Tow-hook and eye
On standard SE6B and MB cars the front bib spoiler is lower than the O.E. towing bracket, One of the first jobs I did was to fabricate an inconspicuous Stainless Steel bracket and and purchase a screw-in tow eye from Demon Tweeks, Doing this early in the restoration soon proved to be one of my best decisions. When time permits I will add a drawing of the bracket should anyone wish to have a go or is it that the later cars never break down..
Rear hatch Hinges
The rear hatch hinges always rust and the chrome starts to peel, these are reasonably easy to fabricate in Stainless, they were not available when I called the Scimitar specialists.
Seat belt Anchor straps
The seat belt anchor straps are mild steel and on my car had rusted very badly, I'm not sure if the fact all the chassis is fully galvanised has had a knock on effect meaning that some of the mild steel components seem to have become almost sacrificial, I believe this theory was used by British Leyland many moons ago.
Spare wheel tray
The Middlebridge Spare wheel tray is totally different to the Reliant item and is not available from the specialist suppliers, mine had dreadful tin-worm and I was left no choice but to fabricate one in Stainless, not an easy job, but very worthwhile in the end.
Heated Front Windscreen
An internet based venture brought about the import of specially made Heated Front / Rear Screens from Japan,They were available for all the GTE range and as the Middlebridge uses the same screen as the SE6 range I ordered up a front screen complete with Top-Tint and a rear one as well, The front screen is a god send on frosty mornings and I have yet to fit the rear.
Stainless Wheel Centres
Knowing that the original M.B. wheel centres either keep falling off or going dull I was not sure what route to take, I liked the idea of Stainless because they clean up easily and you only do the job once, The original wheel centres are still available from Performance Wheels in Perth, Australia but are quite expensive especially when you can easily lose one from your wheel or see the shiny finish disappearing within a few years. Having now made them , I think they look good and won't fall off but it's a job I would never do again, they took hours each and a lot of stress to get what you see here.
Fuel Tank and Tow-Bar
This was one of the first jobs completed, I won an SE6 tow-bar on Ebay and bought a new chrome flipper to set it off. As well as the items mentioned earlier the original Mild Steel fuel tank also had tin-worm and I as forced to bite the bullit and go for a Stainless Jobbie. No I don't have the facilities pictured to work on my car, I wish! - this was MOT time.
My Spare Rims
I've had these on all my 5s and 6s they are 7 x 15 Shelby Cal 500s no spacers required, I used them all the time when I first started using my Middlebridge but have lately swapped over to the original rims for originality. Personally I can't make my mind up which looks the coolest!!
Webasto
Over the Summer 2006 I really missed my old Webasto as fitted to my previous 5 and 6a, Eventually I bit the bullet and treated myself to an electric Webasto which was fitted in Feb 2007, Now I have used I think its great, no more struggling to open the roof while at the lights and getting it stuck and twisted half way etc, Roll on summer!
Scimitar Shield
After bribing my Brother in Law with plenty of beer tokens he lazer cut the Scimitar Shields in 3mm 316 Stainless Steel, I had them polished and a small quantity of both large and small (Front wing SE5/6) were produced and a few sold on some years ago, not O.E but they should last forever!!
Inlet , Exhaust & ECU Modifications.
I have opted for a pair of lovely Stainless Steel free flow exhaust manifolds from Graham Walker Ltd to help release more BHP / Torque from the engine, I have also fitted a couple of rare items namely polished and ported inlet and throttle bodies, K.N.filter and an engine chip, These modifications are all external and only maximise the potential engine output of the 2.9 unit.
