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OK, the fear has set in, I will now be checking this website daily. Very cool wagon. I like an optimist...  daily might be stretching it a bit as I am woeful about keeping things updates. I really do have to start making a serious effort to find a place for the wagon to land. No one is hassling me to move it yet but, I don't want to get to the point where they have to ask, if you know what I mean. Got to ask…. Before winter settles in. Any progress on your wagon or other toys? grizz, so sorry I haven't responded to you sooner - I just don't know where the time goes.
Winter isn't a big problem for me in regards to being able to work on the cars. In fact, it's often a better time of year as the temperatures are more conducive to working outside - which is where both the Stag and the Rover, still reside. I say the temperature is more conducive but, I am still getting sunburn when I forget to put sunblock on... doh!
I am more limited by my aching bones than the weather - that and the fact that as both cars still live outside and I have yet to gain an indoor space in the workshop I am limited to working for a few hours on a Saturday as long as John is around. At some point, I will gain an indoor spot and a key but, as mentioned before, John works to his own rhythms and no one, least of all me, will ever change that. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining as I have somewhere to park both cars where they are relatively safe and, I have indoor storage for my tools, I am not paying rent (at least not with money) - and, best of all, I have John's help when needed, all of which I am truly grateful for.
As for progress, well - it has been all Stag all of the (available) time, so everything else is taking a bit of a back seat for now.
I am feeling a little pressured on the Stag project as it really seems to have captured the imagination of a few people around me, and some that are not even close by.... John is really keen on the Stag, even after nearly half a century of working on British cars he has never worked on a Stag and he quite enthusiastic. John's brother, who lives in England and is a Stag owner, regularly asks for updates.
And, then there's Gerry! Gerry is 92 and, if I am half as capable at his age (assuming I make it there) I will consider myself to be doing well. Gerry is driven by a desire not to lose his mental faculties and, so he has several projects on the go - his own '63 MGB that John is building and engine for, a 914 he just purchased to name just two. And, he has "inserted" himself into the Stag tear down/rebuild - he shows up on Saturdays and insists we find him something to do. Finding a suitable job for a 92 year-old isn't as easy as it sounds but, we usually find him something to do. He keeps asking when it will be finished as he wants to see it running and driving - given that my Rover has been a *ahem* somewhat lengthy project I am feeling the pressure to get this going while Gerry's still around to enjoy it.
Anyhoo, here are some pictures of the current state of play.
We have been loading the bores with all sorts of concoctions to try and get the pistons to break free - all to no avail though. It was finally time to drag the engine out.  
And, in the words of the great mechanic and engine builder, MLK, Jr. It's free at last, free at last, thank God all mighty it's free at last... 
Here's a picture of Gerry marveling at the zenith of British engineering.
Anyone that has every worked on a Stag, TR7 or Dolly engine knows all bout trying to separate the heads from the block - we expected and were prepared for a fight. John even has a tool he made many years ago when working on TR7s. Although they put up a bit of a struggle, the heads came off surprisingly easily.
Here's an idea of what lies beneath
I'm thinking some Scotchbrite, some WD40 and some elbow grease and we can throw a couple of new gaskets on and we'll be driving in no time.
What's that you say? Still frozen solid and can't rotate the crank to get all the pistons out? So, won't be driving again soon? 
Still, at least the oil looks okay...
And, it looks as if the bores just need a quick hone...
Actually, in all seriousness, most of the bores were okay-ish, quite amazing as it's been stood in unknown circumstances for 40 plus years. The pistons are all standard sized so, it all comes down to the machining that will be required for the worst barrel. If the pitting can be removed by going to +.040" then I can order a set of pistons without a problem. If not, I can re-sleeve that one barrel and figure out what size over I will need to go for the others.
The crank on the other hand, is already at .040" - Rimmers have bearings at + .060". There is some slight pitting on the journals but, not as bad as you might expect. The cranks is at a local specialist for evaluation - we'll know more soon. I hope I can get away with it as Rimmer wants the best part of $1,000 for a refurbished crank - plus shipping, plus the cost of sending my core to them.
The block has been taken to L & R www.lnrengine.com/ for assessment on the badly pitted bore - they will let us know how things stand in the near future and plans can be made for pistons sizes. There was also some damage to the deck - they will drill it out, re weld and machine the deck flat.
One of the heads is in okay shape, the other has seen better days. John has a few TR7 heads in great shape and has earmarked one for me - unfortunately, the head that's in the worst shape is the right hand one and so, isn't cross-compatible with the TR7.
I stripped the RH head and it is off to L&R for a check - hoping we don't need to try and source a replacement.
Here is a view of the Stag in it's current state of undress.
There is more rust than previously thought - not UK bad, but enough. I am debating on the best method to get the body bare metal so I can begin the repairs and bodywork. I am leaning towards sand blasting as the closest place that dips is in Oregon, a short 1,000 mile one way trip and, would cost about $2,200 and, take over a week.
I think the current plan is to remove the front suspension and build a dolly to allow us to still move the car around.
More soon. Ciao for now.
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The only good thing about a Stag engine is the sound it makes, mind you I would never buy one with any other engine in it.
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The only good thing about a Stag engine is the sound it makes, mind you I would never buy one with any other engine in it. 100% agree with you, I am all about the noise the Stag makes/will make. I have access to dozens of Rover engines at John's shop and, he was pushing for the conversion but, I am going for the original Triumph lump. My P6 has a fully built 3.5 should I want the Rover experience so, in my book there's no option but the original 3.0. I read somewhere that of the surviving Stags in the UK 95% of them have the Triumph V8.
Just curious - are your door handles easy to operate? Mine take an awful lot of effort and only seem to work at the very top end of travel - they have been stripped, cleaned and lubed up but, they are still a bit of a bear to open.
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The conversion that sounds as good as the v8 and is reliable is a nicely sorted 2.5 straight 6. I believe you can do it all with saloon parts too.
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I've had three stags now and the door handles aren't the easiest to open,even the linkage in the door is a bit fragile with nylon parts and thick springs.
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pollystag thank you for the feedback - John's brother, a Stag owner, has chimed in to say that his door handles operate with ease... so... that's as clear as mud then... it seems like some are easy and some not so much, that'll be BL then... We are at that part of a project when it seems as if nothing you do makes any progress. The engine is out and most of the interior is stripped and so, much of anything that gets done now seems to be small beer in terms of advancing the project - although it isn't really. We pulled the front suspension unit and began stripping it - please note the world's youngest and newest BL apprentice...  Fair play to Gerry - he is a a trooper and, regardless of his desire to ignore all requests and instructions  we got the front suspension removed.  Once out, everything was disassembled - we had a couple of minor struggles but, nothing so dramatic as you would see in the UK. Almost everything apart quite easily. For now and the next few weeks it will be a question of sandblasting and then restoring the parts we have removed so, slow going for the meantime... While we were messing around we had a visitor...  You may think "yeah, so, a 110 with a 300TDi showed up, what's the big deal?" Well, let me tell you... Only 500 Defender/110's were ever legally imported (by JLR) to the U.S. and, not one of them was a diesel - this thing is as rare as hen's teeth... especially when you consider that it is technically road legal in California, which is nigh on impossible to achieve - please don't ask how I know how hard it is to legally import a car into California 
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Last Edit: Dec 17, 2023 9:18:06 GMT by wildrover
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This Saturday we didn't do much in the way of anything on the Stag - instead, we built some shelving to accommodate the ever growing amount of stuff being removed from the car. I didn't know that the plan was to build shelves, so I didn't have any of my welding gear with me - instead I cut the angle to length and John cracked on with his trusty old stick welder. I didn't take many photos - here are a couple to give you a flavour of the project.   They won't be pretty but, they will be sturdy. And, in a land overrun with pick ups - here is John's "shop truck"  Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year to all (other holidays/festivals/celebrations are available upon request). |
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Jan 12, 2024 17:25:29 GMT
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kevins it is - it's a 1988 Merkur XR4Ti - and therein lies my dilemma. My nemesis good friend Sal simply cannot stop sending me listings of cars that will surely lead me to an early death at the hands of my wife should I give in to my impulses. No matter how many times I tell him I have no time, no space, no money and no desire to be garrotted in my sleep, he continues to forward these ads. The two photos are all that are shown in the listing, the description is every bit as vague. But... it was local. The asking price was $4,950 - a bit on the high side but, you know... it is local. I messaged the seller and got no response - in the meantime the ad was de-listed but, as it's saved in my favorites I could still access it and, the price had dropped to $3,950. A few days passed and I heard back from the seller. The car was still available and the ad now showed the price as $1,950. Do you see where this is headed? I set up a time to see the car and decided I would make a cheeky offer of $1,000 and see where that got me. I mean life is short and if the wife does decide to do me in would I rather shuffle off this mortal coil with or without owning an XR4Ti? The car was at a mechanic's shop and he was selling in on behalf of his customer just to cover the cost of work that had been done. The car belonged to an older gentleman who had it for years - a California car from new it was rust free and in pretty good shape all things considered. The owner has suffered some back problems and can no longer drive it. There are some problems - for example the driver's seat back is stuck in the gangsta lean position, the paint needs some serious attention and the leather seats that weren't under covers were slightly cracked. It's a 5 speed manual - that wasn't mentioned in the ad, the electric windows work and so do the heated seats I am told. The shop had the turbo rebuilt, and installed a new alternator and timing belt. I took it for a drive and it's good... very good, it still needs work but it's good. The negatives... I am no longer the svelte young thing that owned a 1983 Sierra and I found things a little cramped. The gansta lean made it really difficult to drive, the drivers seat also appears to have the height adjusted up and it's either stuck or it doesn't go lower so the steering wheel was really low and close to my legs. I made an offer of $1,200 and was rejected - the lowest he will go is $1,700 although I could probably counter at $1,500. I am so torn right now. If I buy this will it be a case of "never meet your heroes" or will it be a smart move? At that price it's a bargain...
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misteralz
Posted a lot
I may drive a Volkswagen, but I'm scene tax exempt!
Posts: 2,494
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Jan 12, 2024 20:59:20 GMT
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Buy it. I keep dreaming about Sierras.
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Jan 12, 2024 22:11:29 GMT
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I drove an XR4x4 regularly as we had it as a pool car at work, I loved it, for day to day use I prefered it to the Cosworths we also had.
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Buy it. I keep dreaming about Sierras. I hope you can sleep easy knowing that my blood may be on your hands... 
I just offered $1,400 - we shall see.
I really shouldn't be allowed near a computer after I've had a drink... I have no idea where I am going to hide this car if I am "succesfull"
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I drove an XR4x4 regularly as we had it as a pool car at work, I loved it, for day to day use I prefered it to the Cosworths we also had. I drove a few XR4X4s back in the day and loved them too - never got to drive a cossie so, I can't compare.
The XR4Ti doesn't have an engine that we were familiar with over there - it's got the 4 cylinder 2.3 Puma lump, with (of course) fuel injection and a turbo but, from my understanding of it it was a little beast of an engine developing 175 hp in manual trim. I have seen claims that it's capable of going to 700+ hp in racing trim but, that's not for me.
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I'm pretty sure the engine is basically a what we would know as a pinto, (as is the cosworth YB) and they only weigh around 1100kg would be very interesting to see on here.
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I'm pretty sure the engine is basically a what we would know as a pinto, (as is the cosworth YB) and they only weigh around 1100kg would be very interesting to see on here. kevins You are on the money - I think I mentioned about how I should not be allowed access to a computer after I'd had an adult beverage... it's a Lima engine, not a puma and, it is, as you say a Pinto derivative.
I so, so want to buy this but... my references to the death/bodily harm I face if I do are only somewhat in jest. If I had somewhere to hide it nothing would stop me. I floated the idea to John in whose workshop parking lot the Stag and Rover currently repose - I was met with a dead eye stare, I spoke to my other mate (also John) and he is in the same boat... I can't ask the SOB that started this problem (Sal) as he already houses two of my semi-secret cars. There is hope left with my buddy Mike so, we'll see.
Currently I am afraid to check my email in case my offer was accepted... watch this space 
EDIT: My offer of $1,400 was rejected  I responded by reminding the seller that it was a limited market, he was at $1,700 and I was at $1,400 - where did he want to go from here? Bearing in mind that he has listed it on the most inappropriate site to get attention I feel fairly comfortable being a bit of a dick... |
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Last Edit: Jan 14, 2024 8:36:53 GMT by wildrover
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Jan 19, 2024 17:16:39 GMT
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Sierra/XR4Ti update... I really, really shouldn't do this - there are just so many reasons against buying this car, but... I stuck with my $1,400 offer and ignored all messages and calls from the seller - he countered at $1,550... I ignored him. I just got a voicemail from him saying he'll take the $1,400. I mean, at that price, I would be wrong not too, right? My decision making hasn't been helped by watching episodes of Spender - yes, yes I know, this isn't a Sapphire Cossie. So, instead of listening to the weird and often patently wrong advice from the voices in my head, I have come here for rational, reasoned and well grounded advice So, begin.... |
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Last Edit: Jan 19, 2024 17:17:28 GMT by wildrover
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,960
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Jan 19, 2024 20:01:43 GMT
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I'd have bought it at $2000.
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Jan 19, 2024 22:15:32 GMT
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Great buy, can't wait to follow this one.
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 3,060 
Club RR Member Number: 77
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Jan 19, 2024 23:38:03 GMT
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You've come back here for advice whether to buy it or not? Not sure if serious When do you collect it? |
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daily might be stretching it a bit as I am woeful about keeping things updates. I really do have to start making a serious effort to find a place for the wagon to land. No one is hassling me to move it yet but, I don't want to get to the point where they have to ask, if you know what I mean.
we got the front suspension removed.
I responded by reminding the seller that it was a limited market, he was at $1,700 and I was at $1,400 - where did he want to go from here? Bearing in mind that he has listed it on the most inappropriate site to get attention I feel fairly comfortable being a bit of a dick...
