Stag info

[johnd@domain.elided (John D`Agostino)]

Hi, my name is John D'Agostino I am a new member of the Stag list. I live in
Topsfield, Ma USA and I am currently British car-less having sold my
Daimler SP250 a few weeks ago. 
As usual I've already started searching for a new toy and the Stag has 
me intrigued. I have two small children and the four seats in the Stag make it
attractive to me as well as the other comfort features. The Daimler while
having a small rear seat is just not comfortable for passengers on anything
but short rides. Of course V8 power is also something I have come to enjoy.

I looked at one over the weekend, and while it had a solid body and interior,
with 48,000 (claimed) miles on it, the engine has me concerned. While revving
the engine slowly from idle, and then back to idle there were some peculiar
knocking sounds from somewhere inside the engine. It sounded like a dull 
rapping, perhaps a bearing? 

It was an automatic and was a bit sluggish until you get the revs up, is that
normal?

The brake pedal would go to the floor if I held it pressed too long, but the
brakes worked ok otherwise.

It also has the usual previous owner botched wiring mess, oddball fuel pump,
missing ac compressor, rotted softtop, and overall neglect.
He was asking 5900.00 US dollars.

So, any comments, should I keep looking? How about engine swaps, I'm more
concerned with driveability over originality.

Thanks in advance

John