Reliant Scimitar SE5 3.0 GTE V6

Yes i bought one because im old and its simple [that could be the other way round ]yes i love the car its a 1978 gte auto it had a bad paint job [flaky lacquer axel wine [oil seal gone ] lumps and clonks when i drove it ,it over heated ,on the plus side good engine and box and chassis ,despite all the above i love that car , and am working through it .

I needed an oil seal for the pinion in the Axel and made a serious mistake of ordering one from GRAHAM WALKER SCIMITAR SPARES CHESHIRE THEY ALSO TRADE ON EBAY paid for the seal over the phone with credit card they said next day delivery ,two days later i phone them only to be told check with th post office =no point but i did then i phoned them and asked for a refund he just sniggered and said we dont give refunds but if you want to pay £10.50 we send another one by parcel freight !the seal was over priced by 2 and a half times [i found that afterwards ]they have my money and talked down to me like i was something stuck on his shoe,so dont touch this that company.

Back to the car it seems that when you a collectors car every body and his dog want to rip you off ,i took the rear shocks of but the rubber bushes broke up i checked on the net and found that one company wanted £46 for 4 bushes ,so i ordered 4 bushes for a land rover at £6.50 inc post and modified them my self ,i will have to replace the rear shocks and have seen prices for a full set at £750 ,so i measured them and found a set for a different car in the sale at £45 for 2 but i will have to modify one of the end fittings [no probs ] i have built up a list of bearing suppliers /seals ingnition parts and so on its going to tough as im disabled but will get it done .

So if you have one of these you dont have to get ripped off do your home work read books get the information learn processes ,welding /brazing /soldering buy tools like pullers learn how to get the bearings out and in

join a club if you have to you can get help there as well find out what parts your car uses as lots of parts can be common .

When it rains a bit i leave the window open a bit and when i get in the car the next day i get the smell of leather interior its lovery .

oh that one pictured up on the could be mine [same colour ]

Reliant Scimitar SE5 3 litre V6 GTE:

Chassis is Rock solid 2 RSJ style beams straight down the middle with out riggers bolted on either side and at the front all parts still available, the chassis was designed to compensate for GRP body which not only doesnt rust, but is lighter than metal and NO TIN WORM, can be easily repaired when bumped using cheap GRP cloth and filler. The cars were hand made so easy to unbolt even major bits of chassis and being a small manufacturer Reliant raided the parts bins of large manufacturers so the parts are cheap and easy to find, also there are books of alternative parts floating around.

Being a Grand Touring estate its very practical having folding rear seats and a boot space big enough for the lady in your life to get all her luggage in for that weekend away. Always mentioned but much over played is the Royal connection, owned and loved by Princess Anne for much of the 70's.

The centre of gravity of the car is very low having all the weight in the chassis so cornering especially with new Spax suspension is unbelievable, the Ford Essex 3.0l V6 gives good performance and is relaible and lively if not a beast at 138Bhp. Many have been successfully converted to run with unleaded petrol.