Sold My reliant rialto - now sold :-(

[groovylee]

update time!  no pics as yet as i'm at work, so uploading is fun.......

 

so, the new goodies arrived, and i got cracking.  first up, get the old fuel pump off and put the new one on. only at this point did i spot my fatal error during the last round of fault finding - the bloody inlet pipe to the pump had perished and almost fallen off!  so the reason for no fuel getting to the carb, was because the pump was sucking fresh air. balls.

ho hum, i had the new pump, so i put it on.  it was quite interesting to be working on the engine through the drivers footwell, but not an entirely unpleasant experience.  while i was in there i took the opportunity to break the vac advance pipe elbow to the dissy, the other elbow at the carb end (which also wasnt connected in the first place FFS) and skin my knuckles rather spectacularly on the block when a very tight nut let go. balls again. lol

 

anyway, with ALL of the fuel hose replaced, the rear fuel filter replaced, everything buttoned back up, she started! and ran!  better than ever before!  happy days.

 

On to the front brakes next.  i had originally been concerned that the master cylinder was bolloxed, as they are many pounds, but after removing the front wheel and drum, the state of the front cylinders told me i might be alright.  sure enough, the master cylinder is ok. awesome!  righto, now to remove the old cylinders..... 

in hindsight, i should have just cut the pipes at the start and saved myself the grief, but hey, i'm an optimist.  so, I have now ordered some brake unions to fit my nice new wheel cylinders so i can make up some new brake lines to replace the ones i had to cut because of the seized in, made of cheese, originals.

 

to end on a high, i fitted the electronic indicator relay.  it worked. i was very happy

 

once the unions arrive, I'll make the lines up, and then bleed the old shite brown brake fluid through.  ive got 2 gallons of the stuff, so i should be ok lol.

 

then, its tart up the interior, tart up the front suspension, and take it for an MOT!

 

this is going to be gr9!  can't wait to drive the crazy thing!

 

oh, and before i forget, any recommendations for insurance companies?

 

cheers all,

 

Lee

[plasticvandan]

classic if you can,otherwise very expensive, from memory the Rialto is group 8 or something.

[oldcars]

When i got mine it did'nt have the vacuum advance fitted, i picked one up with the elbow connectors from a mini spares place online, think it was about 3 quid.

 

I have mine on a classic policy with a broker who helped me out as mine is covered in logos for advertising and some places were funny with it. Bridle Insurance was the crowd i used and they were good.

[groovylee]

cheers guys.

 

I have the ranger insured through a broker, so I may give them a shout and see what they can do.  I think it was Osborne and sons. *shuffles off to check........

[groovylee]

well, a month in, and too much time at work has made for slow progress

 

that said, I have managed to get the two new front wheel cylinders fitted, and new front brake lines made up, so all good there

 

on bleeding the brakes, I found that the drivers side rear wheel cylinder was seized also, so im just waiting for a delivery of the new one, then I can fit it, bleed the brakes, and go for MOT!!

 

after replacing the rear brake line that will inevitably snap whilst trying to remove the old wheel cylinder of course.......

the only other thing to report, was that I removed the old stereo in preparation for fitting the new one (priorities and all that). on removing it, I found a sizeable mouse nest in the dash. i'll get a pic and report further later in the week.

 

cheers all,

 

Lee

[Andrew353w]

Loving this thread, as I still miss the Robin I sold about 8 years ago! If memory serves, brakes are as per old Mini parts, so Mini Spares in Potters Bar might be worth a shout (& they're on t'internet....)   

 

I might be wrong about the brakes, but I don't think I am....

[MarvinsMom]

that realto is totally amazing, both the colour and the trim, and even better for free!

 

gents, i think we have a new king of autoshite....

 

i tip my bonnet to you, my liege.

[groovylee]

cheers guys!  hopefully i will get some time on thursday once i get up (night shifts) to fit the new rear wheel cylinder and flare the new lines, then ive bookmarked monday and tuesday next week as reliant days, so i should be in a position to do the tarting up prior to MOT time

 

cant wait to get this finished!

[plasticvandan]

Loving this thread, as I still miss the Robin I sold about 8 years ago! If memory serves, brakes are as per old Mini parts, so Mini Spares in Potters Bar might be worth a shout (& they're on t'internet....)   

 

I might be wrong about the brakes, but I don't think I am....

you are a little im afraid. rear cylinders are spitfire/herald,fronts i think are lh front mini,drums and hubs unique to Reliant

[groovylee]

well, today has been very productive   first up was the job of removing the seized rear wheel cylinder.  it didn't want to come out without a fight, so I ended up replacing the rear axle brake line as well....  once that was done I needed to wait to bleed the brakes, as my helper (dad) was still at work.  I decided now was the time to tackle that mouse nest affair behind the stereo

 

I took three massive handfuls of mouse bedding out of the dash, and then attacked it with the hoover.  at this point I found out why there was no sound from the radio - both speaker wires had been chewed through!  I set about replacing the speaker cables, re terminating the switched live and earth, and then running a permanent supply from the battery to the head unit.  wonder of wonders, the speakers work!  and they're not half bad either  

 

finally, I needed to strip down the brake light switch to clean it up and make it work.  now that's done, all I need to do is paint a few bits to keep the MOT guy happy, and then book it in for the MOT, hopefully on Tuesday

 

will get some pics again on Monday when I get cracking again.

 

cheers,

 

Lee

[groovylee]

Two things;

 

1. The reliant is insured.

2. MOT tomorrow at 4:30.

 

Fingers are crossed!

[Timewaster]

Well, well......?

[oldcars]

Good luck hope it passed, be good to get another Reliant back on the roads.

[Andrew353w]

CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THE RESULT.....

[groovylee]

IT PASSED!!!!!!!!! 

 

I haz a happy!  it is very very different to drive, but not unpleasant.  the throttle return spring falling off on the way to the test was though!

 

all sorted, no advisories, and a compliment on the LED indicators/sidelights  

 

happy dayz!

[MarvinsMom]

congratulations , sir!

[groovylee]

cheers MM.  to be honest i thought it might fail on something, but i think that was just me being overly critical    before the test i managed to do a few bits and pieces of repair work, mainly around the mirror and behind the front wheel.  i also managed to install a better stereo, and the speakers are surprisingly good

 

anyway, have a few pics of the newly legal green meanie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thats all for now folks!

 

cheers,

 

Lee

[oldcars]

Great stuff, looks a great little car. I need to sort the cd/radio out in mine, i disconnected it as the wiring looks a fire hazard!

[martc]

 

 

 

Nice, and green. Slightly off-topic, that black badge to the left of the number plate, what is it?

 

Some one at work has de-badged a 60 reg Fiesta and added chrome version of these in place of the Ford badge. is it some sort of secret society?

[worldofceri]

[MarvinsMom]

decepticon off of transformers I think?

 

which is a bit harsh, the decepticons are the baddies... I don't see any inherent baddiness in a reliant realto, in fact quiet the opposite!

 

good to see that you are starting you're nipper off early too....

[groovylee]

indeed it is the decepticon badge lol.  My Ranger (and that of my friend Matt) has a Autobot one (the good guys), so i figured the green meanie could be the baddie lol.

 

My little lad Kieran loves it, if he could reach the pedals he'd be asking for a drive im sure haha!

[oldcars]

My wee one loves the Rialto too. Some of his nursery friends say "We saw the Robin Reliant today" and he says "Its a Reliant Rialto". Good lad

[groovylee]

OH NOES!!

 

i think i haz teh dreaded HGF

 

any pointers for good suppliers of head gasket related bits and pieces?  also, any perils or pitfalls with these engines?  i can do a head gasket just fine, but some engines have their little foibles......

[plasticvandan]

How do you know? A bit of Mayo in the cap isnt confirmation if its only done short journeys and hasn't got hot. Overheating is usuallystat,pump,rad,blocked waterways,then h/g.

Last one I did took 6 days to get head off (on a fox with decent access) so treat it as a last resort!

Head is ally,studs are steel= problems!

[groovylee]

hmmm.  it hasnt overheated. the needle pretty much remains in the middle of the gauge at all times.  there was some gungy stuff in the rad cap. i cleaned it off, so i will check it when i get back again to see if there is any more

 

there was some gungy mayo in the oil filler / breather when i got it first running, but i put that down to condensation from running short times. this was back again after the run today.

 

the other issue was that there was water coming out of the overflow when i stopped, but then i guess that could be down to a weak cap spring?  either way, it is due a service, so I may just flush the Rad, bung new coolant in, and see what happens.

[Andrew353w]

O.K.-DON'T PANIC! It might not be the head gasket, so here are a few ideas:

1/ Do you have mayonnaise in the coolant?

2/ Does the heater work OK?

3/ Have you flushed the cooling system through? 

4/ Is the car losing coolant?

5/ What's the temperature gauge showing?

 

As above, remember the car's not done any serious exercise for a few years & may just need a good run to clear the cobwebs. Flushing the cooling system will remove any sediment that's been sitting in the pipes & channels, so I'd start there. Take a look at  what comes out (could be yuk!) and decide if more flushing's necessary. If the heater's giving out heat then the heater matrix isn't blocked and this is a good sign. 

 

Don't give up with the lovely little car! More advice available from the fans on the forum!

[groovylee]

O.K.-DON'T PANIC! It might not be the head gasket, so here are a few ideas:

1/ Do you have mayonnaise in the coolant? Yep

2/ Does the heater work OK? not tried actually, will do that later

3/ Have you flushed the cooling system through? not yet, but will do.

4/ Is the car losing coolant? yes, but from the rad overflow pipe, i saw some coming out after i stopped, but didn't think much of it other than i might have overfilled the rad when i topped it up

5/ What's the temperature gauge showing? it sits in the middle, with occasional very slight rises (minimal) when in traffic.

 

As above, remember the car's not done any serious exercise for a few years & may just need a good run to clear the cobwebs. Flushing the cooling system will remove any sediment that's been sitting in the pipes & channels, so I'd start there. Take a look at  what comes out (could be yuk!) and decide if more flushing's necessary. If the heater's giving out heat then the heater matrix isn't blocked and this is a good sign. 

 

Don't give up with the lovely little car! More advice available from the fans on the forum!

 

cheers!  not going to give up yet

 

 

 

 

answers in red above

[Andrew353w]

Reliants can suffer from overheating problems, owing to the lack of air flow over the radiator and the way the engine is shoe-horned into such a small space. Mine over-heated on the day I collected it and I eventually narrowed the problem to a blocked radiator. I took the old one out & had it reconditioned, which solved the problem.

[plasticvandan]

It took 2 weeks following a head gasket change for all the damp in the engine to dissapear,morning oil cap wipings being the norm.until you have done a good hundred miles plus you won't be able to tell.

Water level in the rad is just above the fins,any more than that,ie filled to the brim,and it will push it out the overflow.I would only worry if there was a load of Mayo on the dipstick.

As it is not overheating,I wouldn't be that concerned.a bit of gunk in the rad is normal.most reliant owners have the heater valve on all year round,as this adds the extra coolant in the heater into the system.

The rear block drain plug must be flushed out,the back of the head fills up with corrosion and sediment,an old throttle cable or similar is ideal to poke in all the way around the head.