The slightly stalled Scimitar project, only 3 years since the last update.........

[Marina door handles]

When I was a youngster growing up in the early Eighties I noticed a couple of people had Scimitars festering on their drive ways, I thought they looked interesting if slightly mouldy. Fast forward  a few years and I too have a Scimitar on my drive and its been festering for a good while now.........  

It was briefly on the road about 2 years ago but it quickly demonstrated why it didn't want to be there, by howling its diff and producing not enough oil pressure. At the beginning of this year I did start on the oil pressure front, I started stripping the bottom end of the engine (in situ) but instead of finishing the job I accidentally bought a Rover, this seems to have monopilised quite a chunk of my time (see my other thread).

Any way I have started to get my Scimitar mojo back so occasionally between bouts of welding. I have been fiddling with the Scim.

Firstly I though I would tackle the most pressing issue I could possibly think of.... Yes you guessed it the clock! Because I always disconnect the battery when the car isnt running (which lets be honest is actually all the time) the clock never runs, I decided to replace it with another gauge, so what would be useful hmmm, so I went on ebay rummaged through the old gauges and found exactly what I didn't need, yes I found a vintage Smiths vacuum gauge. It looks great but it doesn't even light up, so its a day light only gauge.

 

It did occur to me afterwards that actually an oil temperature gauge would be a sound investment, so that might be next, just have to decide were to fit it neatly?

 

Next job on the list is the back axle,  I figured I could do this on the drive... 

the design of this six link live axle makes the fixings rather difficult to access - my ugga dugga gun is not getting in there.......

Red shock absorbers - because red = fast! 

Look at that axle travel!

Finally at rest

Just the fun job of stripping it and then figuring out what is wrong, I have a hub puller but I am waiting for the Ebay fairy to deliver more axle stands so I can actually support the thing with out the aid of the wheels. 

In the mean time I have hot rodded the MG....

Too much camber at the rear? 

 

 

 

 

[N Dentressangle]

The day of the Scimitar has got to come soon. They've never seemed to be worth what they ought to be.

Pretty, fast for its time and practical - what's not to like? Plus the electrics are brilliant* and they never* catch fire 😉

[Joey spud]

This is my old one I bought and got sorted and reliable a few years back.

Nice enough thing but I really wanted a manual/overdrive version as it was a bit slow and thirsty so got sold on after a few months of me finishing it.

[grogee]

15 hours ago, Marina door handles said:

I accidentally bought a Rover

It happens.

Good luck and I will be watching this thread with interest. @Cluffy and I have a hankering for a Scimitar, and regularly share links with each other for ones for sale. Unfortunately we accidentally bought an XJ40, then COVID happened, and now I don't have a drive and his garage is full of stationary Corrado. Oh, and I'm balls deep in a MG Maestro for now as well.

I agree, it's felt like these are on the cusp of being OMG£10K+ for ever, and yet they never really take off. I guess it may be because they are relatively common versus other 70s sports cars. I don't know what the undersides are like but the plastic body must be a good thing for longevity.

[Rocket88]

They do have a pretty good survival rate…..

[Marina door handles]

5 hours ago, grogee said:

It happens.

Good luck and I will be watching this thread with interest. @Cluffy and I have a hankering for a Scimitar, and regularly share links with each other for ones for sale. Unfortunately we accidentally bought an XJ40, then COVID happened, and now I don't have a drive and his garage is full of stationary Corrado. Oh, and I'm balls deep in a MG Maestro for now as well.

I agree, it's felt like these are on the cusp of being OMG£10K+ for ever, and yet they never really take off. I guess it may be because they are relatively common versus other 70s sports cars. I don't know what the undersides are like but the plastic body must be a good thing for longevity.

The chassis they are based on is rather over engineered, weighs a ton. Sure the out riggers can rot but you would have to park one in the sea for a few years to really make the main rails unserviceable!  I dont blame you for buying an XJ40 I fancy one of those as well!

[somewhatfoolish]

Oil temp gauges are pointless on road cars unless they have aircooled engines, it will just follow the water temp. Whiny scim diff? TADTS. Unless it's howling and drowning out conversation I'd ignore it, IIRC they're a bear to get out as the casing needs squeezed. My brother bought one with flakey/low oil pressure, the pump was completely banjoed but they're dead easy to replace.

[Marina door handles]

Whiny diff? I wish, it was more of a howl,  also the pinion seal is leaking like its not even fitted!  As for the oil pressure I have replaced the pump - made little difference. Its the crank bearings I believe. 

[Mally]

My eldest son has one.

Sensibly he paid to have it refurbished, and it's lasting well.

Surely prices must be rising? They are on everything else.

[dozeydustman]

Both scimitars I had whined at the rear end. Even in good nick they make a little noise. Overdrive models are better than autos as the gearing is much higher (personal opinion).

I broke the white one TUW873S after it got rear ended by a British Gas van (which was written off) and I sold on my gold one (OYH457R) after my dad and I got halfway through a suspension rebuild at the front. The chassis is comparible to a small lorry in places.

I don't know if either half of @coalnotdolestill posts on here, one of them has a mighty selection of 4-wheeled reliants including a couple of Scimitars.

[406V6]

On 12/10/2022 at 1:20 AM, somewhatfoolish said:

Oil temp gauges are pointless on road cars unless they have aircooled engines, it will just follow the water temp.

Have to disagree on this one. My 406 has an oil temp gauge and the oil takes a long time to warm up – at least 15 miles – while the water is warm within a couple of miles. Once up to temp it’s close to the water temperature.

A couple of years ago I made the mistake of taking it to its MOT before it was properly warmed up and it struggled with the emissions part of the test. Now I give it a 10-15 mile run before the test (checked on the oil temp gauge) and it gets through the emissions test without difficulty.

[Marina door handles]

22 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

The chassis is comparible to a small lorry in places.

 

Your not kidding either, piccies from the chassis clean up from a few years and a house move ago.....

[N Dentressangle]

It's how chassis were. Spitfire is no different, and that's hardly a paragon of torsional stiffness.

[Matty]

22 hours ago, Mally said:

My eldest son has one.

Sensibly he paid to have it refurbished, and it's lasting well.

Surely prices must be rising? They are on everything else.

Definatly on the up. Tbf though I've followed them for years so they are on the up like tectonic plate movement 😁

[Marina door handles]

More faffing with the rear axle. Drained the oil out of the leaking pinion seal, who needs drain plugs? then un-did the drain and fill plugs to make sure they weren't seized (all okay). Took the back plate off to check the diff for any glaringly obvious issues. 

Looks rubbish its........... Its clearly an open diff! Moving to the other side I removed the pinion , levered out the remains of the seal and dropped the bearing out.

Naked pinion end...

Then I moved on to the hubs, these are notorious as they are tapper fit and take tones of pressure to shift. I purchased a ten ton puller off a well known auction site as I had previous success with these. Got it in place and wound it up and instead of a nice satisfying BANG! there was more of a whimper and an oil leak but the hub staid put 😕 . 

Back in the post went the puller and my search for a better one started. I ended up with a sci fi looking 20 ton puller 

And off came the first hub, a proper satisfying crack this time, no messing! 

Ta dah...

Hopefully it will treat the other hub with equal ruthlessness. The only negative of the experience was the hub pullers instructions I am not sure what the horse was for?

Read and enjoy........  

 

 

[Marina door handles]

Some time may have gone by since I last updated this thread! Probably time for an update then.....

Last summer I bought an allegedly good back axle for the car, tucked it under the back for safe keeping and the car just sort of sat there feeling neglected. Then I bought an XK8 got distracted, nearly bought a project Discovery but then had a financial scare and backed out and started a for sale thread for the Scimitar.

I have to admit, I had serious second thoughts on selling the plastic nightmare fortunately/unfortunately nobody made me an offer so I have decided I better get on with fixing the car and try and make it into something I will want to keep.

First job, fit the axle..

What a fiddly job that was, not helped by the fact that the hard standing seems to have gained an unpleasant layer of moss...

Had a bit of  fight to get the trailing arms in place...

Then I made a couple of stupid discoverys... I thought I had all the Scimitar bits sensibly stored and labelled..... Engine parts in one box, rear diff bits in another, back axle and hubs all gathered together but were the hell had I left my trailing arm bolts? Actually I still haven't found them, I had to use temporary bolts to connect the trailing arms to the axle, should be okay for very low speed manouevring till I find/buy new nuts and bolts. 

Secondly the Panhard rods connect to a mount which is bolted to the diff cover, for some reason a previous owner has used strange Allen head bolts to secure it, I dont have an issue with them being Allen heads, I do have a beef with the fact that they appear to be 6.5mm rather than 6 or 7mm. I had a real job finding a tool which would actually fit the size!

Wheels in place, still not back on the ground yet for various reasons....

So the project  is back on, hopefully the next update wont be in 3 years time!

 

[spike60]

 I think A/F tools for the Scimitar, not metric. Mine was UNF threads which have A/F spanner sizes, 1/4 AF is about 6.35 mm. 

[Marina door handles]

Small update, yet sort of big, I found the original suspension bolts, so spent a bit of time knocking out the temporary bolts and fighting with the originals to get the bolted in

Originals back in....

And for the first time in a couple of years, its actually back on its wheels...

Look at that beautiful paint.......

Just needs some new rear brake lines oh and the engine sorting* and its back on the road.....

 

 

 

*Sounds simple but its either a rebuild, find a decent Essex at a sensible price or maybe engine swap??

 

[stuboy]

On 22/02/2026 at 22:24, Marina door handles said:

So the project  is back on, hopefully the next update wont be in 3 years time!

 

time to scrape that stirling moss away and let water drain elsewhere..

 

 

keep up the good work

[Shandylegs]

Glad you've picked up work on it again. 

I had a long hard think about taking it on when it was up for sale, but knew the last thing I needed was another project!

[Low ontime]

On 01/03/2026 at 17:43, Marina door handles said:

Small update, yet sort of big, I found the original suspension bolts, so spent a bit of time knocking out the temporary bolts and fighting with the originals to get the bolted in

Originals back in....

And for the first time in a couple of years, its actually back on its wheels...

Look at that beautiful paint.......

Just needs some new rear brake lines oh and the engine sorting* and its back on the road.....

 

 

 

*Sounds simple but its either a rebuild, find a decent Essex at a sensible price or maybe engine swap??

 

Paint looks ok or is it time for a DA sander 320 grit discs and foam radiator roller it? 
Springs here!!

[Marina door handles]

40 minutes ago, Low ontime said:

Paint looks ok or is it time for a DA sander 320 grit discs and foam radiator roller it? 
Springs here!!

The paint is a mess,  the car was originally dark green and someone has done a terrible job re painting it white. The white paint is coming off revealing some strange layers underneath. I cannot decide if it looks nicely distressed or bloody awful! 

[Marina door handles]

A closer look at the Scimitar skin condition....

Tailgate horror ...

Roof braille 

Wing of wonder....  

.

3/4 panel acne......

Its almost art.

 

 

[Honey Badger]

Looks like someone has chucked a load of filler/high build primer over the original Green gelcoat layer, the paint has then reacted with the filler probably due to the filler not being allowed to cure properly before the paint was applied.

Probably what's casing the issue where it's peeling is where the GRP body panel has flexed and the filler paint layer is too stiff to flex with the GRP?

The Green gelcoat is probably shagged as well, time has moved on though so GRP paints are much better as long as you key it well and use the right primer. I know of multi million pound super yachts where they fair the boats with filler and then paint them with PU paint instead of using good tooling to take the mould off.

The pits look like a grp boat when it blisters. Which usually only happens when a hull sits in water.

Could you fit a 2600 Triumph straight six in a Scimitar to take the place of the ford Boat anchor?  Lexus IS 250 V6 and running gear?

[Marina door handles]

1 minute ago, Honey Badger said:

Looks like someone has chucked a load of filler/high build primer over the original Green gelcoat layer, the paint has then reacted with the filler probably due to the filler not being allowed to cure properly before the paint was applied. probably where it's peeling is where the GRP body panel has flexed and the filler paint level is too stiff to flex with the GRP.

The Green gelcoat is probably shagged as well, time has move on though so GRP paints are much better as long as you key it well and use the right primer.

 

The pits look like a grp boat when it blisters. Which usually only happens when a hull sits in water.

Could you fit a 2600 Triumph straight six in a Scimitar to take the place of the ford Boat anchor?  Lexus IS 250 V6 and running gear?

The engine options are ridiculous. I have seen various things fitted, from a BMW straight six diesel to an Alfa Busso, Rover V8, Saab 4 pot turbo and Vauxhall Omega V6. Realistically I would like to get it running for not too  much money, so maybe a lawn mower engine and a big "Slow Moving Vehicle" sign on the back to give people fair warning. 

[kevins]

The paint is blistering as moisture has got into the underlying layers usualy a layer of spray filler,  really it needs stripping back to the gel coat, low baking to dry it out then sealing with epoxy before re-finising in the normal way.