Zel's Motoring Adventures...Peugeot, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - 29/05 - Initial Trabant Inspection...

[PhilA]

Work on vehicles occurs either at the weekend or after about 8pm through to about 10pm weekdays.

 

That's why it's only little bits of progress. Work, house, kids, car, dog.. yeah. Sleep is for the weak.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

As hoped, I managed to get a couple of hours this afternoon to attack the to do list.

 

Getting the rear brakes actually connected up was of course the first order of business given how close to done that job was before.

 

 

Just need to fit a couple of clips to keep the pipes from rubbing against things.

 

Oh - and get the flexis changed.  Though the rubber is actually in pretty good shape, I've tortured them pretty well and there's no real perishing to speak of and they've stood up quite happily to me literally hanging my entire weight on the handlebars without any bulging or anything.  They'll still be changed as a matter of course - but I'm happy enough for that to be after the first test runs.  The front one has been replaced already with a NOS part I got with KP.

 

At this point I figured I'd save myself some time by grabbing an Easibleed.  I want to change the fluid in the van soon and that's going to be quite tedious the old fashioned way and they're hardly expensive.

 

...However they do not come with an adaptor in the box to fit the old Girling master cylinder.  The largest one in the box is a good 1/2" too small.  D'oh!

 

Fine, back to doing things the old fashioned way.  The piping runs being pretty short at least mean that it doesn't take long to bleed the fluid through.  Even if the offside one had to be done from the union onto the wheel cylinder as the bleed nipple on that side still isn't interested in moving. 

 

All done and I have what feels like a reasonable "pedal" - there's still more free play than I'd like, though as I've mentioned already the handbrake mech needs freeing up - and I've not adjusted anything.  Not faffing around trying to do that inside the garage where I've no room to move.

 

Time for some moving tests though...so let's clear the car of the accumulated junk (again), button the rear access panel back up and shift the van so I've got a bit of room to play with.

 

Took a surprising amount of time to empty this tiny space again...

 

 

I managed to ascertain that I do have brakes.  Didn't have time to really ascertain much beyond that as the smell of petrol started to become obviously not just that from the open can out the back, but was Far More than I should be smelling...Immedialy obvious when I stopped the engine was the "Tssssshhh...Tsssssh..." of something dripping and evapourating from something hot.

 

 

That would be petrol dripping out of the fuel pump, onto the tinware and then straght onto the offside exhaust branch.  Rather unnerving!

 

That hose was weeping about a week ago and I trimmed the last inch or so off the end of it - today though it's escaping from around the access cover on the top of the pump itself.  Grrrr...Easy enough to sort at least, and I spotted it *before* the car had a chance to set fire to itself!

 

Will get that sorted out (I wanted to give the screen in the pump another clean anyway so not all bad) tomorrow and then give the brakes a bit more exercise on the driveway.  Next up will probably be either swapping out the indicator switch to one that works more reliably or fashioning a heat shield of some sort to cover the exhaust until I can summon the willpower to fully rebuild the rear apron.

 

She's pretty much unburied though which is pretty rare these days!

 

[dollywobbler]

Good stuff. How will you repair the hinge damage behind the front panel? I've got exactly the same damage on one side on the Fox, but don't know the first thing about fibreglass repairs, other than a bit I've seen here.

[LightBulbFun]

Very cool stuff!

 

does this mean for the first time in who knows how long that all 3 brakes are now working?

 

im just wondering, how bad would it be to throw the body work repairs at a shop who does GRP stuff day to day? (I imagine someone who has experience with dealing with reliants would be good with a fibre glass invacar )

 

so tantalisingly close till she hits the road now 

[Zelandeth]

Good stuff. How will you repair the hinge damage behind the front panel? I've got exactly the same damage on one side on the Fox, but don't know the first thing about fibreglass repairs, other than a bit I've seen here.

Haven't touched that yet to be honest! It's a pretty flat area though and the hinges don't have to deal with a lot of load so I'll probably just put a few layers of mat over there.

 

Ideally you'd want to apply the mat from the back - but as I recall there's no access to the back of that area...

 

Given it's held at the front by the catch, I'm not beyond cable ties or gaffer tape for the first test run....

 

I was really surprised how easy to work with it was doing that one corner, can see with a bit of forward planning and practice getting quite presentable results.

[Zelandeth]

No photos today I'm afraid.

 

Basic plan: get it fuel tight again!

 

Step 1 - go grab some more fuel line as what I had in there was obviously suspect as I'd already had to trim the end back once due to perishing despite it having only been on there for a couple of months. Yay, Halfords quality control...

 

Could I find anywhere that had 5mm fuel line locally? Not a chance other than Halfords who had 1 metre on the shelf...which given the last few hoses from them have been virtually perished out the box, not getting it from there. Find, have ordered five metres of A1 marine grade fuel hose from eBay. That should do the job and hopefully last more than six months.

 

So the hoses will have to wait, can still sort the fuel pump itself at least.

 

With the cover off and the screen out it was actually a lot cleaner than I expected. Still was easy enough to clean what was in there out. I really need to get a new gasket for it, but I'd previously used a piece of gasket paper to make my own and a tiny smear of instant gasket. This worked just fine before, and wasn't actually the source of my leak - that was actually coming from the cover fixing screw - that's sealed with a fibre washer which had split.

 

To be honest, a task for this week really should be to contact Steyr and get a gasket set for the engine. I'll be wanting to clear out the oil pump pickup screen just as DW did, and I really need new PCV valves too as they're both past it.

 

My plan to reassemble the fuel pump immediately started to unravel.

 

First glitch happened the moment I put the fuel pump cover down foolishly on the roof of the car. It immediately rolled off and disappeared stage left. Eventually winding up coming to rest underneath the Crypton machine in the corner. Retrieving that took about half an hour of disassembling half the garage. Yay.

 

I then discovered that my tube of instant gasket was no longer a tube of paste, rather a solid block. Wish I'd checked that before I went out earlier. Cue another trip to Motorserv. Grr...

 

Now I'd only used a tiny smear of the stuff around the very edge of the cover plate, so had hoped to avoid getting it everywhere. That lasted right up to the point where I dropped the fuel pump cover and wound up having to fish it out from where it wedged itself between the tinware and the PCV hose. This resulted in me getting the stuff all over my hands, yay.

 

Eventually though I got the thing into place. Will be leaving it overnight to make sure that the instant gasket has set.

 

While I was standing on my head trying to retrieve the fuel pump cover plate from the bowels of the garage, I unearthed the angle grinder, which had been missing for a while.

 

Tomorrow will hopefully include:

 

[] Test the fuel system - hopefully be able to celebrate a quick fix.

 

[] Hit the windscreen trim panel with the carbide polishing mop to get rid of the old adhesive remains...

[] Then paint it.

 

[] Expose the handbrake mechanism to large amounts of violence to free it off.

[] Adjust and test brakes a bit more - possibly at more than walking pace for the first time...

 

I really need to tidy the garage. Wasted so much time today due to stupid clutter.

[dollywobbler]

Engine parts: https://www.haflingertechnik.com/html/index.php

 

Probably best to actually phone up or email, as the website isn't the best. However, they had everything I needed on the shelf due to the Haflinger commonality.

[louiepj]

With regards to bleeding the van I remember using something like this on unusual cars, vans and yank tanks. Probably 20 years ago though!!

But it was a flat rectangular plate with rubber on one side and 3 blockable ports that were spaced apart to allow correct positioning.

[Zelandeth]

With regards to bleeding the van I remember using something like this on unusual cars, vans and yank tanks. Probably 20 years ago though!!

But it was a flat rectangular plate with rubber on one side and 3 blockable ports that were spaced apart to allow correct positioning.

The van should be fine as it uses a reservoir that's shared with much more current stuff, the Invacar one is too big though. A friend locally has a far older one on the shelf in their garage which he reckons still has this sized cap from when it was more common.

 

I've had that page bookmarked for engine stuff since you first posted it to me, just need to get off my lazy tail and actually do it.

[LightBulbFun]

I was wondering what the plan was with the access/service hatch

 

your all probably following the seller with all the invacar spare parts but just incase, he just listed a bunch of hinges

[Zelandeth]

Pretty sure I've got enough hinges to go around, though they're common to quite a few cars and not unique to the Invacar so availability shouldn't be too bad.

 

I had been hoping to get the brakes adjusted today, but given the very gusty wind I decided that crawling around underneath an extremely light car that was jacked up probably wasn't the smartest idea.  Not as though I've not got enough to a to do list as for there to be enough to be getting on with.

 

Let's check to see if the recent bout of incontinence from the fuel pump has been resolved.

 

 

That would appear to be a yes.  Though it does appear that there is still oil seeping from the dipstick handle...Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be one of "those" jobs which is going to keep being a pain.  Might see if a new dipstick is a spare I can get with the rest of the engine bits I'm after.

 

There is a very brief video from when I was peering suspiciously at the fuel pump if anyone wants to see it...Just an Invacar engine burbling away at a fast idle...but knowing you lot you'll probably want to see it anyway so I may as well start uploading it hadn't I...

 

The angle grinder having been uneathed (yes, my garage is such a mess I managed to lose it) meant that I could finally attack that bit of trim from over the windscreen and get rid of the remains of the old adhesive.  As expected, it was so old and dry that it just sanded off.

 

 

Cleaned up nicely.

 

Quick coat of hammered black paint had it looking rather less scruffy and had rather improved the sort of 1960s industrial aesthetic that rather matches the rest of the interior better.

 

 

Reliabily working indicators are kinda high on my wish list for the road test, so I pulled the indicator stalk off to swap it for my spare.  It hadn't been too bad until I started trying to get the horn working, then it started playing up.  So time to swap it.

 

Helpfully the plug was willing to come off so I was able to unplug it and bring the whole lot inside so I can transfer things over and tape the loom up again inside.

 

 

The new stalk is set up for being on the right (SIII Land Rover I think), but I personally prefer that so I'm happy to move it over.  Should work better with the control layout in there anyway.  Right hand has throttle and stalk, leaving your left hand free for the controls on the dash - no arm crossing dance required to use the windscreen wipers.

[mrbenn]

Good work.

 

Is the vid online yet?

[Zelandeth]

Good work.

 

Is the vid online yet?

 

 

Yes!

 

[YouTube]

[/YouTube]

 

Happy now?

[mrbenn]

Very much so.

 

Sounds to be running sweetly.

[dollywobbler]

 no arm crossing dance required to use the windscreen wipers.

 

Oh shush! My next video will contain much arm-crossing...

[LightBulbFun]

glad to see the fuel leak has been solved

 

the video reminded me, how are the new dynastart belts doing?

[Zelandeth]

glad to see the fuel leak has been solved

 

the video reminded me, how are the new dynastart belts doing?

Fine so far, but they've got only a couple of tens of minutes running time on them so far. Quieter though, the original ones hissed quite noticeably.

 

I may well give the pulleys a bit of a clean up in due course, but that's about item 874646 on the to do list.

[Zelandeth]

Didn't take long today to get the new stalk wired up to the existing indicator stalk wiring loom.

 

 

Not the prettiest job, but it should be electrically sound.  The connections were made with crimp butt connectors which were then also soldered and heatshrink wrapped, before the loom was then re-wrapped.  In hindsight I should probably have continued the wrap about an inch closer to the back of the switch itself...but I'm not worrying about that now.  I did away with the grommet in the end as it was just getting in the way.

 

 

Had to rotate the throttle grip slightly to prevent the indicator stalk from fouling on the cable when signalling right, and the cowling needed the opening made a little wider to accomodate the high beam flash feature which the original stalk didn't have.  There was originally only one screw holding the plastic cowl on, so I had to have a bit of a rummage around in the box of random fasteners but soon had it properly secured so it doesn't wobble around like it used to.

 

The only thing that I need to be careful of is that at extreme full left lock the stalk can foul the dashboard, though I doubt that will really be an issue in the real world.

 

All the lights are now behaving properly again, however still no signs of life from the horn.  Given that the front service cover was I believe open for a number of years, it's unsurprisingly looking a bit worse for wear.

 

 

Connecting it directly to 12V resulted in nothing happening.  Checking with a meter revealed that this does indeed seem somewhat poorly.

 

 

Not going to waste time trying to resurrect that or find as close a match as possible.  My plan has been since day one to fit something which is rather louder than standard, so an air horn will be getting installed tomorrow.  My logic is that a tiny car needs a Very Loud horn, especially living in a city of blind Audi driving maniacs and never ending roundabouts.

 

Here's how the trim panel from above the windscreen has come out.

 

 

The visor has now been reattached and hopefully I'll get it reunited with the car.

 

Thinking about possible upgrades in the future I've also been thinking about the heating system.  It seems to chuck out decent heat, and the biggest issue is probably that the airflow isn't great - especially at low revs - and let's not forget that quite a bit of my driving is probably going to be around town.  So I'm definitely pondering the addition of an electric fan to replace the existing engine cooling air bleed setup.  I'd obviously not want to pull any more air from the cooling system, so a bit of re-plumbing would probably be needed.  Not something I'm looking at doing now, just something I'm sort of mapping out in my head as a possibility for the future.

 

In other news, for the last few weeks I've kept hearing something sliding around *somewhere* in the cabin of the Activa.  However actually tracking down what it was had thus far been unsuccessful.  Until this afternoon.

 

 

That'll be the sod!  This usually lives in the boot, so has probably been in there since the car was in the garage having work done for the MOT.  It has now been returned to its usual home in the boot.

[LightBulbFun]

very cool stuff

 

I find it a little amusing how DW moved his controls from right to left and you moved them from left to right 

 

btw the same "invacar70" seller has just listed a few heater/choke/demister control unit thingies

 

and its interesting to see the history of them (according to the listings  there where 3 different types over the lifespan of the Model 70)

[LightBulbFun]

Woo! TPAs details are updating!

 

 

wheres the taxidermy excite meme 

[dozeydustman]

Just caught up. She sounds pretty sweet. I'm sure you'll be bombing around soon enough

[Zelandeth]

We're getting there.

 

The wheels are currently over with Vintage Tyres, and should be ready to pick up tomorrow morning with three new tyres on.

 

While it took a certain amount of time standing on my head in the loft, I did eventually track down the horn I bought a while back for another project.

 

Unfortunately it was slightly too big to fit exactly where the original one lived, but a quick bit of exprimentation revealed that I could use the bracket that used to hold the front brake flexi (remember, I swapped that for the one off KP) in place. All I needed to do was remove the end of the original brake hose.

 

This turned into a 45 minute fight which eventually resulted in the threads in the nut being stripped out. Fine, I'll just hack the end off with the angle grinder tomorrow.

 

 

The other thing I need to do is route a proper power feed for it and fit a relay, but I've proven it works now at least.

 

Speaking of power, something I'll be keeping on hand during the shakedown period is a combined voltmeter and ammeter. It won't be joining us permemantly, but I'd like to keep tabs on things at least for a while as I know these voltage regulators can quite rapidly kill a battery if they're misbehaving.

 

 

This comes supplied with a shunt suitable for monitoring loads of up to 100A - far in excess of anything I've measured on here even during cranking (pretty sure there's a 50A fuse in series with that circuit anyway) so I just hooked that in between the chassis ground and the battery terminal. I also took the opportunity to fit a slightly less dog-eared ground strap and turn it through 180 degrees so the end of the cable didn't sit mere millimetres away from the main battery

positive feed to the starter solenoid, just waiting for an errant screwdriver to be dropped. I'd really like to make/find a cover to put over that terminal...especially now seeing the proximity of the battery clamp which I'd totally missed in person.

 

 

Somewhat amusingly, the new earth strap is in sufficiently better condition than the old one that even now there's a current sensing shunt in series with it, the engine still spins over faster on the starter! I guess that just goes to highlight how knackered the original leads were.

 

I'm not 100% happy with the shunt being there, but I'm reminding myself that I'm not intending this to be a long-term install, so engineering a permenant home for it really isn't necessary.

 

On the subject of finding homes for things, I think I have potentially found an actual use for the slot in the dash where the gear lever would be on some variants. While I don't want the thing to be bristling with gauges and lights, I would like to add two warning lights. Firstly being one for the brake fluid level and another to indicate when the gearbox is in neutral, given it's entirely possible to start the engine in gear. I reckon that slot could well be a perfect location to allow me to add them without needing to drill any extra holes in the actual dash or anything like that. Even though I am leaning more towards actually replacing the dashboard long term now, so am a bit less worried about the odd hack affecting things in the short term than I might originally have been.

 

Edit 1: That current shunt is really bugging me. It's moving tomorrow. Probably will be attached to the underside of the battery tray or on the shelf the voltage regulator etc is on.

 

Edit 2: The positive battery lead needs changing too I see now. Have one in stock so no biggie.

 

Edit 3: I checked and yes, you *can* get to the holes where the "bonnet" hinges should be from behind the panel. So my repair plan there is to put a steel plate on the back of the panel, then resin that in place before drilling holes in it for the hinge.

[Noel Tidybeard]

just to fit in with the part bin approach that these have would the warning lights from a mercedes van fit the slot just nicely?

[Zelandeth]

just to fit in with the part bin approach that these have would the warning lights from a mercedes van fit the slot just nicely?

That's actually not a bad shout... I'd got a couple from a Leyland Olympian sitting around but those are a little small, so would need a faceplate of some sort...Merc ones might well "just work" though...Time to have a dig through the box of random panel lamps to see if I can find a pair...if not I'll need to go bother our poor dealer again...

[Noel Tidybeard]

That's actually not a bad shout... I'd got a couple from a Leyland Olympian sitting around but those are a little small, so would need a faceplate of some sort...Merc ones might well "just work" though...Time to have a dig through the box of random panel lamps to see if I can find a pair...if not I'll need to go bother our poor dealer again...

 

who knows they might even have the correct symbols available!

[Zelandeth]

who knows they might even have the correct symbols available!

Brakes yes, but nothing appropriate for neutral I suspect. I don't think anything beyond the usual six (main beam, glow plugs, indicators, no charge, brake warning and oil pressure) from a Merc T1 are available new any more. At least that seemed to be the case when I was last speaking to the guy on the parts desk. If the whole Unimog range were out there now that could be fun as there were dozens of different lights used there...

 

To be honest I'll probably de-label the lens anyway as it will look less out of place then. There will only be two lights after all, red one for brake fluid and a green one for neutral.

[LightBulbFun]

you already confused the poor dealership by turning up in the Lada

 

so imagine the look on their faces as you ask them "ah yeah do you have this part? I need it for my Invacar..." 

[dozeydustman]

Something like this be any good? In keeping* with the lights already on the dash

 

https://m.banggood.com/Neutral-Reverse-Light-Gear-NR-Indicator-For-50-110-125-150-200-250cc-ATV-Motorcycle-p-1077204.html?gmcCountry=GB¤cy=GBP&cur_warehouse=CN&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgs&utm_content=frank&utm_campaign=pla-gb-a-m-mt-mb&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItuPgmpaV4AIVSrDtCh36KQz1EAkYASABEgLg4_D_BwE

[LightBulbFun]

the extra dashboard lights in the unused gear selector section of the dash reminds me of this Model 70

 

 

which seems to have gained both a Rear fog light and a reverse light at some point of its life (but still on original style rear lights amusingly)

 

im curious espcially how they tied the reverse light in, as I dont think the gearbox has any provisions for a reverse light switch? im guessing they may of installed a switch somehow into the gear lever assembly itself

[dollywobbler]

It's fine to have a manual switch for a reverse light, so long as there's a dashboard warning lamp.