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Many thanks for your appreciation. Its a pretty raw and potent drive. Was an ebay buy a few years ago for under £2k. I had to do a bit of finessing to make it more user friendly but all the fundamantals of the what was undoubted a complicated and very time consuming build were excellent.. All done by the book with DVLA. I have never found out who's creative vision it was because DVLA no longer releases keeper history except in certain legal circumstance. Only that is was apparently north Cumbria area.

It's been awaiting a trial for a couple of weeks. Messaging about it spurred me on to fit the red bonnet, wash it, put back the two engine side panels, fuel it and throw some tools in to try it along the A75. Not the best of roads for first trial but it got back after about 5 or 6 miles.

Many thanks for your appreciative comments.

@chriswybrew1740 Your welcome. What is your dog's name ?

@@user-ix4wn1th5m The English Pointer is called Leonidas (Leo to this friends) and is a rescue dog from Lesbos via Pointers In Need. A very friendly dog. The Toy poodle is called Pepper an is a massive bundle of energy.

@@chriswybrew1740 Thanks. They are nice dogs.

Yes solid where it really matters as these body shells are quite complex to repair if rot has really taken hold to the stage where a reconstruction of critical stuctural suspension support and alignment elements is involved. Had a lot of experience buying vehicles unexamined in person in fact 90% have been bought that way in recent decades. Used to buy on ebay.com and import from the high dry western US states so have a well developed instinct for what to go for and what to avoid justed based on images and some owner information ( you buy the seller to quite a large extent and if they have shown the car some recent TLC as with Bertie that often is a green light whereas so called barn finds, AKA long term abandonent to decay, are seldom quick or easy to make reliable) but even then there is an element of luck as you note. Very happy with this car. The differential swap this weekend has turned out to be a resounding success as this afternoon video shows. Only a few mph alteration around 50 mph but seems to make all the difference in feeling longer legged and reduced engine revs.

Thanks for your appreciation. We're very pleased with how a blind auction bid has turned out to be such a sound fun drive and are enthusiastically improving "Bertie" as we use him. This weekend we have been repainting the wheels the correct colour and fitting a late Morris Minor 4.22 differential instead of the 4.55. It will suit the torquey 1098cc "Gold Seal" engine that was a huge bonus in this particular car along with its 888 triple good luck transferable registration. New traditional pressed aluminium plates have just arrived to replace the damaged plastic ones.

Thanks for your generous comments. For most of his life your camera operator has preferred cats but Pepper and Leo have wonderful tempraments and are so friendly. This forgotten corner of SW Scotland is quite like the Lake District but without the traffic so in the right weather its a delight for classic motoring so long as one keeps an eagle eye out for potholes.

Delighted to know that the video of Bertie has evoked happy memories of a youthful encounter with one. Early A series cars must be amongst the easiest to coax to run even when pretty clapped out. There are apparently at least 2000 still registered. We have found the A30 steering to be light and accurate with very litte in the way of constant correction so Bertie has clearly been well maintained over the past 70 years. We know about sloppy steering as also have a well used Series Land Rover, grey Fergie tractors etc so the bar is not set high.

Many thanks for your appreciative comments. We love it when these little rough and ready videos find an audience far away. You'll be able to work out our route last evening quite easily with Google maps. Have been through your area back in the mid 1990's when took Amtrak from Seattle to Denver. A memorable journey. Train had to go very slowly on some sections.

Thanks for your appreciation. As you may have seen from the other vids it was bought at ACA auction King's Lynn with an internet bid (£1400) plus commission)so much anticipation of what it would turn out to be like when delivered to Scotland. One vid shows it being pushed into the sale. Bertie has now got his mojo back! Love sorting out old motors down on their luck a bit into great runners.

@@chriswybrew1740 The dog in the back looked like a rear gunner ! 😄

@@1mikefrost That's Leonidas (Leo to his friends) the Greek English Pointer rescue dog.

Many thanks for your comment. Expect you saw the earlier vid about Bertie at the ACA classic auction, King's Lynn, earlier this month. Buying him from Scotland via on line bidding has proved a resounding success in this instance. The 1098 gold seal really adds sparkle to the performance and a 4.22 diff is due to arrive today to replace the 4.55 in at the moment which is too short for the bhp and tourque on tap. 65 years young. We're actually a couple of years older. Talking of Herald's with added power have you seen the vids here of the Wayman Alfa which is a one off special with a Herald chassis with Alfa transaxle and 2.0 dohc engine? 131bhp and fabric body. It's actually quicker than the 4.2 Jaguar Invicta. Best wishes with your project.

Bertie is basking in your triple dose of admiration!

Jaguar Invicta special 4.2 manual overdrive. P1100's.

Hi Kevan, Thanks for confirming that. I suspect the hole in the bodywork and 4 small holes were actually part of a previous rear aerial (CB?) set up. I can just about make that out in an old rear view image but the present bracket isn't really of the best. I've posted it to the FB group and a follower is going to send a pic of his standard bracket which may or may not give me some ideas. One way or another I'll soon sort out an arrangement that works fine. All the hydraulic side is now done, and all the front end wiring with new headlights relayed direct off the battery to spare the old switchgear and wiring from any heavy loading. Doing the same with the twin horns. Now made up most of the exhaust in stainless keeping the 2 into 1 Transit front pipe set up. I avoided the Accuspark in favour of Bosch. The Weber is all fitted and needed a modified linkage. W screen in and all dash bonded back in along with heater, wipers, instruments etc. Pedal box in. Front seats in on new raised mounts. Still to look at s belts. Bought motor home type fabric lining to trim out the inside. Tank all plumbed in and line to carb via electric pump. The cut transmission tunnel all laminated back. Beginning to take shape and probably be test run around the grounds here next month after which I'll need to leave it aside again for a bit as the rest of the collection will need attention as the driving season for them begins. I never even saw a Rickman before let alone been in one so really no idea yet what I have. Hopefully it's something usable. I just fancied the challenge and it's been mostly straightforward. That ex EFI 202 late production engine is a fairly rare version many Pinto enthusiasts are ignorant about and you did well to find one. It's a big plus as is the alloy tank. Neat job moving engine mounts to the chassis rails. I obviously had to reverse the mod done for the auto gearbox mounts. Thanks again for letting me have this quite hard to find Space Ranger. Hope you are doing ok. Best, Chris

The three I bought were all TTTs and as such far better and well supported for spares because so many Hiluxes remain in use wordwide. If you drove a pre TTT then a TTT you would never want the far cruder Ford engine or its poor auto gearbox. I may be selling the grey one.

Kind of you to say so. That old 3 ton Bradbury lift with jacking beam has really helped keep the classic fleet going. I should have got one years ago. The floor needs a bit of tidy up before I tackle the Rickman project.

Any age of vehicle can still be driven on UK public roads.

Easysteer easysteer.co.uk/ You will see the installation clearly in the 508D walk around video on my channel. They did the column cutting and welding and I did the rest.

@@chriswybrew1740 that’s great thanks. Have you had any problems?

it was fine during the period I owned the vehicle since sold. Very little to go wrong. The main issue with that particular application was that the van was all 24v whereas the ex Corsa B EPAS was 12v so I had to drop the voltage.@@jimduncan5543

It was a super day made memorable for the Aristocat and D Type replicas which I researched on my return home. My Jaguar Invicta Special is all XJ6 Series 1 in terms of its mechanics. Only the body is scratch built as a one off and the wire wheels are aftermarket bolt ons unlike your splendid splined ones. I expect you have seen the Invicta evocation in my other channel vids plus various others past and present in the eclectic collection. I have had a Series 3 XJ6 4.2 and the AJ6 3.6 successor. At the moment I am dismantling the cam shafts to resize the tappet shims as the clearances are now nowhere near correct for it (012-.014 thou). I think your engine is probably fitted with earlier non parabolic cams and runs a much tighter clearance to reduce valve train noise that the parabolic profile avoids. My 7L engine has the wet head studs passing through the coolant whereas yours, I noted, would be tapped into the deck of the block and thus be dry. Yours likely to be less of a potential corrosion/ stud snapping nightmare if the head ever has to come off.

Not! The mike on this budget Lidl Silvercrest camcorder seems to pick up the unwanted sounds when driving better than speech. Actually makes it seem way more noisy inside than the reality for the occupants. Suppose I could have muted it but since these videos attract a very limited audience and do not aim for more so I usually just go with publishing what the original recording captures good, bad or indifferent.

Thanks. There are several reasons why this Rialto is perhaps quieter than some others. Firstly the rare B ratio axle only fitted for a few years in the 1980's cuts the engine revs down a lot at normal road speeds. Secondly the tappet were carefully set to correct spec (a tedious job) and thirdly the exhaust is quite new and when I changed the clutch I disconnected it at the manifold and on refitting I took a lot of care to seal the front pipe properly. Any exhaust gas leak there will add a lot of noise due to the poor sound insulation around the engine. Another souce of high noise in some is if any of the 4 air pipes from the heater unit to cabin is not properly sealed in the engine compartment. They can convey engine noise very effectively.

@@chriswybrew1740 wow. Let's hope a few other owners read this reply and it helps them as I've watched tons of videos where they cant hear themselves think when out for a drive!!

Well spotted!

Sporry no. I was sold soon after the video was made. However it is essentially the same unit as fitted to the P5 6 cyl Rover.

@@chriswybrew1740 Maybe you know where I can buy parts for such a gearbox?

@@matjag4300 www.scparts.co.uk/sc_en/british-cars/jaguar/jaguar-s-type-3-4-and-3-8-classic-1963-1968/gearbox-and-overdrive/borg-warner-automatic-transmission-model-dg250-1963-67.html

It was ok for a 5.6 tonne rated truck of late 1960's design on leaf springs. I had them well lubricated and new shocks all round. I also had a 608d horesbox and it was harsh by comparision.

Hi Stephen, Many thanks for sharing your appreciation and memories. I also have a video of my 1938 Austin 7 fitted with the same engine and gearbox. I bought that many years ago having had such a postive experience with a Reliant Kitten estate back in the early 1990's. As you say great little cars, whether in three or four wheel form.

In recent decades in the UK this style has mostly been called estate. In earlier times there were true shooting brakes that were really adaped for shooting parties, their guns and game, particularly pre WW2. Some say estates should have 4 passengers doors. It's certainly not a hatchback or saloon. For simplicity I just call this an estate as the factory did with respect to this style as does Wiki.

Thanks for your appreciation.

No! I never do that with my classics (had almost 200) simply because it usually does not make good financial sense and is too time consuming. Those that restore do it for love as Derek Mathewson has sagely observed. What I do is target an eclectic variety of appealingly priced, interesting non runners or neglected examples and use my skills to refresh them into dependable and reasonably presentable examples that the next person could use or take to a higher level. I never touch vehicles without separate chassis and focus on historic or soon to be historic age group. I have had many Reliants of all sizes but am not fixated on them. I have also had far more Yanks and Austins. That said the Rialtos are a lively, quirky and durable machine that is well able to serve as ultra economy daily transport and easy to maintain.

Thanks, I have drawn their attention to your comment. As you may be aware in the very early 1960s the Bricknell family used it in the Land's End and Exeter trials, driven by Mr N C Bricknell. There are some contemporary press reports and images.

The MCC were contacted today but have no idea who you are or the purpose of your request??

This was built with the MCC trials etc in mind so outright speed/road performance was probably not the prime consideration. In its first iteration it used the Humber side valve engine which I think was 4100cc. When that wore out an Mercury 3.9 was said to have been next fitted. Petrol was still on ration I believe so it is a puzzle how Mr Kemp was able to get fuel in such quantity for one carb let alone three!

Indeed it was those POVs that inspired me to do one on that first ever run though I have to admit the conditions were not ideal for filming and I really was not at all familiar with driving it having only gone 7 miles before the vid was made. I plan to do a better follow up one and maybe also introduce the 1983 green Rialto estate recently added to the classic fleet.

Thanks for your encouraging comment. I'm planning an updated video soon now that I have sorted out the seats and missing engine thermostat. In other exciting developments it is about to be joined in the collection by an even older Rialto estate. This time a Y reg dark green one with MX5 seats and the A ratio axle. It being registered in early January 1983 is now historic and so is eligible for my local classic car club's events. It has become a recent non runner and was marked down to a reasonable £1200 with its last ever mandatory MOT test expiring late July. As per usual bought unseen and transport sent so there may a vid of that issue and any others getting identified and fixed. Meantime old red is powering on and doing the regular run to town for shopping. Confidence in the grip of the trike is growing...

​@@chriswybrew1740 I don't know how practically useful it'd be for me, but I would love to have one of these.

@@walter_248 They are very much an acquired taste and looking after them properly is something many owners have failed in. I have the considerable advantage of a professional Bradbury lift so critical underside servicing to the prop, gearbox , steering etc is never neglected. Coolant can also be neglected in terms of level, concentration and service life. That's critical in these engines. These cars can come out of tune easily and trouble shooting could be a challenge due to restricted access. I've found most bad running issues are electrical in origin but not all. The early Rialto 2 with 2.75 diff as per the red one FOP is a speedy trike but the gears are not well chosen for town on it. I would not want one as an only means of transport but I do use it all year round as part of a classic fleet. I have yet to convince friends it is serious transport. Coming from far more substantial vehciles they feel vulnerable even as occasional passengers. I suppose it lies somewhere between a motorbike and car in terms of safety. Strong sidewinds can be unsettling and I draw a line at snow though some say its actually quite good. Just revert to the series Land Rover in 4 wheel drive mode if the snowy journey must be undertaken. Reliant heaters/demisting not good in my experience and they do seem to be inside window condensation magnets in winter.

@@chriswybrew1740 Thanks for the info, always love to learn more about these types of cars. Are Reliant spare parts rare to come by?

@@walter_248 New and used parts are still easy and relatively inexpensive to obtain. A lot of these three wheeler of all ages survive as projects and people are always breaking some of them up and selling parts. Also some folks like me have a hoard of engines, gearboxes axles etc gathered up over the decades. Lot of parts interchange with Kittens, Foxs etc. I ran Kittens back in the early 1990's and have a 1938 Austin Seven with Reliant engine and gearbox which makes it very entertaining. Its on this channel. As I write this am just back from brisk trip into town in FOP. Gets a lot of attention at infrequent visits to pumps and cheery waves etc. Cheap to run once they have been sorted out. But getting a good one demands some discrimination and understnding of these.

Hi Barry, There is ample engine to bulkhead clearance on the 48-52 F series for the SUMB flathead. I may have another video where you can see the engine running in situ. I ditched the stock F2 transmission in favour of a ZF 5 speed but that did not in any way alter the position of the engine relative to the bulkhead. With 235R16 tyres the original back end was fine for sitting at 60mph without overtaxing the engine.

@@chriswybrew1740 Thanks Chris - I’ll check the other videos.. I’ve heard a lot of guys using the Chevy S10 5 speed transmission (borg Warner T5) seems to be bellhousing kits available to adapt.. did you buy a kit for the ZF trans? Thanks for the advice, really helps me plan this project!

@@Darbyo I used the ZF 5 speed box fitted to the very last of the Bedford CF vans. It is a very compact and strong unit. All synchro on forward ratios. The gear lever fits exactly where it does on the F2 transmission so no need to alter the transmission cover in any way. I used the Flathead hogs head and there was an alloy adapter plate of about 20mm thickness between machined locally to fit between. It's a good conversion as the stud holes are well away from each other. Have to sleeve the clutch release bearing carrier to suit the original Ford release bearing. Same Ford clutch cover with Bedford plate. The sintered bronze spigot bearing has to be narrowed. I did two of these conversions. My ex RKS had the same set up behind its 255 French flathead.

Hi thanks for your appreciation. Merry Christmas!

Hi, Merry Christmas! I watched your vids before I had fixed this one up to go back on the road on 1st Dec and drew inspiration from them. I had 3 Kittens back in the early 90's, more recently a Tempest. They all seemed to have much less tall gearing. I have a red top and same gearbox in my 1938 Austin Seven special. There are some vids of that mon the channel. I'm very pleased with how the Rialto is performing and the comfort level I have achieved with a few tweaks to the seat location, angle and cushion. The lack of warm air mentioned in the first drive vid turned out to be due to the thermostat being missing! I've also had a few Scimitars and continuing the Staffordshire GRP theme I also have 3 Metrocabs. It was very ambitious of Reliant to take that diff down to 2.75 but I like its long legged gearing as I am mostly driving outside urban areas and when it sits around 60 its got lots of revs in reserve and so is relatively quiet. I'll try to shoot another soon to show it all in more detail. I made a mistake in the off the cuff narration its a 1985 not 86 engine code 5D/85/76534E, registered 01/08/1985. B ratio axle.

Thank you for your kind comment. I sold the car a while ago as I wanted to downsize a bit and I understand PLB168 has since changed hands again this year no doubt giving much the same pleasure to its current custodian. Good value for money and even more so the later superb Star Sapphire version which was a high note upon which to end car production.

@@chriswybrew1740 There were a number sold here post WW II, including quite a few of the Typhoon. Not cars to thrust themselves on you, just to be there quietly when needed

@@chriswybrew1740 That's a pretty good assessment. I wonder what a present day A-S would look like, what its specifications would be. We can be certain that the engineering and construction would to to a very high standard.