Pre Christmas collection. Reliant content!

[plasticvandan]

Rear wash wipe,radio cassette,clock,front fog lamps,think that's about it

[plasticvandan]

1 minute ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

I think LX is base spec, with SLX as mid range and a couple different special editions as top spec.

 

1 minute ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

I think LX is base spec, with SLX as mid range and a couple different special editions as top spec.

At this stage the slx hadn't come out,the Rialto was still in production as the base model,the Robin Lx being top spec at around £8000 in 1992.

[bub2006]

I cant recall the trims off top of my head but some had clocks,cigarette lighter,oil and battery gauges too. I had an H plate Robin lx that had clock and volt meter with aftermarket cig lighter and rev counter. My friend has a base rialto in a y plate. It doesn't even have black bumper over riders. It has vinyl seats too. 

[bub2006]

My trike is q 83 rialto chassis,running gear etc. I've fitted a series land rover electronic ignition from paddocks along with land rover dizzy cap. Lots of British tim shared parts with reliant. My distributor is a lucus 45 so land rover bits of the same fit. I've got a Weber carb in shed too but never got round to swapping carb out as one on it works,well sort of!

[bunglebus]

If you get bored...

 

 

[captain_70s]

Very shite.

The PO of my Dolly 1850 ended up with a Scimitar SE6 and a Mk1 Robin as daily drivers. The Robin was most amusing, had the exact same dash as yours despite being 20 odd years older!

He had tiny Wolfrace slot mags on his, he had a wider set of rears but opted for the narrow ones on the basis the owners club advised it was better to slide a bit than to have a "grip and flip" type situation.

[LightBulbFun]

very cool stuff! always love a bit of 3 wheeler action

im curious what is the front suspension setup on a Reliant?

on other *cough* 3 wheelers that I know of, its either C tube suspension pre mid 1969, and and parallelogram front suspension post Mid 1969

and its made me wonder what did reliant use?

[bub2006]

Lbf,theres an a frame mounted on flexible rubber on bottom front chassis rail with a shocker and spring mounted diagonally from top chassis rail to a frame to allow a frame to rise up and fall. The wheel is bolted to the drum which in turn us mounted to a kingpin on the a frame to allow left and right. On the cars they have steering wheel to steering box linked to front wheel,on my trike I have a solid rod with a track rod at the front wheel with a track rod mounted under handlebars. I'll get a picture tomorrow as I've no bodywork in the way. 

[beko1987]

@bub2006 you should pinch it and refurb the trike! Or just swap alllllll the bits, he'll never notice*

[LightBulbFun]

18 minutes ago, bub2006 said:

Lbf,theres an a frame mounted on flexible rubber on bottom front chassis rail with a shocker and spring mounted diagonally from top chassis rail to a frame to allow a frame to rise up and fall. The wheel is bolted to the drum which in turn us mounted to a kingpin on the a frame to allow left and right. On the cars they have steering wheel to steering box linked to front wheel,on my trike I have a solid rod with a track rod at the front wheel with a track rod mounted under handlebars. I'll get a picture tomorrow as I've no bodywork in the way. 

ah interesting, thanks 

I look forward to seeing the picture it will be interesting to see how it compares! 

[RayMK]

36 minutes ago, bub2006 said:

Lbf,theres an a frame mounted on flexible rubber on bottom front chassis rail with a shocker and spring mounted diagonally from top chassis rail to a frame to allow a frame to rise up and fall. The wheel is bolted to the drum which in turn us mounted to a kingpin on the a frame to allow left and right. On the cars they have steering wheel to steering box linked to front wheel,on my trike I have a solid rod with a track rod at the front wheel with a track rod mounted under handlebars. I'll get a picture tomorrow as I've no bodywork in the way. 

Yep. Reliant owners refer to it as the 'A frame.'   It is in fact a leading arm, so in theory it has anti dive properties when braking.  My 1961 MKVI Regal saloon has pretty much the same configuration but for a 13 inch wheel. The parts are not interchangeable with later Robins or Rialtos.

Driving Robins or Rialtos is, as others have said, great fun. The lightweight construction, chirpy engine, short throw gear change and relatively stiff suspension gives a sporty feel even at modest speeds. Lifting the left rear wheel on left handers when there's just the driver on board is easily done if you forget that it's a three wheeler and brake whilst in the corner. Once you've got the feel of them, it is possible to drive rapidly with little risk of rolling. They feel even more stable with a good tool kit strategically placed at the nearside in the boot.  

Reliants burn well. Make sure that the fuel system is leak tight and all rubber pipework is of the correct spec for modern petrol.  The valve seats are fine with unleaded.  I agree with Plasticvandan regarding the heater.  I found that my Rialto kept its cool much better after fitting it with an expansion bottle and having a simple blanking cap on the rad and a pressure cap on the bottle. This enabled the radiator to run full at all times. Without an expansion bottle, Robins and Rialtos tend to push coolant out of the overflow, leaving the apparent coolant level just barely over the top of the fins.  Engine access is poor by most standards unless you are a double jointed masochist.   

[Zelandeth]

They're a laugh.  Only driven two and it's been a while.

Main things I remember were engines that revved like utter lunatics and a lovely gearchange.

The handling is...odd.  Probably not bad once you've got used to it, but it definitely doesn't feel like a "normal" car, especially the way they sort of undulate their way over uneven surfaces.  The weight shift coming off roundabouts with any real speed is somewhat unnerving I felt.

Lovely engine though...

If it were mine given their reputation for flammability I'd probably be looking to be replacing all the fuel lines with marine grade hose.  Keep the carb in good fettle too as I recall it's situated over the exhaust manifold like on a lot of BMC cars so an overflowing float bowl can dump fuel all over the exhaust.

[Angrydicky]

Discovered it wasn’t water in the drivers footwell, but brake fluid! Master cylinder is leaking. 

Handy I work for a classic brake specialist so no problem to rebuild it. Might just need a hone and seal kit like I did with the Royale one, or if the bore is rotten, it’ll get sleeved. No massive issue, a bit annoying to have to bleed the brakes but never mind!

[bub2006]

My Robin had a few tweaks done to it. Was bloody nippy. Engine is a lovely thing in them,gear change is great as mentioned. About 5k is the rev limit if I recall. My trike had a few tweaks also,electronic ignition and cooling fan,ported inlet and exhaust with tuned carb. The trike handles better than the car but I found the car when used to it can handle better than anything with 3 wheels has a right to. Regarding Heater,my robin had it set permanently on for better cooling of the engine but the pipes to the interior were disconnected in summer,the trike has a joining pipe where the heater rad would have been but does have an expansion bottle. The robin used to get warm in traffic with the mechanical fan barely spinning at idle until I flushed it out,the trike has overheated once on slack hill near matlock when the electric fan fell off but no damage caused! Because the trike is exposed there is a decent amount of airflow to it though. I can remember the skinned knuckles working in the tight engine bay too. Not fun! 

[bub2006]

13 hours ago, beko1987 said:

@bub2006 you should pinch it and refurb the trike! Or just swap alllllll the bits, he'll never notice*

Trike doesn't need a refurb ya cheeky git ?

[beko1987]

Doesn't need and would be rude not to are different things though 

[bub2006]

It's been painted and rewired. Jeeps going through an mot and it works ?‍♂️

[DoctorRetro]

I'm so jealous. 

I've never driven one of these, would definitely like to experience it at some point. *Hint hint*

 

[HMC]

My flat mate had a kitten in 1999; same dash and leopard print seat covers stick in the mind. Great purchase!

[bub2006]

Excuse the fairy lights. That's the front end setup on the reliant. Mine is exactly same as the bodied version bar the steering link because my trike has a non modified reliant chassis so uses reliant running gear,brakes,engine etc

[stuboy]

found some pics of my mates robin on an old phone, ill upload later... why he still has it i dont know.

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, bub2006 said:

Excuse the fairy lights. That's the front end setup on the reliant. Mine is exactly same as the bodied version bar the steering link because my trike has a non modified reliant chassis so uses reliant running gear,brakes,engine etc

ohh very interesting  Thank you for grabbing photos its much appreciated!

looks quite similar to the other 3 wheeler im comparing it to

but not quite the same, the other 3 wheeler has an extra bar of sorts next to the coilover (as well as the steering bar at the bottom of course)

[wuvvum]

I remember the engine in my Regal being very revvy.  Revving it made bugger all difference to anything except the noise level but it was remarkably happy to spin for a '60s engine. 

[plasticvandan]

97mph was my record before running out of road,or rather straight road,it was still pulling but I was ever mindful that a conrod through the block  would hurt my legs after firing through 1/8 " of fibreglass in the cab! I do often miss them,but feel now that I had my long period with them and any attempts to rekindle the joys would result in disappointment,but I'm happy to see new people experiencing the ways of the Tupperware tripod for the first time

heres me 9 years ago with my cobalt blue LX 

[DBrown67]

Quality vehicle choice!  I just finished restoring a 1969 Regal saloon in the summer. Basically the same as yours overall but with 700cc engine and 13" wheels. I put some foam inside the engine cover carpet on mine and it really did seem to quieten it down somewhat. I'm going to go totally overboard later this year and put sound deadening inside all the doors and door panels. Got a roll of it knocking about so might as well.

I did put some mods on my car. Namely electronic ignition and a battery cut off switch. I fitted electric fuel pump and made sure to use R9 rubber fuel hose. I also retro fitted a Robin heat shield plate between carb and manifold. Yours should have one already but Regals didn't. I also carry at least 2 fire extinguishers. Even thinking of putting a remote one in the engine bay on the passenger side. Dunno how safe that would be as it gets quite warm under there. But as mentioned, Reliants will go up quickly if the worst happens. I also fitted a bleeper on the indicators because they aren't self cancelling and I can't see the indicator bulb on my dash.  On the Robin it's more visible so no need for you. I've also bought a yellow top 850cc HC engine and gearbox to fit at some point in the future. But the 700 is running so well right now that I'm in no rush for that.

One thing for you to do is to drain the water from the system (there's a drain plug on the exhaust side near the back of the block) and have a poke about with a thin wire round the walls of cylinder no.4. Reliant engines always clog up round there if the maintenance hasn't been done correctly over the years. But be very careful removing the plug. If it's stuck don't force it or you'll strip the thread in the block. Ask me how I know. Fixed it screwing in a longer/slightly wider bolt that seems to be holding well but I was very worried that I'd knacked the block. Use engine cooling system cleaner and get as much crap out through that hole as possible. Then refill with antifreeze and distilled water. Tap water just causes furring up of the waterways which owners tended to do all the time. I would deffo add a heater... it's hardly any hassle. Regals didn't have any on/off valve though for the heater. So mines just running through the heater matrix all the time.

I put some videos up of restoring the car over last summer. Part one is here... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSmcy673Z9c&t=63s

I came on here to see if the group were doing anything for Festival of the Unexceptional in the summer as I deffo want to take the tricycle to that. That's how I found this thread. Good luck with it! If the engine and gearbox are as sweet as you say then everything else will be a doddle really.

[plasticvandan]

Regals did have an on off valve mounted on the rear cyl head,of course it may have been replaced with the stub off an 850. The valve was only operable from the engine bay though.

Personally not a fan of electric pumps in pigs,for obvious reasons. Regals have no flame retardant in the resin so are particularly nasty if they go up,from the Robin onwards it was added into the mix.

[Eddie Honda]

When in 1969 did they relocate the ashtray and square off the top of the engine hump below the dashboard Dan? I thought they did it later. My '69 has the ashtray on the hump.

[plasticvandan]

Couldn't give the exact date but it was the same time the trim and seats were changed and the tail lights changed to the Robin type,which was late 69-70.

[LightBulbFun]

7 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

and the tail lights changed to the Robin type,which was late 69-70.

when you say Robin type do you mean this type? if so the Reliant Regal only got this type of rear light around about August 1972 (in 1969-1970 they still used Lucas L572 rear lights)

Im still trying to find out just who originally made this type of rear light and what their MFG part number/Model number is, the earliest vehicle I can find that used them was the AC Model 70 From June 1971+

[Mr Pastry]

24 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Im still trying to find out just who originally made this type of rear light

Wipac?