Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Is Rhyl no longer in Wales?

The last time I was there, it didn't feel like it was.

[AdeMk1]

Following this thread (and your videos) with interest. I really want to see this on the road after all your sweat, toil and swearing 

Keep up the good work, it will be worth it in the end when you find yourself pootling around Wales!

[PhilA]

It is just bolts, but they're a hellish size. Slightly smaller than 14mm, slightly larger than 13mm and I haven't managed to find an imperial equivalent. PAIN IN THE ARSE.

That'll be the moderately rare but pain in the behind 17/32", which goes along with its cousin 11/32" (definitely too big for 8mm, doesn't quite fit 9mm). Only place I've ever seen those sizes is in tool sets from the fifties and sixties. My old man has a set with them in, so it's possible to find them but they were never really a "real" size, like 1/2" or 9/16".

 

By the looks of it they still commonly sell it as a size here. If you can't find one there and you need a spanner or socket for it let me know.

 

Phil

[dollywobbler]

Now with exciting video action!

[tooSavvy]

Get the engine to a local engineering firm and get the distributor free, it will make scene in the long run.

.... these YouTube vids are quite 'scene' enough!! lol

 

TS

[dozeydustman]

You have either 1) A very understanding and patient wife or 2) Mrs Wobbler shares your passion for 'different' motor vehicles. I think you'll hit the March deadline with not too much of a problem.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Excellent progress. Fair play.

[junkyarddog]

Just a thought,but maybe the distributors aren't seized at all,

they may be deliberately locked into position using loctite or similar to prevent tinkering??

 

More than likely just seized up though.

[jonny69]

Fecking 1/4" Whitworth. Bain of my life for YEARS with old bikes until I worked out what it was one day, by chance, when I picked up the wrong spanner by accident when I was round at my dad's, 80 miles away from home, randomly, with a broken old bike. Grrrr.

[dollywobbler]

Pretty sure the distributors are seized. Well, one of them. The first one is mostly in pieces now.

 

Got the rest of the cowling off (not a fun job without an engine stand) and it was time to get the degreaser out.

 

Cooling fins now all clear, and a lot of muck cleaned off. Cowling was in very poor condition though, so I'm going to have to repeat the annoying cowling removal with the original engine to nab all the bits.

[Talbot]

Many battery clamp bolts are, for some utterly unfathomable reason, 1/4"W.  I have found many of them on a variety of different cars.

 

Also.. every camera ever made ever has a whitworth (I think it's 1/8"W) thread in the bottom for a tripod (or any other type of) mounting.  Even brand new cameras and tripods use whitworth.

[tooSavvy]

^^^

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tripod_(photography)

 

TS

[SiC]

What is the long chimney/mushroom thing with a cap on, on the right cylinder?

[dollywobbler]

What is the long chimney/mushroom thing with a cap on, on the right cylinder?

 

Oil filler and breather.

[Zelandeth]

One thing to be careful of while you've got the engines out DW...

 

The inlet manifold on these is apparently quite complex due to the use of exhaust gases to heat it (it essentially uses the scavenging effect to pull gasses from one side to the other - THAT is why the exhaust setup is so bloody strange with what appear to be four downpipes for only two cylinders), and is apparently quite fragile.  As a result if you break it and wind up looking for a replacement, they're apparently quite expensive.

 

Was warned about that by the gent who I'm buying mine off when I was standing on my head trying to make sense of the exhaust system.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks. It is certainly an unusual design. Odd also that the exhaust exits straight out of the bottom of the engine - full crossflow!

[dollywobbler]

Bit more this evening. Started stripping the cowling from the broken engine, as it's better than what was on the spare engine (possibly because of the broken engine cover on that car). 

 

Bloody cold though, so I gave up when I realised I couldn't feel my toes anymore. 

 

I did try LOTS of heat on the dizzy of the spare engine, to see if it'd shift. Not a chance. That's staying where it is then. If it pinks, I'll have to hope a dose of super unleaded will cure it. I'm not going to try again, as the last thing I want is TWO broken engines.

[Zelandeth]

Either that or entrust the job to someone more used to this sort of thing.  I've found several times that what I consider to be "massively excessive amounts of heat" is what a garage consider to be "not even close to warm."  At that point they then bust out the oxyacetylene torch, I make strange squeaking noises and go and hide somewhere else - preferably with something I trust as a fire-break between me and the workshop.

 

Guess one thing that might help is if you were to start out with the engine good and warm, help so much heat just being dissipated straight into a stone cold crankcase...

[dollywobbler]

Very true. Its not a million miles from the main crank seal, so I was a little wary of getting too carried away. Things were definitely smoking a bit though, so it definitely wasn't cold.

 

I'm having to work on it in very short bursts at the moment though. Definitely going through a 'can't be arsed' phase, and this cowling is an utter pain in the arse. 

 

It has served to remind me that the lower engine plates are almost entirely missing. Haflinger Technik has a set that they've put to one side for me. On a Haflinger, they can be fitted with the engine in-situ, so I'm hoping that's the case here too. It should be. I have had success removing the screws that hold the lower plates to the main cowling though. Many were reluctant to turn, and they're slotted, so easy to chew up. However, attacking the side of the head with a screwdriver, walloped with a hammer, does seem to shock them free and they've all undone. Must be decent quality then. Still tempted to replace them with hex-head bolts. I should have a few left over. The hex-heads have been a lot easier to remove.

[st185cs]

Now with exciting video action!

 

Mr & Mrs DW - I salute you. What a great team you make.

 

Do tell us more about the event you are aiming for as I’m sure many of the followers of you and your exploits would wish to come and see TWC in the flesh..... and shake your hand. Brilliant, just brilliant!

 

Mark

[Zelandeth]

I've got that joy to look forward to as well - a fair chunk of the tinware that serves as a heat shield under mine is shot to pieces as well, so that will need to be changed.

 

Given how absolutely critical all the documentation I read when I was starting work on the scruffy old VW T25 seemed to think that all of those bits of metal were on the VW, I'd have to assume that they're similarly important on the Invacar.  Last thing you want I guess is heat being recirculated from the exhaust etc into the cooling fan.

 

Granted, the oil cooler on these is about twice the size of the one on the VW, and that had both an extra 1000cc and two more cylinders to cool...

[dollywobbler]

Mr & Mrs DW - I salute you. What a great team you make.

 

Do tell us more about the event you are aiming for as I’m sure many of the followers of you and your exploits would wish to come and see TWC in real in the flesh..... and shake your hand. Brilliant, just brilliant!

 

Mark

 

The event is Festival of the Unexceptional. https://www.facebook.com/events/130635151007882/

 

I'm sure there will be many Autoshiters present. There were last year.

[madrat]

Sadly, the 'local' firm is 12 miles away and has a crap reputation, which means at least a 20 mile run out, if not more. Bluebird cylinder head ended up being refurbed 50 miles away. Wales can be truly crap at times.

Still worth doing, will save a lot of trouble in the long run.

[dollywobbler]

Have finished stripping the cowling from the old engine. I'll build the cowling up on the new engine using the best bits from both. As the rocker covers need to come off to fit the cowling (lovely bit of a design that) I might as well check the valve clearances while I'm at it. A lot easier than doing it in the car.

 

With that all done, which hopefully won't take long, it'll then be ready to go into the Invacar. That'll need some planning, as we had gravity on our side to get it out. Need to get the Invacar up on ramps (which should be easy, I should be able to lift it onto them with no engine in it) so we can post the engine and transmission into it from beneath.

[dollywobbler]

And it's ready.

 

Cowling is back on, valve clearances have been checked (all fine). I did briefly try mating the engine and gearbox on my own, but quickly gave up. Not quickly enough, fear I've twinged by lower back, but I think I've just about avoided complete fail. Idiot. Does make me wonder about reverting to fitting the two items separately. Depends if I can get that sodding engine mount out of the way...

[dollywobbler]

Today has mostly involved pondering (and replacing the Nippa's alternator belt). Namely, how do we get this back into the car?

 

 

Option 1: Mate engine and gearbox (tricky when both are free to move) so they can be re-installed as one unit - reverse of how they came out. That means Invacar up on ramps, engineer some way of lifting the transmission so it goes back in at an angle. Gravity will not be our friend this time.

 

Option 2: Car on ramps, gearbox in from beneath, car off ramps, engineer a way to lift the engine in from above (with rather more care about the rear wings than when getting the engine out of the spare car). This will need me to find a way to remove those odd-sized bolts, so the rear engine mount can be removed, otherwise, as we discovered when getting it out of the spares car, it just won't work.

 

I think sussing that mount out is the key bit, as it'll be a lot easier to mate engine to gearbox if the gearbox is firmly held in the car, and it means dealing with less weight at any one time to go with Option 2.

[Captain Furious]

I would normally favour installing the engine and gearbox as one unit.  Of course that is on a conventional car.  On these things - no idea

[Stanky]

Is there any way your friend with the telehandler as seen in a previous episode (possibly the unloading one) could help? e.g. lash the engine and gearbox to a chain, lift the frame over it by hand, lash the chain(s) to the TH and gently lift the engine and box as one unit until it lines up with the mounts?

 

Or, does your garage have exposed joists that you could attach a block and tackle to with reasonable certainty that the room above wouldn't suddenly fall through? What does the engine and gearbox combo weigh, roughly? 100KG?

[dozeydustman]

Have you any chance of laying your hands on one of those mechanic's car creepers/old skateboard/somthing only a few inches high and on wheels you could put the assembled engine & box on? slide it under TWC when it's raised and lower his bum onto the engine? Might need a little fettling to get at the right height for the mounts.

[dollywobbler]

Is there any way your friend with the telehandler as seen in a previous episode (possibly the unloading one) could help? e.g. lash the engine and gearbox to a chain, lift the frame over it by hand, lash the chain(s) to the TH and gently lift the engine and box as one unit until it lines up with the mounts?

 

Or, does your garage have exposed joists that you could attach a block and tackle to with reasonable certainty that the room above wouldn't suddenly fall through? What does the engine and gearbox combo weigh, roughly? 100KG?

 

No and no sadly. The telehandler makes a serious mess of the driveway, and would struggle to get access.

 

Have you any chance of laying your hands on one of those mechanic's car creepers/old skateboard/somthing only a few inches high and on wheels you could put the assembled engine & box on? slide it under TWC when it's raised and lower his bum onto the engine? Might need a little fettling to get at the right height for the mounts.

 

Doesn't quite work like that. It needs installing at about a 30 degree angle (if the car is also at the opposite angle) to install. That's what's complicating matters.