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...

[Rsalmon60]

On 10/18/2022 at 12:19 PM, LightBulbFun said:

Hello! Welcome aboard!

awesome to see who RDE346 ended up with  

as for registering it with the DVLA, that will be a V55/5 and V765 job

RDE346 is a Pembrokeshire registration who's registration records thankfully all survive 

so it should be no issue to gather the evidence the DVLA wants to reclaim the registration mark  

(although going by how you know who the first keeper was it sounds like you may have already done this, if so did you get the data in DVLA friendly form from the archivist as well?)

 

the only problem is you would have to do it through the ICR and as im not yet on the V765/1 list (I Think!)

you will have to contact Simon or Big al directly, to sign off on it all

but im more then happy to help you make sure you fill out the V55/5 and V765 itself out correctly in the meantime  

 

and funnily enough I do indeed have a wiring digram, the previous owner of RDE, contacted me for it the same!  do you know how he is doing, he seemed like a nice bloke from the conversations we had via PM on here he only signed up to PM me and left me to post about his machines, which you can find here  https://autoshite.com/topic/32723-lightbulbfuns-invacar-general-ramble-thread-index-on-page-1-survivors-lists-on-pages-24134-adgecutlers-invacar-mk12-restoration-from-page-186-onwards-chips-got/page/196/?tab=comments#comment-2278429

so it was a bit sad to see he had to sell em due to ill health, do you happen to know also who got the Harding Consort FFB 550 or whats happening with that? (I did drop the chap a PM again but got no response sadly, I might drop him a message on ebay, just so I can try and avoid losing track of the machines at least!) 

 

 

anyways, that wiring digram!, here you go! 

I hope this info helps! and I very much look forward to seeing more on the Stanley Argson! 

if I had the means id love to get one myself, would be great for trundling around London  (doesn't matter its only got a top speed of 12Mph, when everyone else is only do 3 anyhow LOL)

Hi I'm the new owner of FFB 550 - just trying to get her registered, have the brown log book and I'm wondering where the chassis number is?

Having a bit of a problem, not sure if its me but the car has little or no power to pull itself away in first gear. It may be the fuel mixture on the needle lever as it just seems to die out and put out a lot of smoke but I am doing the mix 16:1 as it says on the cap. Engine runs really great and starts/runs well. Any information or thoughts would be great.

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Rsalmon60 said:

Hi I'm the new owner of FFB 550 -

Hello! Awesome to have you here! very pleased its not been lost so to speak!  

2 hours ago, Rsalmon60 said:

Hi I'm the new owner of FFB 550 - just trying to get her registered, have the brown log book and I'm wondering where the chassis number is?

I would not worry about that for now, as as it currently stands no one can get a "DVLA dead" invalid carriage registered unless you happen to literally run into Simon! 

the issue is he is the only one on the V765/1 list that can sign off on registration applications for invalid vehicles, but he never has time to run this part of the show

so im still waiting to get myself added so I can take over that roll and start actioning things! once thats sorted, then ill chase you up regarding getting her road registered again

but I am glad to hear you still have its Buff logbook, do make sure to keep that in a safe place and dont lose it! it is your critical piece evidence for being able to reclaim the registration mark!

and also just a nice bit of history  

2 hours ago, Rsalmon60 said:

Having a bit of a problem, not sure if its me but the car has little or no power to pull itself away in first gear. It may be the fuel mixture on the needle lever as it just seems to die out and put out a lot of smoke but I am doing the mix 16:1 as it says on the cap. Engine runs really great and starts/runs well. Any information or thoughts would be great.

sadly I have not had much (any) experience with the Villers 2 stroke, so my knowledge on running issues there are limited, but plenty of other people on this forum are quite experienced in the matter so I am sure someone will come along shortly who can assist  

 

in the meantime a possible thought I had is, is the engine labouring like your trying to pull away in too high a gear? I wonder given she has had an extensive restoration, are all the chain sprockets the correct size? just wondering if one of those has been replaced with the wrong type, may be giving the effect changing the gearing and and its now like trying to pull away in 3rd! and also are all the drive chains are properly tensioned? 

just some idle thoughts I had while reading the "engine lacks power" section of the Fault finding section, of the Villiers AC Acedes Handbook not the exact same engine/machine of course,  but figured id check it incase it gave any useful pointers  (since it is still a Villiers 2 stroke of some kind!)

[Zelandeth]

My gut feeling is that she's running lean based on the sounds of things. 

Two stroke tuning is a bit of a lost art these days, and is something I've only had a little experience with myself.

It's worth bearing in mind that lubrication is one of those fields where things have moved forward absolutely massively since these engines were made - so a 16:1 mix is likely waaaaaay more oil than you need to be adding.  I'd think using a good quality modern two stroke oil you'd be absolutely fine at 30:1.

Cutting down the amount of oil in the premix will have the effect of richening the mixture up as less fuel is being displaced by the oil then.

[Saabnut]

Agreed, modern 2 stroke oil will be fine at 30:1 and would be my first port of call. Also make sure you have the cortrect spark plug fitted, these are critical on a 2 stroke

[Rsalmon60]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Hello! Awesome to have you here! very pleased its not been lost so to speak!  

I would not worry about that for now, as as it currently stands no one can get an invalid carriage registered unless you happen to literally run into Simon! 

the issue is he is the only one on the V765/1 list that can sign off on registration applications, but he never has time to run this part of the show

so im still waiting to get myself added so I can take over that roll and start actioning things! 

but I am glad to hear you still have its Buff logbook, do make sure to keep that in a safe place and dont lose it! it is your critical piece evidence for being able to reclaim the registration mark!

and also just a nice bit of history  

sadly I have not had much (any) experience with the Villers 2 stroke, so my knowledge on running issues there are limited, but plenty of other people on this forum are quite experienced in the matter so I am sure someone will come along shortly who can assist  

 

in the meantime a possible thought I had is, is the engine labouring like your trying to pull away in too high a gear? I wonder given she has had an extensive restoration, are all the chain sprockets the correct size? just wondering if one of those has been replaced with the wrong type, may be giving the effect changing the gearing and and its now like trying to pull away in 3rd! and also are all the drive chains are properly tensioned? 

just some idle thoughts I had while reading the "engine lacks power" section of the Fault finding section, of the Villers AC Acedes Handbook not the exact same engine etc but figured id check it incase it gave any useful pointers  

On 10/18/2022 at 12:19 PM, LightBulbFun said:

Thanks for all the constructive information. The mixture advice massively improved it, still a little underpowered but possible thats just the normal for it. Anyone have any ideas where the chassis number would be or is the one written on the log book good enough for registration or will I need to make a chassis plate?

 

[RayMK]

3 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Agreed, modern 2 stroke oil will be fine at 30:1 and would be my first port of call. Also make sure you have the cortrect spark plug fitted, these are critical on a 2 stroke

Yes, as is the ignition timing and points gap.

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, Rsalmon60 said:

Thanks for all the constructive information. The mixture advice massively improved it, still a little underpowered but possible thats just the normal for it. Anyone have any ideas where the chassis number would be or is the one written on the log book good enough for registration or will I need to make a chassis plate?

glad to hear it sounds like she is running better after the advice  

as for the Chassis number, being that these where quite a low volume production machine (and the fact that I would not be surprised at all if have the very first one produced!) the chassis number location was not standardised 

however from a friend of mine here is where he mentioned where he happened to find the chassis number a (later) petrol example he had

Quote

my petrol one had it stamped on the r/h 2shoulder" of that front chassis arch thingy, so you could see it if you had your head under the nose

although again keep in mind above what I said and dont get alarmed if its not there, it will be somewhere, you may just have to go over the machine with a good light and a fine tooth comb to find it!

 

[LightBulbFun]

On 15/10/2022 at 13:51, LightBulbFun said:

On 08/10/2022 at 02:05, LightBulbFun said:

this is really exciting I was just doing my usual daily DVLA checks, checking in on all the "in progress" DVLA cases im helping out with 

when I noticed at long last GIG4834 is now showing up on the DVLA 1st party checker with a fresh V5 issued! Woo!

this is very exciting to see because the whole GIG Saga has been a right cluster-fuck, so I am very pleased to see some positive progress like this!

tomorrow ill message each of the Model 70 owners involved in this about this good news, and hopefully see which one of them its ended up registered too! 

 

its very exciting too because this is an NI vehicle that had been inactive since before the 2014 database merge thus was hidden from the DVLA 1st party checker, so its very awesome to have confirmation that they can indeed be brought back to life  (for those unaware, vehicles which had been computerised onto NI's 1986 DVA system, but where not active during the 2014 merge, where for some-reason set to to not show up on the DVLA first party checker, but they do still very much have the records and can be found via 3rd party tools)

its also very interesting to see the 2015 tax due date as the last activity I had seen on GIG's record otherwise was in 2009, so I wonder if GIG really was taxed till 2015 or if this is a place holder date

like how when you register a vehicle with the DVLA without taxing it, it gets a 1998 Tax due date (as thats when the last major DVLA computer system overhaul happened)

hopefully in time ill be able to help the owner of UOI8850 get the V5 for it and then we will really see whats what (since I KNOW that vehicle has been off the road since 1991!)

(as GIG was DVLA hidden there was no way to pull her tax due date until now, the tax due date is something you can only get from the DVLA 1st party checker)

 

perhaps one of the reasons that inactive NI vehicles are hidden is because the DVLA was not able to merge all the data and stuff like the taxation status was lost, and so they hide them not as to give erroneous results?

all in all quite exciting!

 

 

pleased to report the 5th of October V5 did arrive, but typically, with the wrong person! (remember 2 people applied for this Model 70's logbook at the same time! LOL)

but we where able to do a simply keeper change online a few days ago, and with the instantaneous nature of online keeper changes

it was not long before, today the V5 has arrived to GIG at long last!  

so I Am very pleased about that 1 down 1 left to!

and thats 2 out of 2 done!

the Porthole car's real identity has finally had a fresh V5 issued! (the one with windows in the B pillars that was on eBay incorrectly wearing GIG4834's identity!)

this was a bit of a nerve wrecking one, because given the previous fun that was had with GIG I was worried the DVLA would be extra tetchy about things, but thankfully despite the scrap marker on TPG443M, it all went very smoothly  

 

question I guess is now, will the guy actually be holding onto TPG443M like he said he would, or will it just go right back onto eBay? LOL

[Weird Car]

After an AC badge for the front of my model 70 if anyone has one kicking about for sale please?? 
 

annoyingly I was introduced to a gentleman at a car show i attended in VJN who used to work at the factory in Thames Ditton and he told me he had a whole box of AC model 70 nose badges but I can’t remember for the life of me what his name was or what I did with his details 

[Mrs6C]

46 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

After an AC badge for the front of my model 70 if anyone has one kicking about for sale please?? 

May or may not be the right one, but worth a go?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325435795395

[Weird Car]

12 minutes ago, Mrs6C said:

May or may not be the right one, but worth a go?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325435795395

Perfect thank you 

[brummiejon]

Having some fun with the Stanley Argson at the moment…. The nearside rear wheel has a puncture and will not come off the taper and keyed shaft…. It’s not been fitted properly by a previous owner and is well and truly wedged (forced) on…… Tried some big pullers but they just bend the outer spoke flange and nothing moves, going to apply some heat tomorrow and see if that helps….. failing that I’m going to cut the spokes and remove the rim so I can get to the five bolts that fixes the outer spoke flange to the hub….. then the puller will be acting directly on the hub and not the pressed steel spoke flange….. lots of heat and brute force, then rebuild the wheel once the hub is released from the half shaft……

wish me luck

[Mrs6C]

3 minutes ago, brummiejon said:

failing that I’m going to cut the spokes

If I remember correctly, spokes unscrew at one end. Cutting them shouldn't be needed?

[brummiejon]

2 minutes ago, Mrs6C said:

If I remember correctly, spokes unscrew at one end. Cutting them shouldn't be needed?

Maybe not but it will be hard to do with the tyre still on and  40 x 70year old spoke nipples covered in paint will be a bugger to unscrew…. I will give it a try first before I get the grinder out…..  but I’m not that hopeful….

[Rsalmon60]

On 11/23/2022 at 10:01 PM, LightBulbFun said:

glad to hear it sounds like she is running better after the advice  

as for the Chassis number, being that these where quite a low volume production machine (and the fact that I would not be surprised at all if have the very first one produced!) the chassis number location was not standardised 

however from a friend of mine here is where he mentioned where he happened to find the chassis number a (later) petrol example he had

although again keep in mind above what I said and dont get alarmed if its not there, it will be somewhere, you may just have to go over the machine with a good light and a fine tooth comb to find it!

 

If I can't finde it would it be ok to make one as I know the chassis number thanks Bob 

[jonathan_dyane]

Can't you just remove the tyre and tube with the wheel Insitu?

[Weird Car]

Quick update on TPE409S she now stops as well as she goes, bled the brakes and they’re absolutely brilliant, quickly popped a drum off and they look almost new so I’m very happy about that, also either I’m turning into a Smurf or the paint isn’t petrol proof 

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

40 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

Quick update on TPE409S she now stops as well as she goes, bled the brakes and they’re absolutely brilliant, quickly popped a drum off and they look almost new so I’m very happy about that, also either I’m turning into a Smurf or the paint isn’t petrol proof 

 

 

Awesome to see TPE on the move! and that she also stops! and im glad to hear that it sounds like the slave cylinders wont have to be attacked after all, thats a major faff saver!

and indeed from what I have been told the Model 70 brakes are actually quite good , because you have 3/4th of the breaking system from a Triumph Herald in effect, stopping something that weighs about half as much as said Herald, so they do pull up quite well when asked!

 

BTW while you had a drum off, do you happen to recall what type of Hub did she have, fully circular re-drilled Fiat hub, or model 70 specific Half moon hub?

 

[brummiejon]

2 hours ago, jonathan_dyane said:

Can't you just remove the tyre and tube with the wheel Insitu?

Maybe, a bit tricky tho and I am a bit infirm…. Not really fit for to doing restorations these days…I’ve already got an unfinished BSA in the shed. I bought this to use but it’s not registered and getting it registered to use as intended is proving difficult because the only one who can sign it off for the DVLA is missing in action. It is already  proving to be a bit too much for me so I might end up passing it on after I’ve fixed this wheel and getting a mobility scooter.

[Weird Car]

2 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome to see TPE on the move! and that she also stops! and im glad to hear that it sounds like the slave cylinders wont have to be attacked after all, thats a major faff saver!

and indeed from what I have been told the Model 70 brakes are actually quite good, because you have 3/4th of the breaking system from a Triumph Herald in effect, stopping something that weighs less then half of said Herald, so they do pull up quite well when asked!

 

BTW while you had a drum off, do you happen to recall what type of Hub did she have, fully circular re-drilled Fiat hub, or model 70 specific Half moon hub?

 

I didn’t think to look really, they looked different than the ones on VJN though

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

I didn’t think to look really, they looked different than the ones on VJN though

interesting! at least one of VJN's hubs was of the half moon type

so I presume if TPE's is different it was of the fully circular type?

[Weird Car]

1 minute ago, LightBulbFun said:

interesting! at least one of VJN's hubs was of the half moon type

so I presume if TPE's is different it was of the fully circular type?

Yes definitely looked like that bottom one

[Noel Tidybeard]

i see no brake lights on TPE

[Weird Car]

38 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

i see no brake lights on TPE

That’s because I’ve not put bulbs in it yet 

[Weird Car]

This been shared yet??

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Harriytait said:

This been shared yet??

One I have seen and have in my archive but never actually gotten round to posting about!

https://www.wealdmobility.co.uk/repairs.html

as there where somethings about it, I wanted to discuss with Stuart at the time first, and never quite got round to actually posting about it!

tis a very neat photo! I do wonder what they are doing to the Acedes, are they scrapping it/dismantling it for parts or doing some Major work to it?, given the amount of panels and bits removed must be something major!

the Mk12c is notable as BOO601F is the first of that ones block BOO601F-BOO700F  (and BOO682F is a private car and the only one of that block to survive past 1983) 

[rob88h]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

BOO601F

Boo, Golf. 

(That’s all I had to contribute. As you were)

[High Jetter]

Weald Mobility are very close to me. Is it worth me popping in to see if Tony is still there and has anything else that might help you @LightBulbFun?

[LightBulbFun]

13 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Weald Mobility are very close to me. Is it worth me popping in to see if Tony is still there and has anything else that might help you @LightBulbFun?

Ah cool! yeah at some point it would be interesting to see if they have any bits left on the shelf or any old bits of ephemera still kicking around! 

one of my plans with REV is to visit all the places like this, having an actual Invacar with me should hopefully help stir some memories/help convey what im on about  

 

 

[Cavcraft]