Tommyboy12

Bonus shot of the internals of my £8 stereo...

Bit of an update on the blue one while the white one still undergoes surgery! While the car has been working and running it's had a few issues and there's some broken things that I've wanted to address. Firstly the stereo, while my bargain £8 from eBay stereo has worked well it was only pumping sound out of one of the speakers. Took it upon myself to investigate and after determining that there was indeed wiring running to the speaker the plug for the stereo had pushed the pin out for the speaker so it wasn't working (who'd have guessed my £8 stereo had shonky build quality). Plugged in a

Dont get too disheartened by the Robin. Youll enjoy it when its done. Mine has been a good steer (considering theres only one wheel to steer with!)

I spent the weekend (when I wasn't being falsely accused of being pulled by plod) trying to fix my handbrake. One of the MOT fails was that it appeared to be hitting the stop on the mechanism and not being good enough. What it turned out to be was that someone had replaced a clevis pin on the bottom of the handbrake handle with a bolt, which was fouling the body. Luckily I had a spare clevis pin from a Mini that fit. I then promptly pulled the handbrake a few times and the handbrake suddenly went loose. Turns out the cable sleeve had pulled through its mount on the axle bracket.

You wouldnt believe how many times I have been sent this in the last 48 hours! The benefits of owning a blue Reliant that looks just as rough as this one I guess??

MoT time for the blue one. It failed! Needs new tyres. There's a trailer tyre on the front and one of the (20+ year old) camacs on the back has a cut in it. So three new tyres on order! Handbrake needs adjusting, bulb fell out the headlight, and the bumper had a sharp edge. Nothing ten minutes with a screwdriver, spanner and duct tape won't fix!

Im around Huntingdon area yes

How much welding did you end up doing on it then? 😉

I think I got the *slightly* better deal

I did indeed take it on the motorway! I went a whole 70mph for about 20 miles or so. The rather puny stereo doesnt do much for the immense racket that is going on around you! Rattling trim and the engine screaming away. Its much more comfortable at 60 than 70 but it is completely capable of motorway speed. I did manage to get 80mph out of my last one but im a bit wary of trying that in this one as its got some decrepit tyres on it. That being said youre barely using any throttle to maintain 70mph. On the point of stability I think the main thing is just to be 'aware' youre driving a three

Good news! Blue Peter now has a new (old) front coilover. Turns out the Reliant had a form of structural shock absorber similar to aftermarket coilovers. So basically the bottom of the shock was rotten and it just collapsed on the first speed bump. As previously mentioned the arm is in great nick. Potentially a replacement. But it's back together now. Picture included of massive shock rot. I had to play with the brake light switch too as it turns out the brake lights weren't illuminating when I pressed the pedal. Anyone that's driven a Reliant knows how cramped the footwell is. Conto

First test drive of the blue one did not go well... Traditionally the front coilover is attached at both ends. In the pic below the 'bottom' of the coilover mount can be seen on the right and so the spring ejected itself out the bottom of the car. This car passed an MoT this year...

Ill be glad to get her home again. Paintwork looks great!

Interior went back together on the Blue one today after the headgasket, modified manifolds, and changing the entire lock set. I hoovered so much fag ash and metal shavings out of the thinnest carpet ever fitted to a car! Interesting fact, the Reliant Robin ignition barrel is not a Mini barrel as I found out! The barrel is the same angle and column bore but it required a bit of wiring adjustment to make it fit. Simon you need to pull your finger out on the white one so we can have a group test!

It's an '89 Suzuki DR600 with a cut down frame and pre-60s BSA tank and arches. Another one of my too many toys! Fuel tank is only 4.5L so it isn't ideal for any further than about 50 miles!