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...

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Eyersey1234 said:

How can you tell its from before March 1976?

I can tell its an AC Model 70 Mark B from the lack of a Dash change/dash change hole and the fact the Passenger carrying forbidden is located where said dash change/dash change hole was on the Mark A's

but I can tell its from Before March 1976 as in March 1976 the Model 70 got a semi-major revision and the dashboard instruments where revised and a larger speedo was fitted 

like so  

(minus the clock, thats something fitted to REV in the 80s!)

[quicksilver]

@LightBulbFun This is the one I mentioned at the weekend. My friend found it in a garden somewhere along with several early AC saloons, a 3000ME and possibly others so that suggests it's an AC rather than an Invacar. He says it has no numberplates and there's too much stuff inside to see the chassis plate. Is it one you know about?

[LightBulbFun]

22 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

@LightBulbFun This is the one I mentioned at the weekend. My friend found it in a garden somewhere along with several early AC saloons, a 3000ME and possibly others so that suggests it's an AC rather than an Invacar. He says it has no numberplates and there's too much stuff inside to see the chassis plate. Is it one you know about?

oh wow thats not one I recognise no! not immediately anyway tho I do have some suspicions,

excitingly im pretty sure its an early one going by the 12 inch wheels and plastic wing mirror

have to wonder if its this one LOL

[LightBulbFun]

On 19/05/2021 at 12:54, LightBulbFun said:

@AdgeCutler Brian is alive on the DVLA once more Woooo!

just like I thought the DVLA did have a record on it, we just needed to get them to unarchive it

 

its the first time I have seen an Invacar where its body type also got recorded as its make, but im not too surprised, as I have well documented before these records back then could contain all  sorts of fun errors

I wonder if they will update the record with the proper info we provided on the V62 and V894, before they issue you your V5 

going by the "not available" on the V5c issue date, it looks like they have simply just brought the vehicle back to life on the main computer system still only on its 1970's record and then will probably issue you a V5c in your name shortly  

(if the details not corrected it should not be hard to correct it after you get the new V5)

 

I am very pleased about this, not only just for you, and the Invacar Mk12,

but also in general as it very much backs up my theories, and gives a lot of hope to surviving vehicles I know of that dont show up on the DVLA currently but I know came off the road around about the same time period

and right on cue as per the DVLA letter @AdgeCutler 

a V5 for Brian has finally been issued  

  

looks like they did not update/change any of the vehicles details

which is interesting as I thought that when a vehicle is brought back to life like this they use what the applicant put put on the V62, but clearly not, since we did put INVACAR on the V62 but make is showing as "INVALID VEHICLE" (which is interesting because thats supposed to be its DVLA Body type...) so perhaps the archived info does hold the make info and back in the day someone registered it a bit wrong, or maybe when it was unarchived recently someone just inputed invalid vehicle into the wrong data field!

sadly this one of the few vehicles that dont want to show up on my special tool so i cant proactively find out what its body type is down as before the V5 arrives, but hopefully it wont be long before it does now its been issued!  

was not all that long ago when if you put KPU147J into the DVLA you got this!

so yeah I am very pleased about this! another Invacar not just successfully Identified but also then brought back to life on the DVLA and a V5 issued  

[dollywobbler]

On the question of miles per tank, 180 is the usual norm, but I did indeed manage 200 at times on longer trips. 

[LightBulbFun]

On 01/06/2021 at 18:21, LightBulbFun said:

speaking of Model 70 Mark B's and Fuel tanks

Adam has continued to work on KPL and has her "new" engine in lovely shape now (it will be interesting to see how well the black paint on the exhaust holds LOL)

and he is now looking at fuel tank options  

will be interesting to see if the Jerry can idea does work/fit  

Progress is continuing once more 

KPL is now a rolling chassis once more  

engine and gearbox waiting  

and finally offered up  

although not fully mounted as KPL's chassis is missing the rear engine bracket which @Zelandeth had to take off KPL to fit to TPA as @dollywobbler viciously attacked TPAs original with an angle grinder!

all this is like the Model 70 version of the butterfly effect LOL

 

and finally a frontal view, its really starting to look like the period picture of the more or less complete chassis at the AC factory now  

[LightBulbFun]

On 31/05/2021 at 21:12, Harriytait said:

You're doing so well, I went to see big Al on saterday and saw my first complete mk12 and it's been a kick in the ass to start working on MPU, a start would be arranging a time to collect her back panel, would it possible to pm you on Facebook to arrange that please? Also spotted this beautiful Harding Invalid Carriage at Jaguar heritage on the same day that some may enjoy!

ah yes one of the few examples of a 4 wheeled invalid carriage  

also one that has a fun bit of history behind it  

https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/historic/2016/9/axons-automotive-anorak--getting-into-motorsport-the-hard-way/

[LightBulbFun]

a Model 70 Prototype of a slightly* different nature  (still black and white like the real thing mind! LOL)

@quicksilver had mentioned to me at the last FoD Gathering that he had seen a picture of pre production sample of the Oxford diecast Model Model 70 hopefully coming out soon

so I did a bit of light sleuthing just now and managed to dig up a picture of what im pretty sure is it  

have to say I do like what I see, it seems pretty well detailed down to the correctly proportioned 10 inch wheels 

which if you recall from when the side on drawing first came out from oxford I was worried would be too large

I look forward to when they do come out ill be buying a few thats for sure  

[plasticvandan]

Excellent,it can't be too far away now,it's been a long wait!

[Mrs6C]

9 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

have to say I do like what I see, it seems pretty well detailed down to the correctly proportioned 10 inch wheels

You'll have to model a tiny Invacar badge in tinfoil and stick it over the AC roundel!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 6/2/2021 at 9:40 PM, LightBulbFun said:

Progress is continuing once more 

KPL is now a rolling chassis once more  

engine and gearbox waiting  

and finally offered up  

although not fully mounted as KPL's chassis is missing the rear engine bracket which @Zelandeth had to take off KPL to fit to TPA as @dollywobbler viciously attacked TPAs original with an angle grinder!

all this is like the Model 70 version of the butterfly effect LOL

 

and finally a frontal view, its really starting to look like the period picture of the more or less complete chassis at the AC factory now  

Brilliant attention to detail. There can't be many which have been stripped back so far for such detailed rebuilds within the last few decades I'd have thought? 

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, plasticvandan said:

Excellent,it can't be too far away now,it's been a long wait!

Yeah!, hopefully! I am very much looking forward to it  

3 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

You'll have to model a tiny Invacar badge in tinfoil and stick it over the AC roundel!

Yeah I did notice that, and I have to wonder if the guys at Oxford realised there was an Invacar Model 70 as well

or if they completely overlooked it (they used KPK71P as their reference, an AC Model 70)

and if I was to point it out now, would someone at oxford go "oh... fuck..." and suddenly spawn a 76INV002 LOL

2 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Brilliant attention to detail. There can't be many which have been stripped back so far for such detailed rebuilds within the last few decades I'd have thought? 

Yeah I dont think any have had a nut and bolt rebuild/restoration like this at all  

its been very awesome to see especially given the state KPK139P was in, very much a case of unlikely survivor  

(of which there are a few in the Invacar world! TPA621M, KPU147J and hopefully XWC468F, to name a few others)

[andy18s]

Just had this pop up in my Facebook feed for someone's birthday,look familiar?

Although 1946 may be a slight mistake...

[LightBulbFun]

48 minutes ago, andy18s said:

Just had this pop up in my Facebook feed for someone's birthday,look familiar?

hah cool  tho they should of really used a picture of an Invacar Mk12 which was the last purely Invacar Ltd machine

(the Model 70 being a solely AC design which Invacar had pretty much no input into)

its said that in Greeves later years when he came across an Invacar (probably a Model 70 by then tho!) he would go up to it and pat it on the nose  

 

speaking of Model 70's Adam managed to find a rear engine bracket for KPL and now has the engine fully bolted in  

he is now sorting out KPL's wiring loom and came across some interesting tags

one of which was this

which is quite interesting as TSD7150 is the Technical servicing drawing Number for a Model 70 Mark B main wiring harness, but its quite a late number, like later production/post production late, certainly I THINK later then KPL's chassis block 

so I wonder if KPL's had a replacement wiring loom at some point, (TSD7150 is the only Mark B wiring loom listed in the parts manual, but perhaps it universally replaced an earlier revision of Mark B wiring Loom hence the later TSD number despite being for all Mark B's, for those curious the Mark A wiring harness is TSD3082)

and the store numbers are STY570 for Mark A and STY571 for Mark B Main wiring Harness for those curious then theres STY573, (TSD7151) which is listed as the Cabin harness, which is listed for all Marks curiously 

 

tho currently I am assuming that this is KPL's Loom, however I know it was quite hacked up, so maybe Adam and Co are using TPE's wiring loom instead (but im not sure if thats any good given how oxidised everything else was on that car)

still waiting to hear back on that

[AdgeCutler]

Funny you mention component numbers Dez, yesterday while working on Brian I took a few snaps of some on components awaiting primer. 

Firstly this one on a piece of angle which mounts below the inner engine hatch and if I recall correctly is for the rear seat runner.

Second are two small spacers upon which the above sit.

Thirdly the "instrument panel!".

Fourth, the tiller handle.

Last, the front wheel hub.

 

[AdgeCutler]

For those interested, I've also just added a short video update to the YouTube regarding Brians bodywork progress: 

 

[LightBulbFun]

33 minutes ago, AdgeCutler said:

Funny you mention component numbers Dez, yesterday while working on Brian I took a few snaps of some on components awaiting primer. 

Firstly this one on a piece of angle which mounts below the inner engine hatch and if I recall correctly is for the rear seat runner.

Second are two small spacers upon which the above sit.

Thirdly the "instrument panel!".

Fourth, the tiller handle.

Last, the front wheel hub.

 

oh wow thats a very interesting!

especially how they are marked with each Invacar revision to which they where last revised for

the fact these relatively menial markings exist, make me hopefully that there is a chassis stamped chassis number somewhere it just needs to be found

I wonder if it at some point it might be worth wire brushing back whats left of the original chassis if you can, and see if you could find anything?

27 minutes ago, AdgeCutler said:

For those interested, I've also just added a short video update to the YouTube regarding Brians bodywork progress: 

 

ohh wow the rear body section is looking very good now!

its interesting to see your Mk12 has those fish eyes in some of its fibreglass gel-coating 

I dont think those would of been there from the factor, more that they where air-bubbles as you say but forced and popped out by something after the fact

for example like on Dolly where she survived a shed burning down next to her!

so I wonder if Poor Brian got a bit hot at some point, maybe even just concentrated sunlight for so many decades eventually caused them to pop?

 

[AdgeCutler]

They will have been there from new but are probably more pronounced in the scorched area of Dolly. The bubbles are caused by heat build up during the curing process and occur in areas that the resin is applied too thickly in one hit. I didn't really want to lose them as they are part of the character in my eyes, however, I was concerned that the edges of the crazing and cracks would cause paint chipping and so used a filler primer and flatted it back. The cracks and crazing have occurred in use around stress points, these have mostly now had an extra layer of fibreglass applied inside the panel to help with the issue.

[Eyersey1234]

@LightBulbFun another Invacar on Facebook 

[LightBulbFun]

26 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said:

@LightBulbFun another Invacar on Facebook 

Oh cool! not a picture iv seen before, here is a direct link for those curious

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BritishRoadscene1955to1985/permalink/4246283615428675

sadly the picture is not very high resolution 

but its an AC Acedes Mk15 Model 67, part of the EPD-J block (EPD751J-EPD950J)  

[LightBulbFun]

in other exciting invalid vehicle news, Stuart got his Mojo back (having thankfully kept all his vehicles in the end) and got the Electric Harding Consort (or Harding Model IV to be exact) moving under its own power for the first time in over 40 years 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/950689934973969/permalink/4058055574237374/

as I had thought the issue was something small and that the motor was fine

for those unaware, Stuart was convinced he had killed the motor, but from what he described to me on how it supposedly died, I knew it must of still been fine, because brushed DC motors like this dont simply just die and stop working without a squeak, when they die, you damn well know about it, in a shower of sparks, smoke from burning varnish, and red hot commutator bars flying everywhere if its an especially spicy burnout

and that the issue must of either been a dodgy connector or the motor speed controller he was using had simply gone up the spout

turned out to be the former with some crap on the commutator preventing the brushes from making proper contact, once that was disturbed/cleaned out the motor sprang back into life

 

and he also managed to finally wedge an engine and transmission into the Hammond Harding which is good to see as that had issue had been plaguing him for a while as well

 

[barrett]

That's in Brighton. I have a version of that picture somewhere but not sure if it's any better quality.

[LightBulbFun]

11 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

Letting MPU get some sun today, started trying to un lock her engine, thankfully a little investigation told me its just a top end lock, I've splashed some diesel and 2stroke oil mix down the plug hole to see if that'll free it, I'll repeat that for a few weeks and report back, I'm hopeful I can save the original 11E as it's not in too bad a shape really, also if anyone has a throttle body for sale please give me a shout

nice to see a bit of work going on with MPU382J  

I assume you mean Carburettor? Im not sure if Iv ever heard of someone adding Fuel injection to a Villiers 11E! (do wonder if it would be possible now? LOL)

however I would really advise against picturing/displaying her with Random plates like that, either fit her correct plates or just dont have any on at all until you can fit a correct set of plates

the worst thing you can do is display a vehicle wearing number plates that are not for the vehicle in question

[Weird Car]

9 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

nice to see a bit of work going on with MPU382J  

I assume you mean Carburettor? Im not sure if Iv ever heard of someone adding Fuel injection to a Villiers 11E!

however I would really advise against picturing/displaying her with Random plates like that, either fit her correct plates or just dont have any on at all until you can fit a correct set of plates

the worst thing you can do is display a vehicle wearing number plates that are not for the vehicle in question

Yeah Carb, haha

 

the car they belonged to is long gone, I'll sort some proper plates out at some point soon "probably after I've retrieved her rear end" they're only there at the moment to fill the gap as I hate seeing cars with no number plates 😂

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

worst thing you can do is display a vehicle wearing number plates that are not for the vehicle in question

Or forgetting to put your rear plate on when you have the wrong tax disc on your windscreen, historically. Ask me how I know!

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, R1152 said:

I did think of @dollywobblerand @LightBulbFun earlier whilst watching something* on Talking Pictures TV I'm transferring to DVD for a mate (he can't receive it where he lives) and spotting a Model 70 parked up!

*"Scarborough in the 1970s" - it's right behind a brown Victor FE.

ohhh did it say 1970's specifically plural like that?

as I believe the same was spotted on on the Microcar world facebook group, a few days ago, but the post said "1970" and when I tried to ask for a distinction I sadly did not get much of an answer

https://www.facebook.com/groups/950689934973969/permalink/4047373328638932/ 

and a screenshot for those who understandably dont want to/cant do facebook etc

[AdgeCutler]

5 hours ago, Harriytait said:

Letting MPU get some sun today, started trying to un lock her engine, thankfully a little investigation told me its just a top end lock, I've splashed some diesel and 2stroke oil mix down the plug hole to see if that'll free it, I'll repeat that for a few weeks and report back, I'm hopeful I can save the original 11E as it's not in too bad a shape really, also if anyone has a throttle body for sale please give me a shout

I do wish you luck with freeing the seizure Harry but I strongly suspect that you'd be better off just stripping the engine. Due to them being 2 stroke and essentially oil free the pistons I've finally freed of had suffered Aluminium corrosion which expands and really locks them tight. It took between 11-13 tonnes on a hydraulic press before any of mine relented. As for a carburettor, have you called Steve Gollings at Villiers services? He has surprised me before by having parts on the shelf for several of my Villiers engines going back to 1941. 

[AdgeCutler]

Looks as though there are a few potential carbs on Ebay at present.  You need an S25 with a number 3 jet, message the sellers and ask for the type that is stamped onto it. Hopefully you'll get a reply "S25/3". Here is one of the listings: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324666490409?hash=item4b97a17e29:g:gEAAAOSwWmlgmmko

[R1152]

49 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

ohhh did it say 1970's specifically plural like that?

The recording name in the media list says "Scarborough in 1970s" - at the end of the programme it says "Scarborough in 1960 - 70s".

There's a Mk. 1 Granada in view as well as the FE Victor so it must be *at least* 1973, I'd say. It's part of TPTV's "Glimpses" series, and the film was made by a member of the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers.

What caught my eye was the shot of the OSR of a Victor FB estate, clearly missing the rear light lens!

I'll try and get you a better screengrab than the one you posted up: there's an earlier shot where the Model 70 isn't obscured by the Victor,

[bobdisk]

A couple of screenshots of Scarborough in the 70s.  Theres a site called " http://www.dvber.co.uk/  " that does screenshots of Freeview channels.