Last issue, we detailed the stripdown of the engine that had been fitted to our project Regal. It was not a straightforward process and the engine fought us all the way, but we got there in the end. We also partially stripped a spare engine that had come with the car, and that one proved a little more amenable to being spannered. At the end of a marathon session, we had one original engine block with standard size bores and bearings, plus a spare one that had been fitted with +0.030in oversize liners and pistons. We then took everything to Hall’s Garage for inspection and machining.
They had cleaned everything up and given the block face a light skim when Steve Hall happened to mention that by an odd coincidence, somebody else had just
brought in a couple of Reliant engines for machining. Since Hall’s were themselves very busy with rebuilding work at the time, Steve suggested he put the two of us in touch in case we could work something out that would move the rebuild on more quickly. That’s how I met William Jarman, a wellknown name in Reliant Owners Club circles who has inherited from his dad Alan an affinity for Reliant’s small alloy engines.
Between them, William and Alan
