Project Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing

[uk_senator]

What an arse.

If the spares car ones seized, hold the distributor still & rotate the car instead, might help crack it off easier..

[Junkman]

Did you perhaps swap the plug leads by any chance?

No, I'm sure you didn't.

[dollywobbler]

On a two cylinder engine, if you swap the plug leads, it simply won't run. 

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Well just in case it aids extraction.

 

Doesn't it always!

 

DW - did the drill bits have any effect on the distributor shroud/sleeve? It looks alloy - so 'could' be drilled to weaken and lead to it's collapse perhaps? It's looking like a total ballache of a job but could also be worth a long drawn out shot!

 

Really REALLY glad this is not me - it would've been a molten pile of plastic and regret shortly after the thing broke on me!

 

On that above - really? Learned something today - thought they'd fire but all over the place and sound like a bag of hammers.......

[richardthestag]

bugger and double bugger

 

I know how the angers can escalate on a job like this and have fallen into the trap too many times and buggered too much stuff up. so you have my full and sincere sympathy

 

nowadays if angers come at me I divert angers to something else that i dont give a shit about, release angers, switch of lights close door and dream about project being found in 20 years time in the exactly the same state but by now is omgbarnfindofthecentury.

 

Often after a situation like this I wake in the middle of the night with omg it is so simple type solution. 

 

However you now have an opportunity, get the engine out, cannot be any more difficult that lifting a lawn mower engine off surely. Bench strip it and learn how it works, then ask a friendly engineering shop for advise they may do it for beer vouchers but they will have a solution.

 

Tidy engine bay, sort loom, bond with it while it is down on its knees. fall in love again and the euphoria when it restarts again after that work will power you through to the end of the project.

 

 

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....Here's the latest video. I'm still dealing with the backlog of videos, so this one is mostly related to trying to service it. It does not contain epic failz.

 

I'm just trying to get my head round the idea that any video update containing the epic fails will also be bearing the strapline "Sponsored by Hagerty Insurance".

[dollywobbler]

I'm just trying to get my head round the idea that any video update containing the epic fails will also be bearing the strapline "Sponsored by Hagerty Insurance".

 

Well, the thing is, I HAVE to get it to Festival of the Unexceptional, which Hagerty organises. Doesn't matter how many fails on the way as long as I make it! 

[dollywobbler]

Doesn't it always!

 

DW - did the drill bits have any effect on the distributor shroud/sleeve? It looks alloy - so 'could' be drilled to weaken and lead to it's collapse perhaps? It's looking like a total ballache of a job but could also be worth a long drawn out shot!

 

That's pretty much all I did. Broke two drill bits along the way.

[bub2006]

Dollywobbler,I enjoy tinkering and I'm decent with spanners. Maybe a day for us midland lot and anyone else to come over and assist you? I'd really like to lend a hand with this.

[dollywobbler]

A kind offer Bub, but I'm happy to plug on solo. Makes it easier for video production!

[bub2006]

Fair enough. Offer stands. I don't mind not being on videos. Untraceable that way!

[plasticvandan]

Bad news, here is me hacked off with the doors freezing shut. Hope you get it sorted.

spray silicone spray on the seals

[They_all_do_that_sir]

You'll get there, I have had many of these moments. Like you, I always find these things happen when its too bloody cold to be anywhere near a spanner. I think this makes it worse as you are already battling the bit of your brain that says "why did you leave the nice warm house you idiot, get back inside"

 

You will get it fixed, but as the engine is probably fairly easy to drop out it might be worth running it down to an engineering shop (as Mrs 6C suggested) and have them do it for you.

 

That also means you could clean and paint the metal work the engine bolts to - is there a subframe or just the chassis?

[dollywobbler]

Just the chassis. There's a  cradle that reaches out from the main chassis, just after the sills.

[barrett]

Has anyone ever heard of this before? surely a distributor doesn't seize in place in an engine - it should just life out with no resistance whatsoever. Are you sure there isn't anything clamping the shaft in at the bottom? I have never ever heard of a distributor becoming 'stuck' before, it sounds totally insane to me

[andy18s]

Shame you won't be passing through some European countries soon,to pick up spare engines like.....

ahem

[dollywobbler]

I haven't chiselled my way down to another bolt yet. It does seem odd to have occurred with alloy to alloy, rather than alloy to iron. That I could understand. I have read about it happening online, and it seems the seal can degrade, swell and set like glue.

[plasticvandan]

i have had Reliant dizzys sieze solid so not surprised,am surprised it snapped off though.

[DodgeRover]

Radical thought but if the dizzy doesn't drive anything else why not convert it to electronic ignition with a trigger wheel and megajolt system. I think I may have seen some simpler cheaper systems advertised for 2 cylinder motorcycles too.

[gadgetgricey]

Have you sprayed the dizzy on the spares car with some plus gas....

Might be an idea to have a look at that one to see if you have missed any bolts or if that one comes off easily.

[dollywobbler]

Now the dizzy is off, I can see that there are no missed bolts. Furthermore, that remnant of shaft can lift slightly, stopped only by the plug of battered alloy that remains.

 

I'll certainly endeavour to free the dizzy before having any thoughts about engine swappery. I might even dismantle more of the engine to improve access (take the Dynastart off and maybe even the cowling).

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I would cut a slot in the crankcase next to the distributor shaft.That will release any grip it has. The slot can be filled with Araldite, chemical metal, whatever to prevent a leak. It's not elegant, but it's not a 250GTO either. I've dealt with worse shit than that. Chin up.

[Mrs6C]

Furthermore, that remnant of shaft can lift slightly, stopped only by the plug of battered alloy that remains.

If you need to fish for and retrieve swarf and any dirt that has fallen down and collected in the shaft well, I have found that a greased cotton bud, increased in length if needed by taping to a skewer, is pretty good for this. Swarf/dirt sticks to the greased cotton blob and can be withdrawn and wiped off, then the bud be re-greased and used again etc.

[busmansholiday]

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.

 

[dollywobbler]

Oooh! A previous-gen two-stroke one!

[jonny69]

I've had a distributor get stuck and break like that as well, on my old Ford Pop. I took head off and pressed it out from the other side, but a bit of slide hammer punishment on the shaft ought to get yours out. Even if you weld a long bar or tube onto the shaft with a bit of box or angle on the end that you can hit from underneath. Should move it.

[oldcars]

spray silicone spray on the seals

Did that the other night cheers, worked a bit better this morning.

[timolloyd]

I have a bit of a man-crush on you, Dollywobbler, after reading of his engine-destroying strength.

 

Maybe you can sack off Hagerty and get sponsored by a protein powder company?

[plasticvandan]

There's a lot of man-love on AS at the moment

[SiC]

There is also a lot of broken and barely functioning ones too! Especially on the older car front.