Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[brownnova]

Very enjoyable video!! Kept me sane whilst marking year 7s books! 

[Fumbler]

Good to see the oil and other bits change made some difference. The colour of the old stuff was horrible!

[LightBulbFun]

that was an awesome premier, top work DW! 

will have to watch the video again because invacar, and because I had half of my attention on the comments section keeping all the Invacar facts in check

also that must be one robust diff to do 2K miles on mostly water!

[dollywobbler]

Thanks! Here's a sneaky peek at some of what's to come in part two...

https://www.facebook.com/nclode/videos/10157655802674665/ 

[Fumbler]

That. Is. Truly. Fantastically funny. I love it!

[mrbenn]

Loved that video from start to finish! It had it all; speed, humour, meet ups, tea stops and... watery diff oil

Some rather decent garage space on show towards the end of the vid ?

[GrumpyCat]

Agreed. Made great viewing, well done on the trip and the unseen work of editing all the footage into an enjoyable hours entertainment. 

[Zelandeth]

Thanks for sharing that, really interesting to see.  Definitely looking to get a new set of pulleys for TPA with a view to refurbishing the ones currently in use.

Thanks for being so complimentary of TPA too...

Had to laugh when you hit the queue on the A422 on the way onto the A5 from Buckingham...that bit always gets choked up.

 

Really appreciate you taking the time to edit it all together into one video that flows well...that must have taken nearly as long as the driving.

[egg]

From Flickr....

[dollywobbler]

[dollywobbler]

I thought she'd one well yesterday. 50mpg!

[Zelandeth]

That's a pretty good figure for any car of that sort of age I'd say!

[dollywobbler]

More video action - London, Goodwood!

 

[Fumbler]

That was brilliant. I watched it all and laughed so much when you were doing furious leg speeds on the motorway!

[LightBulbFun]

that was truly epic to watch

thank you for the awesome video content and keep up the good work

im very happy to see TWC running properly finally, and that she handles London traffic pretty well

(especially as thats what I will have to deal with in my own future Model 70!)

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Really enjoyed the video today.  Makes me wonder what is next for TWC? I may rewatch later to see if you mentioned anything  

im not sure what he plans trips wise

but he mentioned a page back or 2 that he plans to go over TWCs suspension and other mechanical bits, as the engine is leaking a bit of oil, and the dampers are not really damping anymore, oh and obviously have a look at the diff at some point I imagine!

[Alusilber]

16 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

That's got to be a calendar pic!

[LightBulbFun]

I dont think we have had this shot yet

https://www.flickr.com/photos/zacks_classic_cars/47840811692/

[Braddon81]

Twcs not the first Invacar to do an Auto test! Here's some stills from a disabled car rally event in Silverstone back in 1981! 

[LightBulbFun]

oh thats very cool! you dont happen to have a link to the video do you?

also an SPU-K Invacar Model 70, bloody hell thats an early Model 70, do you know that ones reg? its even older then TWC!

(Stuart wanted me to try and find the VIN number of  an SPU-K car, but sadly the examples he gave me had not survived until 2001, so I was not able to look it up, however I was able bash the DVLA checker a while back and pulled up SPU860K which survived until 2004! and grab its chassis number, so then its just a case of walking backwards or forwards to figure out the other SPU-Ks chassis number  )

its also the first time I have seen a picture of a K reg Invacar Model 70 aside from TWC, so also the first time I have seen an Invacar Model 70 on white on black plates

(up until now I have just seen a few AC Model 70 examples on white on black plates)

[dollywobbler]

Third and final part goes live at 8pm, but live chat is now in operation.

 

[AndySnapper]

DW unwittingly reveals his helmet size to the world!

[LightBulbFun]

some properly epic footage in this part

Id love to see how TPA on her wider 10 inch wheels/tyres would compare

(also looking forward to the Lada video! ) 

[dozeydustman]

Pt3 will have to be watched on catch up. Your adventure last week was epic @dollywobbler

[dollywobbler]

TWC has been parked up at my new unit for a few weeks now, gently pissing oil all over the new floor in protest. I went over for 2CV fettling today.

That turned into one of the UTTER BALLACHE sessions where even changing an inline fuel filter is a pain in the arse. To cheer myself up, I decided to get TWC out for a run (after a jump start). 

It went well.*

A sudden chuffing sound and loss of power suggested a pretty obvious problem. Yeah, she'd spat out a spark plug, which then dragged on the ground while the HT lead merrily melted away on the hot exhaust. FFS!

Because it was a slightly unplanned local foray, I had no tools. There was no mobile reception. I could not touch the spark plug because it was too hot. MEGAFFS!

Eventually, I hit on the idea of soaking my fingers with screenwash and transferring moisture to the plug. That worked, and I was then able to move the plug to the jet for extra cooling. It wasn't good. The electrode was now touching. I bent it sort-of back with a house key. It didn't want to go back in the head mind, even after liberally applying engine oil. I'd get what felt like about two threads in and it just stopped. I tried driving like this. I didn't get very far. Screenwash fingers, lube it up, have another go. Not much further.

Then I tried just driving it on one cylinder, but that was a struggle. She could barely move. I jumped out so I could push and operate the throttle and we managed to get up one hill. The next one was bigger and on a busier road. SOD THAT.

So, back to trying to straighten out the spark plug by dragging it on the ground and trying to clean the threads up with a random stone like some sort of Bear Grylls for shit old cars. Amazingly, this did improve the situation, though I did not dare give her more than about 10% throttle. Sorry folk stuck behind me! I dare not stop and yes I am climbing this hill at 10mph.

Managed to get back to my unit eventually. Thankfully, I'd done a lot of hill climbing so it was mostly downhill on the run back. Phew.

Had to then carry on with the 2CV, so TWC has been left to think about what she's done. If I'm lucky, a Helicoil will work (I may actually have some Timeserts somewhere). If not, I guess the engine will be coming out for more major surgery (and maybe address the oil leaks...)

Just a normal day then really.

[busmansholiday]

Fuck me, that's not what you want, at least your local roads are quiet unlike most of us.

Has TWC problems  anything to do with that haircut you're had?

[dollywobbler]

Just now, busmansholiday said:

Fuck me, that's not what you want, at least your local roads are quiet unlike most of us.

Has TWC problems  anything to do with that haircut you're had?

I am a bit worried that I've gone all Sansom. That's two breakdowns in two days... (though it outside assistance isn't required, is it actually a breakdown?)

[LightBulbFun]

Shit! that's exactly what you dont want on an ally block engine! I wonder why the spark plug was spat out (could of it been lose or something?)

thankfully these engines are fairly modular like a 2CV engine IIRC, so I think you should be able to rob the head(s) off TWCs original engine (or just transfer entire pistons barrels and heads in one big go!)

although this would be a good excuse for a 650cc upgrade no?

im really hoping to get my hands on these 2 books and get them properly digitised which I imagine will come in quite handy now! (thankfully the current PDF we all have does go into detail on engine disassembly etc)

 

one thing I will say,  dont forget to clean the melted HT lead residue off the exhaust you dont want that reacting and causing rust issues

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, handy having a spare engine for sure! Elly's current engine has heads from all over the place (due to various faults, not just stripped threads). 

No idea why the plug came out. Because I've owned 2CVs, I'm certainly careful not to overtighten the plugs. As I've discovered before though, aluminium can be very fragile.

[BL Bloke]

38 minutes ago, busmansholiday said:

Fuck me, that's not what you want, at least your local roads are quiet unlike most of us.

Has TWC problems  anything to do with that haircut you're had?

TWC probably didn't recognise him with short hair.

I 'm glad to hear that you managed to get back to the unit.