07x05 - Triumph Stag

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler
Dealers, the show that buys

classic cars and brings
them back to their best.

Now I buy the cars and then
I hand them over to Ed here.

And I give them a lick of paint
and then sort out all of the oily bits.

And then we hopefully are
going to sell them on for a profit.

Well at least that's the plan.

This time I'm going to pull on the tweed
jacket and dust off the old flat cap as

I'm on the hunt for a
famous British sports car.

Yes, we're going to track down a crowd-pleaser
of a classic car, the Triumph Stag.

But why do people love the Stag so much?

Maybe it's the
pitch-perfect 3.0-litre V8, or

the practical 2-plus-2
layout with a chrome-laden

overbody that refuses to
look anything less than cool.

Or could it be this all-British motor just
serves up bucket loads of driving pleasure?

I can't say for sure, but I do
know I can't wait to get one.

But with a budget of only five
grand, will I find a Stag that's straight?

Now if you're looking
to buy a Triumph Stag,

my advice is to look
for an original car.

Me, I'm going to go for a nice
straight car with very little rust.

I also want one with the
original V8 Triumph engine.

They were prone to overheating, so a lot
of people dropped in the bigger 3.5-litre

Rover engine, but that does
take away from the car's originality.

They made 27,000 Stags
so you can always find one.

Check out classic car websites.

Prices range from a grand to more than 15.

Five grand is about the
starting price for a decent V8.

I want to buy low and sell high.

I'm looking at 3-4k,
so I'm just sorting

through every single
low-money ad out there,

looking for a car that hasn't
been eaten alive by rust.

I've found a couple of
cars that could fit the bill.

There's one here.

It's in red.

It's got a detachable hardtop.

It's also got electric windows, black
hard trim, power assisted steering.

That will help.

Great bodywork.

It's got the original V8
engine, very important for me.

£4,200.

It may be a touch too much
money, but it could be worth a look.

Plus, there's another one.

This one's on an auction site.

It looks good in the pictures.

It's a Mark 1 1972, automatic,
again with the original V8 engine.

So I think both of those
cars are worth a visit.

An early morning sees me on the road.

I'm excited.

For me, seeing a stag is
like meeting an old friend.

Right, it's the red one.

I'm off to see first.

I'm a little bit worried
that this guy might

want a bit too much
money for it, but if

it's as clean as he says it
is, it could be worth paying

the extra dodge, and it
would be a very rare thing.

A rust-free stag.

Imagine that.

Hello, mate.

You must be Geoff.

I am.

I'm Geoff.

Mike.

Oh, Mike, pleased to meet you.

Come and see the stag.

Oh, come on.

Oh, it's a good-looking car, isn't it?

I like it.

How long you had it?

I've had it for over seven years now.

Over seven years?

For quite a long time.

And why are you getting rid of it?

Well, in that time, I haven't
got any garage facilities.

The days of me actually
working on a car are long

past, and it's starting
to go, as you can see.

I can see you.

And it needs a little bit of TLC.

Listen, I hope you don't
mind, but I bought a torch along

because I was going to
have a little poke underneath.

Is that okay?

Why don't you just help yourself?

Because I expect that, yeah, look at that.

Look, it's a little bit
rusty, but the more

you point your torch, the
more rush you tend to find.

In fact, if I was to be honest with you,
Geoff, I know it's pretty quick, this, but

although on the face of
it, it's a genuine nice car,

there's quite a bit of work
needs doing underneath.

With a classic car, don't
let your heart rule your head.

I wanted this car to be rust-free,
but it needs a new floor pan.

There's almost no way I could
turn a profit on it, so it's a no.

I'm just going to walk away from this one.

Thanks for sharing it to me.

Cheers.

Right, fingers crossed.

The white one that I'm
off to see is a lot better.

The car's on an Internet auction site.

We've bid in currently at £2,300.

Not bad for a car with


Cold, grey, miserable, dank,
not ideal weather to see a car.

And there it is, the Triumph Stag.

Wow.

Actually, he looks all right, doesn't he?

A lot better than it does in the pictures.

Hello.

Hello, you must be Andrew.

Indeed, yes.

Andrew, how are you?

Nice to meet you.

Come round to see the Stag.

I'm Mike.

What a lovely looking car, Andrew.

It is rather good, thank you.

I don't think the pictures did it justice.

How long have you had it?

Ten years.

Ten years?

And in ten years you never
thought of repairing things like this?

No, this roof needs a bit of attention.

It's got a little split here as
well, and one on the other side.

Your advert does say it
could do with some attention,

but I think you'll find that
needs a new roof, doesn't it?

Right, got a new roof on
if I was keeping it, yeah.

Oh, it is lovely and original in here.

It is genuine British Leyland leatherette.

It is leatherette, isn't it?

And 1970s dust by the look of it.

Look at the state of it.

It has sat for three years in the garage.

Do you not have any furniture Polish?

When I'm in the car, we drive it.

We don't Polish it.

Right, let's have a look under the bonnet.

Now, you said it's got the original engine?

Yeah, three litre V8 Triumph.

Wow, look at it. That is fantastic.

There's a bit of an oil leak.

Quite a nasty oil leak coming off the...
Yeah, again, it's sat for three years.

I sort of assume that's
a rocker cover gasket

that's just dried
out, but I don't know.

I bet you that leaves a
nasty pool on your driveway.

Well, in the garage, on the carpet.

In the garage, yeah, OK.

All right, can I start her up?

Yep.

Is that all right?

That sounds fantastic.

Oh, that really does
sound good, doesn't it?

It does burble along. Beautiful.

It's lovely and straight
on bodywork, isn't it?

Usually you can tell
immediately if they start to rust.

They go on the wheel arches and you
want to start digging around underneath.

But this one looks really
straight on the seals.

That's fantastic.

I mean, listen to that noise.

That burble.

It does sound lovely.

I'd love to take it for a spin.
Is that possible?

No problem at all.

Thank you very much. I won't be long.

They certainly knew how
to make cars back in the 70s.

This stag is awesome.

I love the torque coming
from that Triumph V8.

I also love the raspy.

Oh, gorgeous.

Exhaust note coming from
that stainless steel exhaust.

Up front is 145 brake horsepower.

Now, that's not powerful
these days, but let me tell you,

when your bum is that far off the ground,

it feels quick, really quick.

This car's got so much grim factor.

Do you know, potentially,
this could be a very good stag.

There's just those things that let it down.

The bright workers lost its sparkle

and coupled together with
a roof that's got the tear in it

and filling up the car with fumes.

It's not a nice place to
be, but I think just with

a little bit of a lift, we
can turn this car around,

and you could make it
something really special.

Am I going to buy this stag?

Well, if I can make the
figures work, I'd like to.

Still, I can't have it now as a sell-up
won't end the Internet auction early for me,

so I'm going to do my
best to win it online.

Absolutely love the
way that... It's so good.

Puts a smile in your face.

It's lovely.

I'm so pleased I've come down to see it.

Excellent.

I am going to make a bid on it.

Fabulous. Nice to know.

Hopefully, you're going
to see me back here.

Thank you very much for the time.

I don't want to overpay for the
car, but it's so good body-wise,

I reckon it's worth up to four grand,

so that will be my maximum bid.

I'll find out in three now
biting hours if it's mine.

I'm back in the workshop, and I've
just received some really good news.

I've just had an email that says,

congratulations, you are the successful
winner of one try and stag at 3,400 quid.

Yes, I'm going to go and get it.

Oh, there she is, just like I remember her.

Fantastic. I'm so pleased I
won the bid and bought the car.

I'm very pleased you did
as well, thank you very much.

Did you get the money you was looking for?

About what I was expecting, thanks.

Super.

Well, listen, I can't
wait to get it on the road.

What have I got?

Paperwork.

Super.

Keys.

Lovely, thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

So I've got a British classic
car, but have I got it right?

Find out after the break what Ed
thinks of our beautiful try and stag.

Our mission is to buy
and restore a classic

car, and we've got a
budget of five grand.

Just 3,400 quid,

bag me this fine stag from
an Internet auction site.

Paperwork.

Super.

Keys.

Lovely, thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

And it's time to get back to the workshop.

There's 100 miles to go,

and it should be a treat for
me in this great British rag top.

But they're known for overheating,

so I hope this one can take the pressure.

I think the smile says it all.

Sometimes I surprise myself
how good I am at this job.

I've got a try and stag,

a straight, honest, original try and stag

with that V8 engine.

Oh, I'm so lucky.

It's such a salty car.

Just needs a little bit
of tidying up the room,

cleaning it up,

and we've got a winner on our end.

Oh, we're going to be in the money.

I can't wait to see the look on Ed's face

when I'll bring this baby
back to the workshop.

If entry-level cars are 5K,

I don't see any reason why
we couldn't get six grand

or more for this car when
Ed's done the business.

Hey, look at this.

A very moist stag.

It is a very moist stag.

It's got really wet towards
the end of the journey,

and this roof is a bit leaky,
Ed, to be honest with you.

There's a few little holes in the
back here as well, isn't there?

But I'm not that bothered,

because at the end
of the day, I've done

these before, and
they're not that hard to do.

Look how straight the car is, Ed.

And the interior as well, though.

The seats are pretty
nice, the carpet's a bit dirty,

but really, nothing too bad in here,

but I'm actually interested
mostly in the engine.

This has got the proper... Are
you ready? The proper Triumph V8.

Oh, that's cool,

because they sometimes convert
them to later ones, but that's lovely.

Isn't it nice? Isn't it gorgeous?

It's got a little bit of an oil leak coming
from the back of the rocker covers.

The previous owner
reckoned it was just a dry

gasket and you could
change it in no time at all.

Give me five minutes,
I'm sure it'll be fine.

Now, something I am aware of on these cars,

especially the old V8, is that
they used to overheat a bit.

Now, I'm sure this engine is fine, but if
we want to make this car absolutely mint,

it would be making sense to
actually change the water hoses,

maybe even look at the radiator,
to be absolutely sure it's right.

To make this car more usable.

Exactly.

Spot on.

Exactly.

The one thing I am proud of,
Ed, is just how straight this car is.

You'll be pleased to know there
is no rust on this car whatsoever.

Well, that's all very well.

I mean, you said there's no rust.

What about this kind of
pitted bumper, for a start?

I had a good idea about that.

I thought if we took all
the jewellery off the car,

all the bright work, got it all re-chromed,
in the meantime, you tiny up the body,

when it all gets bolted back on...
It will look very special indeed.

And then, we will have
a very rare old beast.

I quite like this stag
that Mike's bought us.

The bodywork sound,
the interior looks good,

but it hasn't been a daily
driver for quite some time now,

so there's loads of mechanical
things for me to get stuck into.

The first job I want to tackle is that
leak coming from the engine bay,

and it's coming from right at the top of
the engine, underneath the cam cover.

So it's up with the
bonnet, and on with the job.

The cam cover gasket is the seal between
the cam cover and the cylinder head.

They often fail on old British sports cars,

so many Triumph enthusiasts
will recognise this next job.

Now, that engine is a glorious British V8,

but it's not the Rover engine
everybody knows and loves.

It's the rather less known Triumph unit.

Now, it does have a wondrous growl, and
Mike says it pulls like an express train.

But this little leak down here
means that all is not well with

our cam cover gasket, and that
is a rather thick cork membrane

that seals between the
cylinder head and our cam cover.

So, it's spanner time.

The air box clips straight off,

and then I just have
to remove the air filter,

and then the air intake beneath it.

So far, so straightforward.

Judging by the condition
of the parts I'm taking off,

this engine has been well looked after.

With all of that out of the way,

I can unscrew and remove the
cam cover and get to the gasket.

Let's have a look at this.

Well, there doesn't seem
to be any obvious damage.

I think really the only reason we've got
a leak at all is just because of old age.

It's perished, it's gone
kind of hard and crispy,

rather than being lovely and soft.

And so, of course, when
the engine heats up and

cools down, the metal
parts kind of move around,

and this just isn't doing its sealing job.

So, what we need to do is remove
that and replace it for a brand new one.

Now, it has been stuck down in
a few places with a bit of sealant.

I'm going to be using a scraper.

I could use something like
a razor blade or whatever,

but, of course, it would
have to be quite a blunt one,

because I'd be very careful
I don't damage the surface

of either the cylinder
head or of this cam cover.

So, very simply, just work it through here.

Let it lift up nice and easily.

Okay, well, that can now go in the bin.

A dab of degreaser gets rid of the
last bits of debris around the seam,

and I may as well spruce
up the cover as well.

Now, the cam cover is lovely and clean,

so the next thing I need
is a nice new gasket.

So, I've got one here.

If I was just to place this into position,

or even on the car for that matter,
and then try and clamp it all down,

chances are I could
get it slightly squiffy,

and then, of course,
if I was to clamp it in

the wrong position,
it wouldn't do its job.

It wouldn't seal properly.

So, a nice top tip to get
yourself some silicone sealant

and just run a nice bead all the way
around the outside, nothing too big,

and then that way you can
then put the gasket into position,

hold it in place, leave
it for, say, 15 minutes,

and then when you
go to put it onto the car,

the gasket will be in
exactly the right position.

Very useful.

If you asked a garage to change
the cam cover gaskets for you,

they would probably charge you around £60,

so it's well worth having a go yourself.

So, now, the next thing is the gasket.

I'm going to kind of get this right first
time if I can, so take it nice and easy.

The cork gasket needs to be
pushed firmly onto the silicone,

and any excess sealant
should be wiped away.

What I'm going to do now is
pop it over on the other side,

let the weight of the cam
cover just keep that cork

in position and leave it
about 15 minutes or so,

get that silicone to dry, and
then I can pop this onto the car.

While the cam cover is drying,

I'm making sure that the surface
of the head is just as clean.

Otherwise, you could
end up with another leak.

Cylinder head is lovely and clean,

so now it's time to get our cam cover
with our gasket in position into position.

And just pop that over there.

Very, very careful I
don't knock the gasket,

but the silicone should have
set by now, so that should be fine.

Now, when it comes to
doing these nuts and bolts up,

it does pay not to crush the cork gasket.

They don't like it very much, and of
course it's going to end up leaking again.

Just get it tight enough, you kind of
get a feeling when it stops compressing.

And then, probably in a
thousand miles time or so,

just give it another
nip up just to be sure.

Now I can reassemble the air intake.

But just before I put the air box
back on, there's one more job.

As the car is a V8,
there's a second bank of

cylinders and therefore a
second head and cam cover.

So I may as well replace its gasket too.

It's only a couple more quid.

That's all done.
Back on with the cam cover.

And back with the air box.

Now I need to get the engine up
to temperature and check the leaks.

Let there be none.

Well, I've had the engine
running for a while now,

so if there are going to be any leaks,

I should be able to see
them with my trusty torch here.

Everything looks really good.

So it seems that the gaskets are
doing their job of sealing rather well.

So with this job done, we're getting
off to a flying start with our stag.

The Triumph Stag has a bit of a
checkered reputation for overheating,

so I've come down to this busy industrial
state to meet a guy called Tony Hart.

Now Tony is a bit of a classic car guru.

In fact, he founded the Stag Owners Club,

and he has a cure for
that overheating problem.

Oh, wow! Look at this place.

Hi, guys, you alright? Are you Tony?

That's me.

Tony, how are you?

Very well, isn't it?

Wow, look at that.
An original Triumph V8, just like ours.

That's it, yeah.

Now they had a nasty reputation
for overheating. Why is that?

Really down to poor maintenance.

People don't flush out the cooling system

and keep antifreezing all year
round to stop the aluminium corroding,

and what happens
is the silt goes into the

radiator, blocks the
radiator up, it runs hot.

Then, after a period of
time, head gaskets blow.

Take it into the garage,
they do the head gaskets,

but they don't bother to look
to why the head gaskets blew.

Six months later, same thing
happens, head gaskets go.

So, Tony, what is the cure?

Do you need to change these
hoses and do something to rad?

Yeah, make sure all the hoses are in
good condition, not starting to crack up,

and change the radiator,
the Super Guild rad that I

developed in the late 70s,
and that will cure your problems.

Fantastic.

Well, I can see around us
we've got some lovely motors,

but I can't see any parts.

Upstairs.

Oh, let's have a look.

So, is this your little
workshop up here, Tony?

This is my little den of workshop.

Very good.
Now, what have we got here, then?

Right, that's the standard
core, not a stag radiator,

but that's the standard core
construction that British Leyland used.

Right, so this would be a standard
radiator that everyone would have?

Yep.

And what's this one, then, the Super Guild?

This is the Super Guild, round.

And what we've got here is a
totally different core construction.

I can see the gills are
actually much bigger on

wider space than they
are on the old radiator.

So that means that the
airflow is better, does it?

Airflow is better and
cooling is much better.

Just cause the water down.

Exactly.

It's a really simple thing, isn't it?

Very simple.

Right, so I need one of these.

Yep, no problem.

How much is this?





Yep, not a problem.

How much today?



So about 280 quid all in all?

Yep.

Super, I'll have that.

Okay.

Ed's gonna be world
pleased with this clever new fix

and once he plums it in, our stack's gonna
be one of the most reliable on the road.

So far we've shelled out less than 300 quid
getting our stack closer to perfection.

But you can never take
anything for granted with

a 35 year old car and
there may be trouble ahead.

This is Wheeler Dealers and
we're restoring a Triumph stack.

I got it for silly money.



But we've got our work cut out.

The chrome has seen
better days, the hood is tatty

and it has a savage
reputation for overheating.

But I've done something clever about that

and Ed's gonna think
Christmas has come early.

Ed?

Alright mate.

How are you buddy?

Good.

How you getting on with that stack?

It's going really well actually.

I've sorted out the cam cover gasket

so there's no more oil
leaks from the engine bay.

I thought I'd have a look
at the cooling system.

Any joy with that?

Yes. I met this really
interesting guy called Tony.

He's developed a
solution that means that the

stack can now compete
with modern traffic.

And you might think it's big
fans and electronic systems

but actually it comes down to
one thing and that is simply this.

A radiator.

Not just any radiator.

This is a Supergill radiator.

That's really groovy.

I don't suppose you'd bother
to get the hoses and the clips?

Of course I did Edward.

It's all in the car.

Alright, I'll pop it on.

Swapping a rad shouldn't ruin your day.

First, undo the bottom hose on the radiator
to drain the water out of the system.

Which of course will have to be
disposed of at a recycling centre.

Then disconnect the top hose.

Finally, behind this panel,
there are two nuts I need to undo

which secure the bottom
of the rad to the car.

Now everything's disconnected from
the radiator so it should just lift out.

It might be a little bit heavy
because it's mostly brass.

There we go, one rubbish
radiator removed from our stack.

Before I plumb in the new rad

I can put on the hoses that
Mike has kindly bought for me.

Old hoses crack and fail and ours are probably
nearing the end of their natural life.

So this makes perfect sense.

I'm also going to swap the other hoses

which are harder to get to,
buried deep in the engine bay.

Now this one's slightly more complicated.

because it's not just
rubber, it's actually got

a rusty steel tube that
goes between the two there.

The reason the steel one is in there at all

is because if you had a long
length of rubber tube like that

there's a tendency for
it to perhaps collapse

and of course effectively
work like a valve

and then stop any flow of liquids
which would not be good at all.

So they have put a steel
pipe in there for a good reason

but of course now it's
rusty, it's no use at all.

The new one is stainless steel which
means it's going to last a lot longer.

So while it's off the car I'm
just going to try and set this up

so I've got the right pipes
for the job in the right place.

A comprehensive kit with well made parts

makes this an easy job that
I'd recommend you try yourself.

Now I'm ready for the
new rad, but will it fit?

Okay, now this radiator
is just a little bit bigger.

than our original one but it's
obviously designed to go into this space

so hopefully it'll just
drop in and fit like a glove.

Brilliant, it fits!

Now it's just a matter of attaching
our new hoses to our new radiator.

Nearly there is the last hose.

it's the top hose for the radiator
and like all of the other hoses

I've been securing it in
place with a Jubilee clip.

An amazing fact is that
these things have been around.

even longer than Mike.

They were invented in 1921

by Commander Lumley
Robinson of the Royal Navy.

and they've been doing
a fantastic job ever since.

And while you reflect on
other momentous motoring

moments I'll just top up
the system with coolant.

This is tap water mixed
with 50% antifreeze.

You should change this annually.

Now let's get that coolant circulating
so I can bleed any air out of the system.

The engine needs to be at working
temperature with the thermostat fully open.

Any air bubbles will be
forced around the system

and then vented naturally out
through the open bleed screw.

Time to find out if the
new rad actually works.

If I just check my temperature Gauge
yep, it's stuck on a rock solid normal

so it would seem that our radiator
upgrade has worked beautifully

and we can now say with
confidence that even on the

hottest of days our triumph
will remain lovely and cool.

Mike's anxious for our stag to really
stand out from the crab when we sell it on

but unfortunately the
chromework is rather

letting our classic
little sports car down.

The weather's got to it.

In some places the chrome is a bit dull in
others it's starting to get a bit pitted.

Now Mike's solution is to rip
it all off and get it re-chromed

but actually that's
going to be rather pricey

and I reckon I can
rescue at least some of it

with some good old
fashioned spit and Polish.

You know what they say, time is money.

Spend a load of hours and just
£2.50 on a tube of metal cleaner

and you could save hundreds
on the cost of a re-chrome.

Now there's no real trick to this.

just loads of metal Polish and
hard work in equal measure.

It's not a job I enjoy doing

but on a car like this it's
going to make all the difference.

As the saying goes
the devil is in the detail.

There's no point working
flat out on a car's mechanics

only to let the side
down with the close up.

The bright work is coming up
fine but it's not all good news.

Now I did say that I could
rescue most of the bright work

but no amount of polishing is ever
going to get rid of this horrible dent

on the front bumper here
so I think the best thing to do

is to take it off and
replace it with a new one.

After all I have saved us loads of
money by polishing all of the other parts

and of course there are loads
of stag specialists out there

so getting hold of a front
bumper should be nice and easy.

The bumper is attached
to the car via four bolts.

and it really is a doddle to remove it.

Well that's it.

I've got a new bumper on order and as soon
as it turns up I'll bolt it to our stag.

Things have been going well with our stag

but as is often the case
with old British sports cars

there's often trouble
around the next corner

and just as I was looking forward to
finishing off the last few jobs on this car

I've discovered a leak
on the workshop floor.

Now this is fresh, it's oily,
which means we've got a problem.

I reckon this oil could be coming from the
diff a common problem with old triumphs.

As I suspected there's loads of
oil on the bottom of our differential

and it seems to be leaking
out of the join between the rear

cover and the diff itself which
means the gasket has failed.

Now that's not really very good news

because although the
gasket itself is only a couple of

quid to fix it's going to
cost me a whole load of time

because I have to drop the
entire differential just to get to it.

The diff transfers power from
the engine to the rear axle.

Fixing this problem when it's on
the car is pretty much impossible

because it's obscured by
the boot floor and the exhaust.

Removing the rubber exhaust hangers
is so easy with this very handy tool

that the rear section won't
let go of the middle section.

Time for the oxyacetylene.

This car is fighting me already
because the exhaust won't come off easily

so I'm now just heating it up and
that expands the pipe on the outside.

and I'll just spray a little bit of
penetrating fluid on there as well

which will kind of help
cool the inside tube

and hopefully it'll help free it all off
so I can get on with the job in hand.

Oh, well-o.

Well, I didn't expect that.

I've got a bit more than I was expecting
but it's all the same idea at the end.

Well, now with the exhaust out of the way

I can have a go at trying
to get these drive shafts off.

Oh, dear.
Let's see how hard this is going to be.

Very, I would suggest.

The bolts on this drive shaft are being
pretty obstinate but I have come this far

and I just about managed to get them off.

And with these undone, the diff is
now only held onto the car by a few bolts

and I'm going to need
something to take the weight.

I'm going to use the transmission
Jack to take the weight of this thing

because it is a big lump
of cast iron, essentially.

And with this transmission Jack in place

hopefully my toes stand just a bit
more chance of surviving this job.

Now I need to undo the bolts which attach
the prop shaft flange to the differential.

I say that.

I know they've been here forever but.

they are so not budging.

A little top tip here.

Get another spanner and then put it in like
so and then use that for extra leverage.

Oh, there we go.

Got to be a little bit careful.

because you might end up
slipping off but that's quite

a nice way of getting a
little tricky bolt undone.

I'm pretty sure a gasket
change will cure the leak.

If the problem is more serious we
could be looking at a new or repaired diff.

and that's 300 pounds we don't have.

I've undone the last two bolts that
hold the diff mounting frame to the car.

I'm just going to lower the
transmission Jack down.

to give me a bit of clearance
because what I need to do now

is pull the diff off the prop shaft
I've got a kind of little shaft inside.

might be a little bit fiddly and then
hopefully it'll be free from the car.

There we go, now I think.

yep, there goes the oil.

Okay, the differential
is now free from the car.

I've got all the differential oil

coming out of the nose here where
of course the seal's been broken.

I'll just try and stop
that covering the floor

of the workshop and then
pop this onto the bench.

Now the thing I need to get to is in
between this cover and also the diff itself

so I need to undo all these bolts round
here so I can finally get to that gasket.

Beware, this is a messy job.

Most of the oil is likely to drain
out but it's okay, I'll replace it later.

Well there we are, finally we can see
the gasket that we've been looking for.

Now you can see there's bits of it
on one side and bits of it on the other

but more importantly there's loads
of oil actually across the gasket there

so clearly that's where
it's all been leaking

out so obviously this
is the right thing to do

to change the gasket and
to do that I need to scrape off

the old one, give it a
really thorough clean

then I can place the
new oil into position.

Swapping this over is pretty similar
to the cam cover gasket I did earlier

except I'm cleaning off the
remains of the paper gasket.

with a razor blade in a special holder.

Now this is just a standard paper gasket,
I'm just going to make sure I've got

the orientation correct ready
for my dowels and my bolt holes.

Now ordinarily you shouldn't
really need any sealant

but I'm going to go belt and brace
this as I don't want another leak.

The gasket only cost two pounds and
I'm pretty sure this will solve the problem

so it's not a bad result cash
wise but a fair bit of work for me.

So it's another hour.

of getting the diff back on the car.

reconnecting the prop shaft.

then the drive shafts.

then filling the diff
with EP80 stroke 90 oil.

on with the exhaust.

and we're there.

Well that's it, the
differential is now resealed

so there's no more
leaking oil or nasty mess.

Now in the end the job didn't cost
me very much money but it did cost me

a fair amount of time so I really
do have to crack on so join me

again soon when I tackle
that tatty roof and add the

finishing touches to our
Best of British Triumph Stag.

Welcome back to Wheeler Dealers, this.

is our Triumph Stag that we're in the
process of doing up so we can hopefully

sell it on for a profit.
So far it's been fiddling

with all the oily bits to
make sure she's 100%

mechanically perfect but now it's time
to move on to the outside and at last

he can start working
on his tassy old hood.

From the moment I saw this
car I knew the hood fabric was

going to have to be swapped
it's frayed and it's split.

But what's worrying me is that the
frame is out of shape too and beyond

repair. It's going to have to go
it could be a big chunk out of a

kitty and another job
I didn't expect to do.

I'm going to move this cover out of

the way so I can get to
the mechanism for the

roof that's held to the
car I can see one bolt.

there's two.

I think there might be
a third as well actually

but I can't really get
to them to undo them

so what I need to do now
is remove some more trim

and I think really to get that out of the
way I need to remove the base of the seat.

Mike won't be happy about this

we've been so lucky
with the parts prices so far.

Suddenly we're facing a
£500 bill for a new frame.

At least removing the whole
assembly is quick and painless.

Now as I suspected

there was just the six
bolts holding it in place

so now it's all undone
but it is kind of big

and unwieldy a little bit heavy
so I'm going to get Paul to give us

a hand to get it away
from the car because I

really don't want to
damage our lovely paint work.

How are you doing?

Are you ok?

I think

straight in the bin with this thing.

What now?

I hear you ask.

Well Mike has been
a very busy boy and it

didn't take him long but
he's come up with this.

He went online and got a second hand
roof that's in good Nick for just £500.

A brand new roof with frame would have cost

£1000.
Yeah I was a bit surprised by that too.

So it's good value for money.

Just need to get it bolted to the car.

If you're replacing just the frame
or just the hood it can be fiddly.

This second hand reconditioned hood
is a perfect fit and it's going in fine.

Whatever you do you can't rush the last

stage of the job or you'll
be asking for trouble.

Now I've got the space
heater on because this

next bit is critically important. I've
got the roof bolted into the car finger

tight but I need it as pliable
as possible to actually fit it

properly. Especially that rear
window because when that's cold

it's really brittle and it
could fracture ruining

a perfectly good roof so I'm going to
get the workshop as hot as is possible.

After some final
adjustments the hood can be

put back into position
and then left to settle.

And doesn't she look lovely?

The dear old stag now
won't be spooked by the rain.

Time to get the trim back in
and now we're on the homeward

straight. Only the finishing
touches to go. The new bumper

has arrived and I can't
wait to get it on the car.

Mike said right at the
start that sorting out

the chrome will change the whole
appeal of the stag and add value.

Very soon we'll know if he was right.

I hope he is.

Well that's it. All of
the jobs on our stag

are now done and
doesn't she look beautiful?

When she first came into the workshop I was

rather concerned about the stag's reputation
for unreliability but all of that can be

forgiven because she's
been a joy to work on.

All of those faults have
been a pleasure to fix.

Even the unexpected leak from
the differential was simple to solve.

And now it's all done. To be honest

I'm going to be sorry to see
our stag go free once more.

If you need to know why this car
has enjoyed more than 30 years of

worship then the answer
is here in front of you.

It's almost a piece of
automotive sculpture.

This car has earned its name.

It really is a triumph.

Getting a rust-free stag for less

than £5,000 is good
play but I snapped up this

car on an Internet
auction site for just £3,400.

Fumes were blowing out the engine

and that was down to a crumbly cam
cover gasket. Ed sorted that out first.

The stag has a reputation for
overheating so Ed replaced a

radiator with a specialist
unit that will make

cooling more efficient
and the car more sellable.

Ed found a leak on the workshop floor.

A £2 gasket sorted the
problem out but dropping

a diff did add to Ed's
stock of grey hair.

The hood and frame needed
to be replaced but a second

hand unit was sourced and
Ed managed to make it fit.

And the less than glowing bright
work was brought up to scratch

by Ed's gentle hands and the
front bumper being replaced.

What's the damage? The
car cost £3,400. Gaskets,

fluids and cleaners set us
back £25. The new rad and

hoses £280. The hood
assembly was a bargain at £500

and the new front
bumper came in at £324.

So does Stagosis £4,529.

Small potatoes
for a sorted stag.

Wow!

Look at the stag. Look at the shiny bumper.

Ed, you've done it again haven't you?

What's the roof like?
Well the roof has been

replaced.
It looks fantastic and now it's tucked away

safely in the back there. The engine's
running sweetly. That sounds great too. And

I've also sorted out
a failed gasket on the

differential that we missed.
So it's all ready to go?

It certainly is.
What's the weather going to be like today?

I think it's going to be fine, why?

Because I was thinking maybe
me and you will take the stag

out for a blast on the open
road and we'll go topless.

I think probably best I
say nothing about that.

MUSIC Now what a cracking day. I know
you're very proud of the hood that you've

refitted to this stag. But let's hope today
we don't need it because the sun is out

the sun is on the English
countryside is all around us

and we're in one of Britain's finest, the
awesome Triumph Stag. Well done mate.

MUSIC You've taken what was a
good car and you've made it even better.

MUSIC This is the pinnacle
of what is hassle-free

classic car motoring and
it's got a huge grin factor.

It really has and of course with that
work that I've done on the cooling system

we've got a really good
bargaining chip when it

comes to sell the car
because of course our stag

isn't going to have all those overheating
problems that so many old stags do.

MUSIC Now what's it worth?

I mean this if you're part of the pun is
going to be an easy car to sell when the sun

out because there's going to be plenty
of buyers out there on the hunt for a stag.

Well I reckon you've paid just over
three grand for it. Could we double that?

I think that's going to be hard to double
it but we could be knocking on a door of

six grand. That sounds pretty cool.
Shall we take the long way home?

Let's do that Edward. Let's do that.

It's sale time. I put the stag
on classic car sites and got calls

straight away. I got a barrage
of questions by email. Drivers

wanting to know whether the car justified
the high asking price. The answer is yes.

First visitor is Mark who
seems to know his stuff.

What do you reckon then Mark?

It's a lovely car Mike.

It's great condition and I'm
glad I came down to see it but.

it's not my colour. I need a darker colour

car. I don't want a white.
But you knew it was.

white in the advert? I
know I did but I had to

convince myself. It's my
own piece of mind. I wanted

to come and look at it.
I'm a great lover of stags as well.

So I'm not going to change your mind? No.

it's not the one.
Well thanks for popping down.

Nice to meet you.

Next up is Graham from Watford
who's trying to play it down. But years.

of selling cars tells
me he's very interested.

I need a quick tell.
Can I get him to commit?

So what do you reckon then Graham? It's
very clean Mike. I like it. It's very nice.

And I know you like the way it gets
down the road and part of that reason is

thanks to the cooling
system because we did a

bit of work there. We
changed the rad for one

with a bigger core inside it.
And that means that you

can use this car on a daily basis to
keep up with modern traffic. Smashing.

Body works straight as well.

And underneath here.

is a brand new hood.

When you drove the car the sun was shining
but unfortunately you're going to have

to put it up to drive
home if you buy the car.

So is it what you're looking for?

It's absolutely everything
I'm looking for Mike.

Well I've advertised it for five double
nine five. I'll be honest with you I've had

quite a bit of interest in it. I'm amazed
just how popular the stags still are.

But you're here. You know maybe you'll

buy it.
Yeah I've been looking at mine for a long

time and it's just what I need but I'm
on a budget Mike. How about five grand?

That feels like a kick in
the stomach. Five grand!

I need a bit more than that for it.

You seem like a nice
fellow and I've got a funny

feeling you're going to
have a lot of fun in this car.

Reluctantly I'd let
it go five seven fifty.

Five and a half cash?

Cash.

Well let's hope the sun comes back out
for you and you go and have some fun in it.

Well done. You bought yourself a stag.

Thank you. It's not work.

At five and a half grand
we've made Nion a grand profit

on this car. It's a happy ending for
us and a happy ending for the stag

as I got the impression Graham is
going to love it as much as we do.

See this smile?

It says it all really. Just short of a
thousand pound profit on our classic

Triumph. I always knew from the very
beginning that there was a profit in this car

and thanks to my buying prowess
and Ed's hard work we would

prove right. If you've enjoyed our
stag story and want to see more cars

getting a Wheeler dealer treatment
then join us again soon. Tada!