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Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

dollywobbler

By dollywobbler
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Inspector Morose Rank: Lancia Gamma

Inspector Morose

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80+ achieved in K2CEN, an Expressliner Plaxton B10M whilst on test one day on the M6.

 

No, not road test. My PSV driving test. (the joys of knowing the Ministry tester of old)

 

He did make me work before on a previous test with full gear exercise on a semi auto National (for which you got an auto licence hence why the second test on the Expressliner) including crawler.

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dollywobbler Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

dollywobbler

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Mostly what I'm doing today is trying to get the Invacar indoors. That means tidying up.

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I also have lots of spare wheels. Left is a Morris Minor I think. No idea why I have it. Middle is an XM steelie with a reasonable (but old) tyre. To the right, I have some horrible off roader tyre that's scrap, and a pair of 14" tyres for a car I don't think I own anymore. They're scrap too. 2CV wheels aren't bad, so they've gone into storage.

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I also found an XM strut top purchased from Chaseracer, but which turned out to be the wrong size - it's a big one, so I think fitted to the 2.5 and V6. If anyone wants it, £100 is a lot cheaper than a specialist will charge. It's brand new, never fitted.

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dollywobbler Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

dollywobbler

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Phew! That was hard work. Nippa started the dragging process, but myself and Mrs DW had to pull/push her in. We had to use sodden planks as skids for the seized rear wheel, which worked really well! It'll be a lot easier to sort out that brake in the garage.

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It's still a shameful mess, but it's a shameful mess with two cars in it!

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dollywobbler Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

dollywobbler

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Bit more judicious tidying would get a couple more in there! Perhaps whithout room to work on them though. You do appear to have boxed the poor 2cv into a corner though. Sorned for winter?

 

Photos are deceptive. There's a nice amount of room to work on TWC, but no room for another motor. But yes, Elly is boxed in for the winter. I need to pull off some of her panels and get them painted, plus fit the hatchback kit I've had since January. The state of the Honda at the moment has convinced me that SORNing the 2CV for the winter was the right move. It's seriously mucky, and they've been chucking loads of salt down recently.

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dollywobbler Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

dollywobbler

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Salt is the problem isn’t it. Mine has only lasted so long as it’s not used that much in all weathers any more. Are you sure about the hatchback kit? They’re not too kind on original roofs, or do you have a matt’s?

 

Have a Matt's, so should be ok. The tag at the bottom of the window has actually broken off, so I'm halfway there already!

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dollywobbler Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

dollywobbler

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Anyway, back to the Invacars. Extreme heat has very nearly freed off the offside rear wheel now. It moved for a bit, but is now stuck again. I'm trying to undo the adjuster, but it may be seized and I also don't seem to have anything to fit it - quarter inch I think? I did try putting a 1/4 socket in my molegrips, but I think that's just slowly destroying the socket...

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dollywobbler Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

dollywobbler

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Thanks. That, plus gentle levering against the backplate with a flat bar (I know, you shouldn't ever do that) did the trick in the end. No pics, because it was getting dark (even in that corner of my garage) and I'm a bit rubbish, but unsurprisingly, the shoes have plenty of meat on them. The adjuster freed off nicely in the end, with judicious use of penetrating oil.

 

Thing is, the wheels are STILL not easy to turn. I had a brainwave at this point, and jacked up the other side. Sure enough, while still not exactly easy, both sides now turn fairly freely. I find this a bit odd, but then I don't fully understand how the vario belt system works. I am wondering whether it is actually in neutral - the selector doesn't seem to move a great deal - a couple of inches each way. Not having a handbook or any instructions, it's hard to know, but I'd appreciate some input from the DAF brigade.

 

I then got thinking and wondered if my partially-seized engine was actually it just not being able to turn the wheels. However, even with the car lifted, it's still stopping rather firmly at one point. Hopefully I'll have a chance to get the rocker covers off tomorrow and check the valves. If they're all where they should be, I might get really brave and take a head off.

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plasticvandan Rank: Renault 16

plasticvandan

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From memory there is indeed a neutral,in fact I'm sure there is,as the standard recovery dolly for these left the rear wheels on the ground,which is usually a no no for CVT systems.There are copies of the owners handbook available (I've got some for older models) but information is limited as users weren't expected to do anything other than check the oil and put fuel in.

Interestingly the prototype Model 70 used the Fiat 500 engine, but by the time it was production ready Fiat were due to launch the 126 and couldn't supply them,so they went to Puch instead.The Salisbury transmission cost a lot to develop iirc.Amazing that prior to this they were 4 speed manuals,brake,clutch and throttle all with one hand!

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plasticvandan Rank: Renault 16

plasticvandan

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And a Harper:-) my dad still remembers the different colour the Harper came in when he was an 8 year old travelling with my grandad in a Bedford HA going round Herefordshire and Worcestershire servicing and repairing them,only this week my grandad told me about one he had to go and sweep up after it had been hit up the back

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eddyramrod Rank: Matra Rancho towing a Tagora

eddyramrod

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,only this week my grandad told me about one he had to go and sweep up after it had been hit up the back

I hit one up the backside in about 1981, with my brown Toledo.  I'd just changed the clutch and it was awfully sharp.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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Asimo Rank: Isuzu Florian

Asimo

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Always been irritated that cars had seperate electrical machines to start and generate. Needless duplication, Dynastarts were available right from the beginning of electric starting.

So civilised to start one's engine without uncouth screams from Bendix or (worse) all of those tiny gears in modern starters!

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Zelandeth Rank: Talbot Matra Rancho

Zelandeth

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Skoda Estelle probably gets the award from cars I've owned as having the most agricultural sounding starter.

 

As for things I've driven, Tatra T-613 - that thing sounds like some industrial scale torture device and could give small children nightmares when you turn the key - not a problem though as after a couple of seconds any pesky onlookers have been sucked into the cooling fan anyway...

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