Fuzz Townshend gets his hands on a Riley RMF in the new episode of Car SOS. A seized engine and tricky rust repairs were just a few of the tasks that lay in store
Occasionally a car comes along on Car SOS with a particularly deep family history, and in the case of the beautiful 1952/3 Riley RMF that we took on, the connection extended right back to the day when current owner Richard’s late father, William, ordered it new with the punchier 2.5 litre engine and a valve radio.
According to Richard’s son and nominator, George, his grandfather cherished it, using it only for high days and holidays only and amassing a paltry 32,000 miles before parking it up in the garage in which it had always been kept, never to see the light of day again.
Richard had never driven the car, but regularly hand-cranked the engine to try to keep it from seizing. Unfortunately, the day came when the engine would turn no more and the car sat in that position for another couple of decades.
Incidentally, the evidence of the hand-cranking became apparent on stripping the engine when the pistons’ resting positions could be found marked in rust on the cylinder walls – rather like the growth rings of a tree but in vertical form.
The car’s lack of use and its lifetime of garage accommodation meant that its wooden frame had survived in remarkably sound worm- and rot-free condition. The same could not be said for some of the attached steel work, which couldn’t be welded without completely removing it from the combustible wood.
The carpets had reached the end of the road, having played a part in the rusting process by retaining moisture and holding it close to the steel beneath.
