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Dollywobbler's Foxy little number


dollywobbler

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Fox(es) on the run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jNt7ZGCW-o

Love the synths in this (sorry for Jimmy Savile at the start).

 

Foxes in the distance:

11157779545_007c97219e_c.jpgReliant Fox camper van by Matt, on Flickr

8753901090_30909e4ea6_c.jpgReliant Fox camper & Citroen Mehari by Matt, on Flickr

 

Good luck Ian. Will look forward to your videos on this. :)

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I am amazed - both by DW buying one, and again by many others having detailed knowledge of them, and even more by others having owned one.

 

Well done. As I’ve said before, I have no wish to own one of these but am very gratified that at least one person does. I’m still not sure it’s long enough for a camper conversion though, unless Warwick davies is on the lookout.

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Meant to have the HTE engine,but IMO the hype is unjustified,they are more prone to blowing headgaskets and the heads cant be skimmed.The cooking red top 40hp 850 is a much better lump,tho in reality the 750 was the best of the lot.

what year is the Fox? as there was a change over of gearboxes and a starters in 1984

 

First registered Jan 1984. Someone has offered me a Bond Bug engine, condition unknown but turns. Guessing that'll be a 750.

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First registered Jan 1984. Someone has offered me a Bond Bug engine, condition unknown but turns. Guessing that'll be a 750.

I had three Bugs and they were all 700cc same as the Regal and Rebel.

But i think the last handful of Bugs made were 750cc same as the early Robin.

 

If it has a carb still attatched to it this helps to identify its size.

850's were fitted with a SU item and the 700 and 750's were Zenith fed.

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If you have pics I can tell you what it is.if genuine Bug engine number will start BB,in which case get it on ebay! 700,c.c Will start C70.don't touch a 700.it will be way underpowered and won't fit the gearbox.without wanting to blow trumpets i can hopefully tell you all you need to know quickly.an under bonnet shot should tell me what box/starter setup you have.Also the chassis numbers on these are actually numbered so you can tell what number it was down the line,I say down the line,I was told by a former employee that Foxes were mainly built in a spare area to give the workforce something to do when the Ss1 wasn't selling.

Exhaust originally side exit and unavailable but kitten ones fit.

Wheels were reputedly the entire stock of HA van bought from Bedford when they stopped making the HA.

The front grill is held on with four nuts or wingnuts after removing the metal plate near the heater fan.Turning circle is ridiculous,about 24ft.

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It seems odd these weren't more popular - fitted with a hightop body they would have been an excellent competitor for the Rascal type vans

 

I suspect that the Rascal was a lot cheaper as well as being more practical.  The Fox would be better pitched at the Fiesta van as it might be more expensive but it won't be rotten inside 5 years.

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I suspect that the Rascal was a lot cheaper as well as being more practical.  The Fox would be better pitched at the Fiesta van as it might be more expensive but it won't be rotten inside 5 years.

 

Indeed. Rascals are surprisingly capacious. Personally, I find it slightly ridiculous that either were considered a good base for a camper van, but both were.

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I can't belive I missed this thread untill now,

 

I've got a bit of a soft spot for the Fox, I've never been keen on the Kitten's styling but theres always been something appealing about the fox's boxy utilitarian nature.

 

Reliants entire buisness was founded on light commercial vehicles and they doggedly carried on punting them out in ever more quirky formats for far longer than you would expect. (See also Reliant ant.)

 

I'm inclined to agree with dan that the 750cc Relaint engine is probably the smoothest and most refined unit that came out of Tamworth. The extra displacement to gain 850cc was achived by altering the lenth of the stroke rather than bore size. As a result the 850cc engines have some extra grunt but are certainly less refined and a bit more stressed. I'd definately want the extra 100cc's in a fox though as they are a bit bigger and heavier than a Rebel.

 

The 850's are by far the most common version still surviving. They are generally pretty good apart from a reputation for eating head gaskets.

 

It has become a lot harder to find good used engines,there was a period about 7-8 years ago when a good runner could be had for £100 or less. There are still bargains out there but you have to work harder to find them. Its also pot luck regarding condition.

 

I bought a random £60 850 as a spare a few years ago and sat it on the shelf waiting for a vehicle that really needed it. 2 years ago the 850 engine in my van had oil pressure problems and spun a big end bearing. I dropped the replacement engine in and soon discoverd it was little better than the engine I had taken out. It was gutless, leeched oil out at a prolific rate and burned oil almost as quick. It managed 18 months of very light use before terminally shitting itself last autumn.

 

I've recently been rebuilding the first 850cc, and Dave on the IOW has recently rebuilt a Reliant 598 for his Red Rebel saloon.

 

I've been meaning to post about it for a while but the Rebel van thread seems to have dissapeared off the forum its been that long since I posted to it!

 

Heres a preview:

 

235.jpg

 

 

I can probabably work how much It cost me for engine rebuild if your keen to go down that route?

 

Joe

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