Steve Valentines next article.....
With apologies to Tim Allen………………………….
“IT’S TOOL TIME“
In your toolbox, or squirreled away in the garage, you should have already accumulated the following:-
1. A Large Hammer
2. An Angle Grinder
3. A Very Good Set of Drill Bits.
4. A Pair of Engineers Dividers.
5. Propane Gas Heater.
6. Deburring Tool.
7. An Air Compressor & Air Tools
8. A Flexi Drill Sanding Drum.
9. Multi-connector kit.
For those of you who find that it plays on the conscience to constantly pilfer from household funds, I will, once again, try to keep it cheap.
And they don’t come much cheaper than today’s first offering.
Tiger Tool No.10 – Masking Tape
Not strictly a tool, but so useful on a kit build project. When you are working with relatively soft materials such as aluminium and fibreglass it is far too easy to damage, or scratch, visible body parts when doing the simplest of tasks. A sideways slip of a drill bit or a score mark from marking out may result in a surface blemish that you are stuck with for the life of the car.
Where I found masking tape to be so useful is when trying to mark out fixing holes on the bodywork e.g. windscreen frame, bonnet catches, holes for indicators and press stud holes for the weather equipment. All of those operations have to be carried out on what will be a finished surface. By covering the area to be marked out in a layer of masking tape a pencil can be used to clearly mark measurements and hole positions. This has the double benefit of a clear surface to mark up with little chance of damaging the paint or gel and a certain amount of protection should the drill slip.
It was also useful when trying to position the ‘precision made’ Tiger windscreen brackets as constant bending and repositioning of the windscreen assembly would surely have resulted in a multitude of scratches on the scuttle moulding.
I used a couple of rolls of both 25mm & 50mm tape. The larger tape covers large areas quite quickly and can be used to ‘gag’ small children that are about to snitch to ‘er indoors about you latest Tiger accessory.
You will also find that in an emergency it can be used to temporarily reattach amputated body parts, and stem the bleeding caused by misuse of Tiger Tools 1 – 9!!!!
Tiger Tool No.11 – Clekos
No, it’s not a Greek island covered in naked Germans, or a race of dastardly space aliens from Dr Who.
A CLEKO is a temporary fastener used in place of a rivet during fabrication. They are put in using the special pair of pliers that come with the kit. The pliers compress the internal spring allowing the Cleko to be inserted into the rivet hole, the pliers are released and the Cleko expands to tightly fit the hole clamping the two pieces of metal together. These were a godsend for me when fabricating all of the alloy panels as they allowed numerous fittings and alterations with the assurance that the panels were always in exactly the right place every time, and quickly removable. It's almost impossible to drill and rivet a panel to a chassis in one operation without collecting a mound of swarf between the two.
Use a few Clekos to hold panels and brackets in place as you drill all your rivet holes. Then simply remove all the Cleko's, clean up your holes and refit the panel with the proper rivets and sealant.
If you've only got two hands these are invaluable. I used a set of 10 + an extra 5 pins throughout the build. At times numerous overlapping panels were held on by these little devils whilst I perfected the fit.
The Cleko is actually the cheaper, and easier to use, version of what is used throughout the aero industry when fitting riveted panels.
It’s not often that you can mention ‘Tiger’ and ‘aero industry’ in the same sentence!!!
My set, plus extra pins, came from Car Builder Solutions (
www.nfauto.co.uk ) and cost around £22 and are worth every penny.
Steve Valentine
Quote of the Month
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.
- Terry Pratchett
