invacar LightBulbFun's Invacar & general ramble thread, index on page 1, survivors lists on Pages 24/134 & AdgeCutler's Invacar Mk12 Restoration from Page 186 onwards, still harping on...

[busmansholiday]

Construction and Use Regs. It's a historic thing going back to the 60's(?) when you had a choice of cross-ply or radial tyres. They just don't match. 

[LightBulbFun]

updated the survivors list with these 2 Model 70s  

and I really need to update my picture of TPA! LOL

just waiting for Zel to drive to another scenic spot/car park or something

[LightBulbFun]

so heres one im happy to have finally figured out, came across this Model 70 a good while back, but i was never quite sure if it was MPD536P or MPD535P, I ended up settling on 535, because thats what it most looked like to me

 

however clearly im blind, as I just now I went back to where I found the above photo and this photo was also there that I somehow missed LOL

im happy to have finally found out for sure as its been bugging me for a while now!

[busmansholiday]

If you're clearly blind will not that help with your disability claim ?

[LightBulbFun]

[Joey spud]

 

I came across this image today on an ex work forum.

I'm sure you've already got it covered.

[LightBulbFun]

Oh very cool! a proper picture of JBY503J from  when the previous owner painted it orange to match the bong bug he had  (while we have JBY503J well documented, @egg even got a chance to drive it  up until now I had only seen a couple google street view images and one very small photo of it in orange, so its cool to see a full sized picture ) 

so thanks for sharing that image  (is there any story behind the photo? did someone have to attend to it when it broke down? that must of been a fun call out )

while it looks very funky in orange, im happy to say the current owner sanded off all the orange paint and she is back to being invacar blue again

here it is back in blue  

[egg]

40 hours of sanding by hand apparently...

[LightBulbFun]

theres something that makes me grin as as we head onto over 50 pages of invacar ramblings  (despite PVD nuking literally every single post of his from this thread)

the thing that makes me grin is the amount of people talking about the "invacar craze" here on AS (people on the Dark wob seem to be talking about it there too even LOL)

people DO realise thats its literally just 4-5 people who actively post about invacars, 1 of whom is just way too overly enthusiastic about the things and that its not that everyone and their dog suddenly has/wants an invacar right?  (not that id be complaining if that was the case ) 

 its a bit like if people said "Oh everyone in hackney uses really bright lightbulbs" when actually everyone just uses regular lightbulbs and its just the 1 house with the 2000W sports stadium lightbulb in the bed room (also me  )  

I guess I literally talk about invacars so much and am so enthusiastic about them that people think everyone is talking about them

and that just tickles me no end for some reason

if nothing else its doing a really good Job about raising awareness of them on here, sorta carrying on what DW started? and im rather proud/pleased with myself about that if im allowed to say so 

because for example there are plenty of people out there who have intricate knowledge of buses and cars, for example im sure there are multiple people who can tell you about all the changes the Routemaster bus went through during production and its all pretty well documented (I think/hope anyway!)

but when it comes to Invalid vehicles, from what I can tell theres pretty much just me and stuart,  who are actively researching these vehicles and going over things with a fine toothed comb so to speak and figuring out/working out/discovering all the fine details/history, im not trying to discredit Dollywobbler (or anyone else for that matter) for all the awesome work he has put into raising awareness of the invacar or anything, however I have a feeling smashing 200 invacar registrations into the the DVLA at 2AM to find the 1 Model 70 from that block that survived until 2002 is not exactly his thing, his thing is on a much broader less detailed scale if ya get me ) 

 

also and since "no ones" done it before, theres so many fascinating things that have been discovered and are probably yet to be discovered, and then  documenting it on the internet so everyone can read about it, as I have noticed a lot of what is known is not really actually documented on the internet, and im happy that I have been able to change that somewhat

 

hopefully this all makes sense and i have not offended or upset anyone as thats not the intention!

(you could call this a bit of a rant, but its like a positive rant if that makes sense )

[New POD]

Imagine if you put all that research skill and enthusiasm into finding a cure for insanity. 

Joking. Not insanity. Cancer, or global warming. 

Or imagine if you became a forensic accountant and were employed by the HMRC, to dissect the acounting web of someone bad. 

Lets face it, you make my 2003 to 2007 obsession on mk2 cavaliers look lame. 

I salute you, despite wanting to find you something useful to be obsessed about. 

Carry on. 

Did you buy one yet? 

 

 

[Sir Snipes]

It's pretty funny that people who frequent a website/s about unfashionable old cars are too snobby to accept Invacars.

I have to admit I hated them when I was younger but the story of how the survivors um, survived is kinda interesting.

[Joey spud]

13 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Oh very cool! a proper picture of JBY503J from  when the previous owner painted it orange to match the bong bug he had  (while we have JBY503J well documented, @egg even got a chance to drive it  up until now I had only seen a couple google street view images and one very small photo of it in orange, so its cool to see a full sized picture ) 

so thanks for sharing that image  (is there any story behind the photo? did someone have to attend to it when it broke down? that must of been a fun call out )

No story behind it it was just papped at the road side.

I was talking with a retired Patrol who remembers these back in the day and he recalls they were sods for snapping their throttle cables and shreading the drive belt and he kept a set of points and a condenser in his van stock as condenser failure / pitted points was another common cause for a fail to proceed.

Oh and clouting objects and bending the steering arm would restrict their ability to turn left. ?

[LightBulbFun]

6 hours ago, New POD said:

Imagine if you put all that research skill and enthusiasm into finding a cure for insanity. 

Joking. Not insanity. Cancer, or global warming. 

Or imagine if you became a forensic accountant and were employed by the HMRC, to dissect the acounting web of someone bad. 

Lets face it, you make my 2003 to 2007 obsession on mk2 cavaliers look lame. 

I salute you, despite wanting to find you something useful to be obsessed about. 

Carry on. 

Did you buy one yet? 

 

 

haha yeah, ahh you should see the lightbulb/Routemaster hobby, I can go off the deep end there too if im provoked

its just one of those things about me, if im not interested in it, it generally goes in one ear and out the other, but if theres something that does interest me, ill properly research the ever loving crap out of it

made for a very "interesting" school life ill tell you that...

still working on getting one, I  might send another email off to the guy with the 2 Model 70 and spare parts, but im still trying to work out the financial aspect of it all (stuart also does not know much about the spares Invacar Model 70 either, so Im quite eager to get some details on it  )

the story behind REV451R is a very interesting one, Mr webb bought it new privately as a backup for them to both use when they moved to a married couple car allowance with Mrs webb giving up her current (very early) Model 70 at the time, then when the IVS (invalid vehicle service) was closing to new applicants, Mrs webb got a written letter from them, that as a previous IVS user she could request an Invacar even after the IVS closed to new applicants as if she never gave up her Model 70 in the first place, and indeed when circumstances changed with mr webb getting a job in 1979 that required more traveling and him getting a new Motability car, Mrs webb exercised her right to a Model 70 and was given TJN352R second hand for her to run around in

and REV451R being a privately owned Model 70 from new, was how it ended up in the Ali G film  (when I mentioned to a friend that I have a lead REV451R he went "OMG your getting borats invacar?!"  )

4 hours ago, Snipes said:

It's pretty funny that people who frequent a website/s about unfashionable old cars are too snobby to accept Invacars.

I have to admit I hated them when I was younger but the story of how the survivors um, survived is kinda interesting.

Yeah LOL the invacar is one of the cars thats too shite for autoshite as they say  im glad your finding the stories of how the survivors survived interesting at least, I also find it very interesting, from being abandoned in a field for 15 years to being ringed and Q plated to avoid the DHSS  (that I then have to end up fixing 22 years later  )

4 hours ago, Joey spud said:

No story behind it it was just papped at the road side.

I was talking with a retired Patrol who remembers these back in the day and he recalls they were sods for snapping their throttle cables and shreading the drive belt and he kept a set of points and a condenser in his van stock as condenser failure / pitted points was another common cause for a fail to proceed.

Oh and clouting objects and bending the steering arm would restrict their ability to turn left. ?

still one hell of a pap tho, as JBY503J is the only known road worthy Mk12 Invacar! (until egg get his Mk12 on the road  ) so the chances of running into it are remote to put it lightly!

and very interesting stories there  im guessing he was talking about the Model 70, as the Mk12 was a 4 speed manual chain drive to 1 rear wheel (talk about limited slip diff!)

indeed I had heard that the Model 70 had a habit of eating throttle cables, I wonder how much the belt shredding was just down to poor pulley maintenance or just not replacing a worn out belt when it needed replacing (like a worn out timing belt)

[Spottedlaurel]

Have you got TEV655N on your list? Saw it on an old photo on Flickr.

[LightBulbFun]

38 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Have you got TEV655N on your list? Saw it on an old photo on Flickr.

I dont actually, so thanks for posting that  I dont even have any TEV-N Model 70,s on my list at all so I also thank you as its a new block to research  (ie ill figure out when it started and when it ended then try and find one whos chassis number i can pull up then ill add it to the list of model 70 chassis numbers I have

(I thought I had scoped out all the invacars on flicker! clearly not! do you have a link to the photo? )

[Spottedlaurel]

No worries. I'll send you a PM.

 

[LightBulbFun]

TEV-N was a fun block to look up, but sadly none (well see later) survived until 2002 at least so I dont know what chassis range they cover

LAWACAR

 

which you might need when you crash into something after spotting a really nice looking Model 70 and go "INVACOR" 

 

 

a Random AC imposter also with strange tax, sadly cant pull this ones chassis number, also worth noting is the June 1982 Date of first registration, I notice on a lot of these random ACs in a block of Invacars or an Invacar in a block of ACs, that the date of registration is always a good few years after the year of manufacture for some reason.

 

and then finally the DVLAs cat must of paid the keyboard a visit

[LightBulbFun]

invacars to brazil  https://www.propagandashistoricas.com.br/2018/02/carro-para-pessoas-com-deficiencia.html

 

 

and I think the oldest Invacar I have come across

 

 

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

if anyone is wondering it takes about 1 hour to look up 200 Model 70s via the DVLA LOL

that includes distractions like my cat

I have just finished looking up the OPD-L block and I decided to time it this time LOL, I had come across it before in this picture

at the time I was mostly focusing on early K platers and late S platers

so I only did cursory look up of the OPD-L block on the DVLA at the time (just to figure out where it started and ended, plus a few randoms in-between the 2 for the giggles of it incase I could get lucky and Randomly land on one that survived until 2002 or so, but I did not get lucky at that point)

however I was looking at my text file of AC Model 70 Number plate and chassis numbers today, and I realised the OPD-L range had a good chance of being part of a chassis number block I didn't have documented (I had the Late end of the Z block documented and the start of the H block documented, however looking at the date of first registrations there was clearly a gap between Z and H)

so I decided to properly go through the OPD-L block 1 reg at a time to find ones that survived until 2002-2003 so i can look up what their chassis numbers are, and figure out what block of chassis numbers the OPD-L cars where part of  and I managed to find 3 that survived until 2002-2003, OPD671L OPD686L and OPD791L, and indeed it looks like the OPD-L range which goes from OPD611L to OPD810L was the start of the X block of chassis numbers, so im pretty happy about it, so if someone shows up with a Model 70 with no registration numbers, and it so happens their chassis number starts with X it should make figuring out what its registration a bit easier now

(if your wondering what I mean by Z and H block etc, remember AC Model 70 Chassis numbers all start with a letter, sadly iv not yet been able to figure out if the letter itself stands for anything, but Im pretty sure the Letter donates a batch, like  for example PPK549L and TPA621M have different registrations but their chassis numbers both start with H which I think indicates they would of been part of the same batch)

[busmansholiday]

It wouldn't surprise me that the letter code refers to the specific contract that the Government issued for the building of certain quantities of Invacars ?

 

[LightBulbFun]

41 minutes ago, busmansholiday said:

It wouldn't surprise me that the letter code refers to the specific contract that the Government issued for the building of certain quantities of Invacars ?

 

im thinking its something along those lines yeah

I wish I had more pictures of Model 70 VIN plates to see if anything correlates with the "contract number had" thing that is on them

 

for anyone wondering, in order of oldest to newest I have the following AC Model 70 Chassis letters known

Z X H W C L D T

(and PS for all privately sold AC Model 70's)

[LightBulbFun]

just finished watching DWs Citroen coventry video, (sadly I missed the premier) twas very enjoyable tho

and I cant say I have seen a Model 70 with such a control scheme like TJN352R either! @dollywobbler  (or any other shitter who visted!) you didn't happen to grab some shots of TJN352R's interior did you? would to study it in detail

(I wonder if the controls where setup for Mrs webb, or where "left over" from whoever the previous user of TJN352R was? it Makes me wonder how REV451R is setup exactly!)

edit: i also noticed interesting little internal grab handles of sorts  , im guessing to help assist in the opening and closing of the doors? you can see them here in @trigger photo too (as well as the hand brake? lever)

 

 

(Oh btw the info contained in the stand is ripped right out of stuarts small book LOL)

[LightBulbFun]

heres an interesting one

 

its a interior shot of this tippen detla, I dont think I have seen the inside of a Tippen delta before so its pretty cool to see, its quite cosy in there! dont think you could carry a passenger even if you wanted too LOL (also worlds easiest car to check brake fluid on?  ) I wonder what the electric versions look like inside.

 

(pics are from here  http://classiccars.brightwells.com/viewdetails.php?id=5456 )

 

 

(side note I sent off another email to the person with the 2 Model 70,s as a gentle reminder that I am still interested in them, hopefully he will get back to me with pictures ) 

[egg]

56 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

(side note I sent off another email to the person with the 2 Model 70,s as a gentle reminder that I am still interested in them, hopefully he will get back to me with pictures ) 

side note to the side note - still happy to visit him for you. In fact, there was a chance I was going to call today and try and set up something for tomorrow, but plans at the moment are fluid and unpredictable, so not going to work out. Keep pursuing it, I see this as a really good chance.

[LightBulbFun]

oh Cool good to know  I do appreciate the thought even if you cant currently do anything (also crap good point, I should of given him the heads up you might call on my behalf at some point in my email to him LOL when I send him another email ill make sure to mention it)

but im pretty sure he knows you exist, as I mentioned you and your saving of the Mk12 to him during the initial phone call I had with him

indeed I really do hope I can make this work!

[LightBulbFun]

I posted this one before, but from the museums website where they sadly did not have pictures

it seems like this website has pictures  

https://www.motorious.com/vehicles/112705/1977-ac-invacar

sadly im not sure which one this is exactly, ill have to check a couple of my lists and see if any 1977 AC Model 70,s I have show up with an export marker

[LightBulbFun]

ah here we go  I think its TPE330S as it is the only 1977 AC Model 70 I have documented that is showing an export marker

[dollywobbler]

I did take some snaps of the interior, just haven't had a chance to post them anywhere yet. Big lever is indeed the handbrake, with a smaller lever below to release it. The normal handbrake does require some effort to apply so I reckon that's the reason for the longer lever.

 

Choke and heater controls are also on the floor.

[Mrs6C]

I am enjoying your research! Your Tuesday black and white photo of the Invacar with the bus was taken in Princes Risborough, if it helps!

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

I did take some snaps of the interior, just haven't had a chance to post them anywhere yet. Big lever is indeed the handbrake, with a smaller lever below to release it. The normal handbrake does require some effort to apply so I reckon that's the reason for the longer lever.

 

Choke and heater controls are also on the floor.

ah very cool thank you I look forward to seeing the pictures

4 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

I am enjoying your research! Your Tuesday black and white photo of the Invacar with the bus was taken in Princes Risborough, if it helps!

ah cool im glad someones enjoying it

@busmansholiday was not sure where that picture was taken, so indeed it helps  

 

On 5/7/2019 at 4:47 PM, busmansholiday said:

Putting my sad bastard hat on (or " you have very strange hobby" as the nice young Greek lady said to me earlier today as I was scribbling down vin numbers on LHD East Lancs bodied Tridents and B7s), top pic is Sheffield. Leyland Nastie is leaving Harmer Lane onto Pond Street. Second pic is Doncaster, outside the old Waterdale bus station, one of 56 ECW Fleetlines bought by SYPTE. 

Third pic Manchester and a Northern Counties bodied Olympian (don't know where).

Fourth is Darlington and a Roe bodied Daimler CCG6 ( they were twats to drive with the constant mesh boxes), there's a single deck Fleetline with Roe body in the background. 

Smoke for fifth.

Not sure where the Alder Valley VR is, six cylinder may be able to recognise it.

Last pic is Chesterfield, a forward entrance version of pic 4. Cannot remember what works service 104 was (should do, drove enough bus routes into Chesterfield in the late 70's), probably to one of the pits, Markham?.

I posted a B&W of an Invacar early on in DW's post in Portsmouth. Wonder how many other of my bus pics have them in.

I'd also love to know what the reg of the one my grandfather had in the early 60's was. Travelled in that. Freedom of Information ?