Coming Out

[bprasil1]

G'day everyone.

Having been a long time lurker on the forum I thought it was about time I stood up and said something. I also thought I would try something different by talking about a couple of things I have done with the car rather than start out by asking advice.

Firstly, a bit about myself. My name is Barry Prasil and I live in Australia in a small town near Newcastle called Aberglasslyn and work at the coal loader as a Process Improvement specialist. I bought the car about four years ago and have been slowly fixing it up. To date I have rebuilt the carbs, installed a central locking and an alarm, reinstalled various missing bits and tidied up a bit in the engine bay. The long term goal is to get the car to a point where it can be used as a daily driver and get rid of one of our other cars.

Because I'm too cheap and stingy to invest in a two post hoist I decided to make a set of ramps from scrap timber (left over from retaining walls) that allow me to work under the car without having to muck around with jacks and stands, etc. As you can see from the photos the ramps can be configured to lift the car fully off the ground or just the front of the car. Further, sections can be removed to make it easier to access various parts of the car. When the ramps are not being used they can stored rather compactly in a corner of the shed.

Whilst it takes a bit of setting up and putting away it has made it so much easier to access underneath the car.

The other item I want to cover is a wind deflector. I'll do that in another post as I haven't mastered adding more than 5 attachments.

Cheers,
Barry
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[bprasil1]

Air in the Hair

Hello again,

As promised here is a picture of a wind deflctor I made myself as a Christmas present. I originally wanted to make one using mesh but decided it was more complicated than making it out of perspex. It is held in place by a couple of velcro straps at the top and a pair of handles that clip into the hardtop mounting points behind the T bar. It has a tonneau cover to hide the back seat and a flap that goes down to the floor behind the front seats with a slit in it. This allows the back seat to be used a storage area.

I have got to say the difference it has made is impressive. There is much less buffeting but still get enough air in the hair to keep that open top feeling. If you want more just open the windows - brilliant.

I love this car - as no doubt you all do. There is nothing like the feeling of driving around the open country side with the wind in your hair and that V8 burble behind you.

Cheers,
Barry
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[Moraystag]

Well Barry both the ramps and your motor look to be pretty sweet mate. The wheels in my opinion look pretty good as well. Is the car Carmine red, looks similar to mine which is also carmine.
The wind deflector looks to be a pretty nice fit and blends in well with the rest of the car. Keep up the good work as it's looking good.

mIKE

[XFSTag]

Welcome to the forum Barry
Great looking car and I love the ramps, good idea!
One of my wish list items is a wind deflector, after seeing yours you have inspired me to have a go.
Cheers
Glyn

[jleyton]

Hi Barry

Welcome to the forum and I just love your 'Jenga' car ramps - brilliant idea.

When I saw you were from Aberglasslyn I assumed you were from Wales ans then when I saw Newcastle it sounded like you were from 'oop north (Mind you, if you were born and bred in Australia you'll probably be wondering what I'm on about)

I'm sure Australia is a great place to drive a Stag, good on yer mate.

Cheers

Julian

[Marco Polo]

G'day Barry,
Would you mind sharing how you made your wind deflector? Also which seats do you have in your car?
Welcome to the forum,
regards from FNQ,
Raoul

[V Mad]

Hi Barry
In the last year I have been in touch with quite a few Tr Stag guys from Oz. I dont know how many stag owners down there get together or know each other. You could all benefit from combining orders from UK by combining postage etc.

Eg: Do you know Ian Strong who lives near Maitland?
Chris

[Mimosa Stag]

Hi Barry,
I'm fairly new to the forum but would like to welcome you to what I have found to be a great place to get help and discuss our beloved Stags.. your car looks great and the ramps...... they look great to but I'm not sure I would be brave enough to use them myself... I currently work in telesales for a company selling working at height safety equipment including ramps.... I am looking at getting some at some stage.


Cheers

David

[Guest]

Welcome to the forum Barry. Neat looking ramps - I am sure my daughters had a wooden block set when they were kids that was like a scaled down version! The deflector looks a very good, although I wasn't quite sure how the handles worked. You have a rubbing strip along the cars sides too by the look of it - not seen that before.

Ian

[Tdm]

Welcome to the forum Barry. Neat looking ramps - I am sure my daughters had a wooden block set when they were kids that was like a scaled down version! The deflector looks a very good, although I wasn't quite sure how the handles worked. You have a rubbing strip along the cars sides too by the look of it - not seen that before.
Ian

I noticed that too - where did you get them? Are they to soften the blow to a Kangaroo when you open the door on one?

[wilf]

Hi Barry,

Thanks for posting about your car - it looks very fine indeed.

One little thing though, (and obviously no-one else was going to tell you) - you titled your thread "coming out", and here in the UK that has rather different meanings than maybe in Oz. LOL

[73stagman]

I like those wheels! and the wheels too!
Maybe coming out of the woodwork! great looking ramps and display platform!

My mum had that type of rubbing strip on her Datsun 120Y in the late 70's. (That was my learning to drive car when I in Adelaide!) I seem to remember it being available as a "stick on" bump strip from K mart and the like

[Stagdad]

Hi Barry ,great minds think alike

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I must say the wooden ramps are so much nicer to drive up than the steep metal ones.

Cheers Steve

[bprasil1]

Thank you everyone for your kind words - fills one with a sense of pride.

"Coming Out" means the same thing in Oz as the UK (and everywhere else I suspect). I just thought it would be a catchy title. In case anyone is worried I'm quite straight, married and have four (grown up) kids. The other reference to air in the hair is a poor attempt to tie in the fact that Stags had a reputation of being a hairdressers car. I know, I'm a bit quirky but I thought that was a prerequisite for owning a Stag.

Glyn and Raoul I encourage you to have a crack at it. I can put together a bit of design spec if you like. I just have a number of handwritten notes and sketches at the moment. Basically it is a piece of perspex with a couple of aluminum strips running either side along the bottom edge to sandwich the vinyl covers in. The brackets are aluminium angle bent to the required angle. The handles are made out of a stainless steel kitchen drawer handle cut in half with a key screwed onto the bottom to fit into the hardtop locking holes.

Ian, the handles are at right angles in the unlocked position. There is a bit of sponge rubber under the brackets that compresses as you turn the handles to be parallel with the screen.

The seats, wheels and rubbing strips were on the car when I bought it. The seats are SAAS and while quite supportive aren't a really good fit with the car. They are too wide at the top and can't be reclined or set back too far. I intend to replace them later with something more suitable and preferably leather clad. Wheels are Simmons 15" with 206/60 tyres. The rubbing strips were a big thing in the 70s and 80s. I think they have been put on the car to protect the asian econoboxes from damaging their doors if they open them on a car with thick steel doors.

As for the colour the placard says it Pimento but it has obviously been resprayed. The car doesn't have a lot of pedigree and not many original bits on it (e.g. the interior has been trimmed with automotive carpet) so I have no idea what colour it really is. Apparently the engne has been changed several times too. At least its a TV8 even if it needs a bit of TLC.

Steve, I like your ramps and creeper. One of the key criteria for me was to be able to accommodate differing wheelbases as I tend to do bits and pieces on the kids cars. I'm not sure if you can tell but the centre section is adjustable by inserting various sized spacers. I have 3 sizes that, in various combinations, covers wheelbases from 2500 to 3000 mm. The whole thing is quite stable in all directions and by bolting the angles on the end means there is no chance of the car rolling off.

Apologies for the length of the post - hopefully future ones will be shorter.

Cheers,
Barry