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...

[D.E]

Found these in the national ANP photo archive:

What's this? It is, apparently, a "British car, designed and built for the disabled", but no specific place, year or make was given.

[LightBulbFun]

Awesome finds! not pictures I have seen before  (well the Larmar car one looks quite familiar but i think there are a couple photos like it of Larmar's parked next to a regular car like that)

the first vehicle is a Invacar Mk8A, the second vehicle is a Larmar Invalid Car, and the 3rd final vehicle is an Invashrew (yes really!)

[D.E]

22 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome finds! not pictures I have seen before  (well the Larmar car one looks quite familiar but i think there are a couple photos like it of Larmar's parked next to a regular car like that)

the first vehicle is a Invacar Mk8A, the second vehicle is a Larmar Invalid Car, and the 3rd final vehicle is an Invashrew (yes really!)

Thanks! I presume none of the Invashrews survive?

 

Btw, I just found this as well:

 

[Snake Charmer]

14 minutes ago, D.E said:

Thanks! I presume none of the Invashrews survive?

 

Btw, I just found this as well:

 

Reminds me of 'how many students fit in a Mini'.

[urpert]

1 hour ago, D.E said:

Found these in the national ANP photo archive:

What's this? It is, apparently, a "British car, designed and built for the disabled", but no specific place, year or make was given.

The photo is taken on the plaza outside Westminster Cathedral. The white and mirrored glass building looks fairly new there so perhaps early 70s?

it’s here:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/PftTZDLjugxXc4UL9

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome finds! not pictures I have seen before  (well the Larmar car one looks quite familiar but i think there are a couple photos like it of Larmar's parked next to a regular car like that)

the first vehicle is a Invacar Mk8A, the second vehicle is a Larmar Invalid Car, and the 3rd final vehicle is an Invashrew (yes really!)

Larmar has a Brighton reg.

[LightBulbFun]

had an evening tinkering about with REV

mainly to see if I could get her to idle properly, but despite trying the old "stick you hand on the carburettor at lots of rev's to try and suck any blockages clear" it did not improve, I also noticed all the screws holding down the top half of the carburettor where lose (especially the left one closest to the camera which was actually rattling about!) so I cant imagine that would helped, and so I tightened those, but it still made little or no difference to the lack of idle

its a curious one, she will restart on the key just fine, and even idle just fine briefly for i'd say somewhere between 15-30 seconds? but it will quickly deteriorate before the engine stalls all together, I did try running it without the PCV valve (I noticed as well as the hole it has in the top of it, it seems to be full of something and rattles when you shake it), but that made no difference either

so after a bunch of fiddling about with things I buttoned everything back up n went inside

so sadly did not get to the bottom of the idle woes, but at least again, I dont think I made anything worse! and I am glad I caught the lose carburettor screws before the top half of my carb fell off or something!  

[Erebus]

Is it worth trying a new gasket between the carb and manifold?  Quick, cheap and easy.  Apologies if you've already tried this.  Or is there a gasket between the two halves of the carb?  If there is, the screws being loose isn't going to have done it any good

[captain_70s]

Symptoms do sound like it could be a vacuum leak.

With the engine running spray some Easy Start or similar flammable liquid around the carb (not straight down the intake, obviously!) and see if the revs raise. If they do them then unmetered air is getting pulled into the cylinders from somewhere it shouldn't be.

Although if those screws have worked loose could whatever controls the idle speed also be loose?

[LightBulbFun]

42 minutes ago, Erebus said:

Is it worth trying a new gasket between the carb and manifold?  Quick, cheap and easy.  Apologies if you've already tried this.  Or is there a gasket between the two halves of the carb?  If there is, the screws being loose isn't going to have done it any good

yeah the thought did cross my mind if its come lose will it re-seal again?

as a general aside one thing I have always wondered on the gasket front, is, gasket paper comes in different thicknesses, and I have had this open in my tab bar for a couple years now https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flexoid-Gasket-Paper-Set-Sheets/dp/B00A1B6U6G

but I have always wondered so to speak, when replicating a gasket, how do you figure which thickness of paper to use? because the old gasket will be squished etc, especially if its an old one thats been on a long time etc

21 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Symptoms do sound like it could be a vacuum leak.

With the engine running spray some Easy Start or similar flammable liquid around the carb (not straight down the intake, obviously!) and see if the revs raise. If they do them then unmetered air is getting pulled into the cylinders from somewhere it shouldn't be.

Although if those screws have worked loose could whatever controls the idle speed also be loose?

yeah ill have to see what of my various aerosol cans might work for that! I dont actually have any of the "usual suspects" like brake cleaner or easy start, I have electrical contact cleaner, and degreaser if any of those might be suitable?

[Andrew353w]

9 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

yeah ill have to see what of my various aerosol cans might work for that! I dont actually have any of the "usual suspects" like brake cleaner or easy start, I have electrical contact cleaner, and degreaser if any of those might be suitable?

NOT electrical switch cleaner! WD 40's the best in these situations. Regarding a possible air leak, I'd suggest checking the top of the inlet manifold & the underside of the carburettor are perfectly flat, with no kinks or edges on them. If you do have this, you'll need to eradicate them before fitting a new gasket. As has been said, if spraying a suitable aerosol around the joint causes the revs to rise or fall, at least you've found the problem area, if nothing else!  

[EightMegs]

Found this in my work's archive, shame the plate's cut off.

[wuvvum]

When I bought my (most recent) Renault 4, that was refusing to idle off choke.  Turned out it was the nuts holding the inlet manifold onto the block which weren't fully tight - I tightened them up and things improved massively.

[Sheefag]

I've got a McCulloch chainsaw somewhere that did the exact same thing.
The nuts holding the carb on were a bastard to get to.

[LightBulbFun]

its been a little bit, but today was another outing in REV  

managed to snap a "selfie" of REV on the way to my petrol stop  always fun seeing yourself in window reflections like this  

managed a new MPG personal best of 35Mpg  (and I got some more E5 in there so I think thats most of the E10 from the big trip gone now)

eventually after battling my way right through Central London, ticking Blackfriars bridge off the "rivers crossings with REV" list  and then some 40-50Mph jaunting up the A3, I got to my destination. 

Now that I have REV, I have been able to make a direct assault on my favourite lighting-wholesaler, something I had been planning to do for a while now, when they recently listed a very specific special Philips 6ft T12 tube, a T12 in Colour 965! yes thats a 5 band deluxe colour fancy tube in *T12* that finally pushed me to get my finger out and go over there, since I was *not* going to put that through the post! and i knew from the previous jaunt I did with REV that I can just about squeeze a 6ft tube inside  so I placed an order for those and some other items while I was at it

I also explictly arranged for a tour of the warehouse as I had a good feeling there where many unlisted-not-on-the-website goodies kicking about, and there sure was! Many thanks to the owner of the company Paul for accommodating me in that regard  as you can see I may of purchased a few* more items, and people tell me an Invacar is not practical! 

according to the order sheets I picked up 73 lightbulbs and fluorescent tubes  with all 73 packed into REV, I headed home bound

much nicer a drive going back home, in terms of traffic flow etc  

getting it all upstairs was not fun! but eventually accomplished 

aforementioned clutch and idle woes aside, REV did pretty well, even took a rouge wheel trim to the undercarriage at 40-50 with aplomb! (although I dont recall seeing it in the rear view mirror afterwards, might have a shifty tomorrow to make sure its not still hanging on for dear life or something LOL)

all in all another good trip out-n-about, I am especially pleased with my haul from CP-lighting, its something I have been meaning to do for a long time and its worked out exactly as I had hoped  alls being well REV will be going on another adventure tomorrow to hopefully get the clutch issue sorted (and possibly some of the other more major mechanical things sorted) but thats for tomorrow  

[auntiemaryscanary]

Good to see you continue to get out and about In the 3 wheeled wonder. It's certainly letting you indulge in your hobbies. What's the plan for the clutch and idle?

More importantly how big is the flat for storing all those light bulbs? Or are they all ceiling mounted for space maximisation?! I bet all lit up you'd illuminate a fair chunk of that there London.

[Christine]

Seriously ... How exactly  did you get in  after loading ? 

[Zie]

11 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

 

This deserves going up on a wall, cracking shot. 

[danthecapriman]

Good stuff so far @LightBulbFun

I don’t know if it’s been mentioned already, but just be a bit careful when carrying stuff around in the car like that. 
Someone where I used to work got pulled over and given a dressing down for having his van cab full of insecure junk/rubbish/bits n bobs. Obviously it can become a hazard if you have an accident but also obscure your view of the road and movement etc. 

Id hate to see you in bother is all. Maybe get a roof or boot rack?

[Snake Charmer]

4 hours ago, Christine said:

Seriously ... How exactly  did you get in  after loading ? 

Dez is built from Lego, he just reassembles himself in the car.

[mercedade]

Yeah, agree - great to see it out on the road. A while back I suggested a couple of bungees etc just to make sure that loads were secure inside the cabin because it wouldn't be a fun chat after the event, describing to Plod why you weren't able to straighten up after making a turn "well, you see, my elbow didn't have enough room after this 4ft tube slipped in the way".

About 10 years ago, I gave myself a big enough scare when the shelves I was carrying suddenly weren't as firmly wedged between the centre console and the arm rest as I'd imagined

[RayMK]

29 minutes ago, mercedade said:

Yeah, agree - great to see it out on the road. A while back I suggested a couple of bungees etc just to make sure that loads were secure inside the cabin because it wouldn't be a fun chat after the event, describing to Plod why you weren't able to straighten up after making a turn "well, you see, my elbow didn't have enough room after this 4ft tube slipped in the way".

About 10 years ago, I gave myself a big enough scare when the shelves I was carrying suddenly weren't as firmly wedged between the centre console and the arm rest as I'd imagined

Similarly,  I was eating an apple whilst driving.  It slipped into the footwell and out of sight. I groped around trying to find it but failed.  Next time I applied the brakes the pedal seemed solid as if jammed.  Urgency to stop gave me extra strength and the brakes worked again whilst the car filled with the aroma of mashed apple.  At least LBH won't have that particular problem because no control pedals, but I can imagine the hesitation if a tube prevented handlebar movement....rare, irreplaceable specimen or an embarrassing swerve/bump??  Take care @LightBulbFun 👍.

[lesapandre]

2 hours ago, Zie said:

This deserves going up on a wall, cracking shot. 

Calendar shot.

[Snake Charmer]

Great photo, perfect timing.

Question; Had you filled up on the return trip and ended up going through all three windows, would the ensuing fireball and tube implosions coupled with REVs GRP resulted in the world's largest LightBulbFun?  😁

[LightBulbFun]

so today was the day of the reverse-collection caper of sorts! as @Andyrew had very kindly agreed to take REV on to sort some of her bigger mechanical niggles, like the clutch issue

so step 1 was get REV to the workshop, following some sage advise from @Saabnut I took things a bit gentler, still went up the M1, but I limited myself to about 53, rather then flat out at 63, and it turns out, that there are so many other dawdlers on the motorway, that I was not actually a nuisance as I thought i would be at the slower speed and I *still* found myself having to overtake people, which was quite amusing (in that regard hanging back at 53 meant I had more power-reserves to overtake quicker which was nice,  ie if I came across a dawlder I could power up to 60 briefly to get past and then drop back to cruise speed, tho I do find trying to slot into the middle lane, for example to make room for someone joining the motorway a bit tricker when going slower)

that being said, I will admit there was one section of the M1 where things felt good for lack of a better term, and I went for it and managed to wind her up to 68 Mph on the GPS, a new personal best  and then the variable speed limit kicked in to 40-60mph anyhow so I just cruised most of the way quite happily at about 40-50 depending on speed limit

clicked over the 1000 mile mark since purchase! 

and soon found myself with a familiar ZX  the two cars I have driven on the road with my full driving licence  

before not too long REV was up in the air  

nice to be able to see underneath without having to crawl about! discovered the heat-exchanger itself had cracked at the point where the pipe enter the main body of it, which explains the exhaust blow I thought I was hearing recently, but that had oddly been coming from the nearside of the car (which is *not* the side I had effected a temporary repair on)

and after a bit of spanner twirling, REV's engine was out! 

obligatory picture of one standing in ones own engine bay courtesy of @Mrs6C  

and the issue with REV's clutch was soon quickly identified, one of the clutch shoe linings had separated from the shoe itself, which is quite interesting, this is a fault that I have seen happen a fair few times now with Model 70's that are pressed into use after a long term sitting dormant, but the way it manifested itself in REV is quite unusual hence me thinking it was a broken clutch-shoe spring instead (usually when a clutch shoe lining falls off, you get all sorts of nasty noises and/or the clutch locks up completely and you cant even push the car without the engine turning etc) whats also interesting is looking at the how the locking tabs are a bit mangled/split it would suggest that someone has changed the clutch shoes in the past?

 

and here is the clutch drum on the gearbox side of things that the clutch shoes engage onto, a fair bit of scoring, but hopefully it will be alright  

 

the plan is to get the shoes relined, using a NOS set as a guide/reference (we could of fitted those, but who knows if they themselves would of just delaminated after existing for so long, and its worth keeping some NOS parts like that to hand, un-used as patterns for reproduction etc) and then fit the re-lined shoes, and while the engine is out, hopefully do as many tasks related to that as possible (give it a good service, try get oil tight, replace the sad exhaust system etc) and also hopefully give REV's suspension a refresh  (also discovered a possible cause for the rough idling in that part of the air-filter housing had rusted away! so not only was that allowing air to by pass the filter somewhat, who knows how many rusty flakes have been sucked into the carb!)

once again many thanks to @Andyrew and @Mrs6C for helping me out with REV like this  

 

(PS for those worried about the many fluorescent tubes in REV, I did make sure to arrange/load things so as to keep clearance around the handle bars and to ensure nothing could fall over in the way and made sure to put to put the big 6ft's on the right-offside as to not obscure the view of the rear-view mirror)

[dollywobbler]

Great stuff. TWC is still running a cereal box carb gasket! 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Great to see the next big update on Rev. This visit to the workshop should keep the old girl running pretty sweetly for a decent amount of time. I wonder how many years ago the engine was last dropped? Decades rather than years, I reckon...

[beko1987]

Looks exciting, good luck! 

[High Jetter]

Wow, @Andyrew isn't messing about, getting the lump out so quickly.

[Andyrew]

I didn't take any before photo but the gearbox was absolutely covered in shite, the engine bay itself was pretty grubby so let's start with making it a bit nicer to work in. Some engine degreaser,, some tar  Remover and a bit of scrubbing later and we are looking better.