New build Scimitar Based Formosa

[JG]

Chiltern Green with black wires looks devine

[Lucky@LeMans]

Going through the suspension components and I've found that most of the rubber bushes have already been replaced by the previous owner. A thorough wire brushing followed by a coat of primer and they are nearly done. Final finish will be a couple of coats of gloss black and they'll be ready to go back on. I'm getting the chassis powder coated in grey so it should all look quite smart !

I missed out on a set of 15" wires yesterday complete with new tyres and adaptors, someone out bid me at the very last second ! I've found another set so might get lucky with those !!

[Mister Towed]

Little tip with ebay auctions: decide what the maximum you'd be prepared to pay would be, then, if the item hasn't been bid above that when it's about to end, submit your highest bid with five seconds remaining.

If you get outbid then it's gone for more than you would have wanted to pay, but if you are the high bidder at that point it doesn't allow anyone else to think 'hmm, I think I could go higher to win that'.

Apparently you can get software that automatically enters your high bid as the auction ends, but I think it's far more exciting doing it manually at the last second.

[redratbike]

Agree with the eBay bidding highest price your are prepared to pay at the last second

Hate the idea of cheating sniper software personally

[Lucky@LeMans]

Originally Posted by Mister Towed

Little tip with ebay auctions: decide what the maximum you'd be prepared to pay would be, then, if the item hasn't been bid above that when it's about to end, submit your highest bid with five seconds remaining.

If you get outbid then it's gone for more than you would have wanted to pay, but if you are the high bidder at that point it doesn't allow anyone else to think 'hmm, I think I could go higher to win that'.

Apparently you can get software that automatically enters your high bid as the auction ends, but I think it's far more exciting doing it manually at the last second.

I did exactly that at 7 seconds remaining. The price went from £375 to £501, my high bid but it changed right away to £510 with 1 second left !

[Mister Towed]

You just have to be patient - the good things about last-second bidding with your highest shot are that, 1/ you might just land a bargain, and 2/ you can't give it another go yourself and then regret overpaying for the item.

I've also received a 'second chance' offer of my maximum bid on an item I was outbid on less than five minutes after the auction ended, which suggested to me that the seller was bidding on it himself to bump the price but aimed too high. I declined the offer, then won it for a much lower price (as the only bidder) after it was relisted a week later.

[Lucky@LeMans]

The local powder coaters have taken the chassis away today. Thats given me a bit of a chance to go over the engine and gearbox to see what's what. I've already rebuilt the heads and port matched the inlet manifold. That was a job worth doing as there was a step mismatch between the head ports and manifold ports of around 5mm at the worst point. I marked out the manifold and ground away the aluminium manifold until it all lined up. I opened up the plenum area under the carb too which is another trick I learned back in my Autograss racing days. I bought a set of tubular exhaust manifolds from ebay that should flow really well being a long branch three into one design with a 2 1/4" collector. A straight through system front to rear with a single cherry bomb will finish it off !

[Mister Towed]

Sounds good, and I'm sure it'll sound good too!

[Lucky@LeMans]

Should sound great ! Plenty of space under the car for an extra silencer if required but I don't want it too muffled !
The body is ready for collection so the build can start next week. If I can put in a couple of hours a day it should be done by March, maybe !

[lancelot link]

Radiused rear arches and stretched front quarters all done in fibreglass and gelcoat finish ...

[molleur]

Looks really good!

[Lucky@LeMans]

Slowly making progress ! The engine work is now complete along with the gearbox conversion. To say the RX8 gearbox fitment was easy is an understatement. The standard Essex clutch hooks right upto the Mazda box, they have the same splines. The spigot bearing in the V6 is the right diameter for the Mazda input shaft. The Mazda bell housing just needs a little trimming to allow the standard Essex starter to fit. The only issue will be the lack of a speedo cable drive, the Mazda box hasn't got one !

The powder coaters are delivering the chassis in the morning and the suspension is largely rebuilt and ready to go back on. Thanks to Gary for a spare set of Scimitar coil overs, a couple of mine were leaking. I've done some research for softer springs to replace the existing ones. Looks like a set of MK1 MX5 will fit straight in and provide a more compliant ride.

Photos to follow ........

[Lucky@LeMans]

The chassis was delivered today and I've made a start refitting the suspension. I hope to have the engine and box back in over the next few days.
Looks like this is going to turn into another lock down project !

[Mister Towed]

Chassis looks very smart and I really like the welded in floorpans. Nice work.

[Lucky@LeMans]

I had the Essex engine and RX8 gearbox offered up to the chassis earlier. Stock location for the engine and its sitting on new rubber mounts. I modified the standard Scimitar gearbox cross member to fit the RX8 box mounting point.

I also made the prop shaft up using the front section of RX8 prop grafted onto the Scimitar rear section. Pretty standard stuff, I have built several props in the past so nothing unexpected.

Next job is to run new brake pipes from front to back along with fuel tank and fuel line. Probably look at the exhaust system too whilst the body is off.

[Lucky@LeMans]

A bit more progress has been made. The rolling chassis should be complete in the next few days and I plan to offer up the body by the end of the week. I need to modify the exhaust manifolds as they are too close to the floor, touching on the passenger side. They were second hand parts so I think they must have been for a Capri originally rather than a Scimitar ! I've ordered a set of Mk1 MX5 springs to replace the too hard and too long Scimitar ones. The combined weight of the engine, box and chassis isn't enough to compress them from their fully extended position !
Edit - Ignore the advice re the Mazda springs , they don't fit !!

[peterux]

Looks great, nice engine colour!

[Lucky@LeMans]

Light blue hammer finish paint for the block. Black, aluminium and grey colours will feature throughout the car !

I've just got in from the garage having extended the exhaust manifolds by 1 1/4" to give clearance under the floor pan. One of those quick little jobs that take hours !

[Lucky@LeMans]

I've had a chance to offer up the space frame body support structure onto the Scimitar chassis. It fits pretty well and is located in such a way that you can't really get it in the wrong place ! I've decided to lower the central tunnel section as the RX8 gear lever is quite short and low at the rear of the box. The tunnel is pretty high as standard especially towards the front .

Whilst the frame was resting in place I thought I might as well drop the body over the top to see how it looks. All pretty straight forward and it won't be long before it can be fitted for good !

I'm waiting on a set of tyres to fit on my wire wheels. I found a set of 5 1/2" - 15" wires in the end and I've chosen some skinny 165 / 80 profile tyres.

I'll get some more photos in the week.

[Mister Towed]

Those 165/80's will look just right. These classic 50's style cars really need a high-profile, comparatively skinny tyre to look their best.