Triumph Stag Club USA

Aluminum Gas Tank

Gas Tank Solution

Do you happen to have a car with a gas tank made 35 years ago, maybe the car was stored a few years, and now you have rust inside the gas tank? Well I had this problem. My first solution was to pull the tank and take it to my local radiator shop to be coated inside. They will tell you they can’t guarantee to get into all the nooks and crannies inside the tank. However, the process does work in many cases.

In my case it didn’t work. I then decided to bite the bullet and buy a new tank from England. Of course you can’t buy a Mark I tank so they sell you a Mark II tank and a Mark II inlet hose to make it work. There also is not as much venting on the Mark II tank so you have to adapt to that. At any rate I got the new tank at a cost of around $350.00. The new tank was of course made of thinner metal but it did fit in the hole. I put it in the car thinking I know that was expensive but this problem should be resolved.

Well, not so. The new tank leaked around the permanent ring that is under the fuel sending unit. I called the supplier and expressed my disappointment, they refunded my money. Now that was nice of them, but I still had a gas tank that leaked if I fill the tank. Rimmer Bros now has the same tank on sale for 155.74 pounds and the hose for 20.43 pounds.

I then sourced another used tank which I took to a local welding shop and asked them to cut it open so the interior could be properly coated and then weld it back together. Most of them said it would blow up in your face. The ones that were willing to do the job wanted over $350 to do the cutting and welding. My reaction was I can have a tank fabricated from aluminum for that kind of money.

Now I happen to live in the heart of NASCAR country and fabricators are abundant. I found a shop that fabricates gas tanks (mostly for boats and street rods) and would take on the job. The cost was $300; however they said the next guy might have to pay $400. I now have an aluminum gas tank in my car (picture attached) and this problem is resolved.

If you have questions or need assistance send an email to grahamda@charter.net or call me on 704 478 5776.

David Graham

Castrol Syntec 20W-50

I was able to purchase Castrol 20W-50 from the distibuter here in Ma. The company is
Dennison Lubricants
102 Charles A Eldridge Dr
Lakeville, Ma 02347
1 800 564 5142
I picked up my order at the Worcester, Ma Terminal. These people were incredibly helpful for a 2 case walk in retail customer!

Good luck

Rob

Test for Light Bulbs

Sylvania will be adding our cross reference for instruments and other bulbs to their web site.

Look for it soon at http://www.sylvania.com

Do we have a photo we can place here too??

Small, But Definitely Not â��Dinkyâ��

Story and Photos by Wayne Simpson

In the October, 2004 issue of Stag News, you heard me lamenting the sorry state of affairs for collectors of Triumph Stag models. You basically had a choice of the not so commonly available 1/43 scale Dinky Toys model, building your own from a K&R Replicas kit or paying through the nose for a “built” version of the same. Well, things have recently gotten a lot better for miniature Stag enthusiasts.

These new models come from Corgi of England and are being released under the Vanguards name. Yes, that Corgi; the one that’s made die cast replicas of everything from James Bond’s Aston Martin to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. These are 1/43 scale and at a retail price of just £11.99, they represent a great value.

In contrast to the rudimentary detail of the Dinky Toys model, these new offerings from Corgi/Vanguards are a vast improvement. The rendering of the grill and headlamps, the turn indicators, the scuttle grill, the tail lamps and the wheels are all much more realistic and true to scale. The creases and lines in the body work are much crisper and more distinct as well.

One other nice feature of these models is they come already mounted in attractive hard plastic display cases with black bases and clear tops to keep them from collecting dust.

The first of these limited editions, released this spring, was the Tahiti blue over tan version you see in the top two photos. This was a double release in both hard and open top versions. The hard top is not removable.

This was followed in June by an interesting Hidden Treasures “barn find” model in Pimento red, complete with rust stains, dirt, one wing in primer and a “For Sale” sign in the window. This issue is open top only; I guess the hard top isn’t included in the sale.

Each of these editions is limited to about 4000 copies but don’t despair, Corgi/Vanguards is planning a number of releases in various colors. The next one, a Java green open top version, is due out by the end of the year.

These models don’t seem to be available from Corgi in the US, but they can be ordered directly from Corgi’s UK web site at www.corgi.co.uk, from other UK dealers and, of course, on eBay.

Finally, if 1/43 scale is not your thing, Revell AG (Germany) is releasing a 1/18 scale die cast model of the Stag in September. If this is anything like other British car replicas they’ve released recently, you can expect it to be highly detailed with opening bonnet and doors and a well represented engine bay.

Here’s a chance to own an entire herd of Stags for little more than pocket money, without overcrowding the garage or blowing the insurance budget.

Hidden Treasure???

Henry (Harry) George Webster (1917-2007)

Harry Webster, Triumph Engineering Director during the development of the Triumph Stag, dies 6 February 2007 at age 90. Click UK Telegraph Article
I can proudly say I had the unique opportunity of meeting Harry and his wife in 1998 at the 75th Anniversary of Standard Triumph Gala Dinner, along with Tony Pond and several other Triumph greats.

This is indeed a sad day. R.I.P. Harry.

Glenn "da Prez" Merrell

TSC USA Holds Elections - January 2007

And you thought November was Election time!!

During January 2007 through February 15, 2007, the Triumph Stag Club USA held elections for new club officers.

Our Online Votes are tallied on Gin-u-wine Diebold pre-programmed tabulators, and the mail in votes counted by the previous Secretary/Treasurer (Michael Coffey)

The VOTE tally IS FINAL as follows:

Position	Name	Online Yes	No	Mail In Yes	No	Write In	TOTAL YES
Chairman	Glenn Merrell	30	0	31	0		61
President	Joe Pawlak	35	0	31	0		66
Exec VP	Wayne Simpson	30	0	29	1		59
Secretary	Tim Buja	30	0	29		1	59
Treasurer	Michael Coffey	31	0	31	0		61

Congratulations to the New Elected Officers! Good luck in continuing this club mission and goals!

Final Results were announced by the previous Chairman/Secretary/Treasurer, Michael Coffey, Club Founder, 22 February 2006.

engine upgrade

Hi. Just a note when I rebuilt my stag engine in 98 we had to overbore by .30 on the cyclinders due to wear. What a difference especialy after adding elec. ign. and holley conv. That 911 never saw me comming. I wonder what .40 would do?

About Oil Pumps - Pressure, Volume, and Flow

Submitted by Club Member & Ex-Triumph Employee Christopher Holbrook.

I was reading the articles now on the website, and it seems to me that all is not truly clear.

Briefly, oil pumps are designed to create a supply of oil in quantities sufficient to meet the needs of the engine, or at least we all hope that is the case.

Pressure comes from the resistance to that flow, and is dictated by the condition of the engine.

The pressure relief valve controls the maximum pressure the engine is intended to accept.

As I'm sure many of you know, Melling is the foremost manufacturer of oil pumps in USA, and their website is a mine of information on this topic.

Therefore, I would like to suggest that people interested go to www.melling.com and then to Support, and then to Technical Bulletins.

They have several bulletins, but the first three, Common Misconceptions on Oil Systems, Engine Oiling Systems: Pressure vs Flow, and High Volume Pumps: Advantages, Myths, and Fables, are very clear on the subject, and truly well worth reading.

Rear Subframes

STAG REAR SUSPENSION

An area of failure on the Stag rear suspension has been known to us for some time, in addition to the two known incidents, my own and Dave Bergquist in CA we have now heard of a third in Australia. The subframe that supports the rear trailing arm (this extends from the pinion nose to the outer rubber body mount ) cracks at the outer end , right at the joint where the support for the body mount is welded to the box member ( see diagram below ). Failure is a fatigue type which means it may have been caused by defective welding when the subframe was first manufactured and progressed over the years. Final separation can occur during even mild driving such as mine did (fortunately in that regard I was doing approx. 30 mph at the time ). Failure causes total loss of support for the trailing arm at the outer end of the subframe which then wants to move rearwards pulling the parking brake cable tight. Failure at speed could be quite exciting , it doesn’t want thinking about.

It is easy to examine this area by cleaning all of the grease off the area shown in my sketch below and looking for a hairline crack using an inspection lamp. You can get good enough access to do this other than the top surface however if the three sides are OK I believe it is satisfactory. Mine was successfully MIG welded as a temporary measure until the new one could be installed.

After inquiring with the Stag experts in the UK about this type of failure I was told that it was unheard of including Tony Hart who has raced Stags for a number of years so I put mine down to an aberration, maybe a manufacturing error until I heard of Dave’s failure and now this third one. In view of this I would recommend as a matter of due caution you should check your cars to avoid a potentially catastrophic failure should this happen at speed.

Tony Fox

Stag Oil Pumps

New Oil Pumps Binding on Installation

During a recent chat with Graham Paddock of James Paddock, Ltd., I was alerted to a problem with new oil pumps. If you have bought or installed a new oil pump any time in the last year or so, you should take note.

The Symptom: Brand new oil pumps, either County or AE brand (and perhaps others), bind and fail to spin freely when installed to specified torque settings. This can lead to broken oil pump drive shafts, increased wear on distributor drive gears and idler shaft gears and bearings.

The Problem: Upon initial assembly by the manufacturer, some units have been delivered with the outer (driven) rotor installed backwards, so that a chamfer on one outer edge, intended to face into the housing, instead faces the cover. This prevents the rotor from fully seating into the pump housing and causes it to bind against the cover when installed.

The Solution: Inspect all oil pumps prior to installation. Refer to section 12.60.32 in the Stag Repair Operation Manual for instructions. Remove the two Posidrive screws securing the oil pump cover to the housing. Once the cover is removed, look at the outside edge of the outer rotor. If you see the chamfer facing out, remove the rotor, turn it over and reinstall it so that the chamfer faces the pump housing (see diagram) and away from the pump cover. Reinstall the cover and screws before installing the pump on the engine.

Wayne Simpson

Editor, TSCUSA