Curt, a few years ago, the tech tips pages of CAT were loaded with
alarmist reports about "exploding ball joints." This warning made its
way into Volume II of the CAT tech tip manual and the long and the short
of it according to Herb,seems to be that Q&H ball joints-which are the
only ones still commonly available--are for Alpine only, and not
suitable for Tigers, where they invariably fail. A letter to that effect
from Q&H is reproduced in the tech tip manual for the benefit of
doubting Thomases. The Tiger OEM ball joint was made by Girling, and is
now almost unobtainable. There was even a CAT tech tip on converting to
early T-bird balljoints.
If all of this is true, it would appear that some serious parts
development is due in this area. I know my Volvo 240 has Girling brakes,
so that company is probably still in business. Perhaps they would run
off some balljoints for the hobbyist, although I realize the volume we
could support would make no economic sense to them. Have the Lawyers
scared the aftermarket away??
Another related curiousity. I still am a regular reader of various
Streetrodding magazines, and that hobby has seen fit to adapt the
Mustang II front end to virtually every sort of Rod. They are commonly
adapted to all sorts of kit cars and Cobra replicas too, many of which
are the performance equals or betters of the Tiger.This seems a natural
prospect for Tiger. Has anyone looked into this???????
Al Johnson (B9472024)
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