Requiem for a Stag

A real tear-jerker in the Stag Digest today. Lots of support from the other Stag owners for this guy to start over and not give up. No more whining from me!


On 19/12/11 11:43, Jonathan Belsey wrote:
> After 25 years of tinkering with my Stag it all came to an end at 11.30 on
> Saturday night, when someone set fire to the barn it was stored in.
>
> I first bought my 1971 manual o/d in 1987 and ran it as my everyday car for
> a couple of years. Once it became apparent it was slowly dissolving, I had
> to make a decision and decided to carry out a slow restoration as time and
> money permitted. If I had known then that the restoration would still be
> going on 20 years later I might have made a different decision!
>
> The Stag followed me through three house moves and a divorce. My two
> children - both nearly adult now - have never known a house without Dad's
> Stag somewhere out the back!
>
> I took out the old engine and had to immerse it in a 50 gallon drum of
> diesel for three months before the heads would budge. Stripped out and had
> the block re-bored and the crank shaft reground. All new cylinders and con
> rods. Unbelievably found a pair of brand new old stock cylinder heads that
> had been in someone's garage for 20 years and lovingly rebuilt these with
> new springs. Painstakingly restored the gearbox myself (paid someone else to
> do the overdrive!). Went to evening class to learn how to weld, so I could
> repair the bodywork. Got a friend who used to work in the paintshop at Aston
> Martin to respray the body.  Stripped and renovated the suspension and
> steering from three other donor stags to make a single good set. Rewired the
> car from front to back. All new electrics. Got all the brightwork re-chromed
> by a local company who do it on site.
>
> It was all ready for the final push. It just needed the seats and carpets
> doing and the soft-top replacing and it would be ready to go. Maybe I would
> drive it next summer (yes I know I've said that every year since 1996!)
>
> And then on Saturday night some bastard lit a bonfire against the wall of
> the barn.
>
> The first anyone knew about it was when a can of cleaning fluid exploded and
> set the upholstery of the car seats on fire. The fire brigade came quickly -
> they even managed to save my tools. But the car..... not a speck of paint
> left on it. The brand new untested wiring loom burned to a cinder. The
> polyurethane suspension bushes dripping down in bright yellow trails to the
> floor. The tyres melted. Windscreen shattered. Seats just skeletal frames. A
> stack of spare wheels melted into an unrecognisable mass of alloy. Total
> devastation covered in black soot and swimming in water from the hoses.
>
> What will I do? It wasn't insured. I think the engine and gearbox are OK.
> Even the body doesn't look distorted, so I could probably start all over
> again and get it re-sprayed and replace all the destroyed components.
> Probably strip the engine and gearbox again (it's never even run!) to check
> the oil seals haven't been damaged. But I don't think my heart's in it. To
> be frank I'm totally stunned at the moment - it feels like I've lost a
> friend! I suspect I'll put what remains on e-bay and move on but right now
> I'm in mourning.
>
> Anyone fancy a really challenging restoration job for Christmas?