Peter,
Really now, don't be hostile.
There was no intention on my part to flame TR6s. They are pretty nice and
very popular cars with the Sports Car and British Car people.Their engines
are fantastic, no arguments. Durable cars, fun, etc.
But you know I've just read a long Flame on Stags, and the message was
misleading. Yes, Stag engine heads warp due to overheating and/or loose
headbolts. But there again, as you said, if simple maintenance is done there
shouldn't be much trouble. If the headbolts are kept tight and one maintains
one's car in tune, it shouldn't overheat either. This prevents warped head
problems. A TR6 engine"fix" is no different than a V6 "fix" I've seen in
TR6s.
Of the 10 Stags I've known, 7 had no head problems (They did their
maintenance), 6 had their timing chains last over 100,000 miles. Of the 3
with head problems, 2 were due to not keeping head bolts tight, the other to
carb problems. The Stag is sensitive to tuning and other issues that cause an
engine to run warm.
Where you mention the Stag engine as its weak point, look at TR6s. I've known
about 35 TR6s over the years. Front right diff bolts? Shock conversions?
Front wishbone probs? Trailing arms that crack? Rear suspension frame tower?
Front frame where the suspension is attached? Etc, etc. These are chronic
problems that require fixing and/or engineering to correct. Everyone I have
known with a TR6 has many problems, most love their cars and do maintain
them.
Let's not get into a war, we all are Triumph enthusiasts. A TR6 person wrote
their opinion about Stags (they also owned one, when fixed, probably won't
give too much trouble). I wrote my opinion about TR6s, it seems everything
has problems on them except their engines. From my experience, TR6s have far
more problems than Stags, about a 3:1 ratio.You dispute that, based on your
experience of one TR6. Yours is the first I've heard of that hasn't had many
problems. I'm sure there are more with histories like yours, but we make our
opinions based upon our experience and credible knowledge input. For me, the
overwhelming evidence is a properly tuned and head torqued Stag has no
regular problems, a TR6 has design flaws for handling the weight (of the
engine and body) and torque output.
The real problem is British manufacture in the late 60s and entire 70s. Labor
unrest, sabotage, sloppy workmanship, cash shortages forcing cars to market
before they were ready (often over the protests of the engineers), and build
quality that was only poor to average in most cases. This situation caused
the diff bolt problems and front suspension problems on TR6s, and head bolt
design and alloy quality problems on Stags. All models suffered from sludge
and sand in their blocks, due to sloppy post-casting work. The Stag is more
sensitive to the sand and sludge, it has less tolerance for lost ability to
heat transfer.
So, peace brother. We are both enthusiasts of the Marque. We both have our
preferred models, and I guess each wouldn't want to buy the other's.
Are you sure a TR6 could beat a Stag? A Stag loves to cruise 85-90 mph, 0-60
time I don't have a comparison. The 0-60 is 9.9 sec, 40-60 is 5.3 sec, 50-70
is 5.9 sec. Top speed is 123mph. (TR6 is 110, I believe) Power to weight is
20.7 lbs/hp. I don't know the specs on TR6s, would you care to share? I would
be interested to know them.
What's with the comment about GT6? Are they supposed to be or not be
reliable? I've never known anyone with one. Wouldn't mind owning one, either.
There's one MkIII down the street in Carmine Red, looks fantastic shape.
So please, understand my comments as a reflection of what I've seen. Yours
reflect what you've seen. We all need to support our Marque and British cars
in general. If divided we all lose. Yes, that applies to MGs too.
Michael
Godafoss@AOL.com
Palo Alto, CA
1977 Spitfire
1973 Stag
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