Bangers...

[jimlews]

The problem with overheating Stag engines was caused by core sand left in the internal waterways as a result of poor 'knocking out'. If you took the core plugs out and gave the waterways a thorough cleaning with a wire coat hanger there was never an overheating problem. My Stag never suffered from it. Stags fitted with the much lighter Rover Engines are dangerously prone to aquaplaning and much less valuable.

Brilliant cars though. Cannot understand why these days no one makes an affordable grand touring car like the Stag with a decent boot?

Al

I've always thought that a Stag with Dolomite Sprint 16v cylinder heads would have been quite something.

[ossie]

My 4 year old 78 plate Chrysler Alpine was shed territory the day I paid £1200 for it in 82 having just passed my test. It was down the scrappy 3 years later having rusted out... clearly made of Greek oil tanker steel.....glutton for punishment I had a brief episode with a lovely vauxhall cavalier sports hatch...ie Opel Manta before completely losing my mind and buying a Lancia Beta HPE.....then it was Japanese before buying a vauxhall astra SRI that I ran to shed status before rust claimed it...

[al_yrpal]

I've always thought that a Stag with Dolomite Sprint 16v cylinder heads would have been quite something.

I always felt it was quite something as a brilliant Grand Tourer with plenty of space for your stuff. It lopes along almost effortlessly with the low rumble of the V8. It was never a sports car.

Al

[jimlews]

I've always thought that a Stag with Dolomite Sprint 16v cylinder heads would have been quite something.

I always felt it was quite something as a brilliant Grand Tourer with plenty of space for your stuff. It lopes along almost effortlessly with the low rumble of the V8. It was never a sports car.

Al

Yes, that V8 has a glorious sound.

[thirdcrank]

This L reg Stag was up our street just now. (Driver turned it over so I could see how clean and tidy it was underneath

[Mick F]

Very clean indeedy!

[rjb]

That's some impressive aerial rising down from the front nearside wing.
He must be tuned in to the light programme.

[al_yrpal]

This was my beauty. Miss it....

Stag at Camp Patton Normandy

Al

[Carlton green]

..,
Both the first two got scrapped because of faulty electronics causing intermittent breakdowns and loss of power. Perhaps they were unlucky because the local garage's diagnostics couldnt sort it and they were too tight to take the cars to a main dealer who probably could have.
...

Yes, unfortunately it's common for cars to become unusable because some complex electronic or electromechanical bit has failed. It's a different pattern of failure from what was common a few decades ago.

The European Commission has been working very hard on breaking the monopoly of main dealers and the current tying of new sales to future maintenance. It's got as far as requiring the publication of information and the next phase is to open up the supply chains, for example to that "local garage". This is clearly in the interest of consumers. Not so much of main dealers.
https://www.eubusiness.com/topics/compe ... -parts.04/

Jonathan

PS: It's connected to the wider issue of "Right to Repair":
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/ ... -important

I’m not sure but it seems to me that a lot of the right to repair cars yourself has been taken away by putting computers into them. It was once common to see folk with their spanners out but now it’s rare, perhaps becoming a nation that makes nothing much anymore hasn’t helped with skill sets either …

Edit. The source of technical support to do your own repairs seems to have changed too and is arguably worse. Haynes did produce manuals that, whilst not perfect, sold in good numbers. Now there’s what you can glean using Google and, it seems to me, not much else. I’m maybe cynical but it seems to me that commercial practises have somehow come together to constrain or even stop repairs by owners, and to some extent non-franchised garages too.

[tim-b]

I’m not sure but it seems to me that a lot of right to repair cars yourself has been taken away by putting computers into them. It was once common to see folk with their spanners out but now it’s rare, perhaps becoming a nation that makes nothing much anymore hasn’t helped with skill sets either …

A few years ago a neighbour's car needed several alternators in quick succession from the main dealer under warranty. A simple DIY job you'd think but, after the third alternator, it ended up not needing a spanner but plugging into a computer in England so that a technician in Sweden could talk some sense into the ECU

[pete75]

..,
Both the first two got scrapped because of faulty electronics causing intermittent breakdowns and loss of power. Perhaps they were unlucky because the local garage's diagnostics couldnt sort it and they were too tight to take the cars to a main dealer who probably could have.
...

Yes, unfortunately it's common for cars to become unusable because some complex electronic or electromechanical bit has failed. It's a different pattern of failure from what was common a few decades ago.

The European Commission has been working very hard on breaking the monopoly of main dealers and the current tying of new sales to future maintenance. It's got as far as requiring the publication of information and the next phase is to open up the supply chains, for example to that "local garage". This is clearly in the interest of consumers. Not so much of main dealers.
https://www.eubusiness.com/topics/compe ... -parts.04/

Jonathan

PS: It's connected to the wider issue of "Right to Repair":
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/ ... -important

I’m not sure but it seems to me that a lot of the right to repair cars yourself has been taken away by putting computers into them. It was once common to see folk with their spanners out but now it’s rare, perhaps becoming a nation that makes nothing much anymore hasn’t helped with skill sets either …

Edit. The source of technical support to do your own repairs seems to have changed too and is arguably worse. Haynes did produce manuals that, whilst not perfect, sold in good numbers. Now there’s what you can glean using Google and, it seems to me, not much else. I’m maybe cynical but it seems to me that commercial practises have somehow come together to constrain or even stop repairs by owners, and to some extent non-franchised garages too.

There are many downloadable PDF files of official manufacturers workshop manuals on the internet either free or low cost. Most of the info on car computers, particularly fault codes can be read with an ODB2 scanner, costing under 20 quid, and. again. either free or low cost diagnostic software running on a mobile phone.

[peetee]

I’m not sure but it seems to me that a lot of right to repair cars yourself has been taken away by putting computers into them. It was once common to see folk with their spanners out but now it’s rare, perhaps becoming a nation that makes nothing much anymore hasn’t helped with skill sets either …

A few years ago a neighbour's car needed several alternators in quick succession from the main dealer under warranty. A simple DIY job you'd think but, after the third alternator, it ended up not needing a spanner but plugging into a computer in England so that a technician in Sweden could talk some sense into the ECU

About 20 years ago, when I bought my first Morris 1000 I had a charging problem. They were most definitely classic cars from another era even then. I knew they were simple cars to work on but I had done very little ‘hands-on training’ at that point. On my second trip out I joined a pub tour with some other Morris owners and the return trip was in the dark. Starting the car up I noticed the lights were next to useless and popping up the bonnet I could see in the capacious engine bay the dynamo was giving off blue sparks. I was joined by another owner who instantly diagnosed worn commutator bushes but “it will get you home - in convoy”. And it did. And that’s the way it was with cars. They had artificial intelligence before chips were invented in that they had a soul and it cared about you.... or couldn’t give a damn. You had a good-n or a bad-n.
I’ve tried to avoid modern tech throughout my life. The prime driver for this is a refusal to pay for the privilege of using something when a cheaper equally useable alternative that meets my exacting (but not snobbish or image-conscious) standards exists. It seems to work. I’ve never been stranded on-the-road. On bike or by car I’ve had mechanical mishaps while travelling which have delayed me but I’ve always been able to get home under my own steam. My mode of transport has never refused to tell me what’s wrong, never shrugged it’s metaphoric electronic shoulders and given me the (it’s-a-mystery-to-me) silent treatment. It always turns to me and says “Pete, look, come here. This is the problem just here, can you see it? Great. Now I want to get you home but as you can appreciate my auxiliary belt/commutator bushes/battery charge/tyre air/cassette teeth decided to leave - I did my best to persuade it to stay and it agreed to leave a bit behind just to get us home, but, you know, it’s not easy going fast so just take it slow and I’ll get us to the front door”.

[Carlton green]

Thanks @Pete75, good info. Of course there’s the issue of restricting repairs to those that are skilled with computer stuff, or who know someone who is. I’m of the view that cars have become too complex and in doing so the right to repair has effectively been eroded; repairs might be possible but only by a limited pool of higher skilled people rather than, as was once the case, a large section of society.

[pwa]

A friend of ours is a self-employed car mechanic who has been working on cars for more than fifty years, so he knows everything about everything. I hesitate to ask him about details of fixes to our vehicles because once you set him off talking about something mechanical, he just doesn't want to stop. But he told me that even he, carrying a normal array of portable tools, could not deal with an issue his modern mobile home had out on the road. Without the resources of his garage he was helpless, and needed roadside assistance just like anyone else. Sadly, a compact tool box will only get you so far with modern vehicles.

On the plus side, our complicated Toyota hybrid is the simplest of vehicles to drive and never misses a beat. I do still check oil occasionally, but I have never needed to top it up between services. Remembering cars that needed use of the choke to get started, I prefer our modern Toyota as a day-to-day vehicle. Nostalgia isn't what I'm looking for at 6am on a frosty, dark Monday morning as I want to get the car going to get me to work. I enjoy just pressing the button, safe in the knowledge that the thing is going to work, first time and with no finessing.

[Jdsk]

...
Of course there’s the issue of restricting repairs to those that are skilled with computer stuff, or who know someone who is. I’m of the view that cars have become too complex and in doing so the right to repair has effectively been eroded; repairs might be possible but only by a limited pool of higher skilled people rather than, as was once the case, a large section of society.

The EU has done a lot of work on reducing anticompetitive behaviour in this area, including availability of technical information:
https://www.eubusiness.com/topics/compe ... -parts.04/

and is now working on "right to repair":
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktan ... 022)698869

Jonathan