It’s not supposed to be in this many pieces. It’s supposed to be one piece.
It is, in fact, from a 1970 Triumph Stag – but fitted with a Rover v8 from an SD1. I’ve had this combination before, and it works very well – and one of the “what shall we check before we try to start the damn thing” checklist items should always be the water pump. Sometimes they’re fine, sometimes someone’s filled the cooling system with Radweld, and sometimes the cooling system’s been left open so there’s things living in it.
In this case, I haven’t the faintest idea what all the white gunk is that was throughout the coolant passages, but I’m betting the cause of whatever overheating event that occurred was the water pump being in many pieces.
The fact that none of it is even connected to the spindle probably means it didn’t move much water either!
This is a 2000 Jaguar XJR, which has recently found its way onto my driveway. This photo was taken as it came off the trailer, having been covered in the best of Arizona and New Mexico on its journey here to sunny San Antonio. The colour is an interesting one – Jaguar call it “carnival red”, but I’m not sure what kind of carnival they’re referring to. The guy selling the car described it as “merlot”, and that’s perhaps a little more apt.
I had to sell the XJ8 last November, and I missed it rather a lot – which is why this one has now appeared and will (hopefully) be driven the 2,100 miles back home later this month.
98-01 XJs have a couple of big flaws that mean they’re ridiculously cheap for what they are. The first is the cylinder liners – Jaguar (along with BMW, VW, and a few others) used Nikasil liners from 98 for about three years.. and it turns out they don’t like high-sulphur fuel very much. Jaguar also decided that they’d save about 50g of weight by making the timing chain tensioners plastic rather than metal.. so when they disintegrate, they disintegrate quite catastrophically. Both of these “issues” were addressed later in the run of the X308 Jag; updated tensioners are available to fix that problem, and any Jag that’s still running with good compression at 12 years old is likely not going to suffer liner problems anytime soon.. in fact, a Nikasil-engined Jag that’s lasted ’till now will likely keep going for a very long time indeed.
If you’re a fan of Internet-based paranoia, you’ll know that the other well-publicised failure in these cars is the transmission. The XJ8 has a ZF-sourced gearbox that eats A-drums for breakfast. The fact that they’re marked as “sealed for life”… and consequently no one changes the fluid or filters.. is nothing to do with it. Oh no. The big problem with this flaw is that there’s no warning of imminent failure. It’s just CLUNKmmmfmmmfmmmffthpppbt.
The XJR has a different, Mercedes-sourced box which is supposedly much more reliable.. but this remains to be seen!
It’s amazing how much lighter a car is if you remove the doors, windows, windscreens, bonnet, and most of the front end. It is, however, not amazing how blue it is if you paint it in the bluest bluey blue paint imaginable.
This is a(nother) 1980 Rover SD1 3500. For some reason, I keep ending up with them.. this is my third.
Don't my headlights look fantastic?
This one lived in Salem before I got my grubby mitts on it, and spent a while sitting in a field. Unlike the other SD1 I had a couple of years ago, this one is a NAS model and is totally stock.. hence the slightly cross-eyed front end and the correct wheels. It’s also been oddly resprayed in its original colour of Platinum (oh really, British Leyland?), but fortunately still has the original awesome two-tone brown velour interior.
It had the usual electrical gremlins, which required a bunch of relays, a Jaguar XJ6 fuel pump, and lots of swearing. It now drives and stops when it’s supposed to, and doesn’t seem over-inclined to catching fire. So far, it’s only moved around the driveway and back, but as it’s got a bizarre custom exhaust system it sounds a bit.. well.. frisky.
I’ve had six Triumph Stags now. I currently have three, and none of them are driveable. I haven’t driven one (legally) on the road since 2004. They are a nightmare from every single conceivable angle, and any sane person would run a mile from them.
However, last week I did this.
I don't really like wire wheels either.
This is a ’71 Stag. It’s supposed to be Carmine Red, but some genius has had it resprayed in a hideous pink/red metallic flip, and then sanded a bunch of it down where the paint guy took a tea break. It’s got its original drivetrain, the interior is fairly good, and the soft top hasn’t seen an erection since 1981.
Unfortunately, seeing as it’s got its original drivetrain, it doesn’t run right. It would barely cough and wheeze its way onto a trailer last month, and the previous “owner” had a bunch of head work done in order to fix a problem that’s nothing to do with the head. Fortunately, I no longer have to worry about burnt exhaust valves – instead, I have to deal with a blown water pump graphite seal, different height head gaskets, a badly-skimmed inlet manifold, and a front choke secured with zip ties.. and that’s before I get to any of the obstacles British Leyland or Lucas put in the way of being the world’s best car.
Clarkson has a point. The Triumph v8 is a total dog of an engine. Sure, in running order, it’s fantastic.. and to some extent, the problems are well understood and fixes are available.. but for most people, ripping the damn thing out and stuffing a small block Chevy in there is the obvious option. Ignoring the enormous weight difference, it is far simpler to work on.
The more obvious global fix is the Rover v8 – which probably should’ve been in there in the first place – and sheer pigheadedness is what prevented it from being in there in the first place. Go British Leyland, eh.
See how flat that back tyre is? This car last moved in 2002.
This is a 1970 Triumph Stag. It was owned by a stupid person in the Bay Area. It’s now sitting in my driveway, close enough to be mine but far enough away that it won’t start (another) fire when I start it.
It’s got a Rover v8 mated to the original 4-speed o/d box, and has a hole in the gas tank big enough to put your arm through. It also uses more oil than fuel, but it’s right hand drive, yellow, and mine.
Also, notice how the doors don’t fit right? They’re original – as proved by the reams of photos and receipts that came with it – but they are composed almost entirely of rust and filler. That’s OK, because the car came with four new doors (yes, it’s a two door with six doors), but I have one honeysuckle door, one french blue door, one mallard blue door, and one green door now. Aren’t I lucky?
I figured I’d start with this one.. the point of this little page is to stop people asking me questions about how many cars I’ve got and what state they’re all in. At the last count, I have thirteen.. and all bar one have run at some point in the last year.
So let’s start with a picture of a red car with a yellow roof…
