Ed Note: This is Part 4 in a series on the restoration of a 1965 Tiger MkI by 14-year-old Pierce Gipe with support from his brother Rowan (age 21) and his father Wes.

This month, we made some good progress with the engine. We started by taking it completely apart. We took off all the parts that weren’t the engine itself such as the water pump. The harmonic balancer required a special tool called a puller/installer. It bolted to the balancer and pressed against the crankshaft with a large bolt, slowly and carefully pulling it off the shaft without causing damage. Then we took out the valves, cam shaft, cams, pistons, and the many caps and covers that we encountered.

After we got everything apart, we were careful to organize things. We kept the lifters in the exact order we found them in. We also labeled the pistons one through eight and kept bearing caps in the same orientation. With all the new parts we took out, we of course had to reorganize our barn to fit them nicely as well.

Then we took the block, heads, crankshaft, and flywheel to Automotive Machine in Dayton. Doug Jennings recommended them, and Tim there was super nice. The coolest thing about the shop was seeing all of the specialized machines and the technicians who were hard at work bringing old engines back to life. From the smoke-filled lobby to the smell of old oil, it felt like stepping back in time. I wish I could be there when they work on our engine. I’d especially like to see how they make the cylinder bores so perfect.

I really want to build an engine that is about identical to stock, but maybe with a little more power. I don’t want any hot spots or any other engine issues because we made it too powerful — 250 horsepower is just fine with me. I also want it to sound nice, but with a Ford V8 that really shouldn’t be a problem. Though we might add a nice exhaust to it to give the Tiger a good rumbling sound and make it sound more alive. We’re also thinking about a better carburetor. Tim suggested a nice cam that would “shake the fenders a little.” If you have any suggestions for the build, I’d love to hear from you.

We also got a new sandblaster this month. The one we had was very old and it hardly blew any rust or corrosion from any surface we put in it. It was also nearly impossible to see the part that you were trying to sandblast. That’s pretty annoying. The new one is much more powerful which will allow us to sandblast our parts much faster and get them to the powder coating oven.

Overall, I feel like this month was very productive. Just exploring the inside of an engine for the first time was just such a cool experience. From the new equipment to the massive progress on the engine, I hope next month goes just as smoothly. I’d also love to thank Mr. [Rick] McCurdy for giving me some welding advice, we’ll put it to great use!

Check out our full restoration 
photo album here: https://tiger.thegipes.com We post photos each time we work on the car.