Stag buying advise - unleaded

[MRB]

I am a new member in the market for a Stag. Have a few buyers guides from magazines and the Essential Buyers guide. I did own a Stag back in the 90's for 4 years so i am a little familiar with them and their quirks! One thing i'm not really clear about is unleaded fuel and head conversion. Do they run on unleaded with just a timing adjustment (as some previous posts seem to suggest) or are the harder valve seats a must? Looking thorough the ads and talking to some sellers it seems that most have evidence of 'unleaded heads' while there are some that clearly don't. How much would it cost to have the heads converted and should I factor this cost in early if I purchase one without conversion? Or is it better just avoid ones that have no evidence that this work has been carried out?

I have been reading the forum posts with interest, thanks everyone for your input. Helps bring us newbies up to speed!

[Ian Durrant]

The general consensus is that the stag runs OK on unleaded without modification. Some feel that the valve seats are only just about OK. What I can say is that nobody has, to my knowledge, presented any evidence of valve seat wear on this forum and you would expect to see that if it was an issue. My personal view is its not important enough to colour your decision on which stag to buy, far more important to get the best you can for your money than worry about the apparent non-issue of valve seat wear with unleaded fuel. all IMHO

[MRB]

Thank Ian, much appreciated.

[David Maddern]

I am of the same opinion that Stags run on unleaded without any specific modification, the heads are Alloy with hardened valve seats inserted, so there should be no need to change or modify, for my part I always drop some lead additive in the tank, just to be sure. Any car that you will buy will undoubtedly have had some extensive engine rebuild work done to it and that would probably include valve seats, so getting the right car is vital for long term enjoyment of the elegant British classic.

[MRB]

Thanks David.

2 Informative responses to my question in 20 minutes. Great forum!

[m9fdb]

I would go for the best car you can find in your budget. There are always plenty of stags for sale for colour not to be an issue as well. There are new ones popping up on eBay each week and a lot of the specialists have Stags for sale

I just picked up another Stag and managed to get it in what i deem to be a nice colour (Sapphire blue) although i am toying with the idea of painting it a non original colour of jaguar le mans blue when i have the paint job done as i think a pearl metallic suits the stag well and i had a 2500S in that colour when i was a teenager and like the look of it.

[milothedog]

I would go for the best car you can find in your budget. There are always plenty of stags for sale for colour not to be an issue as well. There are new ones popping up on eBay each week and a lot of the specialists have Stags for sale

I just picked up another Stag and managed to get it in what i deem to be a nice colour (Sapphire blue) although i am toying with the idea of painting it a non original colour of jaguar le mans blue when i have the paint job done as i think a pearl metallic suits the stag well and i had a 2500S in that colour when i was a teenager and like the look of it.

I think you misunderstood Darren "Colour the issue" not Colour is not an Issue


BTW, the Russet Brown car I posted on here is still for sale if that helps.

http://www.stag.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?21630-Stag-for-sale&p=229298#post229298

Ian.

[andy p]

ive not changed or done anything and been running mine on unleaded for over 10 years and its fine so far

[richardthestag]

ran my engine on unleaded for 30k miles. only three valves need reshimming and only by 2thou. no sign of any recession, well not in the heads anyway lol

Heads are fitted with seats that are hard enough, exhaust valves should be TR7 spec. Mine had the right valves fitted before I rebuilt my original untouched 1973 heads 17 years ago and remain so to this day.

There is some question as to whether triumph would have fitted them from new to suit the us market

My car runs better on fancy super unleaded and hates with a passion French motorway 95 ron.

[Gresley]

I'm no expert and not sure of the official advice on this, but I have run my Stag for 54,000 miles on unleaded without modification or use of an additive. It seems to be Ok so far but definitely runs best on super unleaded.

Brian.

[Ian Durrant]

Mine had the right exhaust valves in from the factory as the engine had definitely never been apart when I bought it in 1986. I suspect most cars had the harder exhaust valves in them.

[Stagsongas]

I am a new member in the market for a Stag. Have a few buyers guides from magazines and the Essential Buyers guide. I did own a Stag back in the 90's for 4 years so i am a little familiar with them and their quirks! One thing i'm not really clear about is unleaded fuel and head conversion. Do they run on unleaded with just a timing adjustment (as some previous posts seem to suggest) or are the harder valve seats a must? Looking thorough the ads and talking to some sellers it seems that most have evidence of 'unleaded heads' while there are some that clearly don't. How much would it cost to have the heads converted and should I factor this cost in early if I purchase one without conversion? Or is it better just avoid ones that have no evidence that this work has been carried out?

I have been reading the forum posts with interest, thanks everyone for your input. Helps bring us newbies up to speed!

MRB,

If you want more on the subject of Valve Seat Recession, you are welcome to read my website article dealing with the phenomenon, along with its causes and effects.

http://www.go-lpg.co.uk/VSR.html

Just ignore the LPG references and read 'unleaded' instead.

Regards

Steve