Rock and Roll!!!

[Tonyw]

I have been out today in my recently acquired stag (September 2011) with my newly re-built engine.
Although I had been out in it before around the local estate, I had not been on any type of journey and also never having driven a stag prior to purchasing this one I don’t know how they should handle.

I found today on my first 30 mile trip, normal roads and motorway, that the back end feels very much like it is rolling and soft is this the way they normally feel or do you think the bushes are shot! I know it has had new dampers in the last three years or so and these have only covered about 5K so I would have thought they are ok or could it be the springs are a little soft!
Any advice would be greatly received.
Thanks Tony

[ChasR]

What type of dampers were they that you bought? On moderns cheap dampers tend to last a couple of MOTs IME before the performance tails off (but they are still more than passable with no leaks etc.). But still, it is not something I would expect on an infrequently used car (and the car's behavior over bumps etc. would signal worn dampers too).

A silly question but have you checked your tyre pressures? 7PSi difference transformed the ride and handling of my Stag (about what they used to leak!) .

[KOY 23]

Doesn't sound right. I would check the bushes.

John.

[Tonyw]

Thanks for the info.

The dampers (shocks) were fitted by the last owner but they are Konie, red ones, I believe so not cheap ones. I was going to get a set of poly bushes anyway at the end of the month for the rear and drop everything down and check so if you think it sounds dodgy I will make sure this is the next job. Whilst everything is out I can re check the shocks as well!

Tony

[martin]

Hi Tony, just a brief word of caution, are you comparing the handling to that of a modern, and / or front wheel drive car ? What's your everyday car ? Chas has a point, 26psi front, and 30psi rear Martin.

[Pete]

The Stag has a very refined ride bearing mind it's age. It might be a convertible with a V8, but it ain't no muscle car or a roadster. It's got more than enough performance for me and handles well enough for me too on country roads. It's nowhere near as fast nor does it handle as well as my old Montego GTi, but it is tons more fun.

[GDPR]

Bloody hell! Someone else who had, and really liked a Montego GTi..... had mine 7 years, never a days trouble, and tons of fun... wish I still had it...

[Guest]

Hello Tony and welcome to the forum.

The Stag isn't a modern car but, as the others have said, neither is it something that's really dated in terms of handling. If your daily driver is something stiff and modern, the Stag will take a bit of getting used too - I well remember thinking "what have I done" when I first drove mine a couple of minths after buying it!

In my opinion, you should expect some body roll on the standard set-up when cornering at speed, but not intrusively otherwise. It is more likely to be worn bushes than shocks if they are 3 year old Koni's, although they could be leaking of cours.

Have you checked to see if a) it sits more or less level b) has any obvious leaks from the shocks and c) how does it behave at each corner if you push down hard on the wing and release?

Ian

[Pete]

The Montego had a bullet-proof engine. I did almost 200,000 miles in it and the only engine specific thing to go wrong was a water pump, still worked, but leaked a bit. The engine was as sweet as a nut, fearsomely fast if you wanted it to be, but could also cruise nicely. Handled beautifully, tons of fun on a country road and with all the bells and whistles. Who said the Rover Group couldn't build a car? Oh yeah, Clarkson, but he thinks that welding two Dolomite engines together will make a V8. Did he do geometry at school?

[nib]

The Montego had a bullet-proof engine. I did almost 200,000 miles in it and the only engine specific thing to go wrong was a water pump, still worked, but leaked a bit. The engine was as sweet as a nut, fearsomely fast if you wanted it to be, but could also cruise nicely. Handled beautifully, tons of fun on a country road and with all the bells and whistles. Who said the Rover Group couldn't build a car? Oh yeah, Clarkson, but he thinks that welding two Dolomite engines together will make a V8. Did he do geometry at school?

I had a 1600 Montego that was great car for day to day use the only trouble I had was a timing belt snap (was due to my laziness of not changing the timing belt on time), but with no engine damage and was a simple job to put a new timing belt on.An underrated car in my opinion.
Regarding Clarkson,it may be wishful thinking on my part but it seems like he hasn't been on the tele so much recently so with a bit of luck he might be on the wane.
Mark

[Westfaling]

I had an MG Montego. It was let down by crappy (Bosch) relays that were overly voltage sensitive and would drop out at night if you turned too much stuff on. Left me stranded on Bodmin Moor at night when the one feeding the fuel pump had a hissy fit. Oh and one time while driving at (lets say the red line in top gear on the M42) huge clouds of white smoke came billowing out behind! Turned out to be some problem with the engine breather covered by a recall notice so cost me nothing. I had the one with the talking dash - I loved that but being made by the Prince of Darkness it rarely worked 100%.
Nick

[GDPR]

Ah yes.... the pipe lagging recall..... stick the breathers and oil filler pipe on the front of the engine, smack in the airstream, then wonder why there was heavy condensation blocking everything with gunge - and their cure? Pipe lagging held on with cable ties..... not in the same league as the Allegro subframe mount superglue repair, but Austin Rover at its best....

And then there was the pre 86 Montego front wheel bearing failure rate...

The Montego reached its zenith in 89, where build quality and reliability were superb, then they changed the EFI from hotwire, which worked very well and took seconds to set up, to MEMS that in the early days was bloody awful.....

Happy days....

[Guest]

Tony, like you, I had not driven a Stag before I bought mine, so did not know what to expect. The day before I bought it, was a passenger in a really expensive one and I thought the ride was very stiff and harsh. The owner said that he had just recently poly bushed it. However, mine (recently poly bushed too) was completely different and very comfortable and glides along over bumpy country roads and does not seem like the same as yours at all. Plenty of other things wrong with it though! Before you start taking things to bits, why not contact a local longer term "Stagman" and let him drive it (or you drive his, or both) and then compare.

As for Montegos, there is still one running around down here in SW France. it is badged as a Rover Montego.

[jbuckl]

Fond memories of a '88 Montego vdp 2.0 efi estate 220,000 miles b4 a valve spring broke @115mph!

Engine change was £150 done on a saturday morning!

Front wheel bearings replaced with MG / turbo type to give 40,000 miles instead of 15,000-20,000 miles

Great car.

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Not that keen on poly bushes, don't like short lived rubber bushes either...... what to do?

[martin]

Dark blue poly bushes, similar compliance to rubber, but long lived. Martin.