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

[Zelandeth]

Annoyingly I've had to leave things half finished due to a work commitment this afternoon.  The tank however is now actually in the car.

 

 

Annoyingly I didn't spot that the lower bracket was missing a tab until just now, so I will need to pull that out and change it for my spare.

 

Really wish I was able to get something useful done today rather than wasting an afternoon going into London which I dislike enough at the best of times.

[Zelandeth]

Fuel tank in and all connected up, one thing left to do...

 

 

These two photos of a very damp Invacar represent a very significant milestone.

 

 

 

In these photos, the car is for the first time in probably a couple of decades, running entirely self-sufficiently.  No fuel cans balanced on the engine cover, no battery stolen out of the C5...Fuel is from the tank, power is from its own battery...it's ready for a test run.

 

Now today it's been absolutely tipping it down out there and blowing a gale all day.  Exactly the sort of conditions you don't want for your first test run in a tiny three wheeler with questionable stability and laughable weatherproofing.

 

If I was sensible I'd have just decided to wait until the weekend.

 

Let's face it - we all knew that wasn't going to happen didn't we?

 

 

Apologies for the quality - the phone was just wedged behind the heater/choke cables and it was getting dark, so it was the best I could do.

 

Stuff that's dropped out of this test run:

 

[] CVT Belt needs tightened up (hence it failing to "change up" as the speed picks up.

[] Brakes need readjusted now she's left the drive - quite a bit of free play now, whereas there was hardly any before we left the drive.  The nearside rear is dragging a bit too - though far less so after the run than before.

[] Weatherproofing needs to be made to exist at all...It's truly comical how many places water gets in.

[] Demister is essentially useless.  There just isn't enough airflow to do anything meaningful...Methinks a booster fan will be getting added to that.

 

Pretty much exactly the sort of result I was expecting and hoping for to be honest.

 

Will get the CVT belt and the brakes adjusted, then we'll do another run at the weekend.

 

I see what DW was saying about the steering, it is VERY direct...definitely requires a bit of skill to drive smoothly.

 

Bottom line though: She lives!

[timolloyd]

This isthe best thing I’ve resd all week! Well done!

[brandersnatch]

Pretty damn tip top. Well done.

 

 

One’s too many, ten’s not enough!

[dollywobbler]

YES! That's amazing news. Well done. Gosh, that sound so, so much sweeter than TWC...

 

Odd that you have exactly the opposite issue with the belts. Yours seems to rev up much more as I'd expect. Would be interesting to see what happens at 40-45mph, as that's when the belts run out of travel and the engine speed should increase further.

[LightBulbFun]

excuse me while I go grin like a fucking mad man 

 

Woo!

 

very very very cool to see her first trip out in 20 years! I wonder what the other people trundling around the block though when they saw you hurtling* towards them (especially given the battle scarred look TPA currently is wearing)

 

thats a pretty small "to do list" all things considered for a first test drive out,

 

im eager to find out how she performs once the belts are tensioned properly

 

and well done and congrats for getting her to where she is now

 

(side question, does the current fuel gage work with the new sender unit thingy?)

[Fumbler]

And another Invacar runs again! Definitely a great experiece for sure.

[Zelandeth]

To be honest the main reason I wanted to get a run round the block was to give the brakes a little bit of work so I could adjust them again.

 

I was pretty sure the belts were too loose originally, and I'm not planning on venturing beyond the 30mph residential streets here until I've adjusted them, done quite a few more miles in circles around here and tidied the rear bodywork up a bit more.

 

I don't know how much the dragging brake could be messing with the behaviour of the CVT either...I imagine it wouldn't take much to upset things.

[Broadsword]

Fantastic work on the Invacar. Well done!!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Brilliant work Zel. Great to see it mobile and sounding sweet.

I’d love to see the face of a plod if you drove past one. It’s got that look of ‘shouldn’t be on the road’, when clearly it’s actually much more roadworthy than plenty of moderns rolling around on their bald runflats.

As an aside, has any ever mentioned Danny MacNamara to you?!

[320touring]

Great stuff:)

 

Nice to see it out and about ; the shakedown list is fairly short too!

[Zelandeth]

I just really want to get something visually resembling a bumper on the back. That's the biggest thing which screams "pull me over!" just now. Even some gaffer tape over the frame as it is just now would help I think as it would look vaguely the right shape then. Plus scrubbing some of the gunk off the doors...I know the whole "rat look" thing is in just now, but it's a bit ridiculous just now...

 

She's definitely a damn site more roadworthy than the taxi we had yesterday evening on which the entire damn rear axle was hanging off and only the nearside front brake seemed to do anything...

 

It's amazing how much more smoothly she's idling after that brief excursion. Will be really curious to see if that improvement continues.

 

As for the fuel gauge, there seems to be a significant wiring difference between the old style gauge and the newer ones, so I really need to swap the gauges over and rewire it. It currently gives me a "there's fuel in there" indication by jumping around all over the shop but that's it.

 

 

Trying to decide where the first trip out will actually be to...

[LightBulbFun]

I just really want to get something visually resembling a bumper on the back. That's the biggest thing which screams "pull me over!" just now. Even some gaffer tape over the frame as it is just now would help I think as it would look vaguely the right shape then. Plus scrubbing some of the gunk off the doors...I know the whole "rat look" thing is in just now, but it's a bit ridiculous just now...

 

She's definitely a damn site more roadworthy than the taxi we had yesterday evening on which the entire damn rear axle was hanging off and only the nearside front brake seemed to do anything...

 

It's amazing how much more smoothly she's idling after that brief excursion. Will be really curious to see if that improvement continues.

 

As for the fuel gauge, there seems to be a significant wiring difference between the old style gauge and the newer ones, so I really need to swap the gauges over and rewire it. It currently gives me a "there's fuel in there" indication by jumping around all over the shop but that's it.

 

 

Trying to decide where the first trip out will actually be to...

 

"Trying to decide where the first trip out will actually be to..." 

 

*waves*   

 

interesting on the different fuel gauge stuff, glad she is running smoothly, Im curious what might cause 2 of the same model of engine withsimilar miles on it to run so "differently"? (IIRC TPAs engine from KPL also has about 11K on it like TWCs engine from TPA)

 

 

 

When this is done, can we get a drag race with TWC, and perhaps a Hill Climb event

 

reporting live from HarmonicCheeseburgers brain feed...

 

 

 

 

 

Also Woo! 1000 posts! (half of which im pretty sure are about invacars in my own thread... whoops?)

[Zelandeth]

This engine has about 28K on it if I remember right.

 

One definite difference between the two is in exhausts. The type I have seems to flow more freely than the one with the cranked tip one that TWC has on.

 

Beyond that, how the engine was originally treated during the running in period and just general 1950s era manufacturing tolerances can lead to a fair bit of unit to unit variance.

 

The engine here I've largely used the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach. All I've done to it has been several oil & filter changes, cleaned the carb out several times, fit a new set of spark plugs and to unseize the fuel pump. Now I've got a gasket set en route I'll be cleaning out the oil pickup strainer in the near future as a precaution too.

 

As I recall TWC has always tended to have a missfire at idle on one cylinder which has made me wonder if she might be down on compression on one cylinder due to a valve not seating cleanly or something like that. Can't be that dire though as evidence suggests she's not that down on power, rough idle or not.

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, TWC has issues. I now have a compression tester, so need to spend some time tinkering. I also have some pulleys on the way. Not sure if they will work, but will be interesting to see if they make a difference. I'll have to pull my finger out and get the Fox running and out of my tinkering space!

[mrbenn]

Some seriously good Invacar content this week.

 

Great video, TP certainly does sound to be running very smoothly!

 

Looks like your seatbelt was slipping off your shoulder a bit. I have this problem in the Minor as I've also fitted larger seats. Must have a think about how to sort it out.

[jonathan_dyane]

Sounds really healthy!

[dollywobbler]

Some seriously good Invacar content this week.

 

Great video, TP certainly does sound to be running very smoothly!

 

Looks like your seatbelt was slipping off your shoulder a bit. I have this problem in the Minor as I've also fitted larger seats. Must have a think about how to sort it out.

 

My solution has been to adjust it so I can barely move. I can't actually reach to close the door now though!

[mrbenn]

My solution has been to adjust it so I can barely move. I can't actually reach to close the door now though!

 

Ah. I assumed the larger Xantia seat is what caused the issue, obviously not the case if the standard setup is the same.

[Zelandeth]

The belt was twisted quite a bit there as well I think. If it keeps being an issue I'll probably stick a loop on the seat back to guide it into the right place.

 

At least having cleaned the gearbox externally I've some hope of finding the bolts/nuts required to adjust the tension this time. I did look at it briefly when the engine was still in KP, but with the gearbox being a giant block of congealed mud and gearbox oil and I didn't stand a chance of finding the adjuster.

 

I'm guessing there are a couple of bolts down the bottom of the housing that need to be released then the threaded adjuster at the top to set things similar to the alternator on a Saab 900...

[dollywobbler]

Indeed so. Can't say adjusting it seems to have made a huge difference to TWC. The main difference is that with it too loose, you get more of a bang as you set off, as the slack is taken up. Might have another go. Just annoying that you have to take the safety cage off to get adequate access really. By the way, having had a belt rip itself to pieces, that cage is very necessary!

[SiC]

This is a fantastic milestone to hit. Well done!

[Zelandeth]

Indeed so. Can't say adjusting it seems to have made a huge difference to TWC. The main difference is that with it too loose, you get more of a bang as you set off, as the slack is taken up. Might have another go. Just annoying that you have to take the safety cage off to get adequate access really. By the way, having had a belt rip itself to pieces, that cage is very necessary!

Yes, mine currently behaves like you're getting clutch judder you'd normally expect from a knackered Merc 809d minibus. Given it's quite possible to turn the pulleys and make the belt slip by hand, it's well loose.

 

Didn't know the cage had to come off... that's useful to know.

[dollywobbler]

It is possible with the cage in place, but there's not much room for swinging spanners.

[Zelandeth]

Today on "simple tasks that are an absolute bloody pain in the tail" is adjusting Invacar drive belts.

Sequence of what you need to do is:

[] Loosen the pivot bolt.
[] Loosen off the nuts on the threaded bit of the adjuster so there's some free play.
[] Loosen the three nuts around the final drive input shaft.
[] Wind the adjuster in the correct direction until the belt tension seems reasonable.
[] Tighten all of the above back up.

What this doesn't take into account is that you can only see one of the three nuts around the final drive input that you need to loosen off.  So two of them need to be done blind.  Now I know where they are it will be a bit less of a pain next time, but the first time when you only know vaguely where they are it's an absolute pain!

Getting the belt cage off isn't going to happen.  I gave up trying to get the nuts holding it on off when the spanner started to bend.

Tension now seems a lot more reasonable...There's no obvious "slop" in there now, and you can still just about make it slip with the handbrake on by hand, but it's a case of "Just about" now rather than easy.

By the time I eventually got things back together it was too late to faff around moving the clutchless wonder that is the van out the way for a test run.  I'll see about that tommorrow.

Note to self: Sort the damned clutch in the van.  Meant to check on the price of that when I was driving past the dealer today, but totally forgot.

 

I did a bit more work on the rear bumper framework as well.  This is probably as far as the metalwork will go, should be good to build around now I think.

 

 

I also had a fiddle around with the rear brakes - Took something like three full turns off the adjuster on the nearside before it became free to move, so no real surprise that wheel was dragging.

 

Will make another run out tomorrow hopefully and see how things have changed.

 

I do wonder how much difference I should expect if I just make a point of actually getting up to speed a few times to run the belts through their full travel to help clean the surfaces up a bit. 

[dollywobbler]

Ah. I think I may have utterly failed to loosen sufficient nuts with mine. I undid one at the bottom (the one you can see) and the adjuster. I wondered why it was so reluctant to move...

[Zelandeth]

Ah. I think I may have utterly failed to loosen sufficient nuts with mine. I undid one at the bottom (the one you can see) and the adjuster. I wondered why it was so reluctant to move...

 

Here's what I reckon you need to loosen, grabbed from the PDF of the manual.

 

 

Most of the fasteners involved are impossible to see unless you have the thing high enough up on ramps as to be able to get fully underneath.  Even then I think the chassis crossmember would manage to get in the way.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks. Are the bottom two also bolts with nuts? I really do wish the captive nut had been invented before they made Invacars...

[Zelandeth]

I didn't have issues with any of them spinning, the threaded bits as far as I can tell are fixed to the chain case.

[Zelandeth]

Following on from the work done adjusting the drive belt tension and adjustment of the brakes I wanted to get the Invacar out for another test run. 

 

This was initially delayed when the clutch in the van decided to go from "a bit dodgy" to "not working at all."  Within about half a second of pressing the pedal the clutch would re-engage.   Not exactly ideal for trying to move the thing around a driveway.

 

 

Something about this packing in just didn't quite add up to my brain.  The master cylinder packing in immeidately after the slave just raised question marks I thought.  The slave had failed...No questions asked there...the fluid pouring out of it was clue enough there.

 

The fluid in it when I got the van though was rather manky, so I found myself wondering if it had in fact just ingested some gunk from the bottom of the header tank when the slave cylinder failed and it dumped the fluid overnight...

 

To this end I took it off and gave it a very thorough flush through with some brake cleaner...and this did indeed seem to result in an improvement.  Pressing the pushrod when I first got it off with the outlet plugged resulted in nearly no pressure on the outlet and odd burping noises from the fluid inlet.  After the clean it seemed happy to hold pressure on the outlet.  After it was refitted to the van and the system bled through, I had a working clutch again.  To be honest, a better clutch than I'd had with the van so far, the bite point had always been a little on th low side.

 

This did mean I'd wasted about an hour though and was rapidly running out of daylight.  I wasn't about to let that get in the way though.

 

I do need to find the cover for the number plate light.

 

 

There's significant progress shown in this image...

 

 

How about a closer look?  That might help...

 

 

Yep...she has now travelled two whole miles on the public highway.

 

The brakes are feeling far, far better now.  Still a bit more dead travel in the "pedal" than I'd like, but it feels like they actually have decent bite now. 

 

The drive system definitely seems to be behaving better.  I'm not convinced it's not still allowing the engine to rev higher than it should do, but it's a bit hard to tell without a solid reference...I'll need to have a closer look at DW's videos to compare I think.  She definitely seemed more willing to pick up speed today anyway - actually got up to 30mph for the first time today anyway...Wondering if I might need to venture out onto the road just outside out neighbourhood at some point and see what she's willing to do above 30...

 

I might insist on waiting until I've tidied up a bit more of the bodywork before that test though.

 

The only recurring issue I've seen is the oil leak from the dipstick.

 

 

New dipsticks are available it turns out for £13, so I think one will be included in the order of engine stuff.  I've tried to braze this one up four times now, but just can't get the solder to take properly.  I just don't think I can ever get it properly clean of all traces of oil I think is the problem.

 

I've had the first look of complete bafflement from a passer by - not sure what caused the most surprise, the appearance of such a bedraggled looking little blue car coming down the road, or the noise it made as I disappeared down the road, which still seems rather at odds to its appearance to my mind.

 

I think my plan now is to do a bit of bodywork tomorrow, and then maybe venture onto a derestricted road and see whether the drive system wants to behave at speeds beyond 30mph.  There is great temptatio to make a run to our local supermarket with it as part of that test...Yes, a photograph will happen if that does.