Modified 1985 Reliant SS1

[pauluspaolo]

Hi all, I thought that some of you may be interested in seeing some photos of my Reliant Scimitar SS1.

I bought it some years ago after I'd sold my house & moved in with my wife to be. It was nice having a bit of disposable income so thought I'd treat myslf to a classic(ish) sportscar. I thought about MX5's, MGB's, Westfield (or any other of the millions of 7 clones) but ended up with this. A chap at work had had one for a couple of years & always raved about the handling - well the handling is just as good as he said it was & the looks (love them or hate them) have grown on me & I seriously like the car now. It's noisy & impractical but that's all part of the fun isn't it.

Originally this one came with a wheezy tired 1600 CVH but I've swapped this for an 1800 Zetec (with 130 cams), running on a single Weber DGV & with Megajolt ignition. The geabox is a 5 speed type 9 & the rear diff is off a Sierra - as fitted by Reliant. The car's been tuned/mapped on Dennis Vessey's rolling road (over in Barnetby near Brigg) & produces 108bhp. Not massively powerful but the car is light & goes well, the exhaust's pretty restrictive so there's probably a bit more oomph available if/when I ever get it sorted.

I've uprated the brakes to vented discs & Metro turbo calipers, & the suspension's been uprated (harder/lower springs available through the SS1 forum) combined with AVO shocks at the front & Spax coilovers at the back. I've fitted a roll bar inside (standard Reliant one) along with MX5 seats which are much comfier than the originals (recovered TR7 ones I think) but make the seating position too high - it's fine for short4r5e5 like me though. I also fitted a nice Momo(ish) steering wheel which I've had for many years & which I usually end up fitting to my car (airbag allowing).

I spent 4/5 years modifying & rebuilding the car & I got it back on the road a couple of years ago - it passed the MOT first time with no advisories & you could have knocked me over with a feather This year it passed again but there's play in the steering rack so this will need replacing. Despite these cars being glassfibre there is a chassis underneath & these can rot badly. Mine had to have replacement sills fitted, plus some work to the B posts & a some welding around the support for the rear lights. The chassis on later cars was galvanised & these cars last well but may still require some work.

I SORN the car over winter but look forward to driving it during Spring/Summer months - so far it's been reliable though I don't like heavy traffic as the cooling's a bit marginal. Handling is superb (never judge a book by its cover) & it's great fun, economy with the Zetec is 25ish, the fuel gauge isn't the best so I just make sure it's got plenty in it. Acceleration is good (which annoys drivers of modern cars), goodness knows what the top speed is but it's fast enough for me.

I know of at least 2 other Zetec conversions that are either on the road or works in progress. The fastest (standard) SS1 is the 1800ti which uses the engine from the Nissan Silvia Turbo & goes like the clappers. All 1800ti's have galvanised chassis & don't seem to fetch much more than £3000 for the even the best examples .... which must make it something of a bargain for what is a very fast car.

Anyway on with the photo's

The finished(?) article:


Refitting the windscreen washers - dashboard out job:


Cam cover gasket leak discovered - spark plugs covered by oil - car still ran fine though:


Outside the double garage where most of the work was done - much more room for spanner flinging!


Air filter buried behind drivers side headlight - just enough room:


The interior - quite a comfy place to be gets hot in summer though:


The front:


Thanks for looking & if you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them - photos are in no paticular order by the way

Edited by pauluspaolo on Wednesday 22 October 11:26

Edited by pauluspaolo on Wednesday 22 October 11:27

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Edited by pauluspaolo on Tuesday 14th April 09:49

Edited by pauluspaolo on Tuesday 14th April 09:51

Edited by pauluspaolo on Tuesday 14th April 09:52