Having written the sad missive attempting to sell my 72 i can tell you
about the new kid on the block, my Riley RMF - I still have a lot to
learn about this car and if any of you have any experience or reference
info about them id be very grateful
Its a 53 vintage, same year as me! and is an Abingdon product so i wont
consider it off topic unless you all shriek (Neil help me here - if i
recall there was a similar MG model, not a badge engineered one or a
Magnette but a similar car)
It is a 4 door (front suicide) saloon but has a sleek "sporty" look to
it, a bit like a Sunbeam Talbot or a very old citroen .It is Black with
silver side panels and a black vinyl covered roof which i gather is
wooden!
The engine is a 2.5 litre twincam which Neil told me is peculiar only to
this car.
The trim, lights etc are a combination of TD and A lookalikes, the
bumpers have what look like doublesize MGA overriders
The interior is all red leather and walnut with loads of bakerlight knobs
to play with!
The guages are similar to the TD but larger
The car sat in a barn from 1975 until last year when a friend of mine
came by it, it has very little rust and that which exists is only surface
spots, The odometer reads 26000 miles, it works, from the overall
condition of the car, this may very well be original but who knows.
We got it running fairly easily,good compression and runs smoothly, SUs
but im not sure yet what size.The friend who i bought it from is an
excellent mechanic and fabricated many of the rubber and gaskets from
stock parts of various cars (he has a great collection of old gasketry
for British cars) Went through the brakes, steering, electrics etc and
the car easily passed CT safety this week including the huge whitewall
cross ply tyres which are not perished although they must be almost if
not as old as the car
This is going to be a cosmetic restoration since the car is so original
im going to try to keep as much as possible of what is there, including
the paint which whilst faded and with a few scratches is extremely thick
and im pretty sure will restore without any spraying. The interior is
sound but needs total disassembly and cleaning ( ive already poured 3
quarts of Bill Hirsch into the seats) and will need new carpet and
eventually a headliner which is not too damaged but rotted to the
consistency of rice paper! - you darent touch it!
As with all my cars, this one will be a driver too - i dont intend to
drive it as much as my MGs but it will make its own way to shows and the
like, first of which will be sometime in september.
An exciting time!!!
mike robson
69 roadster
70 BGT
72 roadster
53 riley rmf
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