95 with a top speed of 108 mph. Carroll Shelbystarted offering speed parts for the Tigers that werecalled LAT options. LAT was short for Los AngelesTiger options a division of Shelby. Tiger ownerscould purchase special wheels, a high rise Edel-brock intake manifold topped by a Holley carburetor,traction bars, scattershields, and a variety of otherspeed parts. Some of the early cars also got enginetransplants using Shelby equipped high perform-ance V8 engines rated at 306 horsepower.

Wilwood was recently asked to develop a customdisc brake system for a Tiger, so they did and thatinspired a new kit that other Tiger owners could useto upgrade their brakes. The Wilwood kit requiresthe Tiger to be equipped with 15-inch wheels be-cause the brake upgrade features Dynapro Caliperswith 11.75-inch rotors. The complete kit is an easybolt-on upgrade that comes with two-piece ventedrotors, with an aluminum hat adapter. The kit in-cludes caliper brackets, BP-10 Smart Pads and allof the hardware required to complete the installa-

tion. The Tiger Kit is part number 140-11743. TheTiger in this installation is powered by a 400 horse-power 302ci engine that accelerates far betterthan it decelerates. The car is driven on the street,but the owner also takes it to Shelby events whereit sees some moderate track time, so improvedbrakes would definitely make the car nicer andsafer to drive.

This installation was done at the Wilwood Engi-neering tech facility in Camarillo, California by thehead technician, Tony Porto. Wilwood Engineer-ing recommends persons experienced in the in-stallation and proper operation of disc brakesystems should only perform the installation of thiskit. A hobby builder can install this kit if he hasgood mechanical ability, car building experienceand a good assortment of tools. In order to com-

plete this installation you need a floor jack and jackstands, an assortment of wrenches and sockets,line wrenches, an impact gun, a ratchet wrench, abreaker bar, an inch-pound torque wrench and afoot-pound torque wrench.

Before the installation begins, it would be a goodidea to spread all of the parts out so you can makesure that all of the parts are included in the kit.Check the components with the parts list on the in-struction sheet to make sure everything is there. Itwould also be a good idea to have PTFE ThreadTape, Loctite 271, and Wilwood Hi-Temp 570 Rac-ing Brake Fluid or Wilwood EXP 600 Plus Super Hi-Temp Racing Brake Fluid on hand. We will showyou the entire installation so you can decidewhether you can do the work yourself, or if it wouldbe better to have a professional do it for you.

Using an impact gun and the appropriate size socket, thefour lug nuts were disconnected and then the wheels andtires were removed from the car.

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The original brakes used a single piston caliper and a small10-inch diameter solid rotor. The brakes were adequate forstandard driving with a 260 engine but certainly not enoughfor this car that sees track action with a very hot Ford 302ciengine.

The Wilwood rotor has to be bolted to the aluminum hub as-sembly. Here the bolts are being coated with Loctite 271.

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The bolts were screwed into the hub assembly finger tight.Notice each bolt uses a small flat washer.

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After the bolts were snug, they were tightened to 180 in-lbsusing an inch-pound torque wrench.

Here is the rotor assembly after the aluminum hat has beenconnected. The hat spaces the rotor in the proper location.

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This Tiger kit uses a special aluminum hub assembly that isdesigned for the four lug nut application. Here one of the lugnuts is being installed part way by hand.

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After the lug nuts have been installed part way, they shouldbe coated with Loctite 271 as seen here.

After the lug nuts were coated with Loctite, they were con-nected the rest of the way using an impact gun. The bolts werethen tightened to 77 ft-lbs using a foot-pound torque wrench.

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The inner hub bearing was coated with high temperature discbrake bearing grease before it was installed and then thegrease seal was installed. This gives you an idea of how it isassembled.

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The dust cap was removed from the rotor by prying it up farenough to remove it by hand.

The cotter key was removed and then the spindle nut wasdisconnected from the spindle using channel lock pliers.

The caliper is held on with two bolts. Here the bolts are being bro-ken loose with a large breaker bar. After the bolts are loose theycan be removed with a ratchet wrench.

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After the caliper bolts were disconnected, the caliper couldbe removed from the disc brake assembly.

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After the caliper was disconnected, the rotor assembly couldbe removed from the car.

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After the rotor was removed, the small bolts that secure thedust shield to the spindle assembly could be disconnected.

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The dust shield was removed from the spindle to providemore clearance for the larger rotor.

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After the dust shield was removed, the spindle was cleanedoff using a rag and cleaning solvent.

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The bolt that connects the bracket to the spindle wasloaded with a spacer and a shim washer.

20The caliper bracket was held up next to the spindle and thebolts were started finger tight.

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After the bracket was started, the steering arm bolt had tobe connected to the spindle. Using a socket wrench andthe appropriate size socket, the steering arm was tightenedto the spindle connection.

After the steering arm was tight, the bracket bolts weretightened using a socket wrench. The bolts were tightenedto 77 ft-lbs using a foot-pound torque wrench.

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Here is the caliper bracket assembly after the bolts havebeen tightened. A close look reveals how the caliper bracketfits in-between the spindle and the steering arm.

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The hub assembly was installed on the spindle and thelarge flat washer and spindle nut was secured. The nutshould be snug but it shouldn’t be too tight. Remember tosecure the nut with a cotter key.

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The Wilwood dust cap was installed by screwing it intoplace.

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The four lug nuts were lined up with the holes in the rotoradapter and then rotor was installed on the hub assembly.

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The rotor was secured to the hub assembly using two lugnuts. The rotor has to be tight to check the rotor to calipercentering.

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28The caliper bracket stud was loaded with two shim washers.

The caliper was placed over the rotor and then the caliperwas aligned over the two mounting studs. The caliper wascentered over the rotor assembly.

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The BP-10 Smart Pads were installed in the caliper makingsure they are all the way in..

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After the brake pads were in place, the spring-loaded re-tainer clip was installed.

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After the retainer clip was installed, the bridge bolt and tubecould be installed and tightened.

Here is the finished brake assembly using a Dynapro Caliperand an 11.75-inch rotor assembly. This should provide amplestopping power for the hot Tiger.

Wilwood Engineering4700 Calle BoleroCamarillo, CA 93012(805) 388-1188

www.wilwood.comCopyright © 2010 Wilwood Engineering, Inc. -

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