"There were special sun visors for Australian Stags'...

[Davo1805NZ]

... quote from James Taylor's book - please can anybody expand on this? My Aus spec car has sun visors which appear to be made from hard foam with vacuum-formed vinyl covering, and though having a few splits, appear to be repairable. The replacement visors which are available from the various suppliers all appear to be the relatively "floppy" type, similar to those I recall were fitted to the first Stag I owned in the '80s.

Were these "special" Australian visors the hard foam ones I have, and if so, does anybody know why?

Thanks.

[JeffW]

Hi

Mine is an Australian spec car as well and has the solid visors.

I was told that the sun visors were ‘uprated’ (for lack of a better term) for Australia as the sun and heat are so much more intense there it was deemed necessary to make them much more sturdy.

Jeff

[Davo1805NZ]

Thanks Jeff - that makes sense, and these are not too bad, considering they have spent 40+ years in the Aussie sun - I will look at options for getting them refurbished, rather than replace them.

You may recall that you helped me out previously with a query about removing the Evaporative Loss Control system and what should be done with the vent pipe from the fuel tank? You sent me a photo of what had been done with yours. Funny thing is that I subsequently acquired a donor car which has spent the last 20 years rusting away in a barn - this is a car which was supplied new in NZ so I don't believe it would have ever had the ELC stuff fitted, though look what I found when I looked in the boot - look familiar to you? Made me wonder if this one was originally built for Aus, though it doesn't have the uprated sun visors. My car is currently in hundreds of pieces, spread between my garage and the panel & paint shop, while the body shell is currently awaiting processing through the dipping/stripping tanks. Cheers - Dave

Fuel breather pipes.jpg

[JeffW]

Ahh right sorry, Dave, I totally forgot I had taken the photo for you! My car also in bits getting ready for painting. I really wanted to bake the paint and undercoat off but we went with hand-scraping. Very unenjoyable at times.

Interesting the NZ car had the return as well. Yesterday one of the guys at the shop could not figure out for the life of him why my car had two fuel lines until I explained the return bit. He was then surprised the doors did not have the impact bar installed, but we think that was only for USA models.

Good luck with the rebuild - post some more pics!

Jeff

[Davo1805NZ]

Curiouser and curiouser.... my car does have the side impact bars in the doors.....

[Stocky]

Side impact bars were mandatory for Australian cars from the beginning of 1977 I think (Australian Design Regulations).

[Davo1805NZ]

Mine was delivered late '77, so that would figure - Jeff, maybe your car was made prior to that legislation?

[JeffW]

Makes sense - mine is a 1976.

[STypeR]

First time I have heard about different visors for the Aust cars. That would explain why; when I ordered a new pair out of the UK they were very floppy and I figured they may have been a poor reproduction. I sent them straight back and kept the originals!

[Davo1805NZ]

Yes - I'm hoping I can get mine re-covered.