Re: practical classic?

Perfect. 4 seats, cheap insurance, mechanically reliable (IME).

A Stag engine reconditioned by a third party (Hart, Ward, Faversham) will run you around £3,500 fitted, so try to negotiate that much off the price of a Stag fitted with anything else. Also, find out who did the Rover conversion and what sort of 'Rover' engine it was (i.e. make sure it didn't come from a Landrover).

Gawd.

A Stag with a Rover engine is pretty much vandalised already, so you aren't making it any worse. The Rover lump weighs about 150lb less than the Stag engine which has major implications for suspension set up, etc. Doesn't LPG involve an extra tank at the back? That's going to be fun.

No. Well, not if you want 4 seats and no roof. There's the Scimitar GTC but they're dogs.

Think some would dispute the four seats. ;-) Well, not the seats as such, but the ability to use them for people.

As original engines (i.e. Triumph's V8) can be made reliable these days, alternative engine will seriously damage market value!!!

However I rate the Rover engine as being just as god in the car as the original and have one as such. The big advantage (for me) is that it would be relatively easy and cheaper to replace should something go wrong. There is a fair bit of knowledge about the conversion as it has been popular.

The conversion should be done to professional standards - if it has a 'bonnet bulge' (to clear Rover carbs) then it is either a very old conversion or it was done too cheaply. Pay attention to qualty of engine mounts and the mounting of the radiator - there are parts to do this properly (such as short-nose water pump) or bodging will be evident!

Using the automatic gearbox is the most straight forward conversion as older Rovers used same 'box. Option to use 5-speed box tasty but quality of workmanship needs to be considered - plenty of opportunity to bodge it!!

I can't see why a good conversion will be any more of a problem than using Stag with original engine. These cars are over 30years old so need tender care - oil changes every 3000 miles for instance! The price of being different. If you cannot give the time or haven't the skills to do straight-forward car maintenance then you'll need to rely on a sympathetic garage. Spare parts are not a problem at all.

There are reports of vibrations at high speed with this conversion. The car may sit higher at the front because the Rover engine is considersbly lighter than the original. Some say the brakes need to be re-balanced for the same reason - I've not read of this being a problem in reality.

Most important of all - Stags rust quite badly if bodywork not pampered. So bodging the body seems to be a popular pastime! ANY holes in the body work indicate that rust has got a good hold elsewhere too. Being a soft-top they rust from the inside too - water gulley's block so rust takes place in the hood stowage area too. Most parts are available to make repairs but that requires a fair bit of skill (and ££££!). I wanted to get my own Stag on the road this summer but the more rust I removed the more I found. So it'll be winter before I drve it!

I hpoe then to use it full time - at 20 mpg it won't be cheap motoring but the burble of that V8, the feel of the wind in the hair and the smooth power (it's a cruiser not a sports car, really) will make it worthwhile...............I hope

You've still got the water pump, jackshaft and timing chain issues.

If you start out with a good Rover engine it will outlast the car.

Trouble is that most of the conversions to get rid of the height of the standard carbs will also result in poorer performance or heavier fuel consumption.

And the model 35 broke regularly...

That's a nonsense on a Rover V-8. Once a year or every 10,000 miles will be fine, using a good oil.

The important point is that new panels must be protected at least as well inside as out. Most don't bother, and they can rust through at an alarming rate.

You should get 30 mpg *at least* when cruising.

You'd loose the 'waffle' which is one of the main pleasures of a Stag?

Think if I were fitting a six, I'd go the whole hog and fit the very best

- which would come from BMW...

The Rover engine is still a better engine, and the "desecration" brings the price down. So go for it and save some money !

BTW - brakes are lousy too (pads too small and prone to overheating), so think about some Rover parts there. I'm not sure what (SD1 Vitesse?) but there's a vented disk set that fits.

A Stag is stil unfeasibly large. If your parking is awkward, you might want to reconsider.

The Rover is a V8, so short and squat like the original Stag. A straight 6 is going to be less like it in proportion. It's 20 years since I Rovered (rogered ?) a Stag, but it was a dead easy swap and I'm not sure a 3l six would be.

Toyota Supra ?

Alfa 75 V6 ? (transaxle could be tricky)

I've heard of them being fitted with the 2.5Pi engine. Seems like a nice compromise ;)

Richard

Cheers all for your advice.

I'm getting the feeling that the novelty value of driving around in a classic car will soon wear off when the thing's rotting round about me.

Back to the drawing board for me. A ford escort maybe?

I reckon some 5 per cent of extant stags have gone to the Triumph 6 usually in 2500 form. It uses a shortened Innsbruck floor pan so the conversion is dead easy, Theres one for sale at a local garage...a landmark at 4995. Jonners

Well, that is a risk, but middle-period Stags ('73 - '75) are the best for this. The early ones are very old and the later ones used Italian steel, which was rusty on delivery to the factory in some cases.

As with all classics, buy the very best you can afford, don't buy the first, look at them with someone who knows them and ask all the awkward questions. Honest cars have nothing to hide.

How about this one?