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

[Zelandeth]

My initial plan for today was basically to go drive around in the Invacar for a bit and see if anything else fell off after finishing reassembling the indicator stalk.

 

That bit was done in short order.

 

 

While I was doing that I rerouted the throttle cable a bit so that it was less in the way of the indicators.  That proved to be a bit of a problem before, especially once the stalk got slightly loose and started wobbling around.

 

I made an executive decision though and forced myself to do some actually useful work with regards to doing a bit more of a permenant repair to the largely missing bits of body.

 

Off with multiple layers of duct tape and a large chunk of the metal frame which I deemed to be overkill.

 

 

Interesting that it looks like the nearside of the exhaust has been running cooler, I'll make a point at doing an actual measurement of the cylinder head temperatures after a run to see if there's an obvious disparity between the two.

 

I've just left the one band along the lower edge to help the resulting panel retain a decent degree of rigidity.  The original panel would have had a lip moulded into it to help with that, but that's kinda hard to do by hand...so a bit of metal strapped to the back will do.

 

I then got the foam core board out and set about fabricating a new rear bumper.  I love this stuff...It's got way more strength to it than cardboard, doesn't go soggy if it gets wet, but you can easily cut it with a sharp knife and bend it by hand.

 

Of course I ran out of daylight halfway through this, but this was the end result of the construction of the base framework.  Trying to get photos of a semi-matt black surface with little ambient light was a bit tricky, but hopefully you can see that there is something like the shape of an actual lip below the engine cover and a bumper here now.

 

 

 

While I was rapidly running out of time by this point I was determined to get at least some fibreglass laid down over this.  I only had a couple of small bits left from the current pack of matting anyway, so figured I'd just use that and then call it a day.  This is where we left things.

 

 

 

Don't worry about the bits dangling down under it, that will get a nice clean edge cut in due course.  I've realised quite a few errors in my workflow working with the fibreglass here, and that one of the key things to make your life easier (especially when working on vertical surfaces like this) is to work with small pieces of mat at a time, or you end up with finely atomised bits of glass fibre stuck to everything except the surface you're trying to stick it to.

 

Once I've got a few layers on here though, a skim of filler and some paint on it I reckon we should be able to get a result which should be good enough.  I'm not worried about a perfect factory finish here, "presentable from ten paces" will do just fine.  A slightly junior level looking bit of fibreglass fabrication is less likely to get me pulled over by a grumpy traffic cop I reckon than having half of the rear of the car made of duct tape.

 

The only other thing I immediately need to get the fibreglass on will be the mounting points for the front cover hinges, as the cable ties can't stay there long term...

[captain_70s]

The concept of working with quantity of fibreglass gives me the fear. I found it enough of a pain trying to patch up the Dolly 1850HL's bootlid, let alone fabricating a bumper...

[LightBulbFun]

seeing what Zel has tweeted today, im way too excited for his next post on here 

[Zelandeth]

Let's have a quick recap...

 

Here's how TP was looking from the rear when she arrived in my driveway (more or less)...

 

 

Fast forward to a week or two back...

 

 

Bringing us up to date, here's how things were sitting at close of play today.

 

 

 

 

Now this isn't exactly a work of art, but I think I'm within my rights to declare this to be a big improvement.

 

Obviously there's a load of filler and sanding to be done yet.  The very quick blast of paint over the surface was purely to allow me to see properly how close or not I'd got to the contours I was aiming for.  It was quite hard to tell in bare fibreglass.

 

I forgot to take a photo of it, but I've also filled the holes in the front panel.  My solution to this was to stick a duct tape patch loosely to the underside of the panel, creating a pocket into which I could pour some resin - filling up the pocket, and then used some glass fibre tissue to patch the outside.  This won't be as strong as it would have been using actual matting, but it's not subject to any real load so should be fine.  I reckon the only reason the hinges have been ripped out here is that the lock had seized and someone decided they wanted into the hatch, so they used brute force. 

 

I've also reattached the lower door seal on the nearside which will hopefully slightly reduce the draught level in the cabin. 

 

Bodywork wise I think the next thing I'm going to do is a slightly better securing solution for the transmission access hatch, as it has vibrated itself completely loose again during the last trip.  I don't like the little springy clips they've used there - they're fine for securing bits of trim, but something that big and heavy is less than ideal.  I'm going to get a few bits of steel bar, rivet them in place over each hole through the panel, then drill and tap a hole through that - I can then use M5 machine screws to secure it - and bolts for the bottom ones which are awkward to get a screwdriver at becaues of the driver's seat being in the way.  Will take a couple of hours to do, but should save me a lot of faff long term.

 

I think it's when you start thinking about that sort of detail that you realise that you've pretty much comitted yourself to a car being a keeper...

[LightBulbFun]

Woo 

 

especially for a "first pass" that rear valance looks pretty damn amazing

 

 

for reference iv included a picture of a Model 70 with an intact rear valance, im guessing you plan on sorting out the rear number plate light later on?

[Zelandeth]

Yep, I'll be drilling the hole and refitting that tomorrow.

 

I know the bumper isn't quite as deep as the original but I'm not too worried about that. It will look tidy enough once finished and that's all I'm looking for at this stage. I'm hoping that at some point I'll be able to get some moulds taken from an intact Model 70 and make up a new complete section. Given where this is, cutting it out again will be trivial if/when I decide to do that.

 

The only real problem here currently is that the groove for the engine cover is missing in a couple of places as the matting refused to stay stuck down there, but that's easily enough sorted with the Dremel.

 

Even with a rough finish as there is there currently, it looks far more like a restoration project than a wreck I think.

[LightBulbFun]

Cool stuff

 

yeah I noticed that its not quite as deep, but I didn't want to "go picking holes" so to speak in something that was probably quite an achievement for you

 

looking forward to seeing how you go about taking moulds and fabricating a new replacement panel so to speak

 

(I included the reference picture so people could see just how good you got it first time round )

[dollywobbler]

Looks much better.

 

The transmission cover in TWC is held in place with flathead screws sitting in er,I not sure what you'd call them, but sort-of washer things, with speed clips attached to the body. Can take pics if needed.

[egg]

That is excellent work Zel. Can you come and make me an A-pillar, lol?

[Saabnut]

Looks much better.

 

The transmission cover in TWC is held in place with flathead screws sitting in er,I not sure what you'd call them, but sort-of washer things, with speed clips attached to the body. Can take pics if needed.

 

I think they are called "Spire" clips, or maybe "Spyre"

[dollywobbler]

I think they are called "Spire" clips, or maybe "Spyre"

 

Yeah, I should know really. I used to work in the fastener trade, and my dad has for most of his life! I forget things...

[Saabnut]

^^^^^ Don't worry, it is an age thing and it WILL get worse!

[Zelandeth]

All but two of the clips are there for the cover, just most are rusty and they don't seem to be too fond of being done up tightly enough to properly compress the gasket and to stop the cover rattling and buzzing. At least two of the screws seem to unscrew themselves every time I have the car out.

 

I can see why they used them (cheap and easy to fit easily in an area where the back of the panel is inaccessible), but given I'm not worrying about production line efficiencies here I'm willing to put a bit of work into making it work better in the real world.

[dozeydustman]

Excellent progress sir.

[Zelandeth]

Apparently the forum ate the reply I typed up half an hour ago...Bloody technology.

 

I had been hoping to actually get out in the Invacar today, but by the time I'd got enough of the day to day jobs out of the way it became obvious that wasn't happening - well, unless I wanted to be out doing test runs at rush hour in the middle of a busy city - which just sounds like a recipe for disaster.  Hopefully tomorrow...

 

With the car mostly fundamentally working now my attention is starting to shift to the list of far more minor bits and pieces which have been patiently waiting for some attention while I dragged the car back into the land of the living.

 

A couple of these items had just been waiting for me to make a quick run out to grab an assorted box of circlips to replace two which had vanished in the past.

 

Number one went on this end of the gear selector rod to stop it from falling out of the bracket.

 

 

There's also been another attached just behind that bracket to prevent the whole lot from being able to wobble from side to side - important as the handle is really quite close to the seat frame and I don't want to have it touching the frame and causing yet another rattle or buzz in the cabin.

 

 

I'll take it out at some point and bend the handle away from the seat very slightly, but that's very much on the "it would be nice to do some day" list rather than anything which needs immediate attention.

 

The second missing circlip has been added to the seat belt buckle to stop the bar in the middle of it from being able to fall out.

 

 

This was never a problem when the belt was actually in use as the tension on everything held it in place - At least I don't need to remember which way to hold it when taking it off now though.

 

Only other task which has been done was to reattach the front cover.  This had previously been held on with cable ties through the bolt holes, but is now properly attached.

 

 

 

Not really much to be said about that!  It is nice to have it done though, as I think having eliminated the cable ties - much like the rear valance - helps make the car look more like a car that's actively being restored rather than a wreck beyond all hope.

[dollywobbler]

Would you mind going into a bit of detail about the hinge fix? I have exactly the same repair to do on the Fox. Did you just use the resin/matt to fill the square hole? Any reinforcement underneath?

[Zelandeth]

Sadly I don't have any photos - because most of it was done blind anyway.

 

I made a "pouch" under the hole using duct tape, which I then filled up so the surface was more or less level with the surrounding bodywork. I then just applied a layer of glass fibre tissue over the top of that to give me a slightly smoother finish. Then drilled a hole for the bolt and just stuck the biggest washer I could find on it to spread the load. Annoyingly the tissue appears to have lifted slightly from the underlying bodywork before the resin fully set so there's a bit of air under it.

 

You'll know yourself that the hinges here on the Invacar don't really have a huge amount of work to do in terms of load management, so I have't worried too much about it. I imagine you could do the same, peel the tape off after the resin has cured then apply a few layers of glass fibre matt from the underside (assuming you can get to it from the underside on there too) to strengthen it a bit more given the Fox has a larger bonnet.

 

This is probably totally the wrong approach, but it seems to have worked here...

[dollywobbler]

Thanks. I am tempted to try and reinforce it with a bit of plate. There was already a large washer, but it just ripped out a chunk of fibreglass with it.

[Zelandeth]

Thanks. I am tempted to try and reinforce it with a bit of plate. There was already a large washer, but it just ripped out a chunk of fibreglass with it.

If that's the case I'd say get a small plate of metal, stick it to the underside with Sikaflex, then fill in the void from above with resin, drill your hole and attach the hinge. That should do the trick.

 

If I'd thought about it beforehand I'd probably have done that...

[Zelandeth]

Strange...I don't remember the parking spaces in Sainsbury's being so massive...

 

[vulgalour]

The optical illusion with the back lights messes with my brain.  When you take the photo from a 3/4 angle, they look like they're sat at different angles.  They're not, it's just a bizarre illusion.

[Zelandeth]

So in addition to the photo taken in the Sainsbury's car park (a whole 0.8 miles from home!) earlier, here's the rest of the update from today.

 

Continuing with the general theme of ticking one little task at a time off, I attacked the door runners and latches with grease.  

 

 

Main hope there had been that it might help the offside door slide properly as it has a tendency to stick on the runners.  Sadly it still does, though not quite as badly.

 

While I was there I securely reattached the door seals at the bottom of that door.

 

 

Though I always feel that I should use quotation marks around "seal" when referring to those around the doors of an Invacar given the degree of daylight that you can see around them.  Reminds me of a Series Land Rover...

 

 

I reckon that if I find myself using the car I may well look to install a slightly wider seal as these are pretty useless.

 

The heater during the first couple of runs out (despite my efforts to clean it out) had thrown finely atomised rust all over the cabin, so it was time to hit it with the vacuum cleaner again.

 

 

Much better.  I suspect this will be a regular task for a while.

 

Enough of this faffing around though...a car is meant to be driven, and I'd been trying to kick myself into taking a brave pill and actually taking TP out of our neighborhood and going somewhere...

 

On the way home from Sainsbury's I stopped by my GP surgery to pick up a prescription - I have to wonder if an Invacar has been parked up here before?

 

 

Back home, another five miles covered.

 

 

Oh, and some groceries retrieved...wonder how many years it is since she last actually did useful work...

 

 

Glad to report that she didn't miss a beat.  Only gripes were the rear service hatch coming loose (again - hence my plans to improve the securing arrangements), and that there really is far too much free travel in the brakes.  Think for the sake of £50 odd I'm just going to pick up a new master cylinder.  This one came with my original Invacar and was "NOS" - but looked to have spent quite a bit of time stored in poor conditions, and has never felt quite right, and as such I don't think I'm ever going to fully trust it.  Not as though I'm driving around with no brakes mind, she's more than capable of locking all three wheels up, and the handbrake is also more than capable of stopping the car quite rapidly.  I'm just not keen on the size of the dead zone before braking starts to happen.

 

Checking the oil after the trip out today, glad to see that it is still nice and clean.

 

 

Hasn't used any either I'm glad to see.

[Andyrew]

Dead zone? Would that not be just Air in the system?

[Zelandeth]

Dead zone? Would that not be just Air in the system?

That's what you would think, but there seems to be an odd issue with it in that especially when fitted to KP if you very slowly pressed down on the handlebars you could bottom the cylinder out without meeting any resistance at all. Only if you did it really slowly though. It's not possible to do that any more, but the effect is still there - applying the brakes rapidly you get a response far "higher" than when just lightly bleeding a bit of speed off downhill. Hopefully that description makes sense.

 

I have done the "leave it with weight on the pedal overnight" thing a couple of times without any obvious difference...as I'm sure I've heard folks mentioning that as a tip when dealing with MGB brakes, with which I believe this shares the master cylinder.

[LightBulbFun]

Very cool to see she is running well and managed to make it to the shops n back via the GP

 

as for if the GPs parking lot has seen an invacar, I guess it depends if it was around since before 2003, I would imagine hospitals and GPs would of be a "hot spot" for invacars

 

how fast did ya get up to given everything is connected via 60/70Mph roads and roundabouts in MK?, I dont think anyones been faster then 65 yet, wonder who will be the first to hit 70 

[Zelandeth]

Very cool to see she is running well and managed to make it to the shops n back via the GP

 

as for if the GPs parking lot has seen an invacar, I guess it depends if it was around since before 2003, I would imagine hospitals and GPs would of be a "hot spot" for invacars

 

how fast did ya get up to given everything is connected via 60/70Mph roads and roundabouts in MK?, I dont think anyones been faster then 65 yet, wonder who will be the first to hit 70

GP probably has seen some as it's been around since the early 80s I believe.

 

Only up to 30 today as it was straight across the roundabout out of our estate into the town centre, so no opportunity to really open the throttle up today. Had her up to between 40 and 50mph last week, can't see me being too anxious to go far north of that for a while yet!

[Zelandeth]

Annoyingly no photos to show for it as I forgot to take my phone with me, but she's been out to the pharmacy again and stopped at Aldi on the way back (to grab a hole saw to allow me to refit the number plate light) without any issues.

 

When I got back, before putting her back in the garage I hooked TP up to the exhaust gas tester.  Before the actual test drives started, she was pegging the thing off scale high at idle for the CO % reading.

 

Today?

 

 

Pretty good indication right there of just how much better an engine can run after doing a bit of actual work.

 

If all goes to plan tomorrow I will be able to get her out for a bit again, and I think the plan will be for a few high speed runs to confirm that nothing will fall off.  If all goes well there, I think I can start considering actually making runs out to a few places around town beyond my local supermarket.

 

Looking forward to having a few tens of miles covered as that will do a lot for my confidence I'm sure.  I would just go out and drive if it wasn't for MK being so incredibly an unfriendly place to break down at the side of the road.

[RayMK]

It is the breakdown aspect which deters me from driving my Reliant at the moment.  Less usage = greater chance of breaking down. Yours and DW's Invacars sound much more reliable.

[Zelandeth]

That's why I'm determined to try to get it out and covering miles as soon as I can, the sooner it's in regular use the sooner the gremlins will make themselves scarce I reckon.

 

Really need to get the transmission service cover properly secured, it's visibly worked loose again today.

 

That may well be item number one on the "car stuff" list for tomorrow purely because it's downright annoying.

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, weather looks ok for a test drive at speed - not too windy. Believe me, these are absolutely terrifying in even a fairly gentle crosswind. They make 2CVs feel as planted as an actual house by comparison.