NZ Stag restoration pics
Last week I took some shots of the car being prepared for paint. Some of you may remember that I had mentioned this car is not for the purists.
1. The picture shows that dreaded Rimmer front spoiler having another fitting. The tailor just about had enough of mucking around with it..... and I'd had enough of paying him to do it.
2. A little birdy here in NZ who claims to be the font of all Stag knowledge told me he has known this car for thirty years and it had never been pranged. Maybe true but someone seems to have dropped an engine or a tree on it at some stage in its life. There was a major effort to save the wing which was great because the cost of postage to NZ for a replacement panel would have been simply horrific.
3. The pocket has stretched to a bare metal respray but it hurts like hell. Took weeks to rub it down. The previous paint was so thick that the top of the front wings were actually flat. I now have that gentle dished curve back where it should be.
4. No more front or rear bumpers and the rear valence has been modified by removing the bumper mounts to create a sweet curved panel. Italiano style! http://www.stag.org.uk/forum/images/icons/icon6.png
5. This is the best part. The front light panels have been cut out and recessed 25mm. The effect is dazzling just from dry fitting the headlights with the panels in primer. Also note that the chrome edge trim is gone and replaced by a metal wedge welded back into place which will be integrated into the wings, bonnet and boot.
Haven't got any photos of the hard top yet. That is having large chunks of rust cut out of it at the moment. The drip rails and chrome have been removed never to be returned. They are nothing but moisture traps anyway. It's amazing how light the hard top is once the glass and headlining has been taken out. Has anyone considered perspex. 45kg for a hard top is like dragging another passenger along for the ride meaning we can't quite drive as fast in winter as we would in the summer. It ain't right!
Hopefully the car will be painted by first week of December giving me two and a half months to rebuild it. I've still got to sort out the toyota gearbox mounts, gearstick and driveshaft which can be time consuming getting mounting brackets and modifications to the gearbox remote made up.
I also have the electronic water pump kit to fit and can't wait to see how much that improves the cooling.
It's very hard to get 4 stud alloy wheels these days in a 114.3mm pcd so when I spotted a 'cheap as chips' used set for sale I pounced on them. 16x7 with a 40mm offset which have been fitted with a set of 205 55 16 Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres. They look delicious. From measuring the clearances under the wheel arch the rears with maybe a 30mm hub adaptor are not going to be a problem but the front will need an accurately made hub adaptor to clear wing and spring. Has anyone tried this size of wheel and tyre combination?
Cheers
Barry
1. The picture shows that dreaded Rimmer front spoiler having another fitting. The tailor just about had enough of mucking around with it..... and I'd had enough of paying him to do it.
2. A little birdy here in NZ who claims to be the font of all Stag knowledge told me he has known this car for thirty years and it had never been pranged. Maybe true but someone seems to have dropped an engine or a tree on it at some stage in its life. There was a major effort to save the wing which was great because the cost of postage to NZ for a replacement panel would have been simply horrific.
3. The pocket has stretched to a bare metal respray but it hurts like hell. Took weeks to rub it down. The previous paint was so thick that the top of the front wings were actually flat. I now have that gentle dished curve back where it should be.
4. No more front or rear bumpers and the rear valence has been modified by removing the bumper mounts to create a sweet curved panel. Italiano style! http://www.stag.org.uk/forum/images/icons/icon6.png
5. This is the best part. The front light panels have been cut out and recessed 25mm. The effect is dazzling just from dry fitting the headlights with the panels in primer. Also note that the chrome edge trim is gone and replaced by a metal wedge welded back into place which will be integrated into the wings, bonnet and boot.
Haven't got any photos of the hard top yet. That is having large chunks of rust cut out of it at the moment. The drip rails and chrome have been removed never to be returned. They are nothing but moisture traps anyway. It's amazing how light the hard top is once the glass and headlining has been taken out. Has anyone considered perspex. 45kg for a hard top is like dragging another passenger along for the ride meaning we can't quite drive as fast in winter as we would in the summer. It ain't right!
Hopefully the car will be painted by first week of December giving me two and a half months to rebuild it. I've still got to sort out the toyota gearbox mounts, gearstick and driveshaft which can be time consuming getting mounting brackets and modifications to the gearbox remote made up.
I also have the electronic water pump kit to fit and can't wait to see how much that improves the cooling.
It's very hard to get 4 stud alloy wheels these days in a 114.3mm pcd so when I spotted a 'cheap as chips' used set for sale I pounced on them. 16x7 with a 40mm offset which have been fitted with a set of 205 55 16 Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres. They look delicious. From measuring the clearances under the wheel arch the rears with maybe a 30mm hub adaptor are not going to be a problem but the front will need an accurately made hub adaptor to clear wing and spring. Has anyone tried this size of wheel and tyre combination?
Cheers
Barry
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