Restoring a Pre-war Riley Special

Good news!

I couldn`t wait any longer. I had to see what was causing the engine to be seized-up. I imagined that the piston rings could be stuck to rusty bores, or valves & valve gear rusted up, or many other horrors. ….. I removed the cylinder head, (undoing head nuts in the correct sequence), with trepidation.  I had sqirted some oil into the plug holes a few days ago to help free up rusted piston rings, without much hope.

I`m delighted to say that the engine was being stopped from turning by a large amount of oil sitting on top of the pistons. Pistons unable to travel up the cylinders because the oil wouldn`t compress, (hydraulic-lock). …. The cylinder bores are perfect. They have been sleeved back to standard and a new set of standard pistons fitted. … The cylinder head has new valves, guides & springs.  It is not a big valve head, but I have a big valve head amongst the spares which may be a performance improvement mod later. …. I havn`t yet had the sump off to look at big end & main bearings but I am convinced that the whole engine is rebuilt from what I have seen so far.

About the Author

Phil Smith is a vintage car enthusiast with many years experience of owning, restoring and using vintage, PVT and classic cars. A longstanding member of The Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC), The Riley register and The MG Car Club. Makes he has owned include Alvis, Bentley, Lagonda, MG, Talbot and Riley, of course. Now retired, Phil satisfies his 'old motor urges' by competing in the MGCC Luffield Speed series in MG Midgets from the 60's and 70's. This blog will chart his return to vintage/PVT cars.

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E-mail: philsmith432[at]hotmail[dot]com