How do I dismantle the rear hatch ?
Changing the rear hatch lip-seal
Freeing up and lubricating the rear hatch hinges
Which Ford is the Scimitar based on ?
For most jobs on the rear hatch, you need to remove it from the car. Undo the two bolts holding the gas struts to the hatch, then undo two of the three phillips-screws holding the two hinge halves together. Support the hatch while removing the last screw from each hinge half and remove from the car.
The hatch is in two halves, but the joining strips are concealed by the hatch lip seal. Find the join in this, which might be super-glued together. Start peeling the hatch lip seal out from either end until you have uncovered the joints. You will see 4 screw heads straddling each join. These screws need to be undone, but on old hatches with severe corrosion you might end up drilling them out. Don't make oversize holes when doing this, otherwise the hatch repair kit will not make a perfect job of putting everything back together.
I have managed to replace the hatch body seal without removing the hatch from the car, but it was a fiddly process around the top of the aperture behind the hinges, and I think I'll remove the hatch for this job as well
For a description of how to change the rear hatch lip seal, see this page
For tips on freeing up and lubricating the rear hatch hinges, see this page
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The Reliant Scimitar is based on the Ford NosuchModel, of which none were produced between the first non-existant date and the last. Ford themselves are reticent about this car; it is alleged that they ceased producing it because Reliant were outselling them from the word go, and they themselves are fed up with phone calls from people asking which Reliant Scimitar the NosuchModel is based on. When told that their NosuchModel has the same engine and gearbox as the Scimitar, they point out that they also supplied this engine to
If you're going to the scrapyard to look for parts for your Scimitar, the best car to make a bee-line for is
another Scimitar.
You might as well argue that the Austin 1100 should be able to source parts for the Jaguar 3.2, because both of them have Lucas components. And there's the secret. What parts Reliant didn't make for themselves were sourced from the army of suppliers to the UK motor industry, just like every other car manufacturer.
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