This is a case of; what did he really mean by that? Too much has
been written about the Tiger which is conjecture rather than factual. I
have done the same; written what I thought correct when I should have been
writing about documented facts. Norm Miller has corrected me several
times and I appreciate him doing so. Norm has collected more knowledge
about this then I have or probably anyone else.
Did Rootes install 289 engines into MK I bodies -YES. There are
documented prototype and development Mk I bodies with 289 engines. Rootes
was conducting 289 development studies and the Works Team, I'm sure, raced
the guts out of several 289 engines. The exact time frame when Rootes
first obtained a 289 engine, I don't know. I would think Rootes would have
wanted to explore the 289 as soon as Ford could deliver some with the same
emissions configuration as the 260 engine. AF4 appears to have a 289
installed Jan 1965 time frame.
Rootes also built several pre-production Mk II Tigers from Mk I bodies with
289 engines.
So the statement is true that Rootes installed 289 engines into Mk I bodies;
however there is no evidence that a 289 engine wondered into the Mk I
production line until the Mk II production.
The 6-bolt 289 started production in Aug 1964 for the 1965 Ford model year.
All 289's before that are 5-bolt.
You would need shipping documents to know how many assemblies where shipped
at one time. My guess is it ranged from 200 to 1000 but I'm guessing.
You could try to get a rough estimate from Tiger monthly production figures.
My Original Tiger Engine Study could bare some light on this subject but I
have too little information.
Ron Fraser
-----Original Message-----
From: tigers-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:tigers-bounces@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of Smit, Theo
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:56 PM
To: Allan Ballard; Beamclub TIGER
Subject: Re: [Tigers] Factory 289 in Mk1...?
My Tiger (B382002705) is the second-last Mk1(A) Tiger. It came to me with a
worked-over five bolt 289. Unfortunately, many (all?) of the original engine
ID tags were long gone by the time I got it, so there's not really anything
to go on there, other than to read off the casting dates (which we know will
be '64, because that's the last date those blocks were made, right?). I do
have the proper tagged HEH-E gearbox.
As we all know the proper engine for the Mk2 is the six-bolt 289, with the
HEH-CF wider ratio transmission. So any factory 'inbetween' Tigers would
have been more likely to have that combination, than the five-bolt 289 and
HEH-E.
The only remotely likely way to get a five bolt 289 into the Tiger from the
factory would have been that Ford ran out of 260 short-block assemblies
while filling the Rootes orders, and they substituted in some 289 block
assemblies. However, the likelyhood that these specific engines would then
end up at the end of the Mk1A production run is unlikely to me.
Does anyone know how often engines/transmissions were shipped to Rootes? Was
there a quarterly order?
Theo
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tigers-bounces@autox.team.net [mailto:tigers-
> bounces@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Allan Ballard
> Sent: January 23, 2011 11:24 AM
> To: Beamclub TIGER
> Subject: [Tigers] Factory 289 in Mk1...?
>
> "Sunbeam Tiger Limited Edition Extra," a book compiled by RM Clarke
> (Brooklands Books, Surrey)... reprints a July 2001 article from
> Classics -- "Sunbeam Tiger restoration Project."
>
> On page 116, the reprint states: "Somewhere along the line, Tiger
> owners who have the earlier cars with the 4.2 liter engines
> develop a compulsion to fit the larger 4.7 liter unit, as used on the
> later
> MK1 and MKII models..."
>
> Is factory installation of a 289 in MK1 Tigers a fact or did Classics
> err?
>
> I've seen speculation on occasion but this is the first time I've
> noticed the claim in a publication.
>
> Allan Ballard
> Mk1-a Tiger
> _______________________________________________
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