As some of you will know I bought a Stag in February and I'm writing a book on them (got to finish it by August....)
So I had a few Stags lined up, bought the forth one 1 I saw. She's not bad, has had new front wings and a lot of money spent on her, but has looked to have been significantly neglected for a good four or five years.
Good bits - replacement front wings, good quality re-spray in blue, hard and soft tops, nice quiet engine with no overheating, clunk free suspension, good floors, not too much other rust, lumination ignition.
Bad bits - needed seat cover and carpet, interior wet, instrument lights didn't work, carpet carp, hood window stitching knackered, hard top with significant rust, missing exterior trim and torn headliner, gearbox (auto) out of adjustment, brakes OK but needed doing, starter motor making some interesting noises, no door handle gaskets (Really annoying), loose mirrors, tracking out by miles, MoT runs out in May 2013..... it does look nice though!
After loads of work including brakes redone F&R, new starter motor, new seat covers and foams, various small niggles fixed (HT lead clips, Stagweber header tank (cos I like the idea of increasing the coolant volume and raising the 'head' level of the whole system), mirror fixing gaskets and plastic discs so I can actually see behind, flush out cooling system, oil change, air filter, new spark plugs (old ones were interesting and well and truly fouled ...), new HT leads and dissy cap, three new tyres (Cargos - vans for the use of.... doh), new starter motor (not too bad to fix but a good mate needed to do it properly) now she's into the trimmers for a new hood. Got the call on Friday PM from the trimmers to tell me that the rear rail was rotted out, so had a 200 mile round trip to Robsport to pick up a s/h rear rail which I delivered to the trimmers on the way home......
My car was supposed to be a reasonable runner to 'do' the classic scene while I do my total wreck of a Lotus Elan up. However it is turning into a bit of a struggle
but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. The good news is that its a 1974 registered car but made in 1973 so free tax next year.
The most annoying thing is that I had a budget of about 6K for the car and I had shortlisted the white Stag Robsport have in stock at the moment, but I bought mine before I looked at it. I had a look over the Robsport Stag today when I picked up the hood rail and I'm sitting here thinking I should have bought it; £2K more than mine but up and running, respectable and an honest and solid looking car; it has a few issues but none too serious from the look of it. So if you are after a Stag then go for it! usual caveats apply; no connection etc. but a nice car and an enthusiastic dealer.
So I had a few Stags lined up, bought the forth one 1 I saw. She's not bad, has had new front wings and a lot of money spent on her, but has looked to have been significantly neglected for a good four or five years.
Good bits - replacement front wings, good quality re-spray in blue, hard and soft tops, nice quiet engine with no overheating, clunk free suspension, good floors, not too much other rust, lumination ignition.
Bad bits - needed seat cover and carpet, interior wet, instrument lights didn't work, carpet carp, hood window stitching knackered, hard top with significant rust, missing exterior trim and torn headliner, gearbox (auto) out of adjustment, brakes OK but needed doing, starter motor making some interesting noises, no door handle gaskets (Really annoying), loose mirrors, tracking out by miles, MoT runs out in May 2013..... it does look nice though!
After loads of work including brakes redone F&R, new starter motor, new seat covers and foams, various small niggles fixed (HT lead clips, Stagweber header tank (cos I like the idea of increasing the coolant volume and raising the 'head' level of the whole system), mirror fixing gaskets and plastic discs so I can actually see behind, flush out cooling system, oil change, air filter, new spark plugs (old ones were interesting and well and truly fouled ...), new HT leads and dissy cap, three new tyres (Cargos - vans for the use of.... doh), new starter motor (not too bad to fix but a good mate needed to do it properly) now she's into the trimmers for a new hood. Got the call on Friday PM from the trimmers to tell me that the rear rail was rotted out, so had a 200 mile round trip to Robsport to pick up a s/h rear rail which I delivered to the trimmers on the way home......
My car was supposed to be a reasonable runner to 'do' the classic scene while I do my total wreck of a Lotus Elan up. However it is turning into a bit of a struggle
but I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. The good news is that its a 1974 registered car but made in 1973 so free tax next year. The most annoying thing is that I had a budget of about 6K for the car and I had shortlisted the white Stag Robsport have in stock at the moment, but I bought mine before I looked at it. I had a look over the Robsport Stag today when I picked up the hood rail and I'm sitting here thinking I should have bought it; £2K more than mine but up and running, respectable and an honest and solid looking car; it has a few issues but none too serious from the look of it. So if you are after a Stag then go for it! usual caveats apply; no connection etc. but a nice car and an enthusiastic dealer.