Well I feared the worst and it has been confirmed..head gasket. So what do I do now?

[Matty Stag]

Evening all. In the end I had the car recovered from home and taken to the garage rather than risk driving. Had a phonecall at 6pm from the garage to say that it was....you guessed it, the head gasket.

I am completely devastated and am fairly sure that the guy that sold it to me isn't going to pick up the bill for something as major as this. So what do I do now? To be honest I am sorely tempted to cut my losses, sell the car and put this whole dream of wanting to own a Stag down to a bad idea.

If I decide to keep it then obviously it needs sorting so do you guys know a) What is it likely to cost? b) any recommendations for someone in my area to carry out the work (Derbys/Leics)?

I went £2000 over my budget to buy this car and I don't really have any spare cash to put into a big job like this but am now stuck between a rock and a hard place. To add insult to injury the friendly local garage that I took it to can't do any work to it for a couple of months.

Help!

[fussydave]

EJ Wards at Bruntingthorpe just south of Leicester are your nearest Stag specialists. Give Mick a call. Alternatively, you could get in touch with your local area members and see if there is anyone willing to help you with the repair. Local area contacts are listed in the magazine and on the website.

Dave.

[Bakdraft007]

Cheer up Matty, It may not be as bad as you think or it sounds... Removing the head could be tricky...or maybe not. Maybe its a simple issue and could be fixed by yourself. Even if you have to pay, you may find it worth it in the end. My Stag had a big problem when I got it, but now sorted I love it...

You will get there

Dave

[Swifty75]

Matty...... that is bad news.

I have never taken the heads off, but know it can be difficult. I would see what the previous owner has to say but they could have known already and sold it on. They could just say no. You could also ask them to take the car back.

Not sure on the cost to get this done by a specialist, it’s probably depends on how easy it comes apart.

It would be good if a few local members with some know how could come and have a look and potentially pull together to see if the job can be done on your drive.

Neil

[mike@thenook]

Not good news Matty but you must go back to the guy you bought it from as first call and see if he’ll either honour the fix cost or better still take it back and refund you - was he a private man or a dealer?
I think if it was me I’d get an idea of exactly what is wrong from someone that understands Stags before going anywhere near the cutting losses plan as it may be simple, possibly not but as Dave and Dave above say, someone may be able to help you to DIY once you know what the problem is.
No help to you at all but both Stags I have bought over the last 30 + years went wrong within a few days of purchase, both private sales but I fixed them both (both head related) and I still have the second one after 28 years - wouldn’t ever sell it!

[Matty Stag]

EJ Wards at Bruntingthorpe just south of Leicester are your nearest Stag specialists. Give Mick a call. Alternatively, you could get in touch with your local area members and see if there is anyone willing to help you with the repair. Local area contacts are listed in the magazine and on the website.

Dave.

Thanks Dave. I will call EJ Ward tomorrow.

[Matty Stag]

Not good news Matty but you must go back to the guy you bought it from as first call and see if he’ll either honour the fix cost or better still take it back and refund you - was he a private man or a dealer?
I think if it was me I’d get an idea of exactly what is wrong from someone that understands Stags before going anywhere near the cutting losses plan as it may be simple, possibly not but as Dave and Dave above say, someone may be able to help you to DIY once you know what the problem is.
No help to you at all but both Stags I have bought over the last 30 + years went wrong within a few days of purchase, both private sales but I fixed them both (both head related) and I still have the second one after 28 years - wouldn’t ever sell it!

Thanks Mike.

I have contacted the seller (extremely nice genuine private seller) and he is offering to help me out.Given the option I would like to keep the car . I certainly agree that I need to get the car to someone who knows Stags. The garage it is currently sat at are familiar with this issue but are not experts. Cheers

[Matty Stag]

Matty...... that is bad news.

I have never taken the heads off, but know it can be difficult. I would see what the previous owner has to say but they could have known already and sold it on. They could just say no. You could also ask them to take the car back.

Not sure on the cost to get this done by a specialist, it’s probably depends on how easy it comes apart.

It would be good if a few local members with some know how could come and have a look and potentially pull together to see if the job can be done on your drive.

Neil

Thanks Neil.

I think I will start by speaking to a speciaist or two and go from there. I would certainly welcome any help/advice from local members and am great at making tea should they come to my house. Cheers

[wilf]

Sorry to hear this - definitely speak with Wards at Bruntingthorpe.

Do you know what definitive test your local garage used to diagnose a HG? Did they do a block test to identify combustion gasses in the coolant? Or just find coolant in the bores? Because a Stag will overheat when it loses not very much coolant - and that could be disappearing via an inlet manifold gasket failure - a lot cheaper to fix. That can also put coolant into the cylinder bores.

[Tonywhite]

Removing heads are not impossible,I have a tool which has never been beaten yet at getting heads off even off an engine that sat outside in a garden for 20 years

[bullstarz]

If you have any mechanical knowledge or can read ingest and carry out then its not hard job. My first one i was 14 years old with no knowledge at all just a workshop manual and laughing Dad. The heads will only cost about £50-70 each to skim a bit more if engineers have to remove the valves. A set of gaskets £30 to £200 so it not that much. You could also do the shims and replace the timing chains and gears.

I know it not what you want to be doing day 1 of ownership but once that all done it good for at least a couple of days, sorry i meant years.

[flying farmer]

Wilf has a good point here,
When my 1st Stag engine started losing water and throwing steam out of the left hand exhaust I assumed it was head gasket failure and changed the LH head gasket.
Shortly afterwards I read about the inlet manifold gasket problem and realised that the symptoms matched mine, especially when the inlet manifold gasket blew out again a few months later!

Basically cooling system pressurisation to the point of blowing water out is a symptom of head gasket failure, water consumption without an external leak is inlet manifold gasket failure but unless the garage knows about Stag engines they are likely to jump to the wrong conclusions

Neil

[bullstarz]

Wilf has a good point here,
When my 1st Stag engine started losing water and throwing steam out of the left hand exhaust I assumed it was head gasket failure and changed the LH head gasket.
Shortly afterwards I read about the inlet manifold gasket problem and realised that the symptoms matched mine, especially when the inlet manifold gasket blew out again a few months later!

Basically cooling system pressurisation to the point of blowing water out is a symptom of head gasket failure, water consumption without an external leak is inlet manifold gasket failure but unless the garage knows about Stag engines they are likely to jump to the wrong conclusions

Neil

True i bough mine with a suspected head gasket and it turned out to be a core plug on the underside of the inlet manifold had rotted through but had been repaired/bodged by someone pressing body filler into it.

[StagJonno]

Had a similar issue last year - just about convinced myself it was head gasket failure but a block test was clear. Inlet manifold off and all was revealed - fairly simple and relatively painless. Agree with others here - get someone who understands Stag engines to have a look.

[jakesmig]

Evening all. In the end I had the car recovered from home and taken to the garage rather than risk driving. Had a phonecall at 6pm from the garage to say that it was....you guessed it, the head gasket.

I am completely devastated and am fairly sure that the guy that sold it to me isn't going to pick up the bill for something as major as this. So what do I do now? To be honest I am sorely tempted to cut my losses, sell the car and put this whole dream of wanting to own a Stag down to a bad idea.

If I decide to keep it then obviously it needs sorting so do you guys know a) What is it likely to cost? b) any recommendations for someone in my area to carry out the work (Derbys/Leics)?

I went £2000 over my budget to buy this car and I don't really have any spare cash to put into a big job like this but am now stuck between a rock and a hard place. To add insult to injury the friendly local garage that I took it to can't do any work to it for a couple of months.

Help!

Sympathy for you, know how it feels., I could have written most of that word for word in 1978.

In my case I fixed it, sold it and bought a Dolly Sprint. Thems was the days.

Good luck with it.

John.