Can a Stag be a reliable classic ?

[Kithmo]

I know, owners with problems tend to gravitate to forums and when a new or non-owner reads posts it can be quite daunting and maybe look like the vehicle (any make) has many faults.
Are there owners on here that have had no problems with their Stag and could, a well sorted Stag, regularly serviced/maintained, with, or without, the usual modifications be a reliable classic to own ?
I'm looking for the opinions of owners, restorers, experts, trade sellers and all.

[mole42]

Mine is a reliable everyday-use car. It spent the first two years I owned it living out in the rain at the kerb in front of my house and has always got me where I was going.

Two exceptions are when I let a garage do a piece of major work which they didn't do at all well, and the time I didn't tighten the battery disconnect properly and the battery went flat.

It has an electric fan and Lumenition ignition but apart from that is standard.

[staginmacc]

The more often you use them the more reliable they are providing you make the recommended checks on fliuds etc

[StagnJag]

I do like to tinker with mine, but I would consider it pretty reliable. I have driven it all round the UK, including a road trip that went from Kent to Scotland, to John O'Groats, right around the coast, past Ullapool, right down to Lands End, back to North Devon to drop my mate off, then back to Kent. All in two weeks. I opened the Bonnet twice to check the fluids, didn't add any. I've been over to France in it several times too, but no further than Brittany/Normandy.

My Stag's running gear is standard apart from a Ward's 'supergill' radiator. No electric fan or header tank. Stag's need their fair share of 'fettling' but if you are mechanically minded you can identify and fix most things before they let you down. I do about 5000 miles a year on average - spread out over nearly 10 years now. I have broken down three times. Once was due to something I'd broken in the distributor which caused the baseplate to come adrift (I was on points back then), once was the petrol pump packing up - which I replaced at the side of the road. The other was the fuel pipe running the length of the car that decided to come adrift and was rattling against the propshaft.

At the end of the day it is about getting to know your car and keeping on top of known issues so it doesn't let you down. You can't predict every eventuality, but you can minimise the risk.

Rgds

Dave

[Donkey]

Like most, if not all, cars that are 40+ years old with, as in my case, 6 figure mileage on the clock, you can expect the unexpected but I have to say I have been more than pleased with the reliability of mine.
With the exception of electronic ignition, it is as original under the bonnet.

A level of preventative maintenance always helps.

Brian

[Niss]

I am also a new owner and have only broken down once. It was the brand new coil that came with the Lumenition electronic ignition which had been fitted for me. Got a Bosch coil now and the original in the boot just in case.
Compare that with my 3 year old car which has also broken down once with a faulty battery.

[Guest]

Brian (Greeley) uses his stag Dailey and I think does around 10K miles per year without issues other than regular service/maintenance.

Ive just completed a French road trip covering just over 2200 miles in 2 weeks. They can be reliable if used regularly and maintained!

[Ian F]

Can only re-iterate what's already being said. I've owned my Stag for 9 years now and perform all maintenance myself, only using garages for welding and bodywork - So far!!

In 9 years I've covered about 40k miles travelling to France, Germany, Holland and throughout England and Wales and the car has never yet stranded me. I have had a couple of "breakdowns", once when a misfire developed en route to Prescott, couldn't sort it so limped home after the meeting and eventually after plugs, leads, distributor cap and rotor arm replacement and re-setting the carbs it was cured and I went to Cologne the next weekend.
Second time was when the wiper motor failed en route to Angouleme, which made the trip "interesting" but was sorted with the help from Faversham Classics and a replacement motor.

Yes, its regularly maintained and yes, it does have electronic ignition, a supplementary fan, TR6 spoiler, 15" wheels etc., so it's not standard and Yes some maintenance jobs can be a bl**dy pain, but regularly maintained they can be and are reliable.

Ian F

[mike@thenook]

[QUOTE=stagstan;382682]Brian (Greeley) uses his stag Dailey............

I wonder what caused Brian to name his Stag Dailey.......

[GDPR]

Mine is a daily driver, 142k on the original engine and I drive it like I stole it. Keep all the oils and fluids in the right place and they are as good as a modern, but much more fun - plus the Stag auto with ZF averages 6 more mpg than my petrol Honda CR-V auto

[davidf]

As above - normal expectation is that it will start every time I get in it, and take me wherever I want to go. Engine I built from new parts in 1984 (now in its second Stag), oil cooler (I used to tow the caravan all over Europe), Kenlowe fan, otherwise pretty standard. Long run (e.g. Bournemouth to Manchester and return) at normal motorway speeds (never exceeding 70, officer) usually returns about 28mpg.

[Guest]

Of the various Stags I remember being involved with in France (all of which had fully rebuilt engines), they all drove like modern cars. Get in, pull the choke, drive off, warm up, then gun it.

To my mind, you can't expect a 40yr old car to be reliable until you take it all to pieces and put it all back together again properly.
I always did this with any motor which had to be reliable, inc the current 30yr old Jaguar.
I used to do the same on my old Triumph estates before I moved on.

Everything has been changed, rebuilt & improved where possible, or has been in the last 2yrs, the engine, clutch, rear axle, rear wheel bearings, front wheel bearings, brake disks, cylinder head, tyres, wheels, dampers, suspension all.
On the Jag at least we had an advantage over Triumph in that the car was properly engineered originally and the engine & transmission is bombproof.
The transmission & suspension bearings are all off the shelf common Timken stuff.

The end result?
The car soaks up punishment to an incredible level, nowhere even resembles the behaviour of the original, and it becomes a real pleasure to drive.

I think for a car like the Stag which had such a difficult development and was never properly finished off, you have to take this all on board and do the same even more thoroughly than a Jaguar.
Take it as read, the thing needs a 200% better rad, the PAS will leak and the Lucas alternator will die. The propshaft will be a vibrator, and the rear axle will p.ss out oil, while the rear hubs will fall apart, while a 40yr old engine will have mains that rumble and bore ovality all over the show.

That takes discipline and determination despite the crap parts being sold for it as "we never had any problems with them" bollox, and patent inability of most engineering shops to bore, hone and grind stuff properly.

We're getting the same crap sold for Jaguars now.
Don't worry it's good old motor trade doing its normal tricks.

Buy motor trade brake pads, disks, clutches, bearings, head gaskets?
The brake disks warp, the brake pads don't brake,the wheel bearings don't hold clearance, the head gaskets last a month when summer comes, the clutches die after one really good session towing a loaded trailor,the release bearings get noisy in no time, and the engine bearings are sh..t from D Manners (and others) made in Israel again!

They get wealthy while our cars fall to bits, then more and often than they have the gall to blame us for it, refusing any warranty.
I'm tired of all that mug's game.

[Paul Kelley]

At the risk of stating the b******g obvious, reliability in a 40 yr + vehicle requires keeping on top of maintenance and selective quality parts replacement. Together with regular use, including giving the engine a work out, reliability is definitely achievable. My one qualification concerns rusting: these old cars were not built to withstand salt and grit and the Mark 2s are allegedly made from poorer quality (Spanish, I think) steel. I still use mine in the winter, but judiciously.
PK

[RobinLegin]

I have had my Stag for 2 and half years now. I went into ownership blind just aware of the perceived reputation on head gaskets and cooling. I have broken down once and that was 300 metres from home. The electronic ignition failed dramatically. But to be fair the lumenition was some 25 years old.
The luminition was replaced with a new system. As a precaution the radiator was changed to a 4 core rad, and the viscous coupling replaced. Given that the Stag was designed at a time of far less traffic, I decided to add an electronic Revotec auxiliary cooling fan also as a precautionary measure.
My wife and I have since taken it twice across to France. The last time as far down as the Loire. The temperature gauge has never moved more than to the mid point. The only issue we have had in France was an intermittent misfire which despite what 'Down_the_plug_hole' has advised in previous streams, was diagnosed by a local well known Stag specialist as the use of French supermarket fuel with ethanol. We now run on 98 octane and the problem seems to have disappeared.
My view is the Stag can be a reliable car provided it is properly maintained and used regularly. And unless all the fuel lines and cooling hoses are new and properly tested, do check coolant and oil levels before any journey. Mine has developed a slight coolant leak from the front which I need to find and sort out.
B
Nigel

[Guest]

There's a huge amount of bollox talked about the Stag.

I reckon it's mostly from people are jealous of the fantastic good looks and have to google up the bottled history of the car, otherwise they wouldn't have a clue why so few were sold!

It makes ugly German car owners feel good, when they can find something wrong with someone's drop dead gorgeous cabrio.
I don't know of a single country in the world able to make such a superb cabrio, except a rainy island on the edge of the Atlantic.

I remember being in St Tropez one day on the port with the XJS cabrio.
Down the whole port was an enormous collection of Ferraris, mostly bright red and deadly boring.

Funny thing was the Jaguar got 1000x more admiring looks from everyone than a single one of those pseudo exotica from Italy.

We could overhear conversations from the women partners of posh dressed blokes at the port....."hey what is that beautiful cabrio there...?...c'est un Jaguar cherie!"....ah comme c'est jolie!