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

[Zelandeth]

You could try to see if you can transport a dozen eggs back home without breakage

Probably safer than in the Activa due to me being more likely to remember to approach roundabouts with caution! Shopping has a tendency to wind up all over the boot in that when I forget it's back there!

[LightBulbFun]

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.

 

IMG_20190210_171534.jpg

 

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.

 

IMG_20190210_173439.jpg

 

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

 

IMG_20190210_173448.jpg

 

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

 

IMG_20190210_180031.jpg

 

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.

 

IMG_20190210_173321.jpg

 

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.

 

very cool stuff! glad to see vans clutch was repairable without having to throw any more money at it

 

and awesome stuff on the invacar I wonder if the dip stick issue could be solved by heating the leaky end red-orange hot with a blow torch first to completely burn off any oil before braising? (and on the drive system thing, have you thought about getting one of those HP2020 belts that DW uses now? they seem to work well for him)

 

 

Probably safer than in the Activa due to me being more likely to remember to approach roundabouts with caution! Shopping has a tendency to wind up all over the boot in that when I forget it's back there!

 

until you get complacent with the handling and start chucking it around roundabouts on 2 wheels like this chap 

 

[dollywobbler]

That A) proves that TWC isn't a great reference for how the belt system should behave and B ) proves that I'm still quite some way from causing a wheel lift incident. By heck did he chuck that in!

[Zelandeth]

Yes, quite glad that the clutch on the van seems to have been resolved without needing to change the master cylinder. Going rate seems to be £75-100 - so if I can avoid spending it I'd rather!

 

I'm not worrying too much about belts at this stage, though that may well change once I've got a few more miles on her.

 

I have tried getting the dipstick virtually incandescent, but I think the issue is that where the oil has been it's left a carbon residue which is preventing the solder taking properly - and as that's hidden inside the the groove between the two bits of metal, I can't get into there to clean it out. If new dipsticks weren't available I'd be willing to put more effort into it I think, but as they are...let's concentrate on more important things.

[dollywobbler]

I concluded that they all do that, having seen a Steyr-Puch 500 at a show with similar oiliness.

[Zelandeth]

Interesting...Actually today I've had that area showing as oil free. My last ditch attempt at sealing it yesterday evening basically consisted of encasing the entire base of the dipstick handle in hot glue while the handle itself was still hot...After a run today there''s no sign of leakage from there.

 

Task number one for today was to get the offside brake light working again as I noticed yesterday when I got back into the garage that it was out again. This eventually turned into a 45 minute round of chasing my own tail before re-terminating the main ground for the cluster as I should have done in the first place - which of course immediately resolved the issue and also got both sets of indicators to flash at the same rate for the first time.

 

Task number two was to cover up some of the bare metalwork on the rear of the car. This has wound up with the whole thing encased in duct tape for now, looks horrific, but at least there are now no sharp edges accessible. I'm sure a bunch of these cars were largely held together by gaffer tape back in the day too.

 

 

 

No, I'm not proud of it. It's a means to an end - I want to drive the thing, and don't want to wait until I can put aside a couple of complete afternoons with decent weather to attack it with fibreglass.

 

The offside front corner has had a steel band added to reinforce it, and has been similarly plastered in tape. I've also stuck a patch on the hole in the roof primarily to assist in keeping the weather out.

 

Speaking of keeping things in or out, I'm glad to see that the lock on the front service cover has freed up after a couple of months of regularly dosing it with penetrating fluid.

 

 

Nice the way stuff seems to keep coming back to life.

 

With this all done it was time to go for today's test run. After a little noodling around our estate again I decided that it was time to try the higher speed run. No horrors to report. Managed to get up to just under 50mph before having to brake for the roundabout at the bottom of the hill. On the way back progress was slowed a bit, but still got up to 40 or thereabouts. The only slightly unnerving aspect was that she briefly decided not to give me any power when I intitally went to pull onto the roundabout coming back - a fraction of a second's delay and audible pop back through the carb and she was off again. I've notice this happen a few times on roughly half throttle. Guessing there's still a bit of crud floating around in the carb.

 

On arriving back from that run (wanting to give thigns a check over given it was the first time she had exceeded 30mph in quite a while), there was quite an odd "hot" smell - which I reckon was coming from the paint on the silencer after a bit of checking. The popping back through the carb I reckon is the reason that the carb itself was damp with fuel.

 

 

The carb being cold I think was the only reason this hadn't evaporated pretty much as soon as it had ended up there. I'll keep an eye on this.

 

I then went about a little further local testing, getting a little more used to the controls meant that a certain degree of mild hooning may have taken place. It's a long while since I was last in a Reliant, but to my mind this definitely feels less tippy when you throw it into a corner or roundabout.

 

I did attempt to get some video footage of the test drives - but managed an epic fail today on a video front. Attempt number one went just fine until the first roundabout was taken at any speed...at which point the phone fell out of where I'd wedged it. Attempt number two would have been fine if the phone hadn't wound up pointed mostly at the ceiling. I'm going to try to dig out the Not-A-Go-Pro tomorrow and use that instead as it at least has some proper options to secure it to the car. If you guys want me to upload the video I do have just let me know...You can kind of see what's going on and have the audio to go with it.

 

So, stuff I've ascertained today:

 

[] Oil leak from dipstick might be fixed.

[] The grounding arrangements in these tail lights is epically rubbish. I may wind up improving this myself to save me trouble in the long run.

[] Handling is better than I expected. I reckon you could actually chuck this car around quite a bit once you're used to it.

[] On the same topic, the suspension and steering feels really tight. No knocks, clonks or obvious play in anything like that.

[] Ride is pleasantly compliant, bit of a surprise given how light she is.

[] One horrible noise which has turned up a couple of times is the guard touching one of the pulleys very lightly - mainly just as you come off the throttle. I will sort this using a small amount of violence shortly. I know what it is though and it sounds way worse than it actually is.

[] 50mph looks to be doable without too much trouble.

[] Occasional miss/backfire on part throttle needs an eye kept on it.

 

I needed to go to the nearest supermarket for one or two things this afternoon and very nearly took the Invacar...Sadly I chickend out. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Definitely overall seems to be running better. The drive system seems to be behaving itself pretty much as I'd expect now, I think the biggest thing which initially was throwing me off is just the level of overall noise involved with the engine running at the speed it needs to for the clutch to engage. Was really glad to see that once up to speed that there weren't any unpleasant noises or vibration which would suggest duff wheel bearings or any boring problems like that needing attention.

[dollywobbler]

I think the occasional misfire might just be a trait. Certainly mine does that, sometimes more often than other times. 

 

Bear in mind that, especially when changing from forward to reverse, there's a fair bit of free play in the second pulley (or at least, there is on mine) so that can give a feeling of the clutch not initially biting. 

 

I can confirm that the light wiring is pretty dodgy. I replace most of the Lucas connectors on mine, but I've a feeling I ran some earths right back to the battery tray.

 

Joyous to read though!

[mrbenn]

Not proud of the gaffer tape? I'd be very proud of that tbh, looks a rather neat job. A basis for covering in fibreglass perhaps?

[LightBulbFun]

Woo glad to see she is driving and handling well  

 

 

on the rear valance note, I was shared this picture of one of Barrys chassis, and i was thinking "that rear valence piece is exactly what Zel/TPA needs"

 

[egg]

great stuff. With the steel re-enforcing banding - is that riveted or screwed on, apologies if this is a daft question?

[Zelandeth]

Thanks for that DW, provided it doesn't get any worse then I'll try not to worry too much about it. I think 90% of things at the moment are just a matter of building confidence in the vehicle. She steers fine (very well in fact), stops fine etc, but having been on the road for so long I'm slightly paranoid of the engine choosing to cut out randomly! I'd had issues with her randomly going from "running fine" to "cutting out and carrying on" when running originally that I never fully got to the bottom of. I have always believed it was due to crud in the carb finding its way into a jet - though having had everything rebuilt now hopefully that's a thing of the past. The worry of it suddenly happening again is always there though, especially as the "TUK!" from the air intake was usually the first sign of trouble before!

 

I do kind of wish our location was better for this stage. The problem is that I've plenty of 20/30mph roads in our immediate area, though I'm very aware that she's somewhat loud...so I don't want to make too much of a nuisance buzzing around in circles. The problem is that MK doesn't really have any "quiet" roads... you've got sleepy residential streets, then busy 60/70mph distributor roads. The big issue with them is that because all the footways and such are all remote to the roads here that there's often nowhere to pull over for a good half mile at a time if something does go wrong...so I need to take somewhat of a brave pill before leaving our "block" so to speak.

 

Interesting looking at that photo that the engine electrics are positioned where they were in KP... I'd always assumed that had been done when she was hacked around. Maybe not.

 

The metalwork I've added is all bolted on. The only bits I've riveted have been a couple of the straps on the wheel arch as there wasn't enough clearance for bolts. That and some of the work on the doors where I didn't have access to the back of the panel I was working on.

 

Yes...having that bit of valance would be really helpful! I think my plan longer term for the back is probably to build up a structure over the metalwork in Foamex board, as it should be possible to get a reasonably tidy structure built like that, then put a fibreglass shell over that. Then ideally I should be able to remove the metalwork to lose the weight.

[Eddie Honda]

No, I'm not proud of it.

You should be, Ken was with his.

[Zelandeth]

Regarding the "sneezing" on part throttle, I do wonder if the valves in the PCV system could play a part.

 

I know mine are both shot, and I'm sure Unread somewhere that TWC's weren't great either. Given that the "out" line from the lower one feeds into the inlet tract to the offside cylinder, I do wonder if that could be messing around with the vacuum levels...

 

Hoping a serviceable used pair will be on their way to me shortly - obviously I'll report back if it makes any difference.

 

Speaking of the PCV system though, I'm glad to report that after today's escapades that the mayo in the oil filler neck seems greatly reduced. Hoping that getting the engine properly warmed through a few times will see the end of that.

[LightBulbFun]

Regarding the "sneezing" on part throttle, I do wonder if the valves in the PCV system could play a part.

 

I know mine are both shot, and I'm sure Unread somewhere that TWC's weren't great either. Given that the "out" line from the lower one feeds into the inlet tract to the offside cylinder, I do wonder if that could be messing around with the vacuum levels...

 

Hoping a serviceable used pair will be on their way to me shortly - obviously I'll report back if it makes any difference.

 

Speaking of the PCV system though, I'm glad to report that after today's escapades that the mayo in the oil filler neck seems greatly reduced. Hoping that getting the engine properly warmed through a few times will see the end of that.

 

what is mayo in car speak exactly?

 

up until this point I thought it was a product of engine coolant and engine oil mixing (ie when a HGF happens)

 

but you just mentioned it in relation to the Model 70 which clearly does not do engine coolant

 

so im guessing its when the combustion products end up in the oil then?

[Mrcento]

what is mayo in car speak exactly?

 

 

It's basically moisture in the oil that caused it to "froth" and emulsify under pressure and heat and leave behind a mayo type substance, particularly higher up in the engine.

 

Most commonly found due to HGF, water/coolant and oil mixing, but can also happen naturally on cars used for short trips where the engine doesn't get up to full temp, condensation builds up, mixes with oil etc. VW's are quite prone to it quite naturally, some Fiats too (but any car used for short trips "can" do it, hence why small car owners see it most often). People see the Mayo on the oil cap and panic, wrongly diagnose HGF without even a compression check.

[Zelandeth]

It's simply the result of oil and water mixing.

 

In an ideal world your petrol will burn completely, producing CO2 and water as the byproducts.  A certain amount of that will get past the piston rings and into the sump.  A fair bit probably gets drawn in from the atmosphere when the engine cools, just like with outdoor light fittings.

 

When the engine warms up, it gets boiled off from the oil and condenses in the coolest part of the engine - usually underneath the rocker cover - in the Invacar it's the PCV "tower" and oil filler neck as they're quite a long way from the heat of the engine.

 

Here's a photo from last year at some point shortly after I got the engine going for the first time.

 

 

I'm hoping that now I can actually get the car into use that I can see the back of it.

 

This is a particular problem with a lot of cars these days which are much more thermally efficient and struggle to get up to temperature on short trips...it then causes more issues with the oil sludging up and stuff like that...all the more reason that a small car with a small engine makes more sense for local trips.  

 

This is why if you do a lot of city driving that it's really a good idea to try to get a car out for a half hour or so high speed work at least once a month.  It helps here both in that everything gets properly hot, and also at high RPMs the flow rate through the PCV system will be higher so it will help pull it out.

[DodgeRover]

Re the crank ventilation valves could you not vent to a catch tank and block off the entry into the inlet tract?

[Zelandeth]

Re the crank ventilation valves could you not vent to a catch tank and block off the entry into the inlet tract?

 

I've actually just had a look at the diagrams and I think I've been speaking rubbish.  The large hose from the lower PCV valve actually runs into a drain tube back to the sump - just the way the pipework runs it looked like it was going into the inlet - I think it's actually because the pipe runs to the offside cylinder head it had me fooled.  It was a deduction I made back in the first couple of days I had KP and was still very much finding my way around the engine.

 

Today has been something of a "one step forward, a few hops sideways, and one backward."  We knew there were going to be some of them, that's the whole reason we're doing the VERY local shakedown runs.  Which I'm sure are really annoying my neighbours by now. 

 

First up, I did managed to track down the Not-A-Go-Pro and do a test with that stuck to the rear window.  Annoyingly, while the video is better than I've managed from my phone - the microphone really didn't enjoy such close proximity to 493cc of thundering power behind the driver's seat in the Invacar.

 

 

This really does seem to make the ride seem a lot firmer than it feels in person, but better captures the degree of lean when cornering.  At least around town you don't really notice the lack of a wheel up front.  Until you come to park up at a kerb...the lack of a bump from the nearside front corner the first time I pulled over at the side of the road, *that* messed with my head.

 

I hadn't spotted until viewing that video that the nearside indicators seem to be playing funny business again...Yay...Those tail lights are going to be a recurring problem aren't they...

 

The free play in the brakes looks way worse in the video than it feels in person, I think the angle and the lens exagerrates it a bit.  There's a good 2" of clearance between the point at which I can lock all three wheels and the bars hitting my knees.  I managed to get the single carriageway down the side of our neighbourhood clear a couple of times today, so was able to do an emergency stop from 50mph, and am pleased to say that she can come to a stop more than adequately rapidly when needed.

 

When I got back from that run, with an even five miles on the clock I decided to check the condition of the plugs just to give me an idea how the engine was running.  It's worth noting that the one in the offside cylinder has always had a history of flooding quite regularly on startup, and had always been sooty when the car had just been idling on the driveway.  This is how it looked today.

 

 

For reference, the one from the nearside cylinder.

 

 

Not bad at all I reckon, though obviously it's hard to tell too much from so few miles.  No obviously catastrophic oil contamination or anything like that at least.

 

Today did unearth a few gremlins though.

 

[] Fuelling.  It seemed today that after I'd been going for roughly 30 minutes (including three higher speed runs), I started to experience what felt like severe fuel starvation.  Thankfully I was able to limp back home.  This definitely shows why I'm doing things this way though, for all it  might seem needlessly over-cautious to some folks.

 

I'm pretty sure that this problem is due to a problem with the fuel pump itself. 

 

Looking at the fuel filter in the engine bay (between the fuel pump and the carb) you can see bubbles of air being pumped through along with the fuel.  This is an absolute sod to try to catch visibly on camera.

 

 

A problem on the suction side of the pump really is the only cause I can see for this.  The line from the pump to the tank is a single piece of new hose, and attaches to the bottom of the (full) fuel tank.  I'd have expected any holes in the line to have therefore made themselves known by leaking fuel out overnight as there should be a decent head of pressure there.  Top of the fuel tank is roughly level with the top of the carb.

 

Obvious question: Is there a vacuum issue due to venting problems?  Nope...The cap is vented - and in fact the cap wasn't even on the tank when that video was snapped.

 

A rebuild kit is avalable for the fuel pump...so I think that will be my next stop.

 

I think a gasket set for the carb probably makes sense too...

 

 

[] Gearchange linkage fell off!

 

As I limped into the driveway on one-and-a-bit cylinders due to the fuel starvation issues, I applied the handbrake then suddenly found that my right hand couldn't find the gear lever for some reason.

 

 

Oh.  That doesn't look right!  Sure enough, pulling the rear service hatch out and standing on my head showed that the connection between the lever and the actual gear selector had come apart.  Nice and "easy" to get at...

 

 

You may recall when I took this out of KP I was unable to extract the split pin from this linkage, so I'd put it together with a bolt and lock nut.  Obviously this isn't up to dealing with the vibration etc, so I'll need to find a better solution.  In the meantime I'll make up a new locknut and apply some threadlock to hopefully keep things together in the meantime.  A long enough bolt to fit this position definitely needs to remain in the vehicle toolkit though!

 

It was nice to see that the pulleys do seem to be cleaning themselves up quite nicely though simply through a bit of use, and that the belt tension seemed to have remained exactly as I left it when I adjusted it.

 

 

While there's still some oxide left there visible, the surface itself feels far, far smoother than it used to.  I did wonder if I should put more work into cleaning this lot up - but given that the drive system seems to be generally behaving itself I'm inclined to leave it alone for now.

 

[] Gearbox oil leak.

 

When reattaching the gear linkage it was hard to miss the fact that there was quite an obvious leak of gearbox oil from the top cover.

 

 

This wasn't a huge surprise to me given that the box was found essentially caked in a 1/2" thick crust of gearbox oil mixed with mud - what was a surprise what that all four of the nuts were barely finger tight...Let's hope that having nipped them up has sorted that.  Failing that I don't think the cover holds anything in, so shouldn't be too hard to make up a new paper gasket if necessary.

 

Before I went out today though I set about trying to do something to make her look a bit less like a set piece from some post apocalyptic disaster movie, this basically meant trying to shift some of the moss and grime.

 

Attacking the doors with a stiff scrubbing brush and caravan & motorhome cleaner did a pretty decent job.

 

 

 

There is still some discolouration which I'll need to hit with some cutting paste, but at least it looks *slightly* less like it's just been dragged out of a field now.

 

I think thinks will probably need to take a back seat for a few days until I can get the parts for the fuel pump in.  Sadly I don't have a suitable alternative pump, electric or otherwise, laying around or I'd test by substitution first.  Obviously I can't really keep driving with a known fuelling issue.

 

What I might do is hook up the fuel injection pump I've got laying around drawing from the carb end and dumping back to tank - the flow level that should get going might allow me to use my eyes and ears to track down where the leak actually is as I'll probably be able to hear it hissing.

 

Annoyingly I'll most likely have to drain the tank down if I do need to dismantle the system...Methinks a fuel tap right at the tank might be a sensible upgrade...

 

Will take the opportunity to readjust the brakes again - I have my suspicions that the front adjuster isn't doing its job, so may well swap it for a known good spare and see if that helps.  As I've said before, the brakes feel really good.  Nice firm control and good bite, just a lot of dead travel before you get to the point that the control does anything.

 

Would have been nice to get a clean bill of health and just start driving places (as I'm getting quite comfortable with the actual act of piloting her now), but realistically we knew there were going to be things that would turn up and need sorting didn't we.

[dollywobbler]

Oddly, when I had my handbrake fault recently, adjusting up one rear brake had the handlebars feeling much firmer. Now I've done both sides, it's back to too much travel. I really need to give TWC a full service, though the Fox is currently eating all of my time (well, lying on the sofa feeling ill is at the moment). I'd like to re-adjust all three brakes, new plugs, oil and filters etc.

 

What's your standing belt tension like? I'd be interested to know how much deflection there is.

[Zelandeth]

Oddly, when I had my handbrake fault recently, adjusting up one rear brake had the handlebars feeling much firmer. Now I've done both sides, it's back to too much travel. I really need to give TWC a full service, though the Fox is currently eating all of my time (well, lying on the sofa feeling ill is at the moment). I'd like to re-adjust all three brakes, new plugs, oil and filters etc.

 

What's your standing belt tension like? I'd be interested to know how much deflection there is.

 

I've not put the hatch back in yet so I'll snap some photos/a ten second video showing that tomorrow if I get a chance.

 

I think I basically just adjusted it up until it felt like there wasn't any "slop" in the belt when drive was applied from rest in either direction if that makes sense.

[LightBulbFun]

ohh very Cool stuff!

 

nice video too, gives a good view of everything on the road and whats going on in the cabin

 

love how from certain angles like that side on shot, Model 70s can look like the front end is just hovering above the ground    (also those tyres look lovely)

[dollywobbler]

Just watching that again, that does look like a lot of brake travel. Though I also note that, much like TWC, you don't have to brake very often. I guess the natural belt drag is just a thing then. Of course, it's a little difficult to compare, because I can't drive anywhere that's as flat as that, but TPA does sound so much smooth, and the revs seem to sound much more CVT-like.

 

I've just been informed that I have some new pulleys on the way, so we'll see what the characteristics of those are. They're coming all the way from Ohio though, so I may be waiting some time... 

[Zelandeth]

I don't think there's a massive amount of drag, I usually push her back into the garage given the tendency for the clutch to launch her towards the back wall and it's easy enough to do. I think the drag feels more than it maybe is because the car is so light.

 

There definitely is way too much travel in the brakes, reckon it must be an adjustment issue though as aside from the dead travel they work absolutely fine - and once you get to the end of that dead zone the brakes are firm, progressive and surprisingly powerful for a set of unassisted drums. Guess light weight has a lot to answer for.

 

I guess the one thing I'd forgot to mention in today's post though was that it's impossible to deny that it's huge fun to drive, and I'm really looking forward to getting these teething troubles out the way and putting some more miles on.

 

Definitely looking forward to seeing how much bafflement the general public react with at one of our local supermarkets...

[Ben_O]

Sounds like Zel needs to have a drive of TWC and DW have a drive of TPA and then compare notes.

[dollywobbler]

Sounds like Zel needs to have a drive of TWC and DW have a drive of TPA and then compare notes.

 

We certainly hope to achieve that at some point this year. 

[Zelandeth]

What's your standing belt tension like? I'd be interested to know how much deflection there is.

 

Here you go:

 

 

Pressing down on the belt:

 

 

Pulling up on the belt:

 

 

Without actually calibrated instruments of some sort it's a bit hard to be too precise...but hopefully that's clear enough to give you a ballpark indication of how tight the belt is.  As I've said, I basically aimed for the point at which there was no major slop in there when applying or removing drive in either direction.

[DodgeRover]

That does look a giggle to drive!

 

They really were ahead of their time if you compare them to similar microcars available now.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks. That's useful. I think my tension may be a bit looser, but I'll check next time I have a tinkering opportunity that isn't Fox...

[Zelandeth]

That does look a giggle to drive!

 

They really were ahead of their time if you compare them to similar microcars available now.

That's very much been my thoughts through the whole time I've been working on it. The thing is surprisingly sophisticated compared to a lot of microcars.

 

The difference when this came along compared to the earlier versions must have been like night and day.

[dollywobbler]

That's very much been my thoughts through the whole time I've been working on it. The thing is surprisingly sophisticated compared to a lot of microcars.

 

The difference when this came along compared to the earlier versions must have been like night and day.

 

It was really driven home by me when I drove both a Messerschmitt and a Bond Minicar last year. The Bond in particular - a few miles was more than enough.