Tiger Build up

ed604

Adventurer
Almost done for Phase one of my trip

Well I got some more done on the tiger today. I finished the wiring for the relays and of course remembered some parts that I was missing and needed.

The straps that hold the black and Grey water need some attention. I picked up some metal strapping and am in the process of replacing the "old and rusted" with "new and shiny", and or adding some additional support where needed.

The roof is going to be a bear to lift when I have the canoe mounted, (man I hate when one thing leads to another) so tomorrow I have to mount some gas struts to help lift it. one of the local hardware shop has these 90lb lifts, so I figure one on each corner and this should help lift and support the canoe.

I am so close now I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel, I won't be done with the build (are we ever?) but I will be ready to go on phase one of the trip.

last items are:

1). Mount the struts
2). Run one more 12v power.
3). fix a leaky pipe on the water tank
4). Finish dust proofing all and any holes
5). Apply some sealant
6). Repair some water damaged laminate on the back splash
7). fix some bent hinges on the bathroom door
8). tighten all fasteners that I can see or find loose.
9). Drill hole and install rubber grommets in the stairs (they rattle something bad)
10) Stop working on the truck, pack up, and go! It is supposed to be a trip after all!

I have enjoyed working on the truck, but it won't be how I like it without hours more time invested, and the truth is, I don't need to do it all now. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day, and my tiger won't be done in a week thats just the way it's going to be, I really do have to just draw a line and finish.

My on the fence list is:

1) Fender flares
2) A BD diesel fuel plate (I'm told it is a very reliable 50-70 horse and 125-150 ft pounds at the wheel apparently, it would be proved on a dyno and shown to me, I haven't done it yet but am interested)
If could have found someone who had the front bushwhacker flares in stock, I would have mounted them already, but ever thing is 4-6 weeks out and I don't have that time (I hate how nobody stocks things anymore)

my list for later is pretty big, but here are a few things,

1). front and rear arb lockers (already ran the switches for them)
2). snorkel ( don't ask me why, I just like them)
3). upper rack of lights, these would be mounted on the front in front of where the tiger emblem is
4). Jack mounts, shovel, Axe
5). Solar panels
etc etc,

for the distant future, I would like to rebuild the inside with cabinets that I custom make myself. I don't want to slag the tiger cabs they are ok, but I think that I could do some way better custom ones, (I am a builder by trade) and I can promise that they wouldn't be done in "circa 1995" golden oak! and they would have a plywood core.

I can't wait to get the truck all washed up and loaded, I will try and take a good picture in the light. Maybe I can put some before and after shots up, that might be nice. I have been doing lots of little things but its hard to show pictures of everything.

I'll post more pics when I can,
Ed
 

Overland Hadley

on a journey
last items are:

10) Stop working on the truck, pack up, and go! It is supposed to be a trip after all!

I need to remember to do this as well, as the departure date for my autumn travels is getting closer.

Thanks for the updates on your Tiger. I have been enjoying following along. :)
 

ed604

Adventurer
Argh...... This tiger is driving me NUTS!
So I'm working on the leaky pipe and I notice that the spigot on the air breather tube, where the fresh water intake is, is broken and the hose is flopping freely. Ok no problem drill it out and put in a new spigot right? oh.... but the rear fresh water tap has also let go and is not connected properly.

Did I mention that there is no room to get your hand in there to put the clamp back?

So...... out comes the whole tank, and of course the T fitting that Provan used to feed the 12v pump and the aforementioned rear drain tap is also now broken ( by me!) and guess what,... the hardware store says they no longer make that type of fitting.... argh. The hardware guy says there is no way to get, and there is no way they have it, ok I say not really believing him cause he looks like he couldn't care one lick about "customer service". So I start looking around for anything I can fab up. I find the parts and make up the T (of course they had it) and get it all back together but the day is shot and I got stuck on item number 3.

It seems that for every item I Fix two more pop up! What do I got gremlins or something, man!

I sure hope that tomorrow goes better than today!

Oh and also I mounted the gas shocks but, unfortunately they are too short and do not allow the roof to close. As I said not the greatest day, I thought that I had the right shock it was 27 inches but I need about a 35-36 inch shock for it to work. So... forget the shocks! I am going to have to just man up and lift the roof, or take the canoe off before I lift it.

here are some shots of the tank. If I look on the bright side at least I am on vacation and at least I am in town ( lots of tools and parts) so it is better than being on the road and dealing with it.

Burnaby-20120906-00295.jpgBurnaby-20120906-00294.jpg

Hadley I am happy to post (maybe not today but....) glad to know someone likes it!

there will be better days,

Ed
 

ExpoMike

Well-known member
2) A BD diesel fuel plate (I'm told it is a very reliable 50-70 horse and 125-150 ft pounds at the wheel apparently, it would be proved on a dyno and shown to me, I haven't done it yet but am interested)

I don't recall if you had an auto or manual trans. If you have an auto, I highly recommend you don't do this until you have built up your trans. The autos are known for coming apart when you start bumping torque numbers over stock. These 12V Cummins are really easy to make tons of power but $$$$ to get it to the ground. I would really hate to see you make power only to blow up the trans. BTW, if you are planning anything over stock power (and even if keeping stock), I would add a pyro meter and trans temp gauges at a minimum. Boost would be good to but not nearly as important as the other two.

If you're not on them already, a couple good forums for Cummins powered trucks are,

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/forum.php

There are some other good ones out there as well.

Oh, and forget about a snorkel, no one makes them for our vintage and I have only seen a couple custom made ones and they look okay. The way our hood/fender area are, there is not an easy way to get the snorkel past the back edge of the hood when it opens. I have been trying to come up with a good method for the last year but no luck yet.
 

lqhikers

Adventurer
looking good

keeping up with your build.
one suggestion when ever you repair re-do try to do the job so that if you have
to repair/fix on the road it is do-able.
as you know that is why i redid battery access,nothing is worse than trying to
repair something that the factory did with out any thought as to field repairs.

things like the water tank hassles you are going through should never happen,
as they should of used standard fitting that you could pick up any where on the road.

it looks to me like you are clearing up your major problems,(don't forget the flex fitting
between your holding tanks) as they age they get brittle!

Les,lqhikers
(man do we enjoy our Tiger!)
 

ed604

Adventurer
done phase one!

Well,..... the roof lifters are lifting, the tire carrier is carrying, the lights are lighting, the water tank is holding and the flux capacitor is.......fluxing

I am out of here!

thanks for the input guys, Mike I will definitely hold off on the plate, I don't want to risk any breakdowns. Klahanie thanks for the help! Les, your tiger rocks! thanks for the input.

here is a quick before and after shot.

Ed

Burnaby-20120910-00298.jpgstarting point for hte tiger.jpg
 
Last edited:

ed604

Adventurer
tiger gets bushwhacked

I finally got around to mounting the bushwhacker flare kit that I had picked up a couple months ago They seem to go in alright and the install went OK except for needing a right angle drill. Here are some shots of before and after.

I like the look because it ties the black from the bumper into the black that I panted the rockers.

tiger no flare.jpgTiger with flares.jpg

I still have a couple more mods to finish up but I am happy with it so far.

cheers,
Ed
 

suntinez

Explorer
I'm not generally a fan of flares, but these look grrrrreat!

Glad to see you got through the plumbing problems, definitely the hardest part of the coach to work on. Nice job.

Can't wait to see your trip pics :)
 

ed604

Adventurer
Thanks Suntinez, I know you are speaking from experience being a multi tiger owner. I will post lots of pics when I do phase two!

Cheers,
Ed
 

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