Reliant Robins ? Gen me up please.

[Frogchod]

Sans permis are out. Appart from being total shit the insurance is silly money. I guess the insurance companies think that all san permis drivers are blind or drunk or both. They are 99% correct.

 

Getting a full car license is the sensible option.

SHMBO is not sensible.....

[RedSparrow]

They are called Robin Reliants, they fall over all the time and Delboy drives one.

 

LOL.

[plasticvandan]

Insurance isn't cheap on pigs either,a lot won't touch a bike licence holder at all.

[PiperCub]

Was going to suggest one of those VSP's too but remembered there was a bloke where I used to live that had one of those Ligier things, it not only looked pretty shonky (as Dave said) but it made the most horrible irratating din outside an Indian three wheeler taxis that I've ever heard plus it looked as if was going to fall over mid-bend. Better him than me I thought.

[MrDuke]

I did once hear a rumour that the Sans Permis things were basically a French plan to get rid of drunk-drivers by means of natural selection.

[wuvvum]

I used to see a bloke driving to work every morning (in England) driving an Aixam-like contraption, he used to go on dual carriageways with it too. Can only imagine that it was terrifyingly slow.

My petrol Ligier would roll along at 60 on the flat if it had to.  Diesels are all out at 45 though.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Those VSP things are ludicrously shit. They oughta make a test drive in one part of your driving lessons in France as a discouragement for later-life drinking and driving

[Frogchod]

We've done it.

Deposit paid, epic* collection via boat and train to follow.

Frog law is happy, insurance is happy, Reliants have been registered here before, WCPGW ?

 

If all goes well my '82 Visa will be up for grabs soon...

[plasticvandan]

What have you got? And where from? Happy to give any advice

[Frogchod]

Not got it yet, logistics to be organised* today, hopefully collecting early next week.

If all goes well I'll be driving back a beige1982 Rialto from Exeter.

Pics are still up on gumtree.

Any advice on Rialtos welcome.

 

[stuboy]

my mate gets his licence back in july and has robin in the garage for years and the insurance is quite pricey

[plasticvandan]

82 is the first year of the Rialto,should have a galvo chassis as standard,headlights are hard to get hold of (same as allegro but with a sidelight) all mechanicals same as any reliant from 73-94.

not much to worry about apart from the usual,kingpin,headgasket,rotten a frame etc

[bub2006]

Thought rialto was base model metro lamps Dan? Robin mk2 was fiesta mk2 and mk3 was corsa b.

[Frogchod]

Hmm, hadn't though of the headlight issue, hopefully they can be modded for LHD.

Rotten A frame sounds scarey though.....

[bub2006]

Nowt to be scared of on a Robin/rialto mate

[plasticvandan]

Thought rialto was base model metro lamps Dan? Robin mk2 was fiesta mk2 and mk3 was corsa b.

Sort of,but not quite.early Rialto's, 82-84 use thick lenses lights as used on kitten and bug.for LHD purposes your in luck,fiat 126 is the same,and widely available in LHD form. Post 84 models use the higher spec metro lamps which have thinner and slightly bigger lenses.

 

I would buy in the engine condition alone, a decent low mile engine is now 4-500,recon your looking at £1200 upwards.parts are getting dear and difficult. Kingpin kits now running at £50!! New a frames £150. They never were cheap to buy bits for but now production has ended for 14 yrs reliant aren't obligated to supply parts any more.

Fuel tanks £150 new etc etc.reliant were very good at making their own parts,for example rear cyls and shoes are triumph,but drums are unique,and around £50 ea if you can find one. There are maybe 10 active specialist left now.

[dollywobbler]

Looks like another boat missed. I quite fancied trying a Rialto (having completely missed the original Robin boat) but they're starting to go for far more than I'm prepared to pay. Same with rear-engined Skodas. Shame. 

[londonm]

Nowt to be scared of on a Robin/rialto mate

Apart from the fact you can't get parts for them. Make sure you have a recovery service paid for.

[bub2006]

Last I knew all engine parts where available but that was a couple of years ago.

[xtriple]

When I was young and a pretty dedicated biker (only car in winter) a lot of my friends had Reliants as they didn't have car licences. We ised to pick them up and tip them on their sides to work on the undersides, or put the back end on a table!

 

Always found them simple enough to work on, but some bits were effin' awkward to get at and once had to change a clutch on one and everything had siezed solid so managed to get the 'box back a couple of inches and did it through the gap!

 

I always thought they were quite 'peppy' to drive and the engines sound good but, they ARE easy to get on two wheels - perhaps we just weren't driving them properly? Also lovely and toasty inside on a cold winters day, good heaters and the engine next to you keeps you pleasantly snug - no idea what the internal temps are like in the summer as they went away in March until the next cold weather!

[bub2006]

Very warm in summer! I found mine to be very stable considering the 25% wheel deficiency too. A little tuning and a couple of subtle mods mean due to the light weight they can surprise the local corsa and saxo brigade

[stuboy]

heard the window glass getting scarcer

[plasticvandan]

a friend runs reliantspares.com he has around 200 cars worth of spares on racking,and another 150 cars stockpiled. he isnt cheap though,and fair play to him,he started from scratch 8 or so years ago,after buying a rialto for the axle (trike) then found that every single part of the rest of the car sold,and he had a lightbulb moment.

hes probably got aat least 50 full sets of glass,obviously there are different glasses for saloon,estate and hatch.

many estates went out with perspex rear windows to keep under the weight limit.

the last years production of Robin mk3s mostly had recon engines fitted rather than band new,due to Reliant failing to pay the casting company,who promptly smashed the engine block moulds in front of Reliants then MD. This is a big problem now the engines are getting old,studs pulling out the block,and once the oil way feed corrodes in the rear of the block,its new engine time.

 

most parts are available,but a set of liners and pistons is £200 upwards,a set of bearing shells will be around £100,plus rings,valves,gaskets etc etc.

Front shocks are now over £100!!

I used to run Reliants as my only transport from around 2007 until 2012, and the change in availabilty and price is staggering even in just a few years,There are very few still around now though,less than 2000,the sausage racers were getting through a 1000 a year (they ususally only went round the track once) and of course triking and scrapping for spares has played its part. I dont predict mega values (although early Regals are finally getting good money) as they dont meet the microcar criteria and never have,so have had to forge a place in the "classic" market for themselves.

[oldcars]

Sort of,but not quite.early Rialto's, 82-84 use thick lenses lights as used on kitten and bug.for LHD purposes your in luck,fiat 126 is the same,and widely available in LHD form. Post 84 models use the higher spec metro lamps which have thinner and slightly bigger lenses.

 

I would buy in the engine condition alone, a decent low mile engine is now 4-500,recon your looking at £1200 upwards.parts are getting dear and difficult. Kingpin kits now running at £50!! New a frames £150. They never were cheap to buy bits for but now production has ended for 14 yrs reliant aren't obligated to supply parts any more.

Fuel tanks £150 new etc etc.reliant were very good at making their own parts,for example rear cyls and shoes are triumph,but drums are unique,and around £50 ea if you can find one. There are maybe 10 active specialist left now.

Reminds me i need to find the leak in one of my front lamps. Cleaned it all out and replaced the bulb before Jan mot and it has a little water in again

[plasticvandan]

drill a small hole in the bottom

[oldcars]

drill a small hole in the bottom

I like this idea, its a faff taking it out all the time.

[Stroller133]

Did the customers know the engines were recon units? Watchdog would be all over that if it was a more mainstream manufacturer!

There is an old boy who sells some tat at a mini show auto jumble with a late Robin. I'm sure he claims his engine was modified due to being a special edition run out model and its really fast and will easily top the ton. Could he be confused and it would have been, what? 865cc with a rebore on the used block?

[plasticvandan]

I would say he is confused.Although a healthy later model Reliant will comfortably nudge a ton or break it a little too.97 is where I lost my bottle! And no,of course the customers didn't know,reliant just restamped the blocks,which could have been anything up to 20 + yrs old by that point.gearbox failures were common on late cars due to an Indian shareholders company making them with appauling QC. Most engines in the 96-01 period often went out producing much less bhp than stated,anything over 30 was a pass(3 wheeler owners wouldn't notice) rather than the 40 they were meant to have.4 branch manifolds were introduced around 97 to help this. As far as I'm aware the robin was the last car to be sold new in Britain with all round drum brakes,and almost certainly the last to have points and an su carb! Also,the Reliant outlived the original Mini by a year,ironic given the Mini was designed to rid the roads of cars like the Robin :&)

 

And so concludes today's history lesson.

[Stroller133]

Did the later cars still have all the gauges? My dad had a couple of N plate mk1 Robins, a saloon and an estate. They both had voltmeters (or ammeters?) and oil pressure gauges. It was all I had when lads in the playground were boasting about their dads Montego having a turbo or Saab 900 with electric windows - "err my dads car has an oil pressure gauge!"

[bub2006]

Mine topped the ton on numerous occasions, once indicated 110 but was very scary