This is the End to a Sad Story

[GOPAPA]

So If you can't handle sad stories then stop Reading at least after the first paragraph.. . LOL

My friend Bob bought a 1978 Triumph Stag about 6 years ago . It has real nice leather interior and also a great looking cherry wood dash. The body is in darn nice shape only needing a paint job. Low miles Car.He paid $7,500 for it.

What Bob told me was that he didn't know that this peticular year had a terrible motor and sure enough the motor was just that. So he looked and found a Machanic and was talked into installing a 305 V8 motor out of Camero and also a 350 turbo transmission. Also Fuel Injected .

On top of having this Camero engine and tranny installed the machanic put in electric fans in all the places he could to keep the engine cool ..leaving no room to even think of maintaining the motor. And after working on it for 2 years it still didn't run very well at all and one more thing it was some 100 miles from Bobs residence. Kind of hard to check on your vehicle when it's that far away.

So Bob decided to go get the Stag and bring it home and after paying the machanic $10,000 for the work he had done he drove it home . The machanic told him that the reason why he couldnt time it correctly is that he could not find the year of the Camero motor and the specs he needed to re-adjust the brain .He took all the back roads he could and it died at every stop light and stop sign . A 100 mile trip to his house .

I told Bob that maybe he could carb it and do away with the F.I. ,,so he found a shop close by this time and they found a way to get it running and I believe it still has the F.I. in it but not sure . So for another $2,500 he now has a running car that he no longer wants.
Talked to him the other day and he said some one from Canada might buy it for $5,500

He also told me that he has over $20,000 into it and never drove it anywhere except home when he bought it and 200 miles to the machanic and back and over to this last machanic and home .

It just doesn't get any Worse,,now ,,does it . papa

THE END is Just below

Bob did sell the car to a guy from Canada ,,but there is a little more that happens even trying to get rid of it. The guy wants to meet half way because of gas prices . So Bob meets him at the Train Station in Seattle with the car. Remember the deal was $5500 right? Well ,,the guy says he hasn't got that much money and says he has $5400.
Bob says no way ! We made a deal and it was for $5500 and if you don't have it I am driving it back home. So when the guy seen Bob was serious he said wait a minute I will look in my car with my friend and see if I can come up with the rest..

So the final deal was cut short $5 and Bob sold the car for $5495.. He's happy all the same and so I guess you might say this story does have a happy ending if Bob is happy and that's all that counts. Right ? LOL LD

[Jazgeek]

sorry to hear about the fiasco. you rarely get what you pay into restoration especially not modification to that extent.

All I suggest is that when you're in the market for this vintage or flavor of vehicle that you do all your research up front, estimate what you'll need and estimate what you want then add 40% because you know it's going to cost more.

partly the reason why I chose a fiat was the bullet proof engine... it's kind of hard to kill these things and the engine's the only thing I'm not comfortable working on. Everything else I can manage but I know I'm going to have to pay a mechanic to work on the engine so I wanted one that was as reliable as feasibly possible given the vehicles age.

Tell Bob that it's probably the worst time of the year to sell his car... he should wait for the spring or early summer and get a couple G more for it.

[Curly]

The Stag motor (2.5 litre V8 if I remember correctly) does seem to have a pretty poor reputation for reliability. Over here a common swap is to fit the 3.5 litre alloy Rover V8 that was used in the Triumph TR8, MGB GT V8, Range Rovers and so on. In some models thay came with twin SU Carbs, the later variants were fitted with injection, so the choice is there.
A shame about your friend's predicament, perhaps he could be persuaded to spend the $5500 on a nice reliable Spider

[GOPAPA]

[quote="Jazgeek"]sorry to hear about the fiasco. you rarely get what you pay into restoration especially not modification to that extent.

All I suggest is that when you're in the market for this vintage or flavor of vehicle that you do all your research up front, estimate what you'll need and estimate what you want then add 40% because you know it's going to cost more.

partly the reason why I chose a fiat was the bullet proof engine... it's kind of hard to kill these things and the engine's the only thing I'm not comfortable working on. Everything else I can manage but I know I'm going to have to pay a mechanic to work on the engine so I wanted one that was as reliable as feasibly possible given the vehicles age.

Tell Bob that it's probably the worst time of the year to sell his car... he should wait for the spring or early summer and get a couple G more for it.[/quote

I think he's burnt out on any older car now.. I will tell him about the timeing of selling a car though ,thx for the tip. papa