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...

[Snake Charmer]

10 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Putting together a horrible plan...

Roof bars on the S210? 😁  It would be interesting to weigh REV and see what the weight distribution is, we have race scales at work so is a possibility. 

[Missy Charm]

2 hours ago, captain_70s said:

I suspect one wheel up front was chosen because it always feels a bit sketchy and stops the average Joe from pushing on too hard.

One wheel behind feels more stable right up until it isn't, and good luck correcting unexpected snap oversteer with a tiller or handlebars...

I always thought the three-wheel design was chosen because of the UK's complex and often silly vehicle licensing system (as is and as was).  Our law defines motor tricycles and motor quadricycles differently, which creates in various scenarios in which it is legally preferable or less complicated to have three wheels rather than four.  The Invacars no doubt got caught up in that, resulting in the choice of the tricycle layout.  One only has to look at the sheer number of three-wheelers made in the UK - lots - and compare it with numbers of three-wheelers made in other jurisdictions - far fewer - to see the issue in action.  

Countries such as France that have a specific registration class for 'light cars', low output and small vehicles with any number of wheels, invariably produce four-wheelers.  

Just a thought about something else: wouldn't having the wheel at the front give the Invacar a tighter turning circle?  I'd have thought single-wheel-at-the-back cars would turn like oil tankers, whereas having the wheel at the front would make it turn on a penny.

[barefoot]

My aunt Lynette had one of these, she'd had a severe stroke and lost the use of her, "dead side". She drove it like she stole it, until it was replaced by a mini.

[LightBulbFun]

54 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Is that a coach or HGV wheel in the garage? it looks enormous next to the chassis!

 

Looks like you're running crossplies on the Invacar, are they 520.10s?

 

its an Aircraft tyre with Tractor tread vulcanised on it, its attached to/part of a weird Land Rover off-road sort of amphibious tractor prototype thing with an air cooled engine! 

in Ministry service the Model 70's on 12 inch wheels where on 4.40-12 Crossplies and then 125R12 Pirelli Cinturato's the 10 inch wheeled Model 70's where on 5.20-10's Crossplies all throughout their Ministry life Camac BC110's by the end

Adam is a stickler for ultimate originality and went for for Camac BC110's which you can still get! for KPL139P in that photo, and he has fitted 125R12 Pirelli Cinturato's on his 12 inch wheeled Model 70's like GTW614N

 

I have always thought it would be interesting to do a handling test of all the Model 70's on the forum, since theres a few different tyres on here @dollywobbler has 125R12 Michelin X's on TWC and @Zelandeth has Camac BN313 145R10's on his TPA, and I have got Falken SN807 145R10's fitted to REV, it would be interesting to see how they all handle with respect to one another etc  

[LightBulbFun]

51 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Next query... what is the weight on the front wheel?  I know it's 410kg overall, and that is fairly rear-biased.. but is it likely to be 150 front and 250 rear, or maybe nearer 100 front and 300 rear?

Putting together a horrible plan...

Good question! I have always wondered this myself, I would love to borrow one of those fancy car scales things, like what Harry in Harry's Garage has, that has a pad/sensor for each wheel and see how it all comes out to be 

but I know in general from the Farce that it is to Jack up a Model 70 rear end, the weight distribution probably is not far off, 0% front 100% rear (at least in Later Model 70's like REV they moved the battery to the front to try and do *something* about it!)

Tyre pressures are 17! front 22 rear.

[Rustybullethole]

3 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Good question! I have always wondered this myself, I would love to borrow one of those fancy car scales things, like what Harry in Harry's Garage has, that has a pad/sensor for each wheel

but I know in general from the Farce that it is to Jack up a Model 70 rear end, the weight distribution probably is not far off, 0% front 100% rear (at least in Later Model 70's like REV they moved the battery to the front to try and do *something* about it!)

Three sets of kitchen scales. Sorted ✔️

Or maybe just the one. A motorcycle publication I had dealings with weighed all their bikes like this. One wheel then the other. 

[chadders]

You can get normal weighing scales off Amazon that go up to at least 180kg.

[plasticvandan]

Crossplies were standard on Reliants until the early eighties "the use of radials is not recommended" the ride will be nicer but the handling safer on crossplies,as they break away rather than grip and tip.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

speaking of vehicles I should buy next! I have been informed that OVW445P has gone off to a new home! this is fairly significant, as OVW445P is one of the cars from the original bundle that @dollywobbler and @Zelandeth's TWC and TPA came from, so hopefully before not too long, another of their stablemates will be joining the road with them  our very own @st185cs and @brummiejon was there to see the handover of sorts and the most exciting bit about this for me personally, is as you may see in the background, John the chap with OVW, has a collection of vintage FX4 London black Cabs, very much looking forward to that, if nothing else!  

Yes Dez, that's a brilliant idea, buy another Invacar! Until Mrs Yoss passed her test in 2004 I was running various Triumphs as daily drivers and might still be doing so now if she  hadn't refused to drive them and I moved in to Škodas. Whilst they were never as much trouble as @captain_70s fleet it was always handy to have two for when one broke. 

So the answer to all these people trying to frighten you off them by saying how unreliable it's going to be is surely to buy another one. 

[Rustybullethole]

1 minute ago, plasticvandan said:

Crossplies were standard on Reliants until the early eighties "the use of radials is not recommended" the ride will be nicer but the handling safer on crossplies,as they break away rather than grip and tip.

Liked for the info and the grip and tip turn of phrase. 

[Sheefag]

8 minutes ago, plasticvandan said:

Crossplies were standard on Reliants until the early eighties "the use of radials is not recommended" the ride will be nicer but the handling safer on crossplies,as they break away rather than grip and tip.

I found this to be the case when I spun an FX4 , opposite the London Hilton whilst heading north in the wet on Park Lane, back in 1989.

 

[LightBulbFun]

10 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Yes Dez, that's a brilliant idea, buy another Invacar! Until Mrs Yoss passed her test in 2004 I was running various Triumphs as daily drivers and might still be doing so now if she  hadn't refused to drive them and I moved in to Škodas. Whilst they were never as much trouble as @captain_70s fleet it was always handy to have two for when one broke. 

So the answer to all these people trying to frighten you off them by saying how unreliable it's going to be is surely to buy another one. 

way ahead of you there! dont forget that I own (well arranged the rescue of, and have a stake in!) this Harper Mk6  

I dont know what to do with it yet! I am glad I was able to save it, but I do realise its not going to fix itself just sitting around in storage, I mean I am hoping at some point I can get the engine running, or at least some oil down its bore, I am informed it does actually turn over its not seized which is very rare for one of these 2 stroke machines thats been neglected for so long, so I would like to keep it that way! 

oh and to add extra peril to everything this thing has no front brake, as in literally, by design, its got brakes only the rear wheels  

so its literally @fraser.innes.3's worst nightmare LOL (in that its both an Invalid Car, and its a car with no front brakes!)

On 14/09/2022 at 00:36, barrett said:

On 13/09/2022 at 19:23, fraser.innes.3 said:

I've been dropping in and out of this thread for a few years.
The one thing I have observed, is that, invalid carriages should be confined to museums or displays in private collections.
Why any sane person would want to take one of those death traps on the highway, is beyond reason. Something that is so unstable, that a couple of guys could grab and tip on its side is downright dangerous.
LBF, abandon your dream of getting wiped out in it. Spend a few quid on an moted car, then you can get out, get a job, and hence by more light bulbs.
Job jobbed.

Sent from my JNY-LX1 using Tapatalk
 

Where do you draw the line? All three wheelers? How about anything sub-600cc? Vintage cars with no front brakes? Anything with terrible crash resistance? Or anything without seatbelts? Or anything without airbags? Or anything that wasn't built in the last five years and meets up-to-date safety regs? Ridiculous. Cars are designed to be driven, no car should be 'confined to a museum'.

On 14/09/2022 at 10:28, fraser.innes.3 said:

I don't dislike them, I just think they are unsafe to be on the roads. If I disliked them, then I would be saying the should all be crushed.
As for other comments about cars with no front brakes. Yes, if they are unsafe on the highway, then they should be kept in museums, private collections, and taken to private motoring days.
Don't forget my youngest car is 11 years old (my modern), and my oldest 40, so I'm used to shite cars.

Sent from my JNY-LX1 using Tapatalk
 

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

4 minutes ago, Sheefag said:

I found this to be the case when I spun an FX4 , opposite the London Hilton whilst heading north in the wet on Park Lane, back in 1989.

actual picture of @Sheefag's incident Colourised 

(somewhere there is a picture on here of an actual FX4 from period road test, similarly being pushed to its limit, and the amount of bending the tyre itself was experiencing I was impressed it stayed on the rim!)

[Sheefag]

It was a white one, registered to Westminster Cable TV - C830BYM

[Heidel_Kakao]

1 hour ago, plasticvandan said:

Crossplies were standard on Reliants until the early eighties "the use of radials is not recommended" the ride will be nicer but the handling safer on crossplies,as they break away rather than grip and tip.

Can you drift a three wheeler out of interest? I guess due to lack of power it would need to be in the wet if even possible at all.

[Rustybullethole]

5 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Can you drift a three wheeler out of interest? I guess due to lack of power it would need to be in the wet if even possible at all.

Never seen them on the oval? Big time sideways 👍🏽

[Rustybullethole]

@LightBulbFun HK has started me thinking and have come to the realisation that you must weld the diff for invacar drift yo activities around town. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

6 minutes ago, Rustybullethole said:

Never seen them on the oval? Big time sideways 👍🏽

I hadn't no but I have now, looks fun.

[Rustybullethole]

5 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

I hadn't no but I have now, looks fun.

The red red robin goes rod rod rodding along😂

[warren t claim]

1 hour ago, Sheefag said:

It was a white one, registered to Westminster Cable TV - C830BYM

Betamax Fake Taxi. 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Sheefag said:

It was a white one, registered to Westminster Cable TV - C830BYM

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315780846670?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=dnCWcQ0SQwG&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=svwv9r4orxa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

While on the subject

[plasticvandan]

Yes you certainly can,they are a lot of fun on wet roundabouts,handbrake turns are a big no though,a friend of mine was good at it,but I never got both rear drums to lock at the same time,with obvious two wheel results.

[LightBulbFun]

funnily enough the same person who did these videos

 

also has this video! it seems he was a fan of chucking his 3 wheelers about!

 

[bub2006]

Yes a reliant can drift nicely. My robin and my trike both did. The trike was essentially a reliant chassis with no bodywork,same engine,axle box and steering. Handled better than the robin too but could still kick arse out on both of them. 

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

Just a thought about something else: wouldn't having the wheel at the front give the Invacar a tighter turning circle?  I'd have thought single-wheel-at-the-back cars would turn like oil tankers, whereas having the wheel at the front would make it turn on a penny.

My Regal had a single wheel at the front and that thing's turning circle made a Series Land Rover look like a Triumph Herald. 

[wuvvum]

9 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

There are single wheel dollies used for three wheeler towing,but none of the recovery services.will have them. Realistically the only way it can be recovered is on a flatbed.

I once towed a Bond 875 with a Dodge 50 spec lift recovery truck - towed it backwards with the rear wheels on the spec. 

[timolloyd]

Own up then, who was spotted on the M6 this week in an Invacare?

[brummiejon]

2 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Can you drift a three wheeler out of interest? I guess due to lack of power it would need to be in the wet if even possible at all.

I used to rag my reliant and drift around the empty car park of a local hotel when it had been snowing.. interesting driving a three wheeler in the snow 🤣

[Talbot]

4 hours ago, Snake Charmer said:

Roof bars on the S210? 😁  It would be interesting to weigh REV and see what the weight distribution is, we have race scales at work so is a possibility. 

The only thing I have seen is @dollywobbler jacking up his one, with the jack just barely ahead of the back wheel and still managed to get the nose to end up pointing at the sky.

I recon it's about 330kg rear and 80kg front.  Which would be beneficial for what I am thinking.

[High Jetter]

Many tail lifts on lutons are rated at 500Kg