Paging Grimly, or anybody else who knows/cares (about cars)

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "AndrewR"

MOT failure points on Scims are often the chassis outriggers
(repairable) or the chassis inner rail above the rear axle (terminal,
unless you want to get into a body-off rebuild). Front suspension
components sometimes lead to a MOT failure too, but all the parts are
readily available and aren't really all that awkward to replace, being
basically a slightly modified Triumph TR3(?) design - relatively cheap,
too. Most cars will have had the suspension rebuilt by this time.

Basically, when looking over a Scim... if it doesn't smoke, the chassis
checks out ok and the front suspension isn't actually falling off, it's
probably worth taking a chance on.


Many of them have been owned by people who have spent loads on them over
the years and then just had enough, for whatever reason [1]. I'm not
wearing my rose-tinted specs, so I'll say this; it could be a total
money pit - if you really really want to bring a Scimitar up the to
state it left the factory in, you could easily spend thousands on it,
but (and here's the good news) you don't have to, other people have
already done it for you.


Another factor in the previous owner syndrome is that many of the POs
weren't all that mechanically minded - they may have loved the car but
paid to have work done; of course this adds one helluvalot to the
running costs, which could be a factor in them gettting rid of it. If
you do your own maint, obviously the cost of keeping a Scim on the road
is drastically reduced. And doing your own maint on a Scim is curiously
rewarding, much more so than many other cars.



[1] It's not uncommon to find a car that has a stainless exhaust system,
stainless fuel tank, rebuilt front suspension, new shocks, solid
chassis, fresh paint, etc, etc, and only being sold for a few hundred
quid (ie, mine, and no, you're not having it). Most of these cars don't
do many miles per year and were often owned by older geezers who
lavished attention on them over the period of ownership. That's the car
to buy.



--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember (SteveH)
saying something like:

Wot him say.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Just to clarify that.... I suppose I should have included
non-Supercharged in that, too.

 

Grimly Curmudgeon says...

Before turbos became commonplace on cars, normally aspirated meant non-
injection.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

One of the old street sleepers... Renault 10 Gordini.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

" "

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Eh? - I've _never_ heard of that before.

What the hell has EFI got to do with the way an engine sucks in the air
(ie. aspiration)? - given that injection systems of the time were little
more than an electro-mechanical development of the carburettor. FI has
absolutely nothing to do with natural/normal aspiration. An injected
non-turbo/ supercharged engine has, and always will be known as
normally/naturally aspirated.

 

SteveH says...

I have, but I know little about mechanicals, so I'll say no more.

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

I've never heard it used in that sense. Aspiration is related to the
breathing of the engine, not the fuelling.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

In

At this point, I suppose I'd better put my "Resident Ford Capri Nutter" hat
on.

The "Cologne" 2.8 engine (and the 2.3) were offered in America after about
1972, some Mk1 Capris had it, and there were a whole load of 2.8 carb
Mk2/3's about, just not RHD, oh, and the 2.8i was developed my SVE. First
car to be developed by them, IIRC.

Oh, and if you want a Capri, buy one a.s.a.p. The prices are going silly.
RS2000 Escorts have gone that way, Capris are playing catch up. Even my 2.0
Laser is worth about £14-1500.

 

3 litre Capri. Plenty of engines around, as you need to replace them
periodically.

 

In

Mk2 Series 1 will be the one with the square headlamps and the Mk2 Series 2
will be the one with the round headlamps then?

What's the Series 3 look like? Mine's an '87 and everything is
interchangeable with the bits on a 78 "S2"...

 

Yes, so I see.

<Panic>

Quick. Must find 2.8i

Arg!


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Estranged husband has put one back from complete rust bucket into
looking brand new enough to be in magazines and at shows condition.
But he's got more money than sense. HTH.

<small voice> looks nice mind, I've always had a soft spot for X19s.

 

There's one rotting in a shed near my in-laws, been there for years.

--
Dan L (Oldbloke)
My Bike 2000 Honda CB500
M'boy's Bike 1990 Suzuki TS50X (Heavily fortified)

BOTAFOT #140, DIAABTCOD #26

 

Lady Nina says...

My elder sister had an S regd 1978 1300cc X1/9 that was three years old
when she bought it. It was a rusting unreliable shed even after such a
short space of time. In the time she owned it she became an expert in
Fiat vehicle 'electrics'[1]. She sold it to buy a VW Polo.

[1] She was considering re-wiring the whole car with bits of damp
string, she reckoned that would have been an improvement on Fiat's
efforts.

 

Something like this looks nice
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....&category=29755&sspagename=STRK:MEBWA:IT&rd=1
depending on how close to the buy it now price the reserve is.

TBH, once it gets up towards a grand I'd far rather go with
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=9835&item=2478215015&rd=1
this sort of thing, as being a better car for the money (i.e just as fast,
but with infinitely better handling, a better image and specification. Only
let down by the hideous price of Audi spares).

Hypothetically I could spend a grand on a car this month. Hmmmm.

Does anybody know if "Bought a shite old car" is reasonable grounds for
divorce?

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

If we're posting ebay URL's then it looks like Darsy has finally stuck his
suzuki on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36798&item=2478269616&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

I was under the impression that the outriggers were only an MOT failure if
they were there but crap, whereas if you take them out altogether you can't
get done for them. Could be bollocks though.

Check for signs of damp inside as well, unless it's going to be in a garage
all the time leaky interiors can be a real pain. I spent many winters
lifting blocks of ice out of the passenger footwell........

Did you see that Scim made number 9 out of the top 100 classic cars in
Practical Classics this month? Bit of a surprise that.

 

My Mk II Escort with the concertina sunroof was like that as well.

When I first got it the carpets were soaked through, so I took them out,
cleaned them and left them to dry in the garage.

A few days later there was a really cold morning and I had a rather
interesting start to the day when I drove off and then realised there was a
huge patch of ice under the pedals.


--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Kawasaki ZX-6R J1
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, TEAR#3 (and KotL), DS#5, COSOC#9, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.