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...

[horriblemercedes]

7 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

It's on Facebook, "Scrapyards from the good old days" and the poster was Geoffrey Taroni.  The photo was taken c1983 in the Electric Avenue

We're gonna rock down there

[LightBulbFun]

22 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

It's on Facebook, "Scrapyards from the good old days" and the poster was Geoffrey Taroni.  The photo was taken c1983 in the Electric Avenue, Witton yard. 

ahh thats a private group sadly! but good to have the info  

do you think you might be able to post the picture URL directly like so? I should be able to grab the image from that before its signature expires  

IE for example 

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/268074639_10159811183543431_1596414544641065962_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=J4XMP9bGalEAX-yClfn&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=00_AfDV-NkcWXPi5Gwqqu6tZOcGEdIXZ9CKfRh0CoemMaJfbQ&oe=63CC9FEE

[Lankytim]

12 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

ahh thats a private group sadly! but good to have the info  

do you think you might be able to post the picture URL directly like so? I should be able to grab the image from that before its signature expires  

IE for example 

https://scontent-lcy1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/268074639_10159811183543431_1596414544641065962_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=825194&_nc_ohc=J4XMP9bGalEAX-yClfn&_nc_ht=scontent-lcy1-1.xx&oh=00_AfDV-NkcWXPi5Gwqqu6tZOcGEdIXZ9CKfRh0CoemMaJfbQ&oe=63CC9FEE

Like this?

https://scontent.flhr2-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/326312570_895281151624129_2739853702489290868_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=ERdUs5I7IAoAX_XDJU9&_nc_ht=scontent.flhr2-3.fna&oh=00_AfAIGZ8dUpIJF_mLDnXih9WeLq9HPnSYO47eJTy88ygVog&oe=63CC5666

[LightBulbFun]

13 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

Like this?

https://scontent.flhr2-3.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/326312570_895281151624129_2739853702489290868_n.jpg?stp=cp6_dst-jpg&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=ERdUs5I7IAoAX_XDJU9&_nc_ht=scontent.flhr2-3.fna&oh=00_AfAIGZ8dUpIJF_mLDnXih9WeLq9HPnSYO47eJTy88ygVog&oe=63CC5666

indeed perfect! grabbed the photo, nice and high rez! thanks for fishing that out for me  

do wonder looking at it now if it might be a Model 70, just cant quite tell if there are flared wheel arches or not, but there is what looks like the white body of Model 70 rear lights, but again hard to say! 

[Weird Car]

TPE has hit the road again! 

[LightBulbFun]

12 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

TPE has hit the road again! 

awesome to see TPE is on the road once more!  how is she running so far?

(and the pics remind me did you manage to nab an AC badge for TPE in the end?)

[Weird Car]

7 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

awesome to see TPE is on the road once more!  how is she running so far?

(and the pics remind me did you manage to nab an AC badge for TPE in the end?)

She doesn’t like re starting after being turned off I’ve realised *currently sat in the car park I took the last picture* I’m currently waiting until the engine is cold again in hopes she’ll start. Meh

*to clarify the starter isn’t engaging*

 

i never did find a badge that I was happy to pay for, most were around the £40 mark, I’m looking for someone with a 3d printer as I think that’s my best bet

 

 

 

[LightBulbFun]

6 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

She doesn’t like re starting after being turned off I’ve realised *currently sat in the car park I took the last picture* I’m currently waiting until the engine is cold again in hopes she’ll start. Meh

Hmmm that sounds very much to me like a condenser breaking down and failing as it gets hot, I would try fit/bodge in a new one/replacement and see if that helps any, and also just check the points/rotor arm/distributor  cap while your at it   

(or at least see if you can cool down the condenser) or may also be the ignition coil another one to check on as well that may be getting hot and breaking down and failing

[Weird Car]

Crisis Averted!!!

long story short, after talking to my brother on the phone who’s a much better mechanic than me he advised that it sounded very much like the battery had died not the starter, so I called RAC and they wanted £60 to add TPE to my policy so I decided I’m a strong boy I can push a tiny fibre glass car home it’s only half a mile after pushing about 40 yards out of the car park a lovely chap in a van obviously saw me wheezing and probably turning blue, ran to my rescue with a set of jump leads and got me going again! 
 

[Zelandeth]

Well worth checking the state of the charging system, it's pretty marginal at best I've found.  I make a point of periodically putting TPA's battery on charge, probably two or three times a year.

I keep meaning to get a decent battery maintainer I could just wire in so I didn't need to figure out where the charger has got to several times a year!

[Weird Car]

23 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

On the subject of electrical stuff, was somebody after some Britax tail lamps?  I have just dug these out of the shed.  They have never been fitted - bought for a project ages ago, and not needed.   One is perfect, one has a chip and a crack in the side of the red lens, see photo.  They are the type with a clear lens for number plate illumination, so not exactly Invacar spec. but adaptable.  Cheap to a good home, bulbs included.

That’d be me, how much posted to Chichester please?

[brummiejon]

11 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

Hmmm that sounds very much to me like a condenser breaking down and failing as it gets hot, I would try fit/bodge in a new one/replacement and see if that helps any, and also just check the points/rotor arm/distributor  cap while your at it   

(or at least see if you can cool down the condenser) or may also be the ignition coil another one to check on as well that may be getting hot and breaking down and failing

I second that, typical sign of a bad condenser 

[Weird Car]

6 hours ago, brummiejon said:

I second that, typical sign of a bad condenser 

It was just a dead battery 

[LightBulbFun]

6 hours ago, Harriytait said:

It was just a dead battery 

yeah I had posted that before you had edited your post to indicate she was not turning over, rather then not starting

since you said she was not re-starting, rather then not turning over,  well thats the issue I thought i was dealing with

 

generally when someone says a vehicle is not starting or especially not re-starting after warming up, that generally implies things are turning over on the starter motor, but not catching,hence why we thought, ahh condenser issue! 

so yeah in your case, the issue would be described as not even turning over  as already mentioned Model 70's are a a Dynastart system, that is starter motor and Dynamo all in one! but as it is a dynamo system rather an alternator system

it means they dont charge particularly well at slow speeds, so im not surprised she flattened her battery, REV's battery got flattened much in similar ways  (well not helped by her charging system being completely inoperative at that point in time LOL)

 

and that is another thing, do check that she is charging! and that the charging light, does go out as it should, and DOES NOT come back on as you then add on even more engine speed, (easy enough to test by taking the machine out of gear and giving it some revs!) if the charging light does happen to flicker back on, then check the inline fuse holder in the charging for dirty contacts, and sort those out  

[Out Run]

The INVACAR thread was past halfway down the first page! 😨

*Catches up* 😎

[FakeConcern]

Now I don't frequent this thread really so there's a very good chance that this has already been shared previously, however I found this through a roundabout route I won't go into and imagined it would be of interest...

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/01/lets-really-figure-out-what-that-put-it-in-h-car-from-the-simpsonscould-be/

 

[LightBulbFun]

41 minutes ago, FakeConcern said:

Now I don't frequent this thread really so there's a very good chance that this has already been shared previously, however I found this through a roundabout route I won't go into and imagined it would be of interest...

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/01/lets-really-figure-out-what-that-put-it-in-h-car-from-the-simpsonscould-be/

 

hah yeah as far back as Page 3 I make reference to that Simpsons vehicle in relation to it looking a lot like a Model 70! espically when you have a steering wheel Model 70 thats complete with dash change still! 

 

and then on page 84 its gets talked a bit more directly  (the guy who did the writeup in Gizmodo obviously typically does not know his invacars at all! saying Harper Invacar, and then saying the AC petite is an invalid car, is like saying "I Have a Ford Rover 2CV!" @quicksilver then did an amusing write up on it himself on his blog http://rustyoldrubbish.blogspot.com/2019/11/put-it-in-h.html

one thing I find odd, is the fact that everyone who writes up about it, sees the Cyrillic  alphabet on the dash/gear-change and automatically assumes the car must have been produced in a place that used that alphabet!

but how do we know it was not a a model built elsewhere where they used a different alphabet, and not simply built for export to the wider soviet union/Russia! in the same way plenty of LHD MGB's where made for the US market! but being LHD does not mean they are not British! 

I mean on the topic of MGB's the Fly bonnet mascot does look a lot like an MG mascot! 

 

On 30/10/2019 at 19:10, quicksilver said:

Have you seen this? Invacar-related content in a Jalopnik article trying to identify Crazy Vaclav's 'put it in H' car from The Simpsons! https://jalopnik.com/lets-really-figure-out-what-that-put-it-in-h-car-from-1825057867

Sadly they have their Harpers and Invacars muddled up but interesting nonetheless. My own theory is that it was a design for an improved Model 71 Invacar that was sold to the Eastern Bloc when the DHSS stopped the invalid vehicle scheme

 

On 30/10/2019 at 20:19, LightBulbFun said:

haha yeah I have seen that  

I find it surprising that no one has made the MG connection with the hood ornament, I could of sworn that back in the 1930s that MG used a flying insect of some kind as its radiator ornament, and doing some quick googling shows that to be the case I think  

I have @1970mgb to thank for telling me about the hood ornament a few years ago  

 

the very first Soviet invalidka's where actually 3 wheelers  (I get shades of AC all weather Tricycle from it)

 

 

its funny you mention "Model 71" its interesting to note that supposedly the Model 70 was originally going to have different body work, but "time ran out" so they just lumped the body of the Model 67 over the chassis

(resulting in a fun little Q car that goes way faster and handles better then it looks/anyone expects!  ) 

I do wonder if time had not run out, if that the body work for the Model 70 would of looked like the Prototype AC Town cars or not

(assuming the story of the body work is actually true, I would like to verify it for myself, or at least see the sources it comes from!)

speaking of I finally got a rear facing picture of one, I don't think I had seen the rear of one before, as somewhat expected but interesting to note, the Model 70 exhaust  

(as mentioned previously its thought that these AC Town cars where built on the Model 70 platform/chassis, although just how much is Model 70 is unknown sadly)

and just as a refresher here it is from the front (its interesting to note that the later 2 Prototypes OPK110L and VPA167M had round normal style headlights)

I have my own things that I wonder about

like I do wonder if the Model 67 body was designed with a view to put it something better, with the Model 67 just being a "stop gap" until the Model 70 came along

a bit like the SRT Class of London buses   http://www.countrybus.org/STL/SRT.htm

especially as the Model 67 was in production for only 4 years until the Model 70 came along

and keeping in mind that by 1967 Prototype 5 of the Model 70 already existed, 1967 is when the Model 67 was launched, so by which the Model 70 was already well into the development stage, by the time of the Model 67

(although sadly I dont know anything about the gestation period of the Model 67)

and keep in mind this is just my own thoughts!

 

shown here is said 1967 Prototype Model 70 (note the Dual doors!)

(also slight correction from my earlier posts about this Model 70, apparently P5 which is what is pictured above was Both Fitted first with an industrial engine then a Fiat 500 engine, and was apparently quite lethal around the corners because it was still on the narrow Model 67 track! and then P6 was the first to be fitted with a Steyr puch engine and looked more or less like a Production Model 70 with widened track etc)

 

while I know quite a bit about the Model 70 development, there are so many details that are not quite known or are from 20 years ago so memories are now hazy

id love to find the source of the prototype info and scoop it for info directly  

(hell id like a picture of Prototype 5 that does not look like its been through a photocopier set to loop!)

 

I sadly cant find the name of the 2 Books, but apparently in the 1970s someone did write a couple books on the invalid carriage

apparently its where the exact production number figure of 5928 comes from for the production figure of the Model 67, and where a lot of pictures on the virtual gaz website originate from

but sadly when I googled the name of the books I could not find much, would love to get those 2 Books and read them thoroughly  

 

[FakeConcern]

There's no flies on you then haha!

[Weird Car]

Dropped TPE off at a local garage to have the final electrical gremlins sorted out, they have a few 2 stroke Saabs and an Austin 7 round back so I’m hoping they know their stuff!

[LightBulbFun]

59 minutes ago, Harriytait said:

Dropped TPE off at a local garage to have the final electrical gremlins sorted out, they have a few 2 stroke Saabs and an Austin 7 round back so I’m hoping they know their stuff!

Awesome! have you dropped off with them a copy of the schematics also? the Model 70 electrical layout is a little bit unusual for the time/for a British car (at least when all the fuses have not been bypassed!)

nothing drastically different, its still Lucas colour codes etc, but its probably good them to have, and just let them know that your car also has a voltage stabiliser for the smiths gauges thats not shown on the schematic  

[busmansholiday]

This is Armitage Road, Rugeley, on 8 December 1977.

Pinched off the dark side for you. 

[Mrs6C]

I suspect we have had this one already, as it looks familiar...

https://www.facebook.com/saveacar/photos/a.340339429633708/1313435728990735/

 

[brummiejon]

Annoyed this morning…. The DVLA sucks

sent off my V65 for RDE 346 on 30th October… call twice to follow it up only to be asked to call back in a couple of weeks…. 12 weeks in, the DVLA have no record of my application and told me to reapply…… terrible service

[Mrs6C]

20 minutes ago, brummiejon said:

Annoyed this morning…. The DVLA sucks

sent off my V65 for RDE 346 on 30th October… call twice to follow it up only to be asked to call back in a couple of weeks…. 12 weeks in, the DVLA have no record of my application and told me to reapply…… terrible service

Did you send it via any kind of recorded or 'signed for' delivery? If so, have you any proof of their receipt? 

[LightBulbFun]

18 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

This is Armitage Road, Rugeley, on 8 December 1977.

Pinched off the dark side for you. 

hah that one very familiar to me but not one I have ever posted before, I have been sitting on since 2019!, but just never gotten round to working it into a post! but as its right at the start of my archives I find myself looking at quite frequently while I dig around back there for other things!

here a direct link to the nice high res original   https://flic.kr/p/8Le16N

 

I appreciate the heads up none the less! still!

 

heres another that I found at about the same time that I have never been able to quite work into a post! (one I always found quite interesting, given the lack of any formal paved road in shot!)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fray_bentos/167183130/

 

[LightBulbFun]

17 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

I suspect we have had this one already, as it looks familiar...

https://www.facebook.com/saveacar/photos/a.340339429633708/1313435728990735/

 

indeed we have! 

On 12/10/2021 at 13:54, Six-cylinder said:

Just in case you had not seen this one.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3097752890480067/?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A22f78eb7-2de8-48c9-90d6-635236aa1838

Just because I am posting about Invacars does not mean I have changed my mind about them, I just acknowledge some people do like them!

 

 

On 12/10/2021 at 14:07, LightBulbFun said:

Ooh thanks for the heads up on that

glad to see thats up for sale rather then scrapped or such! (given what the poor chap paid for it in the first place im not surprised he trying to sell it first trying to recoup some of his expenditure!) 

 its its one of the many Invacar Mk12's found at Trysull its, Mk12E number 2 from that site to be exact  

it was first put up for sale by Scott Milnes who advertised it as being able to being registrable by the ICR, so the guy duly contacted me, where I had to sadly explain to both Scott and the chap who just bought it, that because the car has no known chassis number I sadly could not help

(but did inform him to hang onto it as I was/still am hoping to find a Chassis stamped number on a Mk12, and was looking into ways of registering chassis numberless cars under an Age related number at least) 

so he was understandably upset about that, so im not surprised to see its up for sale now

so yeah Buyer be aware it has no Chassis plate/known chassis number! (but if you do find a chassis number on it then I will be able to ID it for you and get brought back to life on the DVLA once more)

 

if nothing else might yield many useful parts for @Harriytait however  

I sadly dont know whats become of it since, it was last for sale up in Scotland near @DodgyBastard's for £500, but I dont what happened to it since!

[brummiejon]

1 hour ago, Mrs6C said:

Did you send it via any kind of recorded or 'signed for' delivery? If so, have you any proof of their receipt? 

I made a formal complaint and lo and behold they miraculously found it…

[LightBulbFun]

3 minutes ago, brummiejon said:

I made a formal complaint and lo and behold they miraculously found it…

poor @egg is probably having bad flashbacks right about now! 

 

glad they have found it, now lets hope there is a nice juicy archived record RDE346 for them to unearth and reinstate  

[brummiejon]

Just now, LightBulbFun said:

poor @egg is probably having bad flashbacks right about now! 

 

glad they have found it, now lets hope there is a nice juicy archived record RDE346 for them to unearth and reinstate  

Unfortunately no… they tell me a “letter is in the post” to say I need to submit a V765…. I’m ahead of the game and Simon is sending it all off tomorrow with his signed approval

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, brummiejon said:

Unfortunately no… they tell me a “letter is in the post” to say I need to submit a V765…. I’m ahead of the game and Simon is sending it all off tomorrow with his signed approval

ahh thats a shame, but not all together unsurprising! as who knows when RDE346 was last taxed/on the road before now! 

very glad to hear you have managed to work with Simon and get a V765 on the go!