Reliant garden buggy project

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Luxobarge
Posts: 1898
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:12 pm
Location: Horne, Surreyshire

Reliant garden buggy project

#1 Post by Luxobarge » Thu May 19, 2016 5:43 pm

Hi chaps,

OK at last I've finished this project and as promised, some pictures.

It's the chassis, running gear and engine/gearbox from a circa 1954 Reliant Regal. This was the first passenger car Reliant made, and has torsion bar front suspension and a proper steering wheel - previously all their vehicles were small commercial vans with handlebars and girder front forks. It has a 750cc side-valve engine which is a development (!) of the Austin 7 engine - Austin stopped making the 7 engine after the war, which left Reliant with no engine supplier, so they bought the rights to it, developed it an continued to use them up until around 1962 I believe. I know this car is pre-1958, as this was when they changed to 12V electrics, and mine is 6V.

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It was in an appalling state when I found it, almost literally turning back into the elements and sinking into the ground with rust. I did a "quick and nasty" job on it, getting most of the rust off and slapping coats of "Farm" brand undercoat and top coat on - Landrover Green is the colour. The bottom 1.5" of the chassis was rusted away, so I welded on new sides at the bottom and the whole lower surface of the chassis - it was broken in two and flexing alarmingly when I got it!

The tipper deck tips (as you can see) courtesy of some redundant VW golf gas struts - great fun getting that bit to work.

The engine wasn't seized too badly, it was missing a few bits, mainly the dynamo regulator - I got a solid state one from "Dynamoregulators.co.uk" which does what it says on the tin. Also had to buy a 6V battery and a few other bits.

The seat bench is a bit of 2 x 8 I had lying around, and the seat is off an old office chair a mate rescued from a skip. The tipper deck sides are made from old reclaimed bits of 1930's floorboards that I sanded and varnished. The dashboard is made from thin pieces of solid oak, with an ally sheet inserted for the warning lights and switches. It only has ignition and a 21W headlamp (and a fuel guage) - electrics don't come much more simple than that! One warning light is the dynamo charge light (glows red when not charging) and the other is an oil pressure light - the engine came with a variable sender, and I found that it was the same thread as a Morris Minor "switch" sender, so I used one of those.

I couldn't resist buying the horn....

I told you, it's as mad as a box of frogs isn't it? :lol: :lol:
Some people are like Slinkies - they serve no useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them downstairs.

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TerryG
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Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:54 pm
Location: East Midlands

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#2 Post by TerryG » Thu May 19, 2016 6:35 pm

It looks like you have put a LOT of time and efford in to doing that.
With it looking as smart as it does, will you actually want to get it dirty using it in your garden?
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.

Topaz
Posts: 246
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:52 am
Location: Derby

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#3 Post by Topaz » Thu May 19, 2016 6:56 pm

What an amazing project - you should be very proud of what you have achieved.

Many thanks for sharing that with us.

Mike

PS What's next ?

.

megadethmaniac
Posts: 416
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#4 Post by megadethmaniac » Thu May 19, 2016 7:01 pm

I do like that...

rich.
Posts: 6804
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 9:18 pm

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#5 Post by rich. » Thu May 19, 2016 7:05 pm

thats lovely! well done :thumbs: :thumbs:

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Luxobarge
Posts: 1898
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:12 pm
Location: Horne, Surreyshire

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#6 Post by Luxobarge » Thu May 19, 2016 8:09 pm

Thanks guys!

It took weekends and a few other odd days since Christmas to do, so not so bad.

Regarding getting it dirty - well, I shan't be taking it out in the garden when it's wet and muddy, but that's as much to do with not wanting to leave deep tyre tracks across the lawn as much as getting the buggy dirty - if it gets a bit dirty then I'll hose it down, eh? :D

Yeah, I am fairly proud of it - it's by far the oldest vehicle I've ever done, and was in a truly parlous state to start with, but it's amazing how well these things were made, and how much of it was still serviceable! I came to the conclusion that while the design of some parts is a bit dodgy, the actual quality of manufacure is superb in most cases - far better than it needed to be, no wonder a lot of these old manufacturers struggled to make a profit.

Only job left on it is the front brake - the hydraulic rear brakes are working fine, but the twin leading shoe front brake has no cylinders as yet - the old ones were not just worn and corroded, one was actually broken. I have some on order from Powertrack, but they're being re-manufactured and we're still waiting for them to arrive. In the mean time the hydraulic line to the front is blanked off - it works fine on just rear brakes, after all I'm not going that fast.....

Actually the whole front brake mech was shot, the linings had detached from the shoes and the whole lot was covered in rust. I cleaned it all up though, made new copper lines and got new flexi-hoses, and after cleaning up the metal part of the shoes I found a place that sells just brake lining materials> I was all set to just give them the dimensions and radius, but when discussing it with them they looked it up in their book and said they had a pair of original linings on the shelf - mine for £2 each plus delivery! Sorted! I drilled some holes in the shoes and riveted them on, so they're ready to go once the cylinders arrive.

What's next? We live in a 500+ year old house that's been my consuming passion for the past few years, so back to that now I'm afraid, this was just a diversion and a bit of fun for a few months - and believe me, it was a LOT of fun to do. I do spare enough time to keep the Midget and the Moggie Minor in good fettle though, and get to run around in them from time to time.
Some people are like Slinkies - they serve no useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them downstairs.

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junkyarddog
Posts: 176
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:18 pm
Location: Co,Limerick.Ireland.

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#7 Post by junkyarddog » Thu May 19, 2016 8:21 pm

Different,practical,and above all FUN :D

I approve,well done mate 8-)

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JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#8 Post by JPB » Thu May 19, 2016 10:03 pm

Well worth the wait, that looks completely bonkers. Love it!

:thumbs:
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

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arceye
Posts: 1904
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Cleveleys, Lancashire

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#9 Post by arceye » Fri May 20, 2016 8:19 am

" I did a "quick and nasty" job on it"

too modest, that is bloody ace, good work that Luxo and a great toy :D :thumbs:

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Luxobarge
Posts: 1898
Joined: Wed Jan 05, 2011 3:12 pm
Location: Horne, Surreyshire

Re: Reliant garden buggy project

#10 Post by Luxobarge » Fri May 20, 2016 9:48 am

arceye wrote:" I did a "quick and nasty" job on it"

too modest, that is bloody ace, good work that Luxo and a great toy :D :thumbs:
Thanks mate - what I mean by that is that under that nice shiny green paint there's still rust, I just used a wire brush on a drill to get the worst loose stuff off, and slapped on the paint. A "proper" job would have involved dipping/blasting the chassis and no doubt a lot more welding! But it is indeed a toy, and what I've done is good enough for that.

And yes, it is indeed totally bonkers, but HUGE fun! But we like fun and bonkers on here, right?
Some people are like Slinkies - they serve no useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them downstairs.

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