New SOC Member WITH a Stag - Advice needed, please?

[Project Five-0]

Well, I have now got my Stag!! Runs beautifully, engine clean, well-maintained, slight droning and 'twitch', interior good with recent new veneer dash, recent hood, but bodywork is tired and in need of some TLC. Planning to just enjoy the car this summer, and start the serious work in the winter.

The body is sound but there are signs of rust around the edges of boot, a few paint chips, some bodged repairs by previous owners, the passenger door needs to be re-aligned, and the boot has been resprayed very badly (orange peel, bubbles etc) along with a dent in rear valance, resulting in the bumper out of line. And, stone chip along the bottom? Am thinking bare-metal?

Hence, as a newbie to all of this, am asking if any of you could recommend specialists in my area (Stratford-on-Avon/Cotswolds) as to getting a re-spray in the winter along with any indicative costs? I intend to strip all the brightwork, lights and interior (not dash/console) myself in preparation?

So far, I have shown the car to a local 'perfectionist', who just asked 'how much do you want to spend?' (Am thinking this may be a 'how long is a piece of string?' question)

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[Another Peter]

Welcome to the forum and the world of Stag ownership.

That looks like a nice car from the photos, however I think you'll find that it'll be more than just a respray your Stag will need. Rust is like an iceberg in that what you see is only a small part of what is lurking underneath. When your car is stripped down I'll guarantee you'll find much, much more work to be done.

More knowledgeable forumites will be along in a moment to offer their sage advice.

[jbuckl]

Welcome &

Do try to visit your local N&Ns to get local recommendations.

[Project Five-0]

Thanks guys for your input - much appreciated.

Will certainly try to get to a N&N sometime soon, unfortunately I work away during the week, often in Europe - hopefully can find some time over the next couple of months!

[bullstarz]

Stags and rust go together like, peas and carrots, ying and vang, Ant and Dec, you get the picture.

Mine looked a bit tied and had signs of rust. The more you look the more you will find, the more paint you remove the more rust, holes, dent, filler and sometimes news paper you will find.

These cars are getting on a bit now so they have passed through many hands, some in it to make a quick buck others are perfectionist. So the quality of repair/maintenance/upkeep the car has had varies greatly.

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[f100stepside]

Hi restored my bodywork in 1995, after a few years of use it failed the M.O.T on the outer sills.The car looked very good apart from the outer sills but!!,after further inspection it needed the following.A pair of front wings the outer sills and repairs to the inners,2 front floor pannels, 2 rear wings,and the 3 outriggers under the floor.Not trying to put you off but do check very carefully underseal hides many sins!.The way i restored the car was as follows.First know your available time and limitations.So i removed the 2 front floor sections and outriggers carefully and checked the new ones for a good fit,then removed one side of pannels only,again very carefully and clamped the new ones in place.Then chose a very good local body shop and told them what i wanted doing.Soon as the 1 side was re-pannelled and primed got the car back and did the same to the other side.Back to the body shop to do the other side and the respray.Nearly forgot had a pair of doorskins!!.See what i mean know yuor limitations!!.
If you want so pointers of where to look for the bodywork problems give me a shout i'm only in sunny Mavern. Jonathon