1979 Reliant Scimitar SE6A - 24valve Omega Conversion

1979 Reliant Scimitar SE6A GTE
3.0ltr Omega Conversion

Another Scimitar, this time the bigger SE6A. The earlier SE5 was the sports car version. Reliant later enlarged the car turning its focus to Grand Tourer. The basic chassis layout was the same but it had increased wheelbase and a larger body. Apparently they were aiming for a more executive area of the market.

This particular example (in special order black) started life as an auto. But then a good friend of mine got hold of it. He bought an ex-police motorway patrol 3.0ltr Vauxhall Omega and swapped the engine and gearbox across into the Scimitar. So the car now has a much lighter engine and transmission (the Essex is referred to as a boat anchor for good reason), much better fuel economy thanks to modern engine management, a 5-speed manual gearbox and, according to book figures for the Omega, over 200bhp! This conversion was documented on the Scimweb forum and was the catalyst that spawned a number of such conversions that have since been carried out to both SE6 & SE5 models.

The car has been off the road for four years now whilst other modification work was started but due to changing circumstances and interests the work slowed down to a stop and the car was moved to the back of his garden. He decided that rather than leave it to deteriorate any further it would be better to find it a new home and raise some funds towards his new interests (still vehicle/engineering based).



So here she is on arrival at the motorclub premises at work, parked next to my SE5.

Initial Assessment

The exterior finish of the car is cosmetically 'challenged', lots of crazing and stress cracks. But no rust!

The car is letting in water through the glass sun-roof and rear tailgate. There may be more leaks but the first two are letting in so much water it's hard to tell. As a result, the seats and carpets are scrap. Fortunately, included in the sale was a good used leather interior so hopefully all I'll need to buy is carpets.

The car also sports a custom dashboard as can be seen in the photos below.




The original dashboard and centre console came with the car but the centre console that runs along the top of the transmission tunnel is in poor condition.

Other faults on the initial 'to do' list are:

Passenger door won't open
Tailgate hinges partialy siezed
Off-side exhaust hangars broken (exhaust drooping)
Brake pipe burst so no brakes (replacement in the post)
Suspect dirt contamination in fuel tank (as advised by previous owner)
Engine management light on
Cam-belt due change

I haven't checked the electrics yet but as can be seen, there's a fair amount of tidying to do. This is in no way a criticism on the previous owner, after all it was a work in progress.

Smiler.