I didn't need this, but when I saw it for sale it just spoke to me. It's a 1954 Riley RME, and it's in amazing condition. The wiring is a mess, the carburetor leaks, and it has no turn signals. For right now, I'm just going to fix the small issues so I can drive it around and enjoy it. The first project is going to be a adding a set of led turn signals, since it only has semaphore turn indicators.
I just saw this over in your wipe-on clearcoat thread. That's awesome!
Wood, leather, suicide doors, RHD, that thing oozes character.
Ooooo, Trafficstors❤️
Probably the last car in the world made with a segmented fan belt...
It actually drives really well, the only problem is that the final drive ratio is 5.125 to 1. It's not the car to drive if you are in a hurry.
I just replaced the carburetor with a rebuilt SU that I got from a guy in England. There are no parts for this thing in the US, I'm going to be spending a lot of money on shipping.
It's built like a pre war car. The body is metal over wood, the carburetor has a tickler for cold mornings. The headliner is attached with tacks to the wooden structure underneath. The vinyl roof isn't decorative, it is the actual roof. When you shut the doors, the air pressure pushes up on it.
Nice car!
https://www.facebook.com/reel/3730566637259608
Did a little work on the Riley this weekend. I wanted a set of real turn signals, in addition to the semaphore signals the car came with. Got a cheap universal turn signal switch and some cheap motorcycle turn signals. Hooked them up yesterday and nothing worked. It took a little research to realize that those come with solid state flashers now. My car is positive ground, and needs a mechanical turn signal flasher. Now I have actual signals, I'm not as scared to take it on the road.
That is cool, and I was going to ask if it was positive ground.
Thnaks for sharing.
What other plans do you have for it? This is looking great so far and I would love to see where it goes.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
When I got it, the battery was hooked up with the ground on negative. It actually worked fine, other than the ammeter reading backwards. I switched the cables, and everything works correctly. It starts a little easier now, I don't know why.
In reply to Paris Van Gorder :
Mainly just fixing a few things to make it more safe and reliable. The wiring is kind of hacked up, so that's a priority. The top is a definite priority, I let it get rained on over the weekend and it leaked like a sieve. I have a Jaguar Mk2 that is my big project and I'm trying to stay focused on it.
That thing is awesome! If you don't mind, how much did you pay for it? I don't even know where to find something like that :)
In reply to WonkoTheSane :
I actually stumbled onto it while browsing Facebook Marketplace. I had heard of Riley cars, but knew nothing about them. It was well above my usual project car budget, but I couldn't say no. It was listed at $11,000 originally, but I got it for 8k. It was probably too much, but I got excited.
rustyvw said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
I actually stumbled onto it while browsing Facebook Marketplace. I had heard of Riley cars, but knew nothing about them. It was well above my usual project car budget, but I couldn't say no. It was listed at $11,000 originally, but I got it for 8k. It was probably too much, but I got excited.
If it gets you excited, it's worth 8k.
Ok that sounded a little iffy, but I stand by it.
rustyvw said:In reply to WonkoTheSane :
I actually stumbled onto it while browsing Facebook Marketplace. I had heard of Riley cars, but knew nothing about them. It was well above my usual project car budget, but I couldn't say no. It was listed at $11,000 originally, but I got it for 8k. It was probably too much, but I got excited.
It's great, and I'm enamoured with the looks, I can see why you snagged it. I think 8k is a fair price, but I admittedly didn't look on hagerty :)
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