Project Strangeangel's Shite-tastic Shenanigans 12/12 NEW MOTOR - ACHIEVED.

[LightBulbFun]

27 minutes ago, strangeangel said:

As well as fixing the Tula I have the (possibly insurmountable) problem of dating it. A fellow owner has suggested looking for dates stamped on various  parts... so far I have found 1962 on the horn and 1964 on the coil. Nothing conclusive then...

wot no credit for me? LOL 

On 10/15/2019 at 8:12 PM, LightBulbFun said:

ah very interesting  

Im guessing the registration plate on the back is not good for anything is it?

does it contain any electrical components? the soviets were usually pretty good at putting date stamps on them

same goes for their light bulbs too, id be happy to look at pictures of the lightbulbs and see if I can date them for you?

although im not sure how well the DVLA will take a lightbulb as evidence for year/date of manufacture!

 

on a more serious note, is there any sort of date code stamped into the engine? perhaps you could get it dated etc from that  

(also is there really no chassis/VIN plate anywhere with a year of manufacture? the soviets as mentioned where pretty anal about putting the dates on everything they made, so id be surprised if there was not something on the scooter itself )

did you end up finding out if the old (soviet?) registration plate on the back was useful for anything?

[strangeangel]

I forgot you wrote that! Good call because it's the only lead I've had so far, albeit inconclusive. The frame number is literally 5 digits stamped into the frame above the drivers side rear shock mount. The only engine number I've seen on one of these engines looks hand-engraved into a bit of raised weld on the crankcase... mine has absolutely no markings in that area. It's possible that something else will be revealed as I clean the years of 2-stroke filth from the engine, but nothing has come to light so far. I was told specifically to look at the ignition lock, rear light unit and horn, and only one of those items bore a date, so it seems the Soviets were not as keen on this as we thought! I plan to look at the headlamp bulb also, once I can get the seized screws out of the head lamp unit.

 

As for the registration plate... Soviet plates are dateless - all I can glean from that is that the bike is newer than 1960, as that's when they changed to that style of motorcycle plate. That doesn't really help, sadly, as I know my bike is at least 1961 from the bodywork revisions. The only other thing it tells me is that the ПА prefix indicates it's home region is Pskov Oblast, which makes sense because it's right at the edge of Russia that borders with Latvia, where the bike turned up.

 

I've written to this chap, he used to work for Tula, and runs the marque museum. Here's hoping he can come up with something.

 

[strangeangel]

Worked this morning, but braved the streaming nose of hay fever to progress the World's Shittest Electric Car this afternoon...

 

You may recall that I planned to site the new 48V charger in the boot. Unfortunately I'd forgotten that the boot leaks, which bodes ill for that plan and further ones which involve more batteries and electronics going in there. The water is clearly pissing in half way up the drivers site of the tailgate, as you could see daylight past the seals ?. Meanwhile, the other side fits beautifully against the rubber. Naturally, Aixam have allowed for no adjustment in any plane of the tailgate's alignment so the only thing for it was to extend the car to ensure the rubber was in the right place to meet the tailgate. Ridiculous, but sometimes you have to go with it. A bit of plastic hacked from a scrap Curver box, along with a few pop rivets gives us this:

 

 

You can't see the rivets with the rubber seated properly (not that I would have cared either way by this juncture). That should be the leak fixed anyway. On to the charger, and I put my new toy

 

 

 to good use. It was really easy to use (thanks @cobblers for the recommendation), and my first effort came out looking OK!

 

 

Routed the conduit round the back and side of the N/S battery box, in via the hole saw and bolted the terminal down. While I was in there I got rid of those annoying wood screws that secured the battery covers and used a trim clip at each end to make access a bit less of a PITA. The offside of the car is in the hedge, and it's tea time, so I'll tackle the live wire to the other battery pack on Friday! There's even a handy blanking grommet on the O/S wheel arch which should allow access to the charging socket,

 

Bringing you up to date with the Tula, here are the side panels after 2 x coats of Deox and the same again of Zinc 182, finished yesterday evening:

 

 

The patina on the outside is untouched, but the inside is nicely scrubbed rust-free and ready for a coat of stone chip perhaps? Haven't decided yet.

 

Got to keep the lockdown labouring vibe going, it's helping a lot. More on Friday!

 

 

[spartacus]

When you say the Soviet plates are dateless presumably you mean that there's no indication of the date it was issued in the actual number itself. Surely there is, or at least was, a record held somewhere of when the plate was issued? Although I'm sure this has been thought of already and there's no chance of tracing it?

[strangeangel]

6 hours ago, spartacus said:

When you say the Soviet plates are dateless presumably you mean that there's no indication of the date it was issued in the actual number itself. Surely there is, or at least was, a record held somewhere of when the plate was issued? Although I'm sure this has been thought of already and there's no chance of tracing it?

 

I've been told not by a couple of people, but I've just asked the registrar at the Cossack OC (who is helping with this) and he came back with this:

 

Quote

 

Only if you can hack the old Soviet records?

I have no contacts in the old USSR who can try to search for an old record, hard enough with DVLA, sorry.

 

 

So it may be possible in theory, but on a practical level it seems unlikely. Do we have any Russian 'shiters?

 

 

[Timewaster]

 I've just read all the Axiam exploits. 

Wow! 

That is utter shit. 

Well done for not seting fire to it either maliciously or accidently. 

 

[strangeangel]

Today's job was to connect the new charger to the car's charging socket, which by rights should have taken about 10 minutes. There are 2 x 10mm bolts holding the socket in place, so this should have been achieved in less than an hour. Oh no. No no no. The absolute twats have glued a cover over it with something black and impenetrable. If you jam a bar behind it and pull you'll likely tear the wing open, as this plastic whateveritis is thicker than the car's body panels.

 

 

All I could do was to snap bits off with my mole grips, which took ages:

 

 

Oh, nearly forgot... on removing the N/S rear wheel I discovered what looks suspiciously like a knackered wheel cylinder, Ho hum.

 

 

The charger's in now, and powers up. Need to buy some lengths of heavyweight cable and connect the batteries up (now via the connectors under the bonnet. I changed my mind about attaching the leads directly to the battery pack).

 

Progress, then, but it's still feeling like two steps forward, one step back with this car, though.

 

 

[strangeangel]

1 hour ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Is anything on that car more durable than the dividing plastic in a box of chocolates? (apart from what you have added!)

 

In an age where most cars are pretty dependable & the arse doesn't fall out of them in 10 years, the Aixam stands out on its own as a beacon of shit design, appalling build quality and all-round incompetence on the part of the weapons-grade idiots who allowed such an irredeemably wank car to reach production.

 

But... it's running again and soon it will be able to charge its batteries once more. The wretched device will live to see the Queen's HIghway again.

 

[dollywobbler]

Enjoying the Ami today? I have spies everywhere.

[strangeangel]

2 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Enjoying the Ami today? I have spies everywhere.

 

 

Ha ha, yes! If you're going to make an essential journey for bee..., er, essential supplies, then you might as well do it in style! 

 

Who clocked us then? I don't remember seeing any interesting vehicles in the car park... just the beige Allegro on the way home.

 

[busmansholiday]

On 4/17/2020 at 5:58 PM, strangeangel said:

the Aixam stands out on its own as a beacon of shit design, appalling build quality and all-round incompetence on the part of the weapons-grade idiots who allowed such an irredeemably wank car to reach production.

So that's the sort of car everybody on here should own at one point in their lives then ?

[strangeangel]

Been working today, but had an hour at the Trail 90 before tea:

 

 

Fashioned a new heat-resistant spacer from some stove rope.

 

 

The ignition lock arrived.

 

 

The piece of aluminium that will become the new number plate gets several coats of satin black, after having the corners filed off.

 

[dollywobbler]

On 4/20/2020 at 5:59 PM, strangeangel said:

 

Ha ha, yes! If you're going to make an essential journey for bee..., er, essential supplies, then you might as well do it in style! 

 

Who clocked us then? I don't remember seeing any interesting vehicles in the car park... just the beige Allegro on the way home.

 

Random HubNutter. Beige Allegro could have been Steph from idriveaclassic (girlfriend of Josh of this parish, it's his car)

[strangeangel]

So I had bother starting the Ami on Friday morning, the battery would barely turn the engine over and had to be given ten minutes on the charger to get it going. It hadn't been run for a week, but being the suspicious type I took a multimeter with me to check the car was charging the battery OK. About half way round a quick 10 mile hop it was stuffing 8.2V in!

 

I asked some shiters, and they said clean everything before going any further. This defo needs a clean:

 

 

There are two earths attached to the -ve battery terminal - one straight to the body of the starter, and one to the gearbox. The latter wasn't the best:

 

 

Using the crimp tool I bought for the Aixam I made a separate terminal for the secondary earth. I didn't like how the live battery lead is routed; a previous owner had wrapped a bit of tape round it, but my paranoia is such that I cut a piece of scrap hose to protect it from chafing.

 

 

Better. When I tried it, the starter spun over as quickly as it did when I got the car. I'll be keeping an eye on the charging, though; if it is charging at 8V+ then it would seem that I need a new voltage regulator. Incidentally, I checked the electrolyte in the battery, and it was only slightly lower than the top of the plates. All topped up now and back in business!

 

[strangeangel]

Nearly forgot, I finished the Trail 90's homebrew plate... and I'm rather pleased with it!

 

 

£5.30 for a cut-to-size 3 mm ali plate (I decided 2mm would be too thin), and £1.70 for the stick-on numbers. File the corners round, lash on a bit of satin black and job done!

 

[LightBulbFun]

3 minutes ago, strangeangel said:

Nearly forgot, I finished the Trail 90's homebrew plate... and I'm rather pleased with it!

 

 

£5.30 for a cut-to-size 3 mm ali plate, and £1.50 for the stick-on numbers. File the corners round, lash on a bit of satin black and job done!

 

looking very nice  

interesting to see an Essex registration number, im curious was this bike first registried in the UK to an essex address/within essex?

would help me figure out if the DVLA do issue age related plates based on location or not

[strangeangel]

17 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

looking very nice  

interesting to see an Essex registration number, im curious was this bike first registried in the UK to an essex address/within essex?

would help me figure out if the DVLA do issue age related plates based on location or not

 

I think it's just done on whatever unused numbers they have lying around. I registered this (with a little help from my friends), and I live in West Yorkshire. My 1986 Honda Fusion (JDM) was allocated a WW (Leeds) age-related plate when it came to the UK in 1996. That was registered by the shop in York who imported it so there doesn't seem to be any relationship, based on those two cases anyway.

 

[LightBulbFun]

10 minutes ago, strangeangel said:

I think it's just done on whatever unused numbers they have lying around. I registered this (with a little help from my friends), and I live in West Yorkshire. My 1986 Honda Fusion (JDM) was allocated a WW (Leeds) age-related plate when it came to the UK in 1996. That was registered by the shop in York who imported it so there doesn't seem to be any relationship, based on those two cases anyway.

interesting  

I wonder if its any different for when a car gets issued an age related plate because it lost its original plate , because I know of a few where it does look like they where issued based on location like  LVX250J lost its original plate while registered to someone (still is) in London and got JBY503J, and XEV88S lost its plate while registered  up in scotland and got VES108S

but i don't know if the DVLA still issue location related age related plates like that or not

(also my bad HJ would of been southend on sea marker in 1967, although became an Essex marker in Oct 1974)

I know ageless plates for pre 1963 vehicles are issued based on whatever is available because of their limited supply 

[strangeangel]

46 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

interesting  

I wonder if its any different for when a car gets issued an age related plate because it lost its original plate , because I know of a few where it does look like they where issued based on location like  LVX250J lost its original plate while registered to someone (still is) in London and got JBY503J, and XEV88S lost its plate while registered  up in scotland and got VES108S

but i don't know if the DVLA still issue location related age related plates like that or not

(also my bad HJ would of been southend on sea marker in 1967, although became an Essex marker in Oct 1974)

I know ageless plates for pre 1963 vehicles are issued based on whatever is available because of their limited supply 

 

You just reminded me... I did a bit of LBF-inspired research into electric Aixams sold/registered around the same time as mine (good old lockdown ?)

 

LK08EOA Orange, No longer on DVLA, scrapped 2019 (the one in Bolton I stripped for spares)

LK08EOB Grey - mine!

LK08EOC Grey, tax due 2011 (never saw 1^st MOT)

LK08EOD Vectrix scooter, MOT expired 2016

LK08EOE White, tax expired 2010 (2 years old!) never MOT’d

LK08EOF Grey, tax expired 2014, never MOT’d

LK08EOG Blue, tax expired 2014, MOT expired 2013

LK08EOH Silver, on SORN, never MOT’d

LK08EOJ Silver, tax expired 2009, never MOT’d

LK08EOK Not on DVLA

LK08EOL Silver, tax expired 2015, MOT expired 2014

LK08EOM White, tax expired 2015, never MOT’d

LK08EON Not on DVLA

LK08EOO White, tax expired 2016, never MOT’d

LK08EOP Not on DVLA

LK08EOR White, tax expired 2017, never MOT’d

LK08EOS White, tax expired 2016, never MOT’d

LK08EOT Orange, on SORN, MOT expired 2014

LK08EOU Orange, tax expired 2014, never MOT’d

 

Others after this are Ivecos… then I went backwards:

 

LK08ENZ Not on DVLA

LK08ENY Not on DVLA

 

Hmmm… maybe there’s nothing in this? Try one more anyway:

 

LK08ENX Grey, tax expired 2012, MOT expired 2013

LK08ENW White, tax expired 2018, never MOT’d

LK08ENV White, on SORN, MOT expired 2014

LK08ENU Orange, tax expired 2012, never MOT’d

LK08ENT Not on DVLA

LK08ENS Not on DVLA

LK08ENR White, tax expired 2017, MOT expired 2013

LK08ENP Silver, tax expired 2014, MOT expired 2013

LK08ENO Grey, tax expired 2012, never MOT’d

LK08ENN is an Audi, and the only roadworthy vehicle in this whole sorry sequence!

LK08ENM Blue, on SORN, MOT expired 2016

LK08ENL e-Max electric scooter, never saw 1^st MOT

LK08ENK Not on DVLA

LK08ENJ Grey, tax expired 2013, never MOT’d

LK08ENH Orange, on SORN, MOT expired 2017

LK08ENG Not on DVLA

LK08ENF Grey, tax expired 2015, MOT expired 2015

LK08ENE Not on DVLA

LK08END Not on DVLA

LK08ENC Orange, on SORN, MOT expired 2017

LK08ENB Not on DVLA

LK08ENA Not on DVLA

(nothing else below this)

 

And that’s the whole, sorry tale of woe! Not an MOT between the lot of them (mine included), with most long dead. After just twelve years.

 

[LightBulbFun]

hah thats pretty interesting  

its always interesting to see Post 1998 tax due dates

I always thought that if you leave a vehicle with a tax due date after 1998, untaxed the DVLA come round to break your kneecaps until your SORN it or tax it....

[strangeangel]

The penny's just dropped on the rogue Audi, the first owner must have been called Ben!

 

[strangeangel]

I got this 1974 What Car? today, with a review of the Ami Super in - they gave it a bit of a shoeing TBH! Interesting read anyway...

 

 

 

 

"One of the ugliest cars in the world" ??? Tasteless sods ?

 

[jonny69]

I think the problem was I felt the Ami 6 felt quite agricultural to drive even compared to my upright Ford Pop, and that was a dated outgoing model from 1954 compared to what was a current early 60s car. When you compared it to the other current stuff which was Mk1 Cortinas, incoming Hillman new Minx etc, it was very basic and dated feeling (but a lot of fun). By the mid 70s it must have looked quite the quirky obscurity when you could have had a Mk2 Escort, Avenger, Viva etc and things like the Golf were just round round the corner. 

Ps. can’t remember if I take responsibility for the electrical tape on the leads. Probably. The carbon fibre on early Nomex core makeshift battery tray was my doing. It needed something and all I could rustle up at work was one of the worlds most advanced aerospace materials from the 1980s

[strangeangel]

Sadly the Ami's starting problems have continued, to the point where it now doesn't. Poking around with a multimeter has revealed that the the voltage regulator has allowed overcharging of the battery, which has killed it. I've been umm-ing and ah-ing over the possibility of converting the car to 12V, but I think I'm going to bottle out and buy a new battery and a solid state regulator instead.

 

[strangeangel]

I'm on the verge of sacking this Aixam off. I expected problems, but NOTHING ever goes right, and I have things here that I would actually like to work on had I the time. So unless this latest fuck up can be resolved then it's getting cut up.

 

Those who follow this saga regularly will know that the Aixam's battery charger is faulty, and I've replaced it with a similarly-rated, brand new item I picked up with a job lot of EV parts off eBay last year. The Aixam charger is 48V/30A, and this one 48V/25A, so I couldn't see any reason why it wouldn't work. It's physically bigger than the outgping one, so it's fitted in the boot, with the cables run up to the front in some conduit. I had to extend the cables, but I used decent crimp connectors and the same cable (10mm2) to do this.

 

Before all this, however, I found that there was still water leaking into the boot. Well, if I can't stop it coming in, I can help it leave again.

 

 

The only time I laughed at any point this afternoon was when I discovered that the bulkhead I was about to try and cut a hole in is actually plastic. No bother.

 

 

Crimped some terminals onto the wires, and connected them up to where I disconnected the original charger from. Sorted, then? No.

 

 

Jesus Tittyfucking Christ. From what I have read online, a 48V charger should operate between 52-58V? It was still going up, too.

 

Have a look at the charger. It has two lights: a red one that means it's powered up and a green one that means three different things  depending on what it's doing:

• solid green for normal charging
• slow flash for 'post charging'
• fast flash for 'anomaly'

 

 

When plugged in it stays at green for about 5 seconds (the battery pack was at 50,2V before starting this] before flashing about once a second. Whether that's the fast or the slow flash I have no idea, so fuck knows what's happening there. Meanwhile the voltage across the battery pack jumps up to 65V and climbs steadily (albeit slowly) from there.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH.

 

[Fumbler]

Got any cliffs to push it off of when you've really had enough? It really does appeaa to be resisting every move you make on it.

[Tamworthbay]

I know it might seem a lot of work but you could sack off the Aixam stuff and use the controller I sent you. It’s tried and tested and reliable. You would need to sort a throttle pot, but other than that and a bit of clever wiring to allow charging the batteries at 12v, Or just get a 24v one. Loads of stuff on the controller online and a throttle pot would not be expensive.

[strangeangel]

2 hours ago, Tamworthbay said:

I know it might seem a lot of work but you could sack off the Aixam stuff and use the controller I sent you. It’s tried and tested and reliable. You would need to sort a throttle pot, but other than that and a bit of clever wiring to allow charging the batteries at 12v, Or just get a 24v one. Loads of stuff on the controller online and a throttle pot would not be expensive.

 

True, but the speed controller actually works. Since I fitted the replacement motor the car works fine (as much as it ever did), and the only problem standing in the way of go-faster mods is this charging issue. If I gut it and use your speed controller, there goes the boost circuit...

 

Few deep breaths... sit down with a beer and do some reading... hope that the Shiter Hive Mind comes up with something... and return to it another day. And make sure that big fucking fire axe is nowhere I can easily find it.

 

[LightBulbFun]

3 hours ago, strangeangel said:

I'm on the verge of sacking this Aixam off. I expected problems, but NOTHING ever goes right, and I have things here that I would actually like to work on had I the time. So unless this latest fuck up can be resolved then it's getting cut up.

please offer it to @Zelandeth before scrapping it/writing it off!

I know he expressed interest in one, and I imagine it would make for some excellent content in his thread as he revived it  

 

is the last remaining issue the charger? if so perhaps id just get another one and see what it does? (although im not sure how much these things cost!)

if push come to shove you could perhaps try and charge all 4 batteries together by hooking each one up to its own 12V charger?

the charger connects directly to the batteries right? so technically the car is not at fault then?  the fault is either the batteries or the charger

 

[UltraWomble]

Rip the batteries out & weigh in.
Rip the wiring out & weigh in.
Fabricate a mounting for a Stomp 125 Honda Clone engine ( with the 12v electrics)
Fit same with chain drive to rear wheels.
Enjoy some slightly slow but probably mental fun with something registered as electric.