Neil's early Tiger 1 (2023)

[Dale jordan]

Hi Neil I'm not sure about the cap head bolts for the front mud guard hinges I can't remember what I did . I think they where bolted from
underneath and the thread was flush at the top other wise the guards won't pivot up . Dale

[neil graham]

Thanks Dale, excellent pick up.... I needed 8 bolts and saw 8 that different from the rest.....wrong of course. Instructions say CSK and not CAP.

All fixed now

[neil graham]

Finished the matt varnishing of most of the lower hull

This meant I could attach the idler arms

...and reallign all the suspension arms to 30 degrees. However, there was one that would not sit on the torsion bar. So I replaced the grubs....but it still wobbled a good 10 degrees. I was about to drill small holes in the torsion rod so the grubs could sit in them, but with the drill in hand I decided to switch the torsion rod around.....and this did the trick!

I intend to wait until my steel tracks arrive and I build them before I attach the drive sprockets & wheels, simply so that they all align.

Next job is probably to do all the rear plate detail

[neil graham]

Got back into it this morning....had a crazy few weeks at work but at least the Tiger was still waiting for me. My wife has named him 'Fritz'

Got the idler wheels on with caps

Something I realised last week when I was aligning the suspension arms..... I could not access the locking bolt on top of the fixed ends as the left drive mount was in place....and I couldnt get the drive mount off without taking the drive sprocket off. First world problems I know, but its annoying when I have to spend time fixing obvious mistakes I should have noticed.

Even though the drive mount is on page 1 of the instructions, it would be obvious to anyone making a 2021 Tiger that it would have to come off when originally placing the arms, but my options pack & the mount only arrived recently. Oh well, at least I didnt have to break the whole tank down to tighten that single locking bolt

After putting all this back together I then moved onto preparing all of the rear plate detail parts. Filing parts with sharp edges and sanding/scratching all the other surfaces.

Will have to do something with these, though I don't know what yet, they clearly can't go on like this. I have a vice & a drill, wish me luck!

[Chang]

Hi Neil,

Your Tiger 1 is beautiful.

IMHO , in case of needing do it again in the future. Cut off necessary material of that LHS motor mount above this M6 cap screw , or simply to replace it with M6 hex head screw , before re-installing the LHS drive motor. So next time a L-shape M6 Allen wrench or spanner is enough to lock / unlock it. Learnt this from many Tiger 1 builders.

thumbnail_IMG_5680.jpg (62.45 KiB) Viewed 577 times

Happy building!

Lerh Chang

[Vince Cutajar]

viewtopic.php?p=60621#p60621

2nd and 3rd photo.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Regarding the tow rope clamps; I made them open ended slots.

viewtopic.php?p=65062#p65062

Vince

[Dale jordan]

Hi Neil you can cut down the Allen key into a mini me .Dale

[Donald Suttie]

Regarding the hard to get at allen bolt,simply replace it with a hex bolt,and save all the frustration
that's what i did

Donald

[neil graham]

Thanks for the great suggestions guys, and the compliment Chang. I want it to look nice (and be reasonably safe from corrosion) even if I won't use any filler until the end and I know it runs

I did think about bending an allen key, but not cutting one...a metal saw is a likely addition to the tool kit. A new bolt is an obvious solution that I admit I didn't think about.

The slot was what I was hoping to cut with a drill bit. A bit scary for me as I am not a skilled metal guy by any stretch of the imagination.

[Dave Goodwin]

Pick up a Dremel or similar small motor tool with a cutting wheel. Makes short work of slotting those clamp plates and does so pretty safely and easily. And I am no metal worker either

[neil graham]

Yeah, I have resisted getting a dremel for so long.....maybe its about time

[Donald Suttie]

Thanks for the great suggestions guys, and the compliment Chang. I want it to look nice (and be reasonably safe from corrosion) even if I won't use any filler until the end and I know it runs

I did think about bending an allen key, but not cutting one...a metal saw is a likely addition to the tool kit. A new bolt is an obvious solution that I admit I didn't think about.

The slot was what I was hoping to cut with a drill bit. A bit scary for me as I am not a skilled metal guy by any stretch of the imagination.

Hi Neil,you will have about zero chance of bending a quality Allen Wrench,they are tested to check strength and i went along to see this test,they rotate on themselves 3 times before breaking,so trying to bend one you will have a very hard job indeed

Donald

[neil graham]

I'm glad I didn't try to bend an Allen key then, I am sure I would have come off second best

I haven't got the dremel yet, though I should have as I spent the morning at Bunnings (our version of Home Depot/B&Q). Getting even more rack shelving....and yes I am going to build several shelves for the exact size of the Armortek boxes....I imagine the ones I have are of a standard.

Did manage to sand all the remaining rear armour detail pieces and then get them coated (both sides!) with the etch primer & the red oxide primer.

Will research the correct colours for each....up until now I could just paint everything in dunkelgelb,with the only exception being the machine gun barrel. I have rust effects and soot for the main exhaust parts....not sure on the rest yet. The internet awaits!

[neil graham]

Spent last weekend doing more work to the shed...and getting yet more shelf rack space. It looks awesome, I have room for an entire tank in standard boxes

Started painting all the rear plate detail items..... long way to go of course, a lot of angles & coats to do