Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 13/11.

[Zelandeth]

So first task of the day was to get the new belts fitted.  Ten minute job, and the tension even seemed to be right off the bat, though obviously I expect that to change once the engine has run.

 

 

Attempting to *do* that was foiled by the thing refusing to start again.  I'm willing to bet money the offside cylinder has flooded and fouled the plug again.  This seems to be an issue after a series of very short runs, and I'm hoping will resolve itself once I'm able to get it a proper run.  I decided after it started on one cylinder to just file this under "come back to later as I've better things to do just now."

 

Next up, seat.  Let's get this sorted out once and for all.

 

Here's where we ended up.

 

 

Doesn't look that different to things before does it?  At a glance, no. 

 

Here's the "before" shot in case you were wondering....

 

 

There's been a hell of a lot of planning, measuring, calculating and such involved to get to that point.

 

Originally I just had four huge U-bolts wrapped around the entire rails of the Xantia seat clamping it to the original seat's frame.

 

Now we've got an M8 bolt on each corner down through the original Xantia mounting points into the angle brackets you saw yesterday - which are then bolted to the original seat frame.

 

 

The rear ones are currently bolted through the original seat clamp onto the frame (hence there only being one bolt per side at present), whereas the front have had a pair of bolts through the seat frame.

 

 

I think given things have lined up in such a way to allow for it I'll probably drill a hole and add an additional bolt at the rear tomorrow.

 

They're lined up in such a way to help centralise the seat (the rails are offset to one side by an inch or so), and it seems to have worked.

 

 

Driving position now feels perfectly central rather than noticeably offset to the left as used to be the case.

 

There are some big additional features compared to the original seat "bodge" that I had in here though.  All of the original adjustments available are now fully functional (as is the original left/right sliding setup from the original Invacar seat) - which allows an additional party trick...

 

 

Yep, with the seat slid fully forward and the backrest tilted forwards, it's possible to get the rear access cover in and out without removing the seat.

 

I did have one "oops" moment however when I realised that I couldn't get at the head of the big M8 bolt that I'd used to secure the seat down onto the brackets (which has a slot to allow me to fine tune the left/right position) to tighten them up.

 

Cue me getting inventive.

 

 

Take two nuts, screw onto the end of the threaded section and make a lock nut - then used that to stop the bolt rotating while tightening the nut holding the seat down up.  Job done.

 

I was worried that it was going to be too flimsy a solution, but it seems to be perfectly fine.  It's worth mentioning that the whole lot it depending on a few tiny screws and a pair of nylon rollers in a runner at the back to hold that side to the car anyway!  So I get the feeling that this is probably over-engineered if anything...It's stood up perfectly fine to me (literally) jumping into the seat without moving a millimetre.  Seatbelt isn't secured to the seat like on many modern cars - it's secured to the bulkhead at the top and to eye bolts secured to the chassis crossmember at the floor level.  So the seat is purely something that you're sitting on, it's not involved in actually holding you in place. 

 

Having a proper adjustable seat means I can get into a much more comfortable feeling driving position with my feet braced against the bulkhead, so I think this is a good result overall.

 

I'm somewhat amused at how close a colour match I seem to have randomly found in Halfords...

 

 

No that's not the "finish" I'm going for - that was purely a "let's see the colour" test.  I need to trim the bottom of the panel back as well.

 

Speaking of paint - I'll be giving the brackets and such I've just added to the seat frame a coat of blue paint as well so they'll hopefully blend in with the original metalwork better.

 

Feels like a reasonable couple of hours work this evening and a decent step towards roadworthiness, see also the "stuff I orginally bodged together but need to do properly before she hits the road" list.

[LightBulbFun]

holy shit that body work is looking 100x better already! (if not just slightly too blue, but for a quick patch over and blow over thats amazing )

 

nice to see the seat setup being refined and the ability to move side to side retained

 

I noticed the pulleys on the fan side of things are quite rusty would it help with the belt operation etc if you cleaned up the rust or does it not matter in this application?

[Zelandeth]

The paint needs a little more green I think, other than that it's not all that far off (comparing to the less oxidised bits anway - the whole car will look a fair bit more blue once the surface oxidisation is cut back). For a "covering things up enough for a road test" standard though it's good enough.

 

I know from prior experience that the best way to kick you into actually doing the fine detail stuff like that is to get a car into a state that you can drive it, as that can act as a great morale boost. Also means that if need be I can look at getting quotes from a couple of body shops if need be to get some of the work done.

 

The dynastart/cooling fan looks like hell, but the actual surfaces that belts run on has cleaned itself up pretty well. To be honest I only really changed the belts as I knew internally it was something that needed done - they were actually still doing their job just fine with no apparent slippage or odd noises or anything. Though I do confess that I would really like to give the fan a quick coat of paint.

[Zelandeth]

Yesterday was one of those days where I acheived what looked like quite a bit of work in a relatively short time.  Today was the opposite sort of day, where quite a bit of time was spent but it looks like there's very little to show for it - though it's actually quite a big step towards the car being roadworthy.

 

Step 1. 

 

Spend the best part of an hour crawling around on the floor attempting (and eventually suceeding) in extricating this.

 

 

Two factors made this a pain.  Firstly the fact that the T-piece (the bit I needed to reuse) was positioned directly above the handbrake linkage.  This made getting at it difficult.  Secondly was the fact that as with everything on this car it was held on with a bolt and non-captive nut.  The other end of which I couldn't really get at with anything.  Eventually though I managed to mangle the bracket enough to get a spanner onto it and got it undone.

 

Step 2.

 

Spend another hour wrestling the two remaining brake pipes out of it.

 

They *really* didn't want to come out - however eventually a combination of brute force and the MAPP Gas torch of persuasion were victorious.

 

 

Thankfully the threads all seem to be absolutely fine, so the T-piece with a fresh set of unions is ready to be used again.

 

Step 3. 

 

Apply some forward thinking to the siting of the T-piece.

 

I'd already played getting new pipes onto that thing once on KP.  Getting them off TP was equally as much of a royal pain.  The way the brake pipes were all tucked up into the chassis made it tricky to carry out a visual inspection of them unless you were up on a ramp as well.

 

As such, I decided to move things a bit.  The T-piece is now attached to the bodywork just below the service hatch, and the lines will run along there before heading off to the flexis going to the rear wheels.  I'll install some P-clips along there to keep them in place (the original pipes just seem to by and large rely on luck from keeping them in place and preventing them rubbing through on stuff).

 

 

This will make future inspection and maintenance easier (as the whole of the brake piping setup from the T-piece to the wheels will then be visible with the service hatch open), and should keep stuff further away from road grime under the car hopefully.

 

It also means that I can do the actual connection of the brake lines to there while sitting in the car rather than contorted into horrifically uncomfortable positions underneath the car.  Surely that's got to improve my chances at doing a decent job of it.  The body of the T-piece will be secured in place while the unions are done up of course - I won't be applying all that torque to the tiny area of fibreglass it's currently bolted to.

 

With a bit of luck tomorrow I should be able to get the actual lines connected up to this and we should be pretty close to being in business.  At least I have a stock of unions in the garage now, so if I mangle the odd one here or there it's no big deal.

 

Edit: The fuel tank is apparently all but finished!  Just going to drop the sender unit off with the guy making it so he can double--check that the holes are spaced correctly before the boss is welded onto the tank.  Soon I can dispense with having to precariously balance a fuel can whenever I want to move it...

[Zelandeth]

Didn't have much time this afternoon once the day's duties were dispatched sadly.

 

Here are the crusty remains of the front to rear brake line.

 

 

This had been disconnected since quite soon after I got the car, but was only actually removed today. I'll save the in-line connector before binning the pipe as those connectors are actually nice quality ones so worth keeping.

 

New front to rear line is now in place (the temporary one I'd had just dangling under the car is visible to the right) and connected up at the front...

 

 

...and is just waiting for the axle connections at the rear.

 

 

Goes without saying that there will be a bunch of grommets, clips and bits of rubber sheathing installed to make sure it can't rub through on anything as this car has no shortage of rough edges.

 

Had hoped to get the whole lot piped up this evening so a bit irked I had to stop there as I quite enjoy this bit where it feels like you're actually getting somewhere.

 

While I was under there I doused the handbrake mechanism in penetrating oil and had a look at the chassis in general. No idea what they rust proofed these old crates with from new, but it's bloody effective! Forgot to get any photos but will correct that soon.

 

[LightBulbFun]

very cool to see some brake work being done

 

AFAIK brakes fuel tank and tires are the last things before she can hit the road right?

 

(I keep forgetting the fuel tank is needed, I think because I see her running and my brain automatically assumes she has a fuel tank, when you just have jerry can rigged up)

 

glad to hear the chassis is in good shape

[Zelandeth]

Fuel tank is basically done.

 

I just need to drop the gauge sender off so it can be confirmed that the boss (which was based on the original one) before it's welded to the tank.

 

That, run the fuel line, finish the brakes, tyres, a little more bodywork patching - Really need to do something about the rear apron! And we should be good to go.

 

To be honest, I'm not worried about the rear apron for the first quick buzz around the block - though I'll gaffer tape over the edges so nothing sharp is accessible.

 

I'll probably swap the indicator stalk over too so I have access to a working horn just in case.

 

A million things before I venture out further than our neighborhood - but that's the checklist for the first road test.

 

Waiting for a call back from the DVLA as they've royally fouled something up with this SORN nonsense. It does indeed appear that this is the SORN that was sent in with the most recent V62 - hence the effective date of 21st Dec 2018 - despite the acknowledgement slip (which I received today) being printed on 16th January 2019...when I taxed the car on the 11th January.

 

However as the system *has* logged that the V5C has been returned to the DVLA for updating, it now won't let me tax it online...tells me to phone them. Which I tried twice today, hence waiting for a call back tomorrow.

[Andyrew]

Regarding making a new apron/rear bumper.

 

I'd try and get some long lengths of thin ally strip, possibly some offcuts from the people making the tank?

 

Bend that to the desired shape of the flat part of the rear bumper and work the fibreglass layers over that.

[Zelandeth]

Regarding making a new apron/rear bumper.

 

I'd try and get some long lengths of thin ally strip, possibly some offcuts from the people making the tank?

 

Bend that to the desired shape of the flat part of the rear bumper and work the fibreglass layers over that.

I've half a plan in mind for that already. I've got quite a few chunks of high density closed cell foam floating around, so my plan is to sculpt a bumper out of that, essentially making a buck over which I can then form the mat. Won't be perfect - but in the absence of moulded repairs "close enough" will do.

 

I will probably go for an ally strip through the centre though just to tie the base together properly though. Seems like the fabricator who's doing the tank does quite a bit of work on kit cars, so will be picking their brains for any local wizards with glass fibre who might be able to tidy up a few bits for me at some point.

 

Just caught up on the last couple of DW's TWC view on YouTube...damnit, impatient for my test drive!

 

Also missing driving the van. Have been struggling a bit mentally this last couple of weeks - suffering most noticeably from what Incan best describe as "people overload" I think. Simple fact: I'm a creature of the countryside. I ain't a city sparrow. My idea of going for a nice walk means walking for a few hours and maybe seeing one or two people. They're just bloody everywhere here...makes you feel like you're being chased after a while.

 

Was in it briefly retrieving a couple of screwdrivers and wound up just flopping on the sofa for a bit, it's funny how just the smell of an old vehicle like that (it has that old bus smell) can act as a very effective anti depressant it seems! Felt a lot better after just hiding in there for a few minutes.

 

Need to let it run for a bit soon or plug it in to top the battery up though.

[Zelandeth]

Response email received from the DVLA:

 

"Thank you for contacting us.

 

Upon checking the record, it appears that your V890 application to declare SORN was processed after the vehicle was taxed.

 

I have passed this information on to the relevant department in order to remove the SORN and reinstate the tax. Please note that the vehicle can be used or kept on the road as normal in the meantime.

 

Please also allow up to 4 weeks to receive an updated V5C Registration Certificate showing the 'Historic' tax class. If you don't receive anything within this time however, please contact us again.

 

I hope this is of assistance and I apologise for any inconvenience caused."

 

Fair enough. Shouldn't have happened but at least they've sorted it out without hassle, can't complain too much. Even if I'd have been oblivious to it if it wasn't for folks on here stalk...I mean following the project with interest until I got pulled over for driving with no tax! So thanks for spotting that.

[LightBulbFun]

its nice to see the DVLA admit they messed up and are working to fix the issue

 

as for the rear apron, at least in my eyes its been broken off pretty cleanly, in that at a glance most people probably wont notice that there is chunk of body work missing

 

(hopefully it dosent take too long for them to update the V5 and get it back to you, might be worth checking how long it was for TWC?)

[LightBulbFun]

Woo TPA is showing as taxed again!

 

(still 10L engine tho  )

[coalnotdole]

 

 

Am I right in thinking if you pull that lever on the left backwards you can slide the whole seat rail assembly left or right?! Whats the thinking behind that?

 

good to see this progressing

 

Dave

[Zelandeth]

 

 

Am I right in thinking if you pull that lever on the left backwards you can slide the whole seat rail assembly left or right?! Whats the thinking behind that?

 

good to see this progressing

 

Dave

Yes. It was to allow a wheelchair bound user to transfer from the wheelchair to car, then slide the seat back to the central position, leaving space to stow a folding chair beside the seat.

[egg]

Great to see the progress. Another yes please to U-tube vids.

[dollywobbler]

One thing to bear in mind with the rear apron is that the exhaust does get properly hot, especially when going uphill. 

[Zelandeth]

One thing to bear in mind with the rear apron is that the exhaust does get properly hot, especially when going uphill.

Yep, thinking at the very least I'd fashion a heat shield of some kind, I'd ideally like that between it and the bodywork anyway....

 

Granted, there are plenty of modded Imps, Skoda Estelles and Fiat 500s with their exhausts hanging right out the back too!

[mat_the_cat]

Simple fact: I'm a creature of the countryside. I ain't a city sparrow. My idea of going for a nice walk means walking for a few hours and maybe seeing one or two people. They're just bloody everywhere here...makes you feel like you're being chased after a while.

 

I know how you feel! I spend my childhood and early adulthood living in towns - never feeling uncomfortable, but escaped to the countryside whenever I could. Now I've been living in the sticks for 15 years, whenever I go back to busy areas I'm on the edge of feeling claustrophobic!

[dollywobbler]

I know how you feel! I spend my childhood and early adulthood living in towns - never feeling uncomfortable, but escaped to the countryside whenever I could. Now I've been living in the sticks for 15 years, whenever I go back to busy areas I'm on the edge of feeling claustrophobic!

 

Hmm. Trying to square that with a memory of you running around Stratford-upon-Avon because you were so desperate to go clubbing...

[Zelandeth]

No real update today.

 

We wound up with a hospital appointment which was scheduled awkwardly right in the middle of the day.  By the time that was out the way and I'd wasted well over an hour driving roughly five miles to pick up some brake fluid (light sleet = total panic and carnage on the roads here) I was simply out of time.

 

I did however discover that unbeknown to me, my husband snapped a very flattering photo while I was working on the seat installation a couple of days ago.

 

In case you wanted to see some sort of scale for how compact an Invacar is, here you go.

 

 

Having a completely flat floor without pedals in the way does make it slightly easier to do stuff like this, and in fact it wasn't even that uncomfortable once I was folded into that corner.

 

Getting back *out* of that corner on the other hand, that was a process which I will simply describe as "inelegant."

[LightBulbFun]

No real update today.

 

We wound up with a hospital appointment which was scheduled awkwardly right in the middle of the day.  By the time that was out the way and I'd wasted well over an hour driving roughly five miles to pick up some brake fluid (light sleet = perfect conditions for 82Mph reverse J turns in an invacar) I was simply out of time.

 

 

FTFY

 

I showed the picture to my mum with a quip about how you can store dead bodies in an invacar and still drive it (thinking back to the Albanian top gear episode)

 

to which she responded with "invahearse?" 

[Zelandeth]

You could get away with a lot hidden down in the footwell I'm sure! I do wonder whether there's room for the dog to travel down there.

 

Courtesy of traffic today turning what should have been a two hour round trip into nearly five, and an absolutely splitting headache - no work done today.

 

However I can confirm that my new fuel tank does indeed exist. I've seen it and it looks excellent. It has been successfully pressure tested too, so it just awaiting the boss for the sender being attached and the breather hole to be drilled in the cap. They now have the gauge sender in hand so can confirm everything fits before welding stuff in place.

 

Had a brief chat about the exhaust too and they reckon that it's well within their capabilities to recreate in stainless though they'd want to take a look at it before talking money - sounds like an excuse for a drive over there once she's on the road.

 

Vintage Tyres are just down the road from us in Bicester, so if time permits tomorrow I might wander over there to see about getting myself some nice new Camac 145 R10 tyres as that's one of the big remaining things on the to do list.

 

Have definitely decided now that I am sticking with the 10" wheels (being a 1973 car she probably would have been on 12" wheels originally). Four reasons:

 

1. The higher profile of the 10" tyres over the 12" ones should help the ride quality.

2. Being the tyre size originally fitted to the Mini, they're readily and cheaply available.

3. Cosmetic preference. I reckon the wheels look much more in scale with the rest of the car with the 10s.

4. Hypothetical grip improvement. They 10" tyres have a wider profile, and I figure that given these cars seem to have a reputation for getting blown around, the more rubber in contact with the road the better I guess.

 

Oh...and I have three ten inch wheels in good order, all of the twelves need help to at least some extent...if I even still have them... can't remember if I sent them all off with KP now I think about it.

 

Ride comfort and looks are the main ones though.

[dollywobbler]

Not a bad plan. The factory must have had their reasons for going from 12" to 10", at the same time as Reliant had much the same thought.

[LightBulbFun]

maybe Telsa could sit where the wheel chair normally resides?

 

glad to hear the fuel tank is up to par and its good to know they may be able to do exhausts considering they are one of the very few bespoke part that we cant raid from a parts bin (I think!)

 

 

the 10 inch wheels/tyres will defiantly make for an interesting comparison with TWCs 12 inch setup

 

im curious given the 10 inch tyres wider profile if its any harder to turn the handle bars when stationary/at a slow speed (I guess it depends exactly how much rubber is in contact with the ground given the curvature of such tyres and tyre pressure)

[Zelandeth]

Shouldn't be an issue with steering weight simply because there's so little weight up front. It's quite possible to pick the front of the car up by hand. I suspect it will be necessary to keep the tyre pressure up front very low to prevent it bouncing on anything other than a glass-smooth surface - I'm guessing this may well be the reason for the adjustable Spax gas shocks she has fitted.

 

I'm guessing the wheel size change was simply a case of what was cheaply available - the popularity of the Mini probably had a part to play there I imagine.

 

NOS exhausts do still turn up, but they're a consumable and that stash of unused ones isn't going to last forever - so a fit & forget stainless replacement seems like a sensible bit of future proofing. Especially for a car that's going to be used beyond trundling to a couple of shows a year.

 

Don't expect it to be cheap though as it will take quite a bit of time to put together and that's what you're paying for. The actual material costs are pretty immaterial in comparison.

 

I may well get them to out something together for the van too (it needs a new full system before I put it in for an MOT) depending what sort of price they can offer. At least the one for the van would be dead simple in comparison.

 

Edit: Sorry I don't have a photo of the tank by the way, totally forgot to grab my phone from the car and they were busy so I didn't want to hang around getting in the way longer than necessary to drop stuff off.

[LightBulbFun]

thats a good point on so little weight up front, in one of DWs videos he picks up TWC by her front and turns her around partly, in his garage which I found quite amusing

 

from what I have read Model 70s went to 10 inch wheels just as minis went to 12 inch wheels so make of that what you will  (granted wikipedia does not mention when minis moved away from 10 inch wheels exactly)

 

on the exhaust thing once again im really curious to see the Model 70 blueprints that where supposedly saved, I imagine those would help greatly when it comes to reproducing new exhausts

[dozeydustman]

thats a good point on so little weight up front, in one of DWs videos he picks up TWC by her front and turns her around partly, in his garage which I found quite amusing

 

from what I have read Model 70s went to 10 inch wheels just as minis went to 12 inch wheels so make of that what you will (granted wikipedia does not mention when minis moved away from 10 inch wheels exactly)

 

on the exhaust thing once again im really curious to see the Model 70 blueprints that where supposedly saved, I imagine those would help greatly when it comes to reproducing new exhausts

1275GT was 1974, all other minis 1984/5

[Zelandeth]

I don't think the plans are really too necessary to get an exhaust made. There are at least three versions of the exhaust out there that I've seen. The guys would just be taking measurements from the existing unit I think as they will know that fits your car - fifty year old blueprints aren't always guaranteed to!

 

Aside from the trio of tubes running through the middle for the heater and the plenum they connect to on each end it's pretty conventional. Have to admit to not being entirely sure why they have the plenums external to the body of the silencer...

 

Today wound up being a write off as far as car stuff goes as it was gone eight PM by the time I got the housework I'd got on the to do list finished. Seriously... I'm the stay-at-home husband, how the fluffy ducks do people who work full time *and* have kids *and* have to look after their houses ever have time to do anything?!?

 

Tomorrow though I'm definitely allocating a decent chunk of the afternoon and evening to working on the car. Really...the lack of progress this week is annoying me quite significantly.

[plasticvandan]

Aside from the 1275gt,Minis were on 10" wheels until 1984. Reliant started using 10" on the Bug,then on the Robin in 1973,after the Regals tippy toppy 13". For full handling ability,you would ideally want cross plies,so that on cornering it slides rather than grips,this is why reliant printed "the use of radial tyres is not recommended" in their handbooks right up till the mid 80s

[LightBulbFun]

Thanks for the Tyre info I read somewhere that on the handle bar versions of the Model 70 due to how the steering and suspension was setup that it was quite hard to actually tip one over from cornering too fast?

 

one for Zel here

 

 

a (Rather late) Electric tippen delta next to a Sinclair C5

 

im pretty sure iv seen a picture of a Model 67 next to a C5 on the RUMCar forums but i cant find it atm sadly

 

I dont think iv seen a Model 70 parked up with a C5 so its an opportunity