- Joined
- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
- 11,457
Yes, my C4 VTS has an alloy bonnet but still over 1300 kg, light by today's standards but 100 kg heavier than a 505.
Messing with a 404
- Thread starter Selekta
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
- 11,457
Rialto??
Cool, there was one Rialto in QLD a few years ago, and IIRC the Top Gear show left 2 or 3 "soccer" Rialtos behind down NSW way.
They are great little cars, unreal on fuel in standard form.
Mine's a Regal, the model before the Robin.
It has a supercharged 850cc Robin engine and all syncro gearbox fitted, it also has a Robin alloy diff housing with the Regal axle tubes and axles fitted into it.
I lightened the sh#t out of mine, it weighs 340 kg with 1/2 a tank of fuel.
I had no problems registering mine, but it did have a prior rego history over in WA.
I've owned it for 9 years.
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
- 11,457
Ah, a Reliant, but pics of a 404 with floor shift.
The Rialto came out after the Mk1 Robin, but then Reliant started using the Robin name again in 1989 for the last 11 years of production.
The Mk 2 and 3 Robins were sold alongside the Rialto. The later Robins look very similar to the Rialto.
Yes unfortunately using aluminium doesn't guarantee light weight. My 1957 Rover 90 had aluminium, doors, boot, bonnet and cylinder head, yet managed to be 300 kgs heavier than the similarly sized, all steel/iron, 1957 FE Holden.
A 260 bhp, 5.3L all alloy V12 Jaguar engine weighs a few kgs more than a 390 bhp, 7.2L (440 CID) all cast iron Chrysler big block V8.
Ah, yeah. They were requested on page 1, I combined the two bits of info in one post without saying that.
I have a spare 504 manual in Canberra
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2000
- Messages
- 11,457
And the douvrin alloy engine the same as a cast iron xn1Yes unfortunately using aluminium doesn't guarantee light weight. My 1957 Rover 90 had aluminium, doors, boot, bonnet and cylinder head, yet managed to be 300 kgs heavier than the similarly sized, all steel/iron, 1957 FE Holden.
A 260 bhp, 5.3L all alloy V12 Jaguar engine weighs a few kgs more than a 390 bhp, 7.2L (440 CID) all cast iron Chrysler big block V8.
The Rover V8 has had a lot of wild claims made about its weight. I've seen figures as low as 130 kg, which is total BS.
There was an old P76 advertisement with the 4.4L V8 engine on a set of scales and it was around 370 lbs (169 kg). I believe the 3.5L was a bit heavier with its dual carburettors, and the 3.5 crank's supposed to have more counterweighting than the 4.4's as well.
The Leyland ad also claimed its alloy V8 was "200 lbs lighter than Australia's biggest selling iron V8".
That would have been the 253/308 Holden V8 at that point in time. A 253 fan to flywheel, with all accessories weighs 460 lbs, (209 kgs) so there is a giant hole in Leyland's weight advantage claim.
An iron block 289/302 Ford Windsor motor fitted with aftermarket alloy heads, alloy intake and alloy water pump weighs 180kg fan to flywheel.
Don't get me wrong, I've had a few Rover V8s, and they are sweet little engines, but the "super light weight" is a bit of an urban myth, there is still an awful lot of cast iron and steel mixed in with those alloy parts.
If you want to feel a lightweight engine pull the one out of your mate's Rialto. The entire engine and gearbox assembly is 53 kgs.
I took the cylinder head off mine one to an engine machine shop to get some work done. When I handed it over to the proprietor he was like, "holy f#ck, how light is that, what's it off"?
This is from a guy that works on a variety of alloy cylinder heads every day.
Google "Formula 750", and "Rebels Racing" in the UK. The 750cc version of these engines were the backbone of Formula 750 for many years, 90+ bhp at 9000 to 10,000 rpm. A mildly modified 850 cc version (63 bhp at 7500 rpm) is the control engine for the Rebels Racing series.
This is the inside of an 850 Reliant block, as you can see there's not much material in there, and those side walls are very thin. They used to run a steel brace across the the middle main cap on the Formula 750s to try and keep the crank in place at high rpms.
Last edited: