Hello...I'm newish

[Jag840]

Hello,

I've recently re-joined the owners club. I was a memeber, I think for a year, in around 2009.

I did buy a Stag back then, a Pimento red MOD car. I don't have photos on this computer but can post some later. It looked very nice and shiny but was, in fact, fairly horrible. My fault; I should have looked at it more carefully before buying it. I did not keep it very long.

It was the second Stag I had driven, my Dad had one in the 80s when I was a teenager, and I remember driving Dad's one around. I'm not actually sure he knew I was using it, but if he didn't I don't think it would be any great surprise to him.

The time I had at home during Lockdown enabled me to do various jobs on my everyday cars that I would not usually have the time or inclination to do, but it did remind me that I do enjoy working on cars.

I've always known I would end up with another Stag but the thought of buying one to restore had not occured to me. I have now decided that this is in fact the route I should go for a few reasons. It allows me to spread the cost over a period of time (I don't tend to spend a lot of money on buying a car), I can restore the car to the standard I want and I know exactly what I've got when I've finished.

The alternative, for me, is to buy a car for around 15k but this still may end up needing a lot of money spent on it.

I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

[Chix]

I have now decided that this is in fact the route I should go for a few reasons. It allows me to spread the cost over a period of time (I don't tend to spend a lot of money on buying a car), I can restore the car to the standard I want and I know exactly what I've got when I've finished.

The alternative, for me, is to buy a car for around 15k but this still may end up needing a lot of money spent on it.

I'd be interested to hear any thoughts.

Hello mate, I'm new too!

This is exactly what I did. If I'd have waited until I had the money to buy a really decent one, I would have probably been too old to enjoy/ work on it.
So yes, will probably end up spending the same amount of money, but for me half of the joy is learning all about it and working on it.
I bought a Stag, it was cheap(er than all of the others I've seen for sale) and it didn't run.
Now it runs and I've got SUCH a sense of satisfaction out of it!

I'd go with that idea mate, buy one to work on, but make sure it's not gonna fall to bits as soon as you look at it!

[bullstarz]

Buy the car at the price your comfortable with. The cheaper the car the more you will spend on it. However, high purchase price of a car will not guarantee it will last or be at all reliable. Personally any car over £12,000 is too high unless it you can see where the money has been spent. Owners do get attach to their cars and find it hard to understand £5000 spent on a car doesn't increase the price by £5000.Any thing thats been done by one of the few Stag specialist should be reliable a long as the time frame is small, that may be worth the £10-15000 price tag.

Cars that have been restored by "amateur mechanics" or even worse "self taught mechanics" are over priced and their work can't be classed as approved or trustworthy. My welding isnt the best, it's not good looking but structurally its good. Some of the welding that was done by other owners was really bad (even by my standards) both looking and structurally. Some looked really good but had no penetration at all would have been better to glue it on and i have seen some panels that have been put on with silicon sealant .



So get a car that is within your skill set, or your mates, that you can do to a standard that makes the car roadworthy (will easily pass an MOT) and your happy with. AT the moment it seems that £0-3500 will get starting place while £ 5500 will see one that might be road worthy. .

There are bargains out there you just have to be lucky and you cant polish a turd but some will roll it in glitter.

[flying farmer]

I bought one for £2000 as a complete restoration project but with a very solid body shell.

I did all the work myself except the engine machining work and it took a couple of years to do and cost about £12,000 for the new parts. That included lots of specialist high performance stuff.
I ended up with an as new car that delivered exactly what I wanted.

If you have lots of hours to spare you can search for the Flying farmers new project thread. There are several more threads covering peoples restoration projects

Neil

[jbuckl]

Try to get an experienced stag owner to inspect any car you are keen on buying.

[Jag840]

Thanks guys.

The aim of the project is to end up with a very nice Stag which I will keep. I will do a lot of the work myself but won't be doing welding/body fabrication, I will have the shell dipped and then what remains of it repaired and painted.

I can do the stripping of the car and most of the mechanical work.

Firstly I need to find a suitable car. I want a manual MK2 and like the black tail panel and chrome sill covers so I think for this spec. to be correct I need a 75 or 76 car.

[mallardstag]

If you're repainting then you can do the black and add the chrome yourself so don't worry about finding one with this exact spec.

[Mark S]

Thanks guys.

The aim of the project is to end up with a very nice Stag which I will keep. I will do a lot of the work myself but won't be doing welding/body fabrication, I will have the shell dipped and then what remains of it repaired and painted.

I can do the stripping of the car and most of the mechanical work.

Firstly I need to find a suitable car. I want a manual MK2 and like the black tail panel and chrome sill covers so I think for this spec. to be correct I need a 75 or 76 car.

Good choice of model/spec if you can find one with a decent shell and the way to do it if you can maintain the enthusiasm and money to do it, but it won't be cheap.

Too many buyers have a rose tinted expectation of what their £10-£15k will buy and expect a car at that price to be almost perfect with a bulletproof engine and be able to jump in and drive it the length of the country without a second thought.

The reality is, people often sell Stags because they have lost interest so they haven't and won't spend money to either maintain them or put them right. Or because they are a heap of trouble, unreliable, need a sack full of money spending to put them right and are taking the opportunity now values have increased over recent years to offload them for an unrealistically high price to the unwary looking for a bargain.

Your problem could be finding a Stag with a decent body (for not a lot of money) as a basis for restoration that doesn't then need a fortune spending to weld it back together once it has been dipped.

Good luck in your quest.

[Jag840]

Good choice of model/spec if you can find one with a decent shell and the way to do it if you can maintain the enthusiasm and money to do it, but it won't be cheap.

Too many buyers have a rose tinted expectation of what their £10-£15k will buy and expect a car at that price to be almost perfect with a bulletproof engine and be able to jump in and drive it the length of the country without a second thought.

The reality is, people often sell Stags because they have lost interest so they haven't and won't spend money to either maintain them or put them right. Or because they are a heap of trouble, unreliable, need a sack full of money spending to put them right and are taking the opportunity now values have increased over recent years to offload them for an unrealistically high price to the unwary looking for a bargain.

Your problem could be finding a Stag with a decent body (for not a lot of money) as a basis for restoration that doesn't then need a fortune spending to weld it back together once it has been dipped.

Good luck in your quest.

I'm expecting to buy a car for 4-5k to restore and I think, realistcally I'm going to have to spend 20k in addition to the cost of the car. It might be less if the shell is good.

[DJT]

Thanks guys.

The aim of the project is to end up with a very nice Stag which I will keep. I will do a lot of the work myself but won't be doing welding/body fabrication, I will have the shell dipped and then what remains of it repaired and painted.

I can do the stripping of the car and most of the mechanical work.

Firstly I need to find a suitable car. I want a manual MK2 and like the black tail panel and chrome sill covers so I think for this spec. to be correct I need a 75 or 76 car.

Black tail panel and chrome (stainless steel) sill covers didn’t come together from the factory. Black tail panel and sills with a thin s/steel strip from LD20001 (late 72). Reverted to body colour tail panel and shiny sill covers from LD40001 late 75. At the end of the day, your car, your choice. As mallardstag says, if you’re having it painted, then it is easy to have it finished how you wish.

[Jag840]

Black tail panel and chrome (stainless steel) sill covers didn’t come together from the factory. Black tail panel and sills with a thin s/steel strip from LD20001 (late 72). Reverted to body colour tail panel and shiny sill covers from LD40001 late 75. At the end of the day, your car, your choice. As mallardstag says, if you’re having it painted, then it is easy to have it finished how you wish.

My Dad's car was wrong then it had shiny sills and a black tail. It's a 75 or later car I need as I do want shiny sills. I'll leave the tail body colour.

[DJT]

My Dad's car was wrong then it had shiny sills and a black tail. It's a 75 or later car I need as I do want shiny sills. I'll leave the tail body colour.

So many changes have been made over the decades. When I bought my current Nov 73 built Stag it had a body colour tail panel and shiny sill covers. Turns out the tail panel was 1/2” thick with filler from a tail-ender decades ago and the shiny sill covers had been added to cover up rust and patches All is good now though with black tail panel and black sills, with a thin s/steel strip along the top.