Triumph Stag - this is going to cost a small fortune....
Discussion
Two weeks ago I took my Stag into my friendly local garage for a tune up and MOT. No real concerns over the MOT, I only bought her a year ago with a fresh ticket from a very nice chap in Cumbria.
Cue a gratuitous photo....
Now she was far from perfect, but I had what I thought was a good solid car to improve over time.
Cue a phone call from the garage. They had found a hole, not the end of the world but it needed dealing with, only problem is to get at it, the whole back end of the car needed stripping down - one of those frustrating big jobs for a tiny repair. At present, she's still there. More holes keep being found, and previous bad repairs - one of which included a metal plate over a rust patch secured in plate with bathroom sealant.
A tough decision had to be made - where do we draw the line? Should I cut my losses and sell on? Well no. She's a special lady. I might not have owned her long, but I have her complete history including every MOT and receipt back to 1977, which garages she was sold at, who owned her. For what is only a Stag, she has great provenance. So the restoration has begun.
Once they've finished doing all the metalwork underneath, and she's solid, she'll be off to a bodyshop for new sills, door skins, and a full respray. Then I have all Winter to polish her and put her back together
It's going to be a long few months....
Cue a gratuitous photo....
Now she was far from perfect, but I had what I thought was a good solid car to improve over time.
Cue a phone call from the garage. They had found a hole, not the end of the world but it needed dealing with, only problem is to get at it, the whole back end of the car needed stripping down - one of those frustrating big jobs for a tiny repair. At present, she's still there. More holes keep being found, and previous bad repairs - one of which included a metal plate over a rust patch secured in plate with bathroom sealant.
A tough decision had to be made - where do we draw the line? Should I cut my losses and sell on? Well no. She's a special lady. I might not have owned her long, but I have her complete history including every MOT and receipt back to 1977, which garages she was sold at, who owned her. For what is only a Stag, she has great provenance. So the restoration has begun.
Once they've finished doing all the metalwork underneath, and she's solid, she'll be off to a bodyshop for new sills, door skins, and a full respray. Then I have all Winter to polish her and put her back together
It's going to be a long few months....
I'm glad this topic has come up as I'm in exactly the same position with my Spitfire. It went in for gearbox and suspension work when I too had the call saying "we've found several holes".
I've had the thing 10 years and really haven't spent much on it before so as a 42nd birthday present to it, it will be getting a whole new floor, cills, etc. to kick start its restoration.
I've had the thing 10 years and really haven't spent much on it before so as a 42nd birthday present to it, it will be getting a whole new floor, cills, etc. to kick start its restoration.
Another good thing, the garage doing the metal work is only 400 yards round the corner from work.
Just popped round to see how she's getting on, and we have new metal in place - looks a lot healthier than it did this morning.
Rear end of the car should be going back on tomorrow, then she can have an MOT by the weekend, and be road legal again. Then it's time to find a good body shop to do the rest of the work. Any recommendations around the Hants/Surrey border gratefully received.
Just popped round to see how she's getting on, and we have new metal in place - looks a lot healthier than it did this morning.
Rear end of the car should be going back on tomorrow, then she can have an MOT by the weekend, and be road legal again. Then it's time to find a good body shop to do the rest of the work. Any recommendations around the Hants/Surrey border gratefully received.
I had a lovely stag in here last week to sort out the finish of the chromed monkey metal scuttle grille. Stag owners have to be admired as they put up with a lot for what is undoubtedly a lovely car once sorted,but the cars limited value requires a great deal of love!
Well done for getting stuck in
Well done for getting stuck in
Flatinfourth said:
I had a lovely stag in here last week to sort out the finish of the chromed monkey metal scuttle grille. Stag owners have to be admired as they put up with a lot for what is undoubtedly a lovely car once sorted,but the cars limited value requires a great deal of love!
Well done for getting stuck in
I can't wait till she's done though. The Stag and the Jensen make a perfect pair of classics, with the Jensen being the real special occasion car, and the Stag, once sorted as the car I can really use during the summer months Well done for getting stuck in
I had one once. Never again. The proverbial moneypit. Mind you, it was nearly 30 years ago and I was young and foolish, sold a lovely MGB to get it as well. And of course they weren't so *sorted* then engine cooling wise ...
There's a specialist in Abinger Hammer which is Surrey I think ... I took it there for some engine work after the usual headgasket problem. Cost me over £2k back then - moneypit as I said. I don't know if they do bodywork but you can always ask them - if they're still about.
They are lovely cars though when on song ... it's still about somewhere is SOL 519M.
But I wish you the best with yours - and look forward to hearing and seeing more about the resto ...
Edit: http://www.classiccarwebsite.com/abinger-hammer-mo...
There's a specialist in Abinger Hammer which is Surrey I think ... I took it there for some engine work after the usual headgasket problem. Cost me over £2k back then - moneypit as I said. I don't know if they do bodywork but you can always ask them - if they're still about.
They are lovely cars though when on song ... it's still about somewhere is SOL 519M.
But I wish you the best with yours - and look forward to hearing and seeing more about the resto ...
Edit: http://www.classiccarwebsite.com/abinger-hammer-mo...
k.You're a cheery bunch 
All the metal works are now complete, and she should be getting an MOT this morning. This is good news on two counts - I can take her to Goodwood next weekend, and I can start talking to bodyshops.
The garage have a little engine tinkering to finish for me today, but I should have her back for the weekend.
All the metal works are now complete, and she should be getting an MOT this morning. This is good news on two counts - I can take her to Goodwood next weekend, and I can start talking to bodyshops.
The garage have a little engine tinkering to finish for me today, but I should have her back for the weekend.
Dr Interceptor said:
Just had a call from the garage, and she has an MOT
Now she's road legal, I can start looking into the bodywork....
Not any more you can't! Now she's road legal, I can start looking into the bodywork....
Good stuff ... let us know what/where you decide ... and then what the work will entail. How's the bootlid? Mine rusted all along the leading edge there ... I'm sure some panels are double skinned ro somthing so not that easy to repair ...
uk66fastback said:
Not any more you can't!
Haha! All collected, she drives superbly, although is absolutely filthy. The garage have had the carbs apart while she's been in there and fitted new diaphragms, she'll still need a slight tune once they've all settled down, but otherwise she's all much healthier.
The bootlid is solid, aside from the door skins, the whole car is now pretty solid. The sills will be the only questionable element - whether they need replacing or not. The bad spot on the sill has been repaired now, but the rest of them have a skim of filler on, so underneath there might be more bad spots - so they might need replacing.
We'll see though. The good news now though is that I have my Stag back for Goodwood next weekend - everything else can be worried about later
I'm in a similar situation myself, rust under one of the rear wings means it'll be very lucky to get through an MOT, what with that and a few minor paint issues it also needs a thorough going over but I am loath to sell it, especially since it drives so well. Also I'd only have to go and buy another one and don't think I'll survive another engine rebuild *shudder*.
Well done for pushing ahead. I think they are among the best classics around, all things considered.
Well done for pushing ahead. I think they are among the best classics around, all things considered.
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