Project plastic car (Scimitar GTE)
Discussion
I've had an a bit of a Scimitar craving for quite a long time, not sure why as most of them I came across were largely sat rotting on peoples driveways and around the back of run down blocks of garages, I guess I just found them strangely appealing...
Anyway over the last couple of years I have been eyeing up possible project cars and the prospect of the Scimitar seemed like a good idea, after months of looking, I have finally found what appears to be a fairly solid project. It was 20 miles away in Reading, mostly white, hasn't run in ten years but apparently has a mildly breathed on engine and a sierra 5 speed box.
Collecting it turned out to be a complete saga. I arranged a pick up date and after discovering that towing it was going to be an issue I booked a mini transporter, two days before D day I received a message from the transporter people, the local franchise had run off with the pickup and their money, so I could either cancel or get a discount on their other vehicle, which was 60 miles away in Horsham....
So Saturday morning rolled around I got up early (for me!) and headed for Horsham, picked up the transporter at about 9.30. Got back home at about 11.00. Then had to leave the transporter and pick up most of the contents of the car, doors, trim, seats (all the loose bits) before finally returning to do the exciting bit, pick up the Scimitar....
Off loading.....
The House slowly filled with random Relaint parts...
After unloading the GTE, there was just the small matter of getting the transporter back to Horsham and retrieving my car, I eventually got back home around 10pm utterly shattered. I'm rather thank full that the my girlfriend is pretty understanding and actually likes the Scimitar.
Anyway more pics
Last on the road..
K30 010 by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
Seventies dash....
K30 008 (2) by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
K30 002 (2) by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
K30 008 by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
Now I'm just trying to figure out were to start.......
Anyway over the last couple of years I have been eyeing up possible project cars and the prospect of the Scimitar seemed like a good idea, after months of looking, I have finally found what appears to be a fairly solid project. It was 20 miles away in Reading, mostly white, hasn't run in ten years but apparently has a mildly breathed on engine and a sierra 5 speed box.
Collecting it turned out to be a complete saga. I arranged a pick up date and after discovering that towing it was going to be an issue I booked a mini transporter, two days before D day I received a message from the transporter people, the local franchise had run off with the pickup and their money, so I could either cancel or get a discount on their other vehicle, which was 60 miles away in Horsham....
So Saturday morning rolled around I got up early (for me!) and headed for Horsham, picked up the transporter at about 9.30. Got back home at about 11.00. Then had to leave the transporter and pick up most of the contents of the car, doors, trim, seats (all the loose bits) before finally returning to do the exciting bit, pick up the Scimitar....
Off loading.....
The House slowly filled with random Relaint parts...
After unloading the GTE, there was just the small matter of getting the transporter back to Horsham and retrieving my car, I eventually got back home around 10pm utterly shattered. I'm rather thank full that the my girlfriend is pretty understanding and actually likes the Scimitar.
Anyway more pics
Last on the road..
K30 010 by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
Seventies dash....
K30 008 (2) by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
K30 002 (2) by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
K30 008 by helen_l_rainbow, on Flickr
Now I'm just trying to figure out were to start.......
A bit of an update and some progress...
Today, I gave the old lump a service (oil, filter and spark plugs), removed what appeared to be a layer of compost from between the cylinder heads! Re fitted the webber and decided to try and start the engine.
After rocking the car in gear, just to make sure the engine wasn't seized I rigged up a battery. The main earth lead has gone missing so I got cunning with a set of jump leads! I tried the ignition and the dash came casually to life (well there was a click, the clock started and a couple of warning lights came on). A temporary gravity petrol feed for the carb was rigged. Things looked promising...
Anyway I tried the starter and it clicked, then nothing. I re checked my battery connections tried again and it turned over rather slowly, tried again and it picked the pace up but no were near fast enough to actually start....
I think either the starter is on it last legs or it has a poor earth, I will see if I can work this issue out tomorrow.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14510005@N02/89897742...
Today, I gave the old lump a service (oil, filter and spark plugs), removed what appeared to be a layer of compost from between the cylinder heads! Re fitted the webber and decided to try and start the engine.
After rocking the car in gear, just to make sure the engine wasn't seized I rigged up a battery. The main earth lead has gone missing so I got cunning with a set of jump leads! I tried the ignition and the dash came casually to life (well there was a click, the clock started and a couple of warning lights came on). A temporary gravity petrol feed for the carb was rigged. Things looked promising...
Anyway I tried the starter and it clicked, then nothing. I re checked my battery connections tried again and it turned over rather slowly, tried again and it picked the pace up but no were near fast enough to actually start....
I think either the starter is on it last legs or it has a poor earth, I will see if I can work this issue out tomorrow.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14510005@N02/89897742...
Edited by interloper on Saturday 8th June 23:53
Always had a soft spot for these... keep updating this page as I'm interested to see how you get on.
Double check your earths before you condemn the starter - I had some electrical problems with my Amazon a while back so I tried to use a jump lead to create a temporary earth. Didn't work sadly (I ended up putting a new braided earth strap on and the job was a good 'un).
Double check your earths before you condemn the starter - I had some electrical problems with my Amazon a while back so I tried to use a jump lead to create a temporary earth. Didn't work sadly (I ended up putting a new braided earth strap on and the job was a good 'un).
I have a proper earth lead arriving shortly, so I should be able to eliminate that possibilty...
In the mean time I have been looking at other electrical issues. Some of the wiring is interesting, I haven't seen this many scotch locks since I was in the electrical isle in Halfords circa 1997.....
It turns out that this lash up was for the tow bar electrics, the tow bar had been removed but i found the dual sockets hidden awkwardly beneath the rear bumper.
So an easy job, just a case of remove the scotch locks and check and repair the original wiring...
In the mean time I have been looking at other electrical issues. Some of the wiring is interesting, I haven't seen this many scotch locks since I was in the electrical isle in Halfords circa 1997.....
It turns out that this lash up was for the tow bar electrics, the tow bar had been removed but i found the dual sockets hidden awkwardly beneath the rear bumper.
So an easy job, just a case of remove the scotch locks and check and repair the original wiring...
One other little thing I have noticed is that the previous, previous owner (the person I bought it off had merely stored it with vague intention of rebuilding it at some point) had made a very significant start on getting the body off.
It took me a while to figure this out! The clues were all there, as well as the doors and rear screen being loose, the seats taken up and the front bumper, rad, spare wheel carrier and frame being removed, virtually every body to chassis bolt has been removed too!
I now need to get back underneath the car to figure out if there is some hidden rot that requires this kind of drastic action, or whether I can put all the bolts back in!
It took me a while to figure this out! The clues were all there, as well as the doors and rear screen being loose, the seats taken up and the front bumper, rad, spare wheel carrier and frame being removed, virtually every body to chassis bolt has been removed too!
I now need to get back underneath the car to figure out if there is some hidden rot that requires this kind of drastic action, or whether I can put all the bolts back in!
Always liked these, something about the chunky alloys and shooting brake look... and a work colleague of my dad's had one, remember getting into it and marvelling at the fact my legs were pretty much straight out in front of me as opposed to the more chairlike position of the family Astra. Shame more cars aren't shaped like it now!
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