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

[Zelandeth]

Yeah I saw the post where you taxed her I was just stalking the DVLA site until it said so

 

im definitely interested in youtube videos

To be fair, I was repeatedly poking the website for a while too out of curiosity as to how long it would take to go through. The MID is the really slow one usually though, that still wasn't showing as live when I last checked yesterday.

 

Figured you'd be one reliable audience member at least - guess I'll give it a try sometime, see if folks will put up with a scruffy bloke with a horribly nasal accent blethering total nonsense about cars.

 

I do realise I've a PM waiting for a reply too Dez, I'll get a reply through as soon as I get more than ten minutes of contiguous time to actually figure things out.

[dollywobbler]

She's taxed and insured...tyres will definitely be high on the list in the coming weeks.

 

The form has been sent to the DVLA as well so hopefully the correct data will show on that enquiry soon as well. I do wonder if there's a way to update the manufacturer field though. I'm assuming the AC (Electric) thing is a glitch dating back to the computerisation of the old records as it seems to widespread.

 

Hoping that I'll have a bit of uninterrupted time tomorrow to crack on with the brakes.

 

Today was maddening in that every time I got started doing anything I had to down tools. And to do something else for somebody.

 

Suffice to say, the closeness to being able to make the first test - even for all of the five hundred yards or so round our block - is making the waiting torture!

 

Question: I've been meaning to dust off my YouTube account for a while now. While I can't promise anything close to the levels of professionalism in presentation we're used to by Mr. Wobbler, is there any interest in a sort of video tour/status update of the fleet? I don't want to feel I'm just jumping on the bandwagon as it were (I first bought stuff for this before I moved south - in December 2013!), but if video content beyond the odd dashcam or ten second clip is something folks would like to see, I can see what I can do.

 

Not sure live in garage stuff would ever really work where the Invacar is concerned simply because it's so small you tend to inevitably be in the way. Could see about something like that for some of the jobs to be done on the van though.

 

DW: you need a pair of battery clamps or just the one? Let me know and I'll stick them in a package for you. While I think of it too, hub caps? Pretty sure all the ones I have are for 12" wheels which I lack...so they're yours FOC if you want a pair.

 

I'm not actually sure what the clamps look like, but if it's one at each end, I have none. Or was it that they just don't fit the battery I'm using? Maybe I'll check that and get back to you. Wouldn't say no to 12" trims.

 

Definitely do video. I am living proof that professionalism is not required.

[Fumbler]

To be fair, I was repeatedly poking the website for a while too out of curiosity as to how long it would take to go through. The MID is the really slow one usually though, that still wasn't showing as live when I last checked yesterday.

 

Figured you'd be one reliable audience member at least - guess I'll give it a try sometime, see if folks will put up with a scruffy bloke with a horribly nasal accent blethering total nonsense about cars.

 

I do realise I've a PM waiting for a reply too Dez, I'll get a reply through as soon as I get more than ten minutes of contiguous time to actually figure things out.

Yes do fleet update. I would definitely watch!

[dozeydustman]

Fleet updates by video would be good. Sometimes a visual report says more than words, and vice versa. Perhaps just upload the MP4 to here first, see how it goes before going full on YT

[Zelandeth]

Anyone else having issues with the website today?  Firefox is stubbornly refusing to let me embed attachments for some reason.  Upload just fine, but clicking "add to post" does nothing.  The editior is also out of commission...so using Chrome just now, which I dislike with a passion.

 

Anyhow...this is what the battery clamps look like.  One each end of the battery, they slot down through the holes in the battery tray.

 

 

I'll see if I can track down a second one for you too.

 

These hub caps are now yours DW.

 

 

Slightly care worn but serviceable so should look "right" I think.

[Zelandeth]

Between having got virtually no sleep last night and fighting off an absolute stinker of a headache all day my work ethic has been slightly lacking today, though I was determined to get something ticked off.

 

Today's target was what I reckon is a sensible fitment to any classic car - but especially on one with as minimalist an approach to fuse protection as this.  A battery cut off switch.

 

 

 

 

Will be nice not having to physically disconnect the battery every day before I leave it now for fear of it spontaneously combusting in the garage.

[PhilA]

I blame you for going now to look at battery disconnect switches.

 

Though, really I need a kill switch that does both battery and alternator connections. Pushing that would shut eveything down, even if the engine is running.

 

Phil

[LightBulbFun]

Between having got virtually no sleep last night and fighting off an absolute stinker of a headache all day my work ethic has been slightly lacking today, though I was determined to get something ticked off.

 

Today's target was what I reckon is a sensible fitment to any classic car - but especially on one with as minimalist an approach to fuse protection as this.  A battery cut off switch.

 

IMG_20190115_170029.jpg

 

IMG_20190115_170048.jpg

 

IMG_20190115_170100.jpg

 

Will be nice not having to physically disconnect the battery every day before I leave it now for fear of it spontaneously combusting in the garage.

 

I know this is sort of laughable considering the state of the rest of the body work, but I hope the hole you had to drill for the switch was not too big

 

knowing my luck id fit a battery isolator switch, turn it off, then promptly forget about it while wondering why my car wont start and has no electrics (that or bump into it accidentally turning everything off then spend 30 mins figuring out what happened) 

[Zelandeth]

I blame you for going now to look at battery disconnect switches.

 

Though, really I need a kill switch that does both battery and alternator connections. Pushing that would shut eveything down, even if the engine is running.

 

Phil

Shouldn't be too hard I'd think, couple of double pole normally open relays - just wire that in to a switch on the dash with its own independent feed - kill that, it isolates everything else.

 

This one's pretty easy given the fact that the dynastart only chucks out something like 20A flat out so it's a bit less of a liability than a stinking great 100A alternator. It's also got fuse in the charging path to save things in case of a short at the battery.

 

The battery isolator switch required a hole drilling, it's as big as it needed to be. As far as I'm concerned it's a safety critical component so I'll take a bit of a hole in the bulkhead as the price.

 

Hoping it won't cause me too much confusion - master switch is the first thing on in the cab of a bus and last thing off, so my brain shouldn't struggle too much with it! I've also deliberately put it where I have so it will be done by my left hand immediately before picking up the seatbelt tail.

[PhilA]

Yeah, didn't say it would be hard to do, just a little extra added complexity.

 

I'll probably just start with a battery isolator switch for when it's parked up. I can tolerate resetting the clock.

 

Phil

[Zelandeth]

Don't suppose anyone knows what size battery these should have do they? I need to pick up a new one for it - the 038 size one I'm currently using (read: nicked from the C5) is too long to fit in the brackets.

 

The manuals state 30Ah 12V battery, but don't actually mention the physical dimensions or form factor...

 

May just need to go poking around the battery shelf in Costco with my tape measure!

[dozeydustman]

Would an 063 fit? 3-4cm shorter than the 038 at around 200-205mm depending on make.

 

Maybe even a larger motorcycle or sit n ride petrol mower battery something like a U1.

[dollywobbler]

What came out of TWC was 5.5" wide, 5" deep and 8.5" long. Sadly, the code is missing entirely.

[dozeydustman]

That sounds about 063 sized

[Andyrew]

202 is a fairly compact size.

 

175x185x190mm

[Zelandeth]

Right, just went and measured the battery tray. The distance between them is 210mm (8 1/4"). So that's the hard limit on length, and width is 140mm (5 1/2"). The battery clamps wrap around the end of the battery, so the width is a hard limit. Height is immaterial really as there's bags of room above.

 

Close up of the battery tray below.

 

 

Having had a dig through my somewhat ancient and dog eared battery cross reference table I reckon 054/5 is probably the best bet at 187mm (7 1/4") by 127mm (5") and 220mm (8 3/4") tall. 056 appears to be a high output version of the same thing - identical dimensions but 5kg heavier...so we'll stick with the lighter duty one methinks.

 

I'd rather avoid smaller capacity stuff like lawn tractor batteries as the generator isn't the most powerful thing in the world and I'd like to not be stranded the first time I get stuck in traffic with the headlights on for five minutes.

 

I know you can get far smaller form factor AGM batteries these days as well, but they're bloody expensive and seem overkill for this situation.

 

I open the floor to folks who have more current experience with battery form factor than I do.

 

Long term I reckon the battery may get moved to the front in the interest of providing a bit more ballast (offside of course to balance out the fuel tank) which would make this somewhat academic - though that's probably months or years down the line.

 

Edit: bit further digging has shown the U-1R (aka 895) is looking to be a good contender at 194 by 126 by 183mm. Interestingly being a "garden appliance battery" it seems to be cheaper as well despite spec wise appearing identical...

[Zelandeth]

Looking at the U1, that lacks the hold down tab at the base...hmm.

 

Okay, going to go to Costco tomorrow and have a look. 063 (S4 001 in Bosch speak) might well be fine depending on whether the listed dimensions are overall or not including said tabs, there seems to be a lot of variance from manufacturer to manufacturer.

 

I'm going to take the tape measure and brackets with me and just see if I can find one that fits then report back. If not it will probably have to be a U1 or something oddball...

[Noel Tidybeard]

S4 018- posts are   (-) (+)

S4 019      "       "    (+) (-)

 

look like best size  wise @ 187 x 127mm but may not have a flange (fnarr, fnarr) to hold down with and are smaller jap post sizes

 

 

iirc hunda jizz fitment

[LightBulbFun]

Twas doing my daily DVLA stalking just now (waiting for all the details to update )

 

when I noticed TPA621M is suddenly showing as SORN? is that part of the whole classification change or is it something else?

 

(seeing as tax is zero-rate and she is now insured, I cant imagine there would be any reason to SORN her?)

[dollywobbler]

Twas doing my daily DVLA stalking just now (waiting for all the details to update )

 

when I noticed TPA621M is suddenly showing as SORN? is that part of the whole classification change or is it something else?

 

(seeing as tax is zero-rate and she is now insured, I cant imagine there would be any reason to SORN her?)

 

If TPA is not insured, then it must be SORN.

[mrbenn]

Zel posted as having taxed and insured TP on 11th Jan.

 

Perhaps the DVLA is updating the V5 details as requested and showing as SORN is a temporary side-effect.

[Zelandeth]

Hmm, that is interesting. I've definitely not applied for a SORN beyond the original one that was sent in as required along with the V62 - which would have been superceeded when I went through the motions of taxing the vehicle - the receipt for which I still have in front of me. Insurance was also sorted on the same day as the tax application, and checking on AskMID she is showing as insured.

 

As has been suggested this might be something to do with the details being updated, so I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days. Could have been a nasty surprise if I'd already undertaken the maden journey and then got pulled over for no tax!

[LightBulbFun]

Hmm, that is interesting. I've definitely not applied for a SORN beyond the original one that was sent in as required along with the V62 - which would have been superceeded when I went through the motions of taxing the vehicle - the receipt for which I still have in front of me. Insurance was also sorted on the same day as the tax application, and checking on AskMID she is showing as insured.

 

As has been suggested this might be something to do with the details being updated, so I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days. Could have been a nasty surprise if I'd already undertaken the maden journey and then got pulled over for no tax!

 

interesting,

 

TPA621M went straight from "Untaxed since 2001" to Taxed till 2020 for me, and now showing as SORN

 

she never appeared as SORN at any time beforehand on my end, I wonder if somehow in the system the Tax managed to beat it to the sever or whatever before the V62 SORN did and then the SORN finally showing up afterwords, un-taxing her?

[Zelandeth]

I'm open to suggestions to be honest!  I don't see how the original SORN document can have had anything to do with this really given that it was essentially part of the general process of "getting the V5" and surely any system should be able to see that the date of SORN on the original document pre-dates me having taxed the vehicle...isn't that the whole point of having to put the "effective from" date on the form in the first place...

 

Not really likely to actually affect anything given I'm still several key components away from a test run, but annoying nontheless.

 

Speaking of components, I now have a battery.

 

Sadly all the "normal" car batteries anywhere around here had were significantly too big in at least one dimension.  063 would be good if the dimensions listed were to the extremeties of the flange around the base rather than the body, sadly they're not - so there's no way it would fit properly.

 

I really wasn't worried about terminal layout or type.  The battery leads are plenty long enough to fit either way around and swapping the terminals is trivial.  It's currently got the quick release post type on there purely because they happened to be floating around in the box of miscellaneous electrical junk and were useful as I was still sharing the battery with other vehicles.  I reckon the spade type with the connection bolted directly on is probably superior in terms of long-term electrical quality, even if it is a bit more fiddly to initially set up.

 

I wound up picking up a U1-R.  Simple reasons being that it was the only thing I could find locally which would definitely fit* and it was relatively inexpensive compared to the "normal car types" for some reason.

 

* It will require a bit of adaptation on my part.  The U1 looks to be

very close in terms of dimensions to the original battery, however it lacks a securing flange.  I'll make up some spacers to sit at either end from some Foamex board, and will probably look at making a strap to go over the top held down by the clamps from some scrap metal.

 

You can see it looks to be reasonable in terms of scale.

 

 

Not massively smaller than a 038, but the dfference is visible.

 

 

 

So specification wise it's 30Ah (as per the original) rather than 35 for the 038, but otherwise there's nothing between them really - aside from the fact that the U1 is very noticeably lighter 7.8kg vs 12kg, and in a tiny car like this that can only be a good thing I think.

 

Might think about using one of these next time the C5 needs a new battery - I reckon the weight reduction may well offset the slightly lower capacity in that role.

[Daviemck2006]

I keep on thinking of a big citroen when you speak of the c5 Zel, not the little sinclair

 

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

[Zelandeth]

Go to motor factors...ask for a pair of belts to replace the ones which came off the Invacar cooling fan/Dynastart.

 

Get home, realise they've given me two different sized belts

 

Go back to store... don't have a second one the right size in stock. Need to come back tomorrow.

 

Grr...this is being one of "those" days again.

[dollywobbler]

I've got slack belts and no adjustment, so at least you're putting that joy off for a bit. That's with new belts, or rather, belts that were new 1500 miles ago I guess. I was hoping to get more out of them than that...

[Zelandeth]

I've got slack belts and no adjustment, so at least you're putting that joy off for a bit. That's with new belts, or rather, belts that were new 1500 miles ago I guess. I was hoping to get more out of them than that...

Haven't got as far as worrying about adjustment yet...guessing that getting the centre nut off the cooling fan is part I of that process, then shuffling around shims. The new belts are fractionally wider than the original ones, so that will be fun.

 

To be fair...the original ones while superficially looking like hell aren't actually perished notably nor were they slipping/making a racket, so if getting the new ones set up right turns out to be a hassle the old ones will go back on and it will be filed under "stuff to sort after the first few local test runs."

[dollywobbler]

Correct. VW-style apparently. Seems odd, but it did seem to work at first. I have heard reports of needing to shim the Dynastart to try and get decent tension. I can report that flappy belts still seem to work. They have to get pretty flappy before you can't start the engine.

[Zelandeth]

Not had a particularly productive day.

 

While digging around I discovered that the hose routing air to the cabin outlet was actually hanging off and the last inch or so had disintegrated. Thankfully there was just enough left to trim it back to sound hose and reattach it.

 

Next step was trying to get rid of the crud in the various hoses in the interests of not getting crud in the eye halfway down the A509.

 

Sealed the inlet side of the system off...

 

 

Then both the heater and demister were switched on and a vacuum cleaner attached to the heater outlet.

 

 

This setup resulted in air being drawn in through the demister vent, then via the control box and out through the cabin heater outlet. Once this was set up I turned the vacuum on and then basically went and battered all the ducts with the handle of a screwdriver until I could no longer hear stuff rattling down the hose, and declared it done at that point.

 

This is the point at which I ended up wasting over an hour picking up the wrong belt for the Dynastart.  

 

Last task for the day was to get some more planning done on the seat securing plan. Not least taking some measurements and getting these picked up.

 

 

Basically these will be bolted to the original Invacar seat frame by two bolts each, and the seat rails will then be bolted to these brackets. Aside from being rigidly attached to the frame, this setup will leave both the longitudinal and height adjustment to still work normally.  It does mean drilling a couple of holes, but nothing irreversible, and I've said it many times - I plan to use this car, so I'm not adverse to the odd change to that end.  The holes can easily be repaired with a couple of spots of weld in the future if someone wants to revert things to fully factory spec.