Reliant Scimitar SE4
Discussion
You may well find someone on Scimitarweb who can give you more specifics on the one you're looking at, I think there's a buyer's guide there too, but they're essentially very, very simple cars.
Chassis rot is an irritant but seldom expensive to fix, some bits of interior trim are hard to come by, and you need to pay attention to the various bits of steel that are laminated into the shell. Otherwise all the wearing/consumable bits are easy to come by and cheap as buttons.
I'd want chapter and verse before paying a premium for a modded engine, but the be-all and end-all is the state of the bodywork and paint: they may not rust but they're very expensive to put paint on to.
Chassis rot is an irritant but seldom expensive to fix, some bits of interior trim are hard to come by, and you need to pay attention to the various bits of steel that are laminated into the shell. Otherwise all the wearing/consumable bits are easy to come by and cheap as buttons.
I'd want chapter and verse before paying a premium for a modded engine, but the be-all and end-all is the state of the bodywork and paint: they may not rust but they're very expensive to put paint on to.
I rebuilt and then sprinted/hillclimbed a '67, the biggest headache is the chassis, the upper surfaces where the sponge rubber is sandwiched between the shell and the metal can get thin but this is only really easy to check with the shell off, next check the "boxes" that the lower wishbone mounts fit into, these can silt up and rot out. Then check the rear legs where they splay either side of the spare wheel well, they collect a fair spray of road muck and were both pretty weak on both the chassis I had to choose from. Finally and easiest to check are the 4 outriggers these are an easy fix and an easy spot if rotten or bent. All that said the bent and rotten core of my spare chassis went to the late Chris Lloyd and was plonked in the jig and went on to help another coupe so if the cruciform is sound all is not lost.
Next try and find out if it's fitted with an early or late V6 and all the bits match - my first GTE had an early inlet manifold (oval port) on late (D port) heads - see if there's a recent bill for timing gears. A '67 car will be right on the change of front suspension too, there's nothing wrong with the earlier type but the later bits were common to all models to end of production so easier to find. Rear suspension gives little worries beyond bushes - 13 in total! The Salisbury 7HA axle is easily up to the job if a little pricey to get properly rebuilt
Bodywork is pretty good quality and there shouldn't be too many things to check, gel-coat crazing will be obvious but can be hidden sub-surface and tricky to spot. The biggest thing to check will be the metal structures bonded into the sill/A pillar area - look along the sills and see how straight they are, then get underneath and check the inner sill between the riggers, any rot will be distorting the GRP and maybe breaking through or leaving rust stains.
The interior trim is all vinyl wrapped GRP mouldings and easy to fix if showing signs of wear and the electrics as mentioned can be a trouble spot but are pretty simple really, there's little beyond front lights, engine/dash and then rear lights so a weekend or two could easily see everything given a thorough check over if there are issues.
Good luck and let us know if you buy it!
Next try and find out if it's fitted with an early or late V6 and all the bits match - my first GTE had an early inlet manifold (oval port) on late (D port) heads - see if there's a recent bill for timing gears. A '67 car will be right on the change of front suspension too, there's nothing wrong with the earlier type but the later bits were common to all models to end of production so easier to find. Rear suspension gives little worries beyond bushes - 13 in total! The Salisbury 7HA axle is easily up to the job if a little pricey to get properly rebuilt
Bodywork is pretty good quality and there shouldn't be too many things to check, gel-coat crazing will be obvious but can be hidden sub-surface and tricky to spot. The biggest thing to check will be the metal structures bonded into the sill/A pillar area - look along the sills and see how straight they are, then get underneath and check the inner sill between the riggers, any rot will be distorting the GRP and maybe breaking through or leaving rust stains.
The interior trim is all vinyl wrapped GRP mouldings and easy to fix if showing signs of wear and the electrics as mentioned can be a trouble spot but are pretty simple really, there's little beyond front lights, engine/dash and then rear lights so a weekend or two could easily see everything given a thorough check over if there are issues.
Good luck and let us know if you buy it!
72twink said:
It was a white Flip Front - OME 719E, if you know of it I'd be interested to see the old girl .......
Hi,Do you have any photos of your old coupe??
According to DVLA its still taxed
)Cheers
Dave Poole
www.sporting-reliants.com
I've always liked Scimitars myself, stems from my uncle having one when I was about 8 years old. There seemed to be so many switches and dials that it seemed more like a spaceship (well I was 8 
). It went like a rocket too as my uncle wasn't one to drive slowly. 
Funny how uncles always seem to have cooler cars than your parents. (Apart from the RS2000 I bought off them of course ).
). It went like a rocket too as my uncle wasn't one to drive slowly. Funny how uncles always seem to have cooler cars than your parents. (Apart from the RS2000 I bought off them of course ).I've found some pictures my brother took just after I'd got it back on the road and before it got a very quick blow over in white so it was still a bit of a patchwork quilt here. When I bought the car it had been thrown into a ditch after a rebuild, the front end was a mess and the chassis very bent but it did come with a straighter chassis albeit one needing some work - happy days!
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