Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[Zelandeth]

Yes... starting the engine in gear results in the thing taking off at an alarming rate of knots unless restrained.  I discovered this hanging out of KPL and chasing the car into the garage early in my ownership.

An interlock to disable the starter circuit unless the gearbox is in neutral is on the wishlist for future improvements to TPA.

Admittedly it's less of an issue now with TPA as the parking brake is effective enough that she won't actually go anywhere...but it was plenty unnerving before that was the case.

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, ok. It is quite sharp if unexpected. On the start line of Shelsley Walsh, it definitely didn't feel quick!

[dollywobbler]

The only time an Invacar has climbed Shelsley Walsh. Well, certainly the only time chased by a lawnmower, a fake NYPD Police car and a crazy VW-based bubble buggy thing...

 

[LightBulbFun]

very happy to see videos on TWC once more  

I enjoyed this one very much!

BTW did the hard top crack always go round the side like that?, might be worth keeping an eye on and making sure it does not grow in size

 

[dollywobbler]

Which one? There are many.

[LightBulbFun]

this one, although your right the crack I normally think of as the crack in your hard top is the one on the lower left

it may be I just have never noticed the crack going round the side before

(I did try and check some older Photos I have of TWC however none of them are from that side so I cant tell if its grown or my mind is just messing with me)

[dollywobbler]

Ah, that has been iffy for some time. I've actually gaffer taped up the one behind my left shoulder (on the inside anyway). I do need to consider some bodywork improvements at some point, but then have the challenge of not wanting her to look restored.

[egg]

Hey ho, could be worse

[Zelandeth]

Get some Fibral, P40 (or similar) and slap it on from the inside.  It's a fairly thick paste so easily managed and will stay where it's put.  No need to have anything visible from outside, but it will help restore the strength of the area to stop the crack spreading and help keep the weather out.

This stuff.

Still messy, but it's so much easier than messing around with separate matting and resin and is pretty user friendly.

I found (far too recently!) that the best way to get things nice and smooth was actually to just use disposable gloves and smooth it over by hand, especially if you're working inside a tight curve or recess which makes getting tools in difficult.  Wish I'd worked that out a few months ago. 

[plasticvandan]

the problem you have is you seem to have done it back to front,the fibreglass is meant to go on the inside,then the top filled and smoothed off.this stuff is only meant for little repairs,holes etc.it has no strength in it for anything structural.

[AdeMk1]

You could do to drill a small hole at the end of that crack, it will stop it spreading any further.

[Zelandeth]

For small cracks and holes it's more than adequate.  While I've not done actual industrial testing, I've abused some of the repairs I've done with it and ascertained that it's more than strong enough so long as it's well keyed to the surface.

Well squidged into a hole or crack in a panel it's plenty strong.  Probably stronger than the rather low rent fibreglass these bodies are made of to start with!

[MorrisItalSLX]

The thought did cross my mind that you could only patch the cracks on the “hidden” side to reinforce them and prevent them growing whilst preserving the patina and completely negating the need to bugger about with filler, sanding, paint and all that other malarkey.

I’m also pleased for you that the spat spark plug was a relatively easy fix. They can be proper pains, hence why the spark plug in my lawn mower is currently held in with Araldite and string.

[LightBulbFun]

 

 

happy to see another TWC focused video I enjoyed it very much   (and the NMR one too! )  I also enjoyed the bit where @dollywobbler was explaining what TWC was etc and I like to think you where thinking to yourself "ok what did LBF say again in that ramble of his 2 weeks ago? I better get it right or he will complain again!"

very happy to see she is happily cruising at 55-60Mph, did you get a chance to look at the distance of the pulleys? according to the workshop manual it should be exactly 10.25 inches between the centre of the 2 pulley shafts

as seen in the manual and in this letter to all approved repairers to RTFM! (it seems people where trying to adjust the belt tension by eye and not actually reading the workshop manual. its said at the start of the Model 70 there were quite a few transmission issues, a lot apparently down to the fact that most repairs had no experience dealing with a CVT system)

 

[dollywobbler]

Haven't measured it to be honest...

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Haven't measured it to be honest...

probably worth doing then  

I don't want to see a pair of good pulleys get wrecked because of bad belt tensioning! 

[Zelandeth]

Nice to see her out and about again.  Just watching the video now as it's the first real chance I've had.

Definitely worth giving setting the belt by distance as a test.  The reduction in "thrashy belt" noises at speed was quite noticeable on TPA when I did that.

Still quite gutted I couldn't make it down...I was still half toying with taking TPA down, though once the wheel stud went ping that was the end of that.  She's definitely going to be there next year if I have my way...

[LightBulbFun]

DHSS Workshop Manual For The Model 70 Three Wheeler(OCR).pdf

 

for @dollywobbler as mentioned at the FoD, here's the workshop manual scanned in high quality colour by @Zelandeth and then OCRed by @1970mgb  (that means you can search it! although as the DVLA database clearly demonstrates, OCR is not perfect)

(I was holding off making this public as I know Zel said he wanted to to tweak a couple things and scan the workshop manual again, but given how busy he is currently I think its best I share the copy I have and then I can update it when Zel produces his final example  )

for what its worth the bad quality Manual we had before hand Does mention the 10.25 inch Pulley distance thing so I will leave you with a picture of this Tippen delta

 

[LightBulbFun]

BTW @dollywobbler did you do this step when you changed the diff oil on TWC? I dont see you mention it in the video so I just want to double check as it seems like it would be an easy step to miss!

 

(also note the very helpful* guide on how to tension the Triplex chain! *sigh* LOL )

[dollywobbler]

Given I didn't have the manual with me, no I didn't.

[LightBulbFun]

6 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

Given I didn't have the manual with me, no I didn't.

well now you have something for more video content at least!  (I did notice you had a couple printed sheets of the manual in the video, did Elmsleigh Invacar print those off for you? I would love to have a rummage around the place and see what they have! I do wonder if a workshop manual for the Invacar Mk12 and such like also existed)

(I do wonder what the procedure is for tensioning the chain would be, maybe a Saab owner would know!)

for future reference when out and about id recommend saving the manual to your phone or such  

 

[Jikovron]

It's probably only applicable to transmissions that are fully dry of oil when new or rebuilt rather than an oil change situation .

[LightBulbFun]

16 minutes ago, Jikovron said:

It's probably only applicable to transmissions that are fully dry of oil when new or rebuilt rather than an oil change situation .

good point

but given how the diff "oil" was mostly water, it probably would not be a bad step to do just to flush out any crap and stuff from the chain case that may have accumulated over the past 47 years

[dollywobbler]

Meh. It sounds like it's going to die at some point anyway. Not much point worrying now.

In other news, I got confused between cars, and the Invacar does NOT use the cathedral-style connector for its indicator stalk. That must have been the Fox. I ordered a selection of Lucas stalks as a job lot, and none of them fit. Yay! So, I've tied the stalk to the handlebar for now, so there's no main beam. That'll do. With New Zealand looming, I can't justify any further expenditure on the fleet at the moment.

Taking the Invacar on a road run on Sunday. Weather forecast is entirely terrible. Maybe I should have refitted the demister...

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Meh. It sounds like it's going to die at some point anyway. Not much point worrying now.

In other news, I got confused between cars, and the Invacar does NOT use the cathedral-style connector for its indicator stalk. That must have been the Fox. I ordered a selection of Lucas stalks as a job lot, and none of them fit. Yay! So, I've tied the stalk to the handlebar for now, so there's no main beam. That'll do. With New Zealand looming, I can't justify any further expenditure on the fleet at the moment.

Taking the Invacar on a road run on Sunday. Weather forecast is entirely terrible. Maybe I should have refitted the demister...

Indicator stalks seem to pop up now and then on eBay, at least we know the proper Lucas part number now.  This is what you need: 39732.

 

[LightBulbFun]

3 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Meh. It sounds like it's going to die at some point anyway. Not much point worrying now.

 

id still attend to it, you don't want it to get worse  

and while we both know where there might be a spare gearbox, I would advise lunching your gearbox given the general scarcity of Model 70 bits!

 

sorry to hear about the connector mishap I did notice the Connector on REV was different than the one you thought it was at the time

On 9/10/2019 at 7:40 PM, LightBulbFun said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312610664965

this almost looks like it but its not "cranked" like the Model 70 ones are

I wonder if thats what the J means

(but searching 39732J does not pull anything up but removing the J gives me results)

 

so this IS the sort of switch/connector your looking for then? just so I can keep my eyes peeled

[LightBulbFun]

On 1/9/2018 at 4:36 PM, busmansholiday said:

Here's something to cheer you up, not the Marshalls bodied Panther Cub, the Invacar sneaking into this picture I took around 1970 in Portsmouth.

 

Woop found the picture again at last! 

full reg will either be YPK899H or APK899H  (and its a Model 67 as you know but a Model 67 Mk15 to be specific  )

[motorpunk]

Spotted today (?)

[Mrs6C]

7 hours ago, motorpunk said:

Spotted today (?)

Calling @LightBulbFun...

[motorpunk]

In a field full of priceless classics and krypocurrency wankers it was a nice sight.