The
k-car was built in a moment of madness.
I was angry after the accident with my 86 Daytona and the way I was treated by the Connecticut State Police due to the fact that I was driving a "Sports car" and so I must have been "driving fast" and so it must have been "my fault". Odd that the courts of Connecticut didn't think so. But I digress. You're here to see the Reliant not to hear me rant.
Relentless was featured as Car of the Month over at Kanata, the link is HERE!
The K-car was purchased with one idea in mind- a light car that would disappear into a crowd of 3, something so low profile it would go unnoticed by people who take a dim view of those with the need for speed, I mean a k-car? heheheh.
We are going to have
SO much fun!
The 1985 Reliant was almost passed up, I was looking for a 86-89 model year car; anything older than a 85 was butt ugly and the 86-89 model years were all fuel injected which would make my task easier as they had the wiring for the fuel pump, computer knock outs in the firewall and other odds and ends unique to fuel injection.
I was at a wholesale car auction in R.I. when something caught my eye, I had already passed on this grey Reliant due to the fact it was an 85 and therefore was not injected, when I noticed It had bucket seats and a console. A factory option that made it into few k-cars, I decided a closer look was called for. I'll be damned, It was injected! It seems you could get fuel injection in the Reliants in 85 if it was an SE which this one was! The k-car was driven home and the plans for transformation to turbo intercooled 5-speed action were set in motion.
The car
was stripped of all its suspension, brakes, drivetrain, exhaust, and engine
bay wiring. The rear trailing arm from the Daytona was bolted in as was
a spare set of daytona front struts/brakes/springs/swaybay. The engine
and transmission were dropped in and the hardest part of the job was completed-
the wiring. I used the glhs computer out of my 86 Daytona and a 1985 wiring
harness from another daytona (86 is different) and after some work with
a pair of cutters, lots of electrical tape and a soldering gun it was finished.
(the
first turbomotor)
The front springs were cut one loop due to the weight difference in cars and the K-car received a huge 3 inch exhaust system front to back-so large I sectioned off part of the trunk so you couldn't see the muffler from behind the car!
On
the left you can see where the battery has been relocated for better traction
and more airflow for the intercooler, also you can see the pinch valve
for the fuel system. On the right side you can see where the trunk floor
had been cut out and sectioned to hide the massive hooker racing muffler.
(Currently installed on my Daytona)
This is what was in the k-car after the first turbo motor was sold, A port fuel injected non-turbocharged 2.2. Someone made me an offer on the turbomotor I couldn't refuse and I dropped this in one weekend for laughs to see how it ran.
Onto
the next part of our story!