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...

[Outrun9430]

Really glad to see things are actually looking positive for LBF for once in his quest for an Invacar. I've been following along on this quest since the beginning and I can honestly say this seems like the most promising chance yet. Really hoping this works out for him since I know this will absolutely change and improve his life

[captain_70s]

I will say I managed on a public street right up until one neighbour took a dislike to the concept...

 

How's parking at your gaff? Will taking up a space invoke ire?

 

Not to be too negative but I reckon an Invicar on a public street will end up on it's side/nicked/on fire alarmingly quickly...

[DodgeRover]

^^^^ this, you need at the very minimum to sort out somewhere to park it whilst you work on it. If it's on the road as things will happen very quickly, plus it won't be insured to be kept on the highway if unregistered.

[Cavcraft]

Do agree, Nyphur, but even if the other one (which has space ina  garage, iirc) has to be broken for spares and/or into component form, it's probably worth it. AS as a 'gang' will help sort it, though again I agree with your salient points.

[egg]

All good points.

 

However, I reckon get the car in the fold and worry about all that later.

 

LBF will get his money back, demand is greater than supply.

[mrbenn]

Agreed, good points and well raised.

 

There are options, though. Temporary off road storage has been offered by a couple of 'shiters, along with help to collect. This could give some time to get it registered and maybe fettled a bit in readiness for going down to LBF.

 

It's MOT and tax exempt so as long as it can be registered fairly quickly keeping it on a road shouldn't be an issue. LBF has already said it could be insured in his Mum's name if necessary, and classic insurance tends to be pretty cheap.

 

As Egg says, let's get it under the AS wing then worry about the rest later.

[LightBulbFun]

I will say I managed on a public street right up until one neighbour took a dislike to the concept...

 

How's parking at your gaff? Will taking up a space invoke ire?

 

Not to be too negative but I reckon an Invicar on a public street will end up on it's side/nicked/on fire alarmingly quickly...

 

 

theres usually a few free spaces in the dead end, so I dont think we are chocking for capacity here, so id like to think that I wouldn't piss anyone off

 

(plus theres a Rover SD1 here that has been parked in literally the same spot for about 20 years now to the point where the pavement behind it has gone mossy and I dont think anyones ever complained or vandalised it, supposedly it does get MOTs every year but iv never seen it move, I have seen the owner work on it from time to time, you can tell he is working on it, because suddenly everything smells of petrol and you can hear the Rover V8 burbling away )

 

 

 

 

if one of my neighbours can have a Rover SD1 then a Model 70 should be a doddle right?  that red van is also his IIRC

[mrbenn]

Are you on speaking terms with this neighbour? Could be a handy chap to know!

[busmansholiday]

Getting it bought is the first problem, the rest will just follow on / get sorted one way or another.

 

One question is what's the smallest van it will inside as rental usually depends on size and not all places have big vans.

 

Friends in S2 said it could go outside their place for a short time but it's pointless having to hire a van twice. Also, if you buy it, check that there's no footie match at S2 when you intend to collect, it's hell for traffic.

 

I'm about a dozen miles north S2, if push comes to shove, and things go to plan, I should have space in my drive shortly. Whether Mrs BMH would be happy with me spending loads of time on it is debatable, but I'd cross that bridge if it happened. Again though, two hires unless you fancy driving it back.......

[Christine]

I'd get acquainted with the SD1 owner....!

[LightBulbFun]

Are you on speaking terms with this neighbour? Could be a handy chap to know!

 

 

I know the owners wife quite well (in the we always say Hi! if we cross paths sense), but I dont know the owner/husband himself,

 

 but yeah iv been meaning to make contact , just not sure what the best approach is

 

 

Getting it bought is the first problem, the rest will just follow on / get sorted one way or another.

 

One question is what's the smallest van it will inside as rental usually depends on size and not all places have big vans.

 

Friends in S2 said it could go outside their place for a short time but it's pointless having to hire a van twice. Also, if you buy it, check that there's no footie match at S2 when you intend to collect, it's hell for traffic.

 

I'm about a dozen miles north S2, if push comes to shove, and things go to plan, I should have space in my drive shortly. Whether Mrs BMH would be happy with me spending loads of time on it is debatable, but I'd cross that bridge if it happened. Again though, two hires unless you fancy driving it back.......

 

very much appreciate the gesture if nothing else

 

I think you can squeeze a Model 70 into a Large size transit van going by what Zel rented out when he went to fetch TPA, and then theres obviously the trailer or flat bed van route that worked out well for Egg and his Mk12

 

but yeah id like to avoid having to rent out too many vans if possible, sounds like its quite expensive!

 

 

speaking of buying, still not heard anything from the the seller sadly, do yall think I should send another text message or something?

[egg]

Yes, I think it is time to message again. Don't want him selling to someone else. The ad has had 300 views.

[Outrun9430]

Yes, I think it is time to message again. Don't want him selling to someone else. The ad has had 300 views.

 

 

99% sure thats from all of us in here refreshing the page every so often LOL

 

But yeah, I wouldn't mess around trying to get this, especially with the heightened attention and knowledge of these Invacars lately...

[Datsuncog]

Yes, I think it is time to message again. Don't want him selling to someone else. The ad has had 300 views.

...one of those views on Car & Classic is me; I daresay many of the others also came from the link on this thread!

 

But yes, I can barely contain my anticipation either...

[egg]

Ha, this is true. I wonder how many times ebay sellers get excited, and it's just hundreds of clicks from us from the ebay tat thread.

[Christine]

Will you need these  to drive it  ?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orthopeadic-Mans-Builtup-Shoe-Short-leg-Polio-Cheaney-11/183713296434?hash=item2ac62a7032:g:KBAAAOSwPsRccsFl:rk:1:pf:0

[LightBulbFun]

Will you need these  to drive it  ?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orthopeadic-Mans-Builtup-Shoe-Short-leg-Polio-Cheaney-11/183713296434?hash=item2ac62a7032:g:KBAAAOSwPsRccsFl:rk:1:pf:0

 

funny you should post that, one of my legs is actually slightly shorter then the other, and I did get given some shim type thingies, but I found they did not really help, especially as I walk on my toes

 

but hopefully that stuff doesn't affect my ability to operate pedals in a car too badly  (I know i can drive a petrol powered go cart with no issues)

 

(I dont actually know what control scheme this Model 70 has, hopefully we will find out when/if the pictures ever show up I have sent a text message asking if he got the pictures yet )

[Christine]

Gigglepin is qualified to  sort  out a club foot ...  

[Saabnut]

Do be aware that it is illegal to undertake major repairs on the public highway - and this includes lay-by's. Most police will either not know/not care but there is always one and that is all it takes. I found this out aged 17 when swapping a Hillman Imp gearbox in a lay-by after a spectacular failure 200 miles from home. As I was nearly finnished, the copper let me off with a warning, but I did the research when I got home and he was correct - for a car to be ON the public highway, it has to be roadworthy, even if not in use.

 

I did leave the knackered Imp gearbox in the waste bin in the lay-by though.

[egg]

Yeah, I believe essential repairs are all that are allowed.

 

But.

 

In my street at the moment there's a Nissan 370z with no engine and sharp metal everywhere (been in a smash and is being broken for bits on the street). Been there 3-4 weeks, two police notices and it's still there, so...

 

Right next to a kiddies nursery too.

[LightBulbFun]

Do be aware that it is illegal to undertake major repairs on the public highway - and this includes lay-by's. Most police will either not know/not care but there is always one and that is all it takes. I found this out aged 17 when swapping a Hillman Imp gearbox in a lay-by after a spectacular failure 200 miles from home. As I was nearly finnished, the copper let me off with a warning, but I did the research when I got home and he was correct - for a car to be ON the public highway, it has to be roadworthy, even if not in use.

 

I did leave the knackered Imp gearbox in the waste bin in the lay-by though.

 

ohh thats good to know

 

 

but thats just about being roadworthy right, or is there a specfic law about doing repairs, regardless of if the car is roadworthy or not?

 

or the law just about the car being roadworthy, because i am aware of that law

 

 

 

one does have to ask would changing the gearbox really make the car not road worthy? yeah it cant go anywhere but at the same time, its not like the car has no breaks or has sharp edges

 

I wonder if the police man was just being a bit of an arse about things...

 

 

now of course I know that if it has no brakes that its definitely not road worthy, so i would have to get that sorted out before dragging it to my dead end

 

and I am aware of that hence hoping to get whatever brake work it needs doing, done while its in storage off the road

 

 

regardless of all that tho, im hoping it wont need any major repairs like engine out jobs or such...

 

im hopeful that if its running, that its in fairly good shape

[Yoss]

I'm going with the people who say get it bought and worry about the consequences after. That's the Autoshite way.

 

To those that are highlighting the problems I'd like to add that I bought a Routemaster when I was twenty. It was the last night of RM operation in Southampton and when it was over, instead of going home, which was walking distance, me and a friend cadged a lift on a preserved RM that had come down for the day. Back to Tilbury Docks where we arrived at about 02.30. It was on this journey that we were convinced that buying a Routemaster was a good idea. We bought it between three of us and only one of us had a licence (why would I need a licence, we had a fleet of Leyland Atlanteans outside our door, English Electric super power, both diesel and electric on the railways and about six hundred AEC engined RM's, and even six still with Leyland engines, in London, but anyway I digress...)

 

Not only did I not have a licence, I had nowhere near enough money and didn't even have a bank account. In those days we still had to queue up on a Friday lunchtime for an actual cash pay packet. But we still managed. And we didn't have Autoshite to help us then either.

 

Obviously there's a completely different set of problems here but the point is if you want it bad enough you can find a way.

 

Ironically getting a driving licence led to us having to sell the bus the first time because we started hoarding shit old cars.

 

Anyway, good luck Dez. By the way, where abouts are you in London? Not the actual address, just area. Just curious. You said 38 minutes from Stratford but that's a pretty wide area. I still seem to end up up there quite a lot so might be passing one day without even knowing.

[LightBulbFun]

thank you for the kind words of encouragement

 

im in Hackney the E2 area,

[Mally]

 I'm nowhere near London, the opposite way in fact, but it can sit in my front garden for a while at your risk if we can get it there. Brakes would have to be free. I can look at the brakes as well if I ever get time.

I have a trailer, but ramps and runners will be too wide. Anyone got planks and plywood?

I also have use of a Tranny Van, but loading is only 3'-6", because beds.

[Yoss]

thank you for the kind words of encouragement

 

im in Hackney the E2 area,

 

Ah, route 38.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Good luck LBF. It's a fine line between appearing interested, or completely desperate to the seller. Difficult one - you don't want to give him the impression that it must be worth a mint as you're chasing his ass. On the other hand, if you don't push, you don't want someone else stepping in.

 

As for Yoss buying a Routemaster at the age of 20. MASSIVE REPSECT.

[Saabnut]

Yes, there is a specific law regarding doing repairs on the highway.

 

Just pointing it out so you are aware, now GIB!

[LightBulbFun]

Ah, route 38.

 

and Route 73 into central London  (those are the 2 Routemaster Routes I remember fondly from my earily childhood, and then heritage Route 15 when I discovered that a couple years later)

 

(other fondly remembered routes also include Routes 26 48 & 55 but those where not Routemaster routes during my existence, although I do remember when 55 was curiously crew operated in 2003)

 

so cool that you managed to own a Routemaster by the time you where 20

 

gives me hope for my relatively minor in-comparison invacar dreams, as you say grab the car worry about the details later, tis the autoshite way 

 

 

Good luck LBF. It's a fine line between appearing interested, or completely desperate to the seller. Difficult one - you don't want to give him the impression that it must be worth a mint as you're chasing his ass. On the other hand, if you don't push, you don't want someone else stepping in.

 

As for Yoss buying a Routemaster at the age of 20. MASSIVE REPSECT.

 

aye, this is the text I sent him, sadly still not heard back on any channels...

 

 

 

[Mally]

All you can do. Leave him to it now.

[LightBulbFun]

quick update, got a text message back from the guy

 

 

cant say I have had anyone call me Tom before... (but do you see what i mean when I say no one can get my name right? LOL  )

 

hopefully he will remember and gets back to me tomorrow