1974 Reliant Rebel Van - with Period Kent Crossflow 1600GT

Ace, don't think I've ever seen one before this. Projects like this are always the most satisfying to read as everything you see is new to you. Keep the updates coming. That suspension setup is really impressive on a car that old. Looks like with a few mods it could be very adjustable.

Some fresh petrol, bucket of soapy, hoover and a magic tree

Sorted

realiants are awesome z-tec it!

You may already be aware of this but, the vertical links and wishbones look very Triumph to me, most likely Spitfire or Herald.

You sure its not a lotus 7/caterham in disguise??

I wasn't expecting to get much done on this car in the short term but assisted by my mate Dave we have at least made a start.

First job was to have a look at the look at the electrics, which have suffered from years of owner modifications and neglect. The rebel wiring loom was still there mostly but had been repeatedly hacked up and modified by a previous owner who's understanding of electrics was limited at best. There were lots of aftermarket dashboard mods, scotch-locks, extra relays, multiple earths, fused and unfused feeds (all feeding the same item) and the wiring colours used were at best random, Red earth cables anyone!

Heres a few photos of what it was like:











The first step was removing the rats nests from behind the dash, we then spent the afternoon removing all the modified wiring leaving just the remains of the original loom. The footwell steadily filled up creating a huge pile of stripped out cable. in the end leaving us with a decent starting point which as ready for new connectors and testing.

Rats nests:





With the wiring looking more normal we put a battery on and tried to see if the engine would turn over... it didn't. So confident that the wiring was ok the starter motor was next on the list of suspects. It turned out it was completely seized, once freed off the engine turned over on the key! We then decided to try and get it running the timing carb and oil was checked, Plugs, leads, points and condenser were swapped, but it did not want to run.

Carb checking:



Jumping off the other Rebel didn't help enough:



After some head scratching it was decided to take the starer off and take it apart for a look. The brushes were not in the best condition and there was a fair amount of wear and corrosion. Fortunately both Ford and Reliant were using very similar Lucas starters which meant we had a few spares knocking about which we could use for parts. The result was a reconditioned starter capable of turning the engine over quick enough to have a chance to get it running...

Sorry about the inane comments on the video...




The initial drive suggests that it will be quite entertaining to drive the engine is probably 50kg heavier that the standard reliant unit but does offer nearly twice the power so the overall performance should be very good.


It now looks like it wont need that much to go through an MOT.

Brakes sort of working, need bleeding / checking. possibly wants a replacement servo.
Bodywork needs attention to make it safe and secure,
Electrics need a final session tidying up the wiring loom and connecting replacement components,
Seats and Seatbelts need attention,
Washer pump needs moving.
A battery tray needs fabricating.
A wheel stud needs replacing at the back and it will need replacement wheels and tyres.
The interior needs removing and throwing in the nearest skip... Anyone want some fiesta mk2 seats.

quick update, In between playing with other cars we've faound a bit of time to play with the crossflow rebel...

Its now got:

working electrics, new headlight bowls, indicators etc.
Working brakes (needed a new master cylinder to fix a binding on issue)
Sheared off rear wheel stud has been replaced,
Correct Rebel Seats bolted in!
Correct rear lights fitted,
Its had a triumph herald steering wheel fitted which has a similar look to the factory original wheel and cost 99p on ebay!

A few recent pictures:












The next stage will be to bring the car home to have some fibreglass repairs done, also to weld up a new battery shelf, fit some seatbelts and a screen wash system.

I`ve got to ask how much?

Cheers
Adrian

Brilliant, I haven't seen one of these for years. Used to be a green one sitting dormant for about 15 years on the road I grew up on.
How much do they weigh?