1977 Stag restoration

[Davo1805NZ]

With the help of a ratchet strap, I eventually managed to get all of the hardtop catches engaged and kept the top on the car throughout the (NZ) Winter of 2024. When the weather started getting better my brother came over and helped me lift it off and hang it from the garage ceiling. Since then it has been a fine weather only car as sometime earlier we had pulled the soft top completely out of the car and it had been sitting folded at the back of the garage until a couple of weeks ago. The hardtop is finished, as long as we casually ignore the fact that the gutter trims are still not back on - my arthritic fingers seem to be no match for them I had anticipated fitting the headlining being a nightmare, though in fact the main thrust of it wasn't that bad - but trimming around the window sills resulted in some exercising of the (bad) vocabulary. I had made a really bad job of fitting the pre-stitched piece to one side and when the second side was going no better I decided to throw in the towel and execute Plan B. The more observant will notice in the photographs the non-standard treatment of these areas. Once again I reached for the black vinyl and used this and the thin foam to trim the pieces of card that came with the headlining. I also finished the underside of the sills with the black vinyl and got my daughter to fire up her sewing machine and make up some piping for the edge using the leftover cream headlining material. I also finished the hardtop B posts with the black vinyl. Yes, it's a deviation from standard, but I think it looks OK - I'm sure it's better than the outcome I was heading for with the standard look.

So now on to the soft top... The new canvas which had been fitted at some stage is in good shape, but it is clear that no great effort had been made towards renovating the frame at that time, so I am now working through it from front to back, to address all of the bent sticks, stripped threads, non-standard bolts etc.to hopefully get it into reasonable shape before re-fitting the canvas. When I moved my donor car on, I hung on to the soft top - although the canvas is rotted away and the frame rusty, I'm hoping that it will yield any parts that need replacing... Hopefully I will be able to figure out how it all goes back together.... I have downloaded and read Simon Williams' hood frame renovation diary - a great read, which I'm expecting will be hugely helpful to me as I work through this.

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[Davo1805NZ]

So I've got the hardtop mostly rebuilt; currently trying to get it to fit on the car... Have both front catches engaged, also the RH side one, but LH not - it looks like the tonneau cover is sitting too high on that side, stopping the top from going down far enough. Guess I need to take it off again to investigate... I had fitted the quarterlights but removed them again to see what was happening with the fitting. Just pulled the car out of the garage to give it a wash. Also still have the gutter trims to fit - thought that may be easier with the top on the car.


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[Davo1805NZ]

Let the festivities continue.....

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[peterjfox69]

Well done Sir, looks wonderful.
I’m nearing the completion of my restoration although I haven’t done much of it myself unfortunately.
Reading your report has fired up my excitement at finally getting the chance to drive the old girl again after nearly 17 months.

[Davo1805NZ]

Made some good progress over the past few weeks - re-upholstering the tonneau cover had been a bit of a road-block, firstly having to psyche myself up to do it, then the numerous challenges involved in getting it all back together with the stainless trims etc. Anyway, it's done - not perfect, but probably acceptable to the untrained eye.... The wife says it looks good, so I guess it must! Next test of the sphincter was fitting the new mirrors, which had been sitting on the shelf for the best part of three years - I had been dreading drilling holes in my newly-painted doors, but following guidance taken from the Forum and the Facebook Group, they are on. Although I can see behind in them, I can't see very much at all - per comments made by some other members, I think that switching to convex mirror heads will bring an improvement, so will probably do that. Last job, just completed today, was re-fitting the bright sill covers. I'd been undecided about whether or not to fit them, but ultimately decided that I would; however I'm thinking that I won't bother with the stripe decals, just leave it as it is now.

So at this stage it's pretty much finished - apart from the hardtop, which was re-painted with the rest of the car and is currently suspended from the garage ceiling. More mixed feelings about doing this - I'll be glad to finally get on to putting it back together, but envisage much potential for swearing during the process. Once the hardtop is able to be put on the car it's my intention to pull the hood back out and do some work on it - it looks good because at some point a new cover has been fitted, but doesn't look like a stellar job has been done; also there are some "iffy" bits on the frame. Also sitting on the shelf are new seals to go on the hood.

Thanks to everyone for the support received towards getting this far!


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[STypeR]

Handy to put back the original heater with a donor car!
Nothing like the well designed factory AC system but those hybrid units assembled here were actually reasonably designed and made. Main problem however was since you cannot shut the centre air vents with the design of the car, directing just heat to the footwell is not possible, with hot air coming through the centre vents. Which wasn't such a big problem. Plus, needed a separate thermostat knob and air fan knob, unless you were able to integrate with the factory air fan knob, which I have done, eliminating one extra knob hanging out somewhere.
Despite nothing left in engine bay, is easy to get bits made up. Unit sitting in your garage maybe worth something to someone craving easy AC solution.

[Davo1805NZ]

Hi Davo. Nice looking car! I noticed you ditched the hybrid AC system that was popular with the BL dealers here in Australia in the 70's.

Yes, my car came with the remnants of that AC system, though it appeared to have long been abandoned as there was nothing left of it under the bonnet. I refurbed the heater box from my donor car, which was a basic NZ spec (as per UK), and have fitted that. The unit that was removed is sitting on a shelf in the garage for now, though I don't expect that I'll ever do anything with it.

[Davo1805NZ]

Same boat.. I have also been procrastinating on my needed tonneau cover re- trim for over a year (it faded badly and Aldridge sent a replacement) must get round to that but the power steering is dropping fluid again after 9 months of nothing so I’ll probably go there first.

I also decided not to fit the bright sill covers and like you with I had welded up the holes but they are almost invisible so it’s not a real concern. I considered fitting the thin strips but couldn’t bring myself to drilling even more holes in my well protected sills.

on the chokes, if the cable doesn’t help it may be worth popping them off and checking the tiny holes are clear and they are the correct orientation. I think they can be removed in situ.

Terry

I've got fluid in the V - it's not water, looks like oil - I thought for a while that it was petrol overflowing from the carbs due to too much pressure from the pump, but it doesn't seem to be evaporating... I'm casually ignoring it for the time being while I get on with some of these other bits. Withe the sills, I had wondered about fitting the thin stainless strips as per the earlier Mk2, though these were fitted to the raised moulding at the top of the sill, whereas the retaining strips for the bright covers fit below this moulding - hence my existing holes are in the wrong location. However... I did read in an article in one of the SOC magazines that there was a brief period early in the Stag's evolution where the thin strips were fitted below the moulding - I was contemplating using a bit of artistic licence and following this... But it is something of a moot point as while I have one of these strips which I pulled off my donor car, the other side was too mangled to use.... So the jury is still out for now....

[STypeR]

Hi Davo. Nice looking car! I noticed you ditched the hybrid AC system that was popular with the BL dealers here in Australia in the 70's.

[trunt]

Still plenty of stuff to do - re-trimming of tonneau cover, which I have been procrastinating over, but expect to man-up to during the next week or two... Also, re-fitting of the bright aluminium sill covers - I'd be tempted to leave them off, as I think the car looks OK without them, but the holes for the retaining strips are there (if I'd thought ahead I could have had them welded up before painting). Stripes - I'm seriously thinking I won't bother.

Same boat.. I have also been procrastinating on my needed tonneau cover re- trim for over a year (it faded badly and Aldridge sent a replacement) must get round to that but the power steering is dropping fluid again after 9 months of nothing so I’ll probably go there first.

I also decided not to fit the bright sill covers and like you with I had welded up the holes but they are almost invisible so it’s not a real concern. I considered fitting the thin strips but couldn’t bring myself to drilling even more holes in my well protected sills.

on the chokes, if the cable doesn’t help it may be worth popping them off and checking the tiny holes are clear and they are the correct orientation. I think they can be removed in situ.

Terry

[Davo1805NZ]

Still plenty of stuff to do - re-trimming of tonneau cover, which I have been procrastinating over, but expect to man-up to during the next week or two... Also, re-fitting of the bright aluminium sill covers - I'd be tempted to leave them off, as I think the car looks OK without them, but the holes for the retaining strips are there (if I'd thought ahead I could have had them welded up before painting). Stripes - I'm seriously thinking I won't bother.

I'd fallen into a bit of a hole, trying to set up the carbs, and ended up taking the car to a specialist who has got it running nice now, though I still have a bit of a problem with cold starting, which seems to be down to a knackered choke cable - I have a new one sitting on the shelf but am dreading having to pull things apart to fit it... So currently I'm just enjoying looking at it and driving it - even if I have to warm it up for a few minutes after starting....

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Here it is with its stablemate - the sunny weather prompted me to start it today for the first time in about six months; only took about 6 kicks and she was off for a blast around the 'hood.

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And here's three years' worth of progress...

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[trunt]

I have to re-trim my tonneau as well, been putting it off!

[Davo1805NZ]

Finally got the driver's side door card fitted, after wrestling with it on and off all week!. I had some challenges with the other side but this one was much worse - just about everything required some fettling to get it to fit - the three hooks at the top of the door, the holes for the perimeter clips, hole for the quarterlight knob.... Anyway it's on and looks fine, despite some of the sins it hides I found that I needed some gruntier clips and it may be of interest to other NZ-based members that I tracked some down at a supplier called Basis NZ, who are located near Blenheim. These appear to be similar to the ones stocked by LD Parts, and at a similar price, but quicker to get hold of, being local.

So my two-tone interior is now complete - I quite like it, though not sure if I may have gone a bit far with the armrests... (?) Next job will be re-trimming the tonneau cover - more foam, vinyl and glue to deal with - ugh.

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[brett_smith]

The chuck on the drill on the first door card hit against the vinyl and broke the surface. You can’t see it as it’s under the armrest. So on the second door card I used a longer drill bit and padded the armrest….

[Davo1805NZ]

Thanks Brett,

Use a long drill bit as you can hit the vinyl when the bit breaks through.

Should I ask you how you know this?