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

[PhilA]

Sounds a little like a VW Beetle flasher unit.

[Zelandeth]

Gave the Lada its first proper wash of the year. Meaning actually blasting all the moss out of the gutters, window seals, fish the pine needles out of the heater intake etc...

 

 

 

Poor thing desperately needs a good polish and wax though. Oh, and the new wings fitted.

 

I've got a new Riva badge for the rear wing to replace the broken one too.

 

Really need to get an older style grill for it too, not a fan of the body colour ones that were fitted in the 90s.

[Zelandeth]

Trailer has definitely been earning it's keep! Probably had 20 or so trips and a good couple of tonnes of stuff taken to the recycling centre. Why I didn't get one sooner I've no idea.

 

Visiting a local place tomorrow to get a quote for a stainless exhaust for the Lada, will see what they say. Looking to get a few quotes before committing to anything there, then will pick one based on a combination of the general vibe I get and review data. Price (unless silly) won't actually be a major factor.

 

In other news, trying very, very hard not to buy a camper van that I really really really really really really want. It's maddening, it's pretty much absolutely the perfect van I'd have been looking for, based on the right vehicle, is bloody local and well priced. But I've no room at the inn and the family would kill me.

 

It would have to take over "general local runaround" duties from the Activa...and I think I'd have a hard time selling that as a fair trade.

 

...even if it would probably save me on fuel!

[barrett]

What sort of price wpuld you expect to pay for a stainless exhaust these days? My 404 needs some bits replacing and I'm wondering if it might be worth having the entire system from the manifold back remade in stainless so I never have to worry about it again...

[Zelandeth]

It varies massively based both on length and complexity.

 

In the case of the Lada I'm hoping that it will be £400 or less as it's just from the cat back (which is about where the front expansion box would normally be, so a good 1/3rd of the way along the system), and it's a really simple system.

 

I reckon I'm going to have to specifically ask them *not* to route it tidily...the exhaust on the Riva was a good 6" clear of the floor in several places when it left the factory.

 

Main reason I'm going for stainless here is that the correct tailpipe for the estate is hard to find now. Saloon one fits just fine, but I know it's wrong and it bugs me! The correct estate one has an S shaped section at the very end (not unlike on the River SD1 - just without the upward twist), whereas the saloon one just comes straight out from the silencer.

 

This is the correct exhaust for a Riva Estate:

 

 

Whereas this is the rear silencer you usually end up with...

 

 

Even more annoying is that I've ordered a few now, which are correct in the diagram on the website, but they then supplied the wrong one, as the system seems them to be interchangeable.

[Zelandeth]

Decided to drag the Invacar out today. It had been running poorly since is last ingested sludge from the bottom of my (now removed) temporary fuel tank.

 

So I cleaned out the fuel pump screen, all the lines, and then took all the jets out of the carb for cleaning (not forgetting the one hiding in the oil filler corner of the bottom of the float bowl), and while they were out thoroughly blasting through all the passages with carb cleaner.

 

Glad to report that with it reassembled it's running lovely. However is lacking brakes again as the fluid has all leaked out the one dodgy wheel cylinder, so my experimenting with the newfound power was limited. I can report that with ancient cross-ply tyres that have long since turned to plastic, half the weight missing and a binding front brake, that wheelspin was indeed possible in reverse. I didn't try forwards as that was A: downhill and B: towards the garage.

 

It also decided to smoke like a stone cold Deltic for the first few minutes, so I reckon I may in time need to look at the valve stem oil seals. Only seems to be an issue if it's not been run for more than a week or two, so honestly not too bothered. May well clear up once it's getting a bit of regular use anyway.

[dollywobbler]

Ah yes. If I leave mine idling for a few minutes, it produces a lovely cloud of blue when I pull away!

[Zelandeth]

I've not seen any indication of oily smoke after idling, though we'll see how that goes once it's actually in use. So far it's only been shuffling around the driveway obviously.

 

In other news...collection mission on tomorrow! Details will follow once things are underway - and as opportunity to post updates happen obviously. I'll largely be driving, so they might be limited until I'm back home.

[Zelandeth]

Step one!

 

[Zelandeth]

Part 2!

 

[Zelandeth]

Had to wait until getting back home due to having spent a significant chunk of time in the Land of no Phone Signal.

 

Part 3.  Brief stop to obtain liquid sustainance and sugar.

 

Ended up taking the scenic route...and oh...my...lord...was it scenic.

 

Some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in years... definitely gives Grampian a run for its money.

 

 

Couldn't resist snapping the obligatory vehicle in transit shot... potential brochure material for Enterprise!

 

 

Half an hour or so later, I arrived at my destination, and after backing down a pretty tight driveway proving to myself A: that I still remembered a few things, B: that a banksman who knows last what they're doing is bloody invaluable and makes it a stressless process and ? that I still bloody hate vehicles with hill hold assistance!  Maybe I *want* to leave it in neutral and just gently roll down the hill FFS!

 

Then the fun really started...

 

This doesn't look at all dodgy does it!

 

 

In fairness it was actually a lot less dodgy than it looked.

 

 

It's light enough (though still "heavy enough") that this slightly haphazard loading approach worked just fine in the absence of an actual set of ramps.

 

So...how well does an Invacar fit in a Transit?

 

Pretty much perfectly as it turns out!

 

 

That bungee you can see is just holding the doors from flapping around by the way, there are ratchet straps holding the car in place on both rear wheels.  That bungee is purely flapping prevention, not actual vehicle securing.

 

 

Getting it out was far easier, especially once we had the idea of slipping a ladder underneath the front, then it was a simple matter of carrying it out till the rear wheels were just at the edge, then moved to the back and lifted it out of the van.  Steel plate was slipped under the (siezed) front wheel and it was just pushed into a corner for the night.

 

Sorry...pitch dark by this point!

 

 

Tomorrow first order of business just as when KPL arrived will be to blast every square inch of it with detergent and the pressure washer to start to put together a to do list.

 

Realistically, most likely the running gear from KPL will be going into this one...as the missing or dodgy parts on here are an almost perfect match for what's decent on mine...

 

Watch this space!

 

Big thanks to DW for making this possible of course.

 

After this is all done, we'll have the chassis and shell from mine...I still reckon that could be a cracking base for something crazy...

[adw1977]

This doesn't look at all dodgy does it!

 

IMG_20180621_165259.jpg

 

 

Looks like you're fly tipping it!

[dollywobbler]

Glad you got back safely! Fun to think that TWC and TP will meet again next month. Good luck with the revival!

[Zelandeth]

Here's the photo I was trying to take yesterday evening.

 

 

So...first orders of business: wash, free off front brake so we can move it easily, then see where we are.

[dollywobbler]

You'll find access to the front wheel is made much easier if you chop off the front bodywork.

 

No, wait...

[Zelandeth]

You'll find access to the front wheel is made much easier if you chop off the front bodywork.

 

No, wait...

Funny you should mention that, I'm sure I remember seeing one where someone had done that...sounds a great idea!

[egg]

... especially with the pass threshold having been reduced to 0.2%CO in May...trying to get it under 0.3% with the carb setup was always hard enough. Last one was 0.297%!

 

I can haz confusion, I'm sure when my Mondy passed its MOT after 20 May, it read on the limit 0.3%...

 

Great work you do on your cars. Fascinating stuff, even though I admit some over my head.

[Zelandeth]

I can haz confusion, I'm sure when my Mondy passed its MOT after 20 May, it read on the limit 0.3%...

 

Great work you do on your cars. Fascinating stuff, even though I admit some over my head.

No idea...I am only quoting what was on the test certificate...

 

To be fair 0.2 or 0.3 shouldn't make any odds for any normal setup that's healthy. The odd cat & carb setup on the Lada is something I've never seen on another production car. Though I do remember seeing kits at the time to adapt a car to have a cat added, that must have been mid 90s, and was obviously pushing the environmental advantages of such a setup.

[Zelandeth]

So, what did we do today then? Aside from getting sunburned anyhow...

 

[] First proper wash in a few decades. I will be finding bits of pale blue paint for months.

 

 

[] Quick assessment of the worst bits...so here's a quick rundown (even though the photos were taken last thing this evening).

 

-> Nearside front roof corner.

 

Bit of a shame actually as the roof panel as a whole is really tidy other than that, the one on KPL has eroded quite badly so the fibres are showing. Reckon I'll probably try to tidy this up.

 

 

Bit of tender brute force got the gutter strip back into vaguely the right shape. Mainly so I don't walk into it again.

 

-> front service cover.

 

 

This will need rubbing down and some careful paint. Likewise I'll need to sort out the hinge attachment points.

 

-> Nearside front lower corner.

 

 

This will need pretty substantially rebuilt, but it shouldn't be that tricky really as it's just a big box really.

 

-> Offside front lower corner.

 

 

... exactly as above.

 

-> Nearside wing top.

 

Gel coat is cracked and spalled badly due to stress fractures.

 

-> Offside wing lower edge.

 

 

Crack right through here, which is catching on the door too. Need to reinforce this from behind and smooth the surface out. Then paint obviously.

 

-> Offside door.

 

 

Door skin is basically stuffed. Luckily I've got a tidy lower door section with a stuffed window frame with KPL, so will make one good one out of the two. For now it will probably get the duct tape treatment.

 

-> Nearside rear corner.

 

 

Probably going to be the most fiddly repair, as I'll need to blend it into the rear wing, the flare of the wheel arch and the rear apron.

 

-> Speaking of the rear apron...

 

 

... it's pretty much entirely missing. Thankfully the bit that actually attaches it to the rear cross member is still there, so there's something to actually rebuild at least. ...and it's basically just a rectangular box at the end of the day.

 

-> Nearside door.

 

 

There's one hole in this one, but it should be saveable I think. Really big question will be whether I can free off the lock mechanism. It's currently well seized. If not, it will get the same treatment as the driver's side as I've got a sound door lower but again where the window frame has dissolved.

 

-> Rear window.

 

It's missing. I'm currently undecided whether to transfer that over from mine, or whether to just swap roofs. Given that the one already on TPA is pretty good save for that one corner, I'll most likely just swap windows over.

 

-> Dashboard.

 

 

This has cracked quite a few of its mounting points. Given it's otherwise in good shape and that the fuel gauge is in far better shape than KPL's one, I may well try some attachment of reinforcement plates to the back to straighten it out. I just know from my experience so far that getting stuff out of the dash isn't easy.

 

-> Seat.

 

One of the upright to base attachments snapped off just from the pressure washer. While the base hasn't disintegrated (yet) unlike the one in KPL, it's realistically not destined for anywhere other than the scrap bin. I reckon my plan to graft in my spare Xantia seat will continue.

 

-> Concussion.

 

 

This is the corner of a Lada Riva Estate tailgate. Do not walk into it. I've clocked myself on this corner three times now, and have damn near knocked myself out on every occasion.

 

It's also really sharp and is more likely than not to draw blood.

 

-> Fuel tank. This sadly is scrap - and is one of the few bits that I don't have sitting on KPL. So I need to find one. The issue is that it's got a lip around the top, and water has collected on top of the tank because of that and rotted it out.

 

It should be perfectly usable though to serve as a template to make a new one up...which may well be the most sensible approach. It's a tiny and simple tank, so shouldn't be too bad. Forgot to get a photo of that. Will fix that tomorrow.

 

That's basically it for the assessment so far. This is where we left things...

 

 

Which I reckon ain't a bad change from earlier today. Almost looks like something vaguely resembling a tiny car again.

 

Do you recognise her as the same car that left yours yesterday, DW?

 

My next plans of attack.

 

[] Un-seize front brake so we can move it with less than two people.

 

[] Order three new wheel cylinders and master cylinder. Not faffing about, just going to swap the lot. They're cheap bits and brakes are important.

 

[] Take my rear brake flexible hoses down to Pirtek and get them to make me up some new ones. I'm not taking chances. Front is a new old stock one, but I may well swap that too depending on the price.

 

[] As above, rip out and replace all the original rigid brake lines - assuming they're not in obviously perfect condition anyhow. Any sign of anything beyond the slightest surface corrosion and they're bin fodder. I've got a flaring tool and about 40m of copper brake pipe... let's face it, there's not much pipe to replace on this car!

 

[] Pull the power and drive unit out of KPL.

 

[] Clean above unit.

 

[] Clean out oil pickup strainer.

 

[] Adjust drive belt tension.

 

[] Replace the original fan/Dynastart belts, which somehow are still doing their job silently, despite looking like absolute hell.

 

[] Strip out all original fuel system and replace. I'll be using 10mm copper pipe save for where it actually needs to flex. It's easy to work with and saves me having to worry about modern fuel hoses that seem to perish after five minutes doing that where I can't see them.

 

[] Transfer throttle assembly over from KPL as it's missing in TPA.

 

[] Fit it to TPA.

 

[] Wire up tail lights.

 

[] Fit new fuse box - played that game with KPL, not wasting time one the original one.

 

[] Test out everything electrical and hunt gremlins as necessary. The loom looks blissfully free of hacks!

 

[] Fit new handbrake cable as this one is seized. Got a NOS one in stock.

 

[] Fit new tyres. Most likely to be 145/85 R10 Camac rubber. It's what two of my wheels came with, and they don't look out of place.

 

[] Patch up bodywork as needed.

 

[] Add other stuff in here as necessary. Sure I've forgotten a bunch of stuff.

 

All stuff that sounds doable I reckon! Really looking forward to it. It's nice to have something that I can look at and think "I need to do 'a' to achieve 'b' rather than just not knowing where to start, which was the problem with so much of poor old KPL being missing or hacked beyond recognition.

 

Even in that state though, she was enough to get me hooked!

 

Hopefully there will be a lot of updates to follow here soon!

[LightBulbFun]

Congratulations? on getting TPA   she has cleaned up a treat!

 

im looking forward to your project as you combine the best of both of them into 1 it is a shame tho that KPL cant be restored tho, I noticed both of them are missing their lower lip at the back, I wonder how that happened... (I wonder if they where dragged from behind by something and it snapped off?)

 

BTW whats the running gear in KPL? I did read that model 70s came with both 500 and 600cc engines however all the ones I have "seen" have had 500cc units which makes me wonder if any ever had the 600cc units to start with? it would make for an interesting performance shootout to compare the 2... I bet thats the first time "performance shoot out" and "invacar" have ever been said together in the same line I was also wondering if the 650cc version of the models 70 steyr puch engine could be fitted as well, it would be a good way to give an invacar some puch  while keeping it mostly original (esp if you ended up with an invacar which needed a new engine)

[Zelandeth]

The 600cc versions were the later production ones I think. KPL has (as far as I'm aware!) the usual 493cc engine which is far more common.

 

I reckon it should be more than adequate.

 

Putting the power into perspective - it's not all that far short of the output you're looking at from the engine in a 2CV, and that's a good bit heavier, and I never felt that they were desperate for more power.

 

The rear apron is a very common bit to see mangled or missing. Symptomatic of the fact that many of them were driven by folks in many cases with limited vision or spatial awareness maybe, in that the rear "bumper" tends to get pranged. However there's no bumper... it's just a glass fibre box, so gets smashed up. Being cooked by the exhaust may well not help.

 

This one does still have the strip under the lip of the engine cover at least (which is where it's actually anchored to the cross member. That too is missing on KPL, so the rear wings are totally free to wobble around.

 

I don't know if this will actually be the end for KPL. Almost definitely in terms of being restored to anything like an original Invacar yes - but the "remains" I reckon have great potential as a basis for someone wanting to create something a bit more original. Bike engine, big rear wheels, roof chop, some glitter paint... you're 90% of the way to a 3/5 scale 30s hot rod lookalike. Or some off road buggy, or...well your imagination is really the only limit. There's a lot you could do with it.

[Zelandeth]

So today had two main tasks.

 

Firstly free off the front brake so that I could move the car without needing two people.

 

Jacked it up, wheel off, out with the hammer. Out with the blow torch. Out with a pry bar. Out with the really serious swear words...not interested in budging a millimetre.

 

Suddenly had a thought. Let's see if the adjuster will move. 1/4th a turn off...and the drum only went and moved freely. Rookie mistake. Cue bashing head against nearest wall.

 

While I was at it, I went round and checked the rear adjusters...both moving freely. Bonus, as all three on KPL are seized solid.

 

I'll be getting the rear brakes sorted out before the engine goes in as it's so much easier to get at everything through the engine bay rather than crawling around underneath.

 

 

Next up, the electrical system. Let's get a battery connected and see what works and what doesn't.

 

Set of quick connect terminals join the party. Sod faffing around with screw on terminals, this is so much easier.

 

 

Next up, fuse box. I'm not even going to bother supplying power to the original one. Four fuse box with modern blade fuses will be going in. Given that the main system fuse blowing kills both the ignition and starting circuits, I want to be able to get replacement fuses from any old fuel station, not having to mess around digging out parts from home or a classic specialist. While I was standing on my head I also swapped the flasher unit (missing) with the one from KPL.

 

 

Okay... let's see.

 

Headlights...not expecting much given the state of them.

 

Side lights.

 

 

Okay, colour me surprised.

 

Dip beam...

 

 

You're kidding me!

 

Main beam, surely not...

 

 

Fine...the headlights work. Tail lights surely won't be so easy.

 

 

Took a two minute clean up of the connector for the number plate light (it links the supply side of the offside tail light to the main loom), but sure enough they worked without a fuss.

 

Ignition on (having made sure that anything on the live side in the engine bay is safely isolated), and immediately we had obvious life from the fuel gauge (it's showing full - probably because the wires to the sender are dangling somewhere and it's grounded out. The ignition light working (that was something of a faff to sort on KPL), oil pressure light was also proven by grounding the line for that (white with brown trace).

 

Indicators. Initially dead, until some vigerous exercise of the switch got a couple of feeble flickers of life...some further exercise soon got reliable light from them on both sides. ...and the darn things only worked first try on all four corners.

 

Speaking of all four corners, we have a full compliment of four working dash warning lights. Main beam one is actually usefully bright on TPA too, KPL's main beam light is almost uselessly dim.

 

 

 

Brake lights were the next obvious target. Haven't touched the hydraulic side of things yet, and there are no shoes in the rear drums...so out with the wire to link out the switch.

 

I'll be damned...they both worked first try too.

 

The windscreen wiper so far has shown no signs of life. I've drowned the whole lot in penetrating oil and we'll see if it wakes up. If not, the wiper works in KPL, so the whole lot could just be swapped over as a unit of need be. Horn is also unknown as the horn push is still soaking in penetrating oil as it's jammed solid at the moment. I'll test the horn itself tomorrow. ...not that the original horn will be doing much work. One modification I will be making on this car will be installation of a twin air horn. Given how small this car is, I want at least some way of getting the attention of everyone within a 150 yard radius when that idiot in the BMW who's on their phone tries to run me over. A tiny car needs a not tiny horn.

 

I've also confirmed that the starter solenoid is working - it seems to make a hell of a lot louder a clonk than the one in KPL, scared me half to death.

 

I figured I may as well stick the wiper arm back on for the sake of making TPA look rather less decrepit.

 

 

Think we can all agree she's looking a bit more reasonable now. Surprising how much difference it's made given I've not touched the bodywork yet.

 

I need to get the speedometer apart (luckily I did that on KPL as well), as it's currently literally half full of dessicated spiders.

 

 

So... what's next?

 

Brakes. Will get the rear drums put back together, swap over my master cylinder from KPL and see if we have any life from the system. Will make it a lot easier to move around for one thing.

 

Then probably will be time to start pulling the engine out of KPL...

 

Let's see how things go tomorrow then.

[dollywobbler]

Amazing! What a difference.

[Zelandeth]

Thanks DW. Nice to know that I'm not just making it up in my head, and you're used to seeing it.

 

I've actually got a new pair of headlights up in the loft which should fit. They're modern clear lens things (bought in error for another car), so will look a bit out of place. They'll get her through the MOT though, which is priority number one at this point. I'm sure a decent pair will turn up at some point given the number of cars that use them. They will have to be H4 ones though, while I'm not planning on touring the country in it, but I don't want to be blind if I wind up driving after dark.

 

Really want to push forward getting the engine out of KPL, as I want to get TPA into the garage primarily for security reasons.

[Zelandeth]

Sadly didn't get much time to dedicate to car stuff today as the garden had to take priority and ate up most of the day (and my energy reserves).

 

Did manage a few things though.

 

[] Headlights.

 

As was seen earlier, despite somewhat miraculously working both headlights were knackered. I got about eight headlights worth of headlight bits with KPL, so went rummaging. While I found several decent lenses, none had reflectors that I'd consider beyond barely passable. Given that I want to upgrade to H4 lights anyway I decided to just go with the modern units I already have. Between all the bits I've got I managed to make up a working set of bowls, baskets adjusters and trim rings. The modern lights look a bit out of place, but infinitely better than two smashed ones. They'll serve for MOT purposes until I find a more period looking H4 set. These are E marked and are proper H4 ones rather than some daft LED or HID nonsense.

 

 

They're not actually wired up yet as I couldn't find any H4 lampholder despite knowing there are a dozen or so floating around somewhere. I'll get some tomorrow and pick up a set of Nightbreakers to go in.

 

[] Speedometer de-spidering.

 

As with KPL TPA arrived with a significant number of dessicated spiders in the speedo. It was a simple (if slightly fiddly) matter to get it apart and cleaned out.

 

 

Much better.

 

[] General cabin cleaning.

 

As always high on my to do list. I'm much more likely to be willing to spend time doing work on a car if it's a nice place to be. So have given the dash and everything a quick wipe over, and later in the day gave the windows a clean.

 

 

I did notice something slightly worrying though. While the floor has clearly been replaced at some point there's a visible gap between it and the kick plate covering the door runner.

 

 

This plate should be riveted to the floor. I shouldn't be able to see the ground between it and the floor...and it doesn't seem to be attached to much. I'm wondering whether whoever did the floor replacement has just riveted a new one over the top of the old one.

 

Tempted to drill the few rivets holding it in out and see what's under there and if I need to put a new plate in there. Given the floor's only riveted in and isn't structural I'm not too worried - I just reckon if I'm doing this I may as well do it right.

 

Plus taking the cover off would make giving the door runner a proper clean a heck of a lot easier.

 

 

Just trying to decide which jobs to prioritise at the moment. I reckon probably engine swap, so I can reasonably get her into the garage and move KPL outside. Sadly they won't both fit inside.

 

It looks simple enough, and I'm immediately suspicious as a result as it immediately makes me think I'm missing something!

 

I will however make a point of sticking new engine/gearbox mounts in tomorrow as that should be a quick job and I've got a complete NOS set sitting in a box, so may as well change them.

 

 

So...realistically tomorrow will see the engine swap start or pull the knackered driver's seat out and see how hard my planned retrofit is going to be. If it'll be a major headache I'll look at welding up the bits that have rusted the most badly to hopefully tide me over. I have to admit that while I've only sat in it briefly that I'm surprised how uncomfortable it isn't.

 

Xantia seat will be more comfy though...

[dollywobbler]

Not sure what engine lift kit you've got, but if it's just two people, engine out separately is probably the best plan. As there's no input shaft on the gearbox, it's pretty easy to re-join the two.

 

Have remembered that I chopped the rear mount off on TP, so remnants will need unbolting.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Fair play dude..... that is scrubbing up rather better than expected!

How's your fibreglassing skills?

[Zelandeth]

How are my fibreglass repair skills? Well we'll find out soon won't we!

 

I've repaired a couple of smashed up bus/coach corners, though I didn't do the final clean up and paint, just the structural bit.

 

The first pass will really just be to get things up to MOT standard, tidiness will come later!

[Supernaut]

I look forward to meeting a fellow Aberdonian (at least you've escaped) and possibly your Invacar next to DW's at FoTU!

 

Not long now.

[Zelandeth]

I look forward to meeting a fellow Aberdonian (at least you've escaped) and possibly your Invacar next to DW's at FoTU!Not long now.

I reckon I'll be lucky to have TPA ready in time, but will give is the best shot I can.

 

As for escaping from Aberdeenshire? Dragged kicking and screaming more like.