Practically Classics Forum

The official answer is no as the V8 has a different base unit and front suspension in order to accommodate the wider engine, although I have seen it done.

When we talk of parts back up, can you get all the niggley bits new for P6 Rovers, like, for example, door handles/locks, window glass/trims, badges, body trim and interior trim

once you've owned one you'll never understand why they're so cheap.

I often wonder why the Reliant Scimitar GTE is "So cheap", as it offers a lot on paper. I know someone, who owned one said that they were a bit prone to bits falling off but I can't see why that should be the case (Unless the car was a bit rough).

The official answer is no as the V8 has a different base unit and front suspension in order to accommodate the wider engine, although I have seen it done.

You would have thought that when the V8 came out, they might have used that shell for all, with appropriate engine mounts. When MG brought out the V8, unlike the MGC, it used MGB type front suspension. For a time, the 1800 shell was different but once the rubber bumper car came along, all (Even the open car) had the V8 style shell (This is why the radiator is so far away from the engine, on a rubber bumper MGB 1800), even though the V8 didn't last two years into the rubber bumper era (And was built in far smaller quantities). The V8 bonnet was also standardised. Although not as obvious, as an MGC bonnet, the V8 bonnet has a little more curvature, to clear the carbs on the V8; an early B bonnet is flatter.

Martin Evans wrote:When we talk of parts back up, can you get all the niggley bits new for P6 Rovers, like, for example, door handles/locks, window glass/trims, badges, body trim and interior trim :?:

There are a very few parts that are hard to find at affordable prices - Furflex trim around the door apertures in a chosen colour, for example. But nothing that'll keep the car off the road (except perhaps for the TC exhaust manifold). Parts prices are higher than those for a Minor or Herald, and there are only 3 or so specialist suppliers. But items appear on eBay and the like so you can build up a collection and hoard everything that could be useful. Parts cars are often temptingly cheap too.

I can't see why anyone would want to fit a V8 to a 4-cyl P6. Better to upgrade a 2000 with 2.2 engine which is easy and won't devalue it or cause insurance hassle. There's no shortage of cheap V8 P6Bs so little point trying to make your own.

Martin Evans wrote: You would have thought that when the V8 came out, they might have used that shell for all, with appropriate engine mounts.

This is Rover we are talking about here. They had no problem with 109's having very different chassis for 4 and 6 cylinder models, along with a different bulkhead.
(The gearbox in the 6 is placed further back, so the gearbox crossmember is shifted back- also means that the propshafts aren't interchangeable between 4 and 6 ) Engine mounts aren't welded in the same place either.

Loving this,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190934819418? ... 26_rdc%3D1

So much car for the money, I might send an sneaky little email and see if there interested in a px for a camper

Should be tax exempt April too

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C409934

W115 or W123 Mercedes have excellent parts support. Diesels are slow but great on fuel. Independent rear suspension, four wheel disc brakes and power steering make them easy to drive daily. Built well and very safe.

Failing that, Volvo 240 or 740's are also a good bet.

Bits for the two Colts (Mitsubishi's) you posted are still reasonably easy to obtain in Aus. The liftback in your early post was sold here as the second generation Mitsubishi Lancer and the two door hardtop in your pics was the Mitsubishi Scorpion. However for a daily car do you really want to risk having it off the road while you wait for that left handed widget to come from Japan or Australia?

If I was in your position I'd be looking at Scimitar GTE's. That is mostly based on personal preference. I'd love to own one, but they are about 7000-8000 GBP here.

My dad ran a scimitar as a everyday car for years mechanicaly tough, the vac formed trim can be a bit flimsy and the body had the odd star crack, but much easier to fix than corrosion in most other classics.

kstrutt1 wrote:My dad ran a scimitar as a everyday car for years mechanicaly tough, the vac formed trim can be a bit flimsy and the body had the odd star crack, but much easier to fix than corrosion in most other classics.

Yes, they always were a grossly underrated car, but when they do need welding and the only way to access the job properly is to lift the shell out of the way, that's when they can be a bit overwhelming to some folk more used to putting a damp towel in the footwell of - say - a Capri and simply applying a plate for test purposes.
One solution of course is to forget the Reliant ones, only very late examples of which had Galvanised chassis - not all of them less rustprone than the non dipped cars as quite a few were badly pickled just like the Foxes and LE93s - and instead go straight for a Middlebridge Scimitar, all of the good points of the last Reliant ones combined with chassis that so far seem to be lasting well as a result of better Galvanising. These things plus injected, non-Siamesed 2.9 litre engines for extra go and better economy. What's not to like?