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...

[Blake's Den]

On 4/29/2023 at 1:03 PM, LightBulbFun said:

its a small "kei truck" type kit car using Mini mechanicals, so I would not be surprised if its a mini windscreen? as the front says its known as a "Jiffy" 

I think someone has posted about them on here before, certainly I knew what it was as I saw it before even reading the front if that makes sense!

Yes, it's a Mini Jiffy pick up. Made by indespension (the trailer manufacturers). They use a standard mini front subframe and a bespoke rear chassis.

[barrett]

On 4/28/2023 at 12:51 PM, LightBulbFun said:

Oh wow! thats a find! as @somewhatfoolish says that makes for 2 know surviving Harper Mk6 Electrics now! or well at least 2 known to be extant, as said its a shame that this one is so badly broken! looks like the entire front roof and front end are just missing!

but very much worth rescuing for parts and patterns if nothing else, especially if your planning to rescue 61HPA, which is the other electric harper, and the one I was referring to with my comment

It'd be great to find out how viable this might be to save. Just looking at that wheel, it looks better than the ones fitted to our one, and I assume there will be plenty of other small bits and pieces which are shared by petrol and electric versions that would be worth salvaging. Did anyone get anywhere with tracking it down?

[LightBulbFun]

so a small update on the Harper Mk6, it was given a quick poke and clean out a couple weeks ago  an old door matt covered in who knows many years worth of nature was evicted from the interior, revealing a rather interesting original  padded vinyl covering, and a battery tray, looks like they really did just plonk the battery in the cabin! I also like this shot, as it shows well what the interior of a Harper Mk6 looks like for machines this old even pictures are far and few between, so I am glad to have a good picture to show

it looks like as well as the body being painted at some point itself, so was the interior which is interesting, wonder what the story with all this painting is, looks like the dashboard would of been a paler colour and the backing behind the seat black

speaking of the seat, its a 2CV type affair, which has slightly fallen apart, but hopefully can be put back together  with new rubber cords  

a quick look was had a look at the control panel and associated wiring nearby, it seems sadly the wiring has been been got at somewhat, and will need a good sorting out before power is applied, with this what I think is the reversing solenoid looking somewhat haphazardly screwed to the dummy door,

and thats another interesting thing about the Harper Mk6, it seems to be of the automatic reversing type control, 

on something like an Invacar Mk12 or AC Acedes, you physically move a lever to engage forward or reverse, I think which physically moves a couple electrical contacts in the SIBA dynastart box and obviously selects the 2nd set of ignition points for reverse running

but on the Harper Mk6 its of the Microcar style where you push the ignition key down and twist to engage reverse/start the engine going the other way, which as said I have seen on a few microcars 

but I am not sure if any other Villiers Invalid vehicle had this type of reverse?, although saying that a wiring Digram I have for the Invacar Mk12E does specifically state "Manual reverse" so it does sound like it might imply that perhaps a key selected/automatic reverse was maybe a thing/option? as always more research needed LOL

all in all quite interesting  

[brummiejon]

I spy with my little eye

 

[Mrs6C]

6 hours ago, brummiejon said:

I spy with my little eye

 

A brace of 'em! 

[High Jetter]

It actually looks like a 3-way embrace! Almost a contender for Up The Arse!

[calebaaront]

Just seen this on Facebook.

[Remspoor]

On 5/7/2023 at 1:04 PM, brummiejon said:

I spy with my little eye

 

Yellow circle the customer is waiting. Red square are there 2 more there?

[Mrs6C]

19 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Yellow circle the customer is waiting. Red square are there 2 more there?

I think you could be right... 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, calebaaront said:

Just seen this on Facebook.

This is not LAME. This is LAME

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Yellow circle the customer is waiting. Red square are there 2 more there?

 

1 hour ago, Mrs6C said:

I think you could be right... 

reminds me of this shot of UPC894F  

[AdgeCutler]

With Brian now due to attend Castle Combe steam rally I thought it time to finish a few things off rather that just keep clocking up miles, which have now reached 720 since rebuild. The rubber floor mat edging has been rolled out this morning after borrowing a swager from a friend.

[LightBulbFun]

3 hours ago, AdgeCutler said:

With Brian now due to attend Castle Combe steam rally I thought it time to finish a few things off rather that just keep clocking up miles, which have now reached 720 since rebuild. The rubber floor mat edging has been rolled out this morning after borrowing a swager from a friend.

its really awesome to see Brian really clock up the miles! just really awesome hear/see that he is being used and daily driven! so few people use their Model 70's sadly let alone those that Have Villiers machines

as I have mentioned Brian is only 1 of 2 Villiers machines that I know which are road worthy and used on the road, the other being of course fittingly another Mk12E LVX250J (JBY503J) although I am not sure what its annual milage is! 

so it is really awesome to see that Brain is properly being used  

[egg]

Brian's done more miles than my Mondeo in the past year!

[High Jetter]

I'm sorry, whenever I hear Brian I think of thishttps://images.app.goo.gl/XqmfX894HuBnVqDdA

I know, that Brian is much faster and am glad it's back on the road.

[AdgeCutler]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I'm sorry, whenever I hear Brian I think of thishttps://images.app.goo.gl/XqmfX894HuBnVqDdA

I know, that Brian is much faster and am glad it's back on the road.

Ha, not at all. I've been looking for original Brian the snail (not the CGI style) keyring and mascot. Since early childhood I've been known as Dougal within my family.

[AdgeCutler]

Job jobbed!

[MGBetts]

On 4/15/2023 at 12:39 AM, LightBulbFun said:

soooo, ummm, I may have done a thing!

or should I say we Have done a thing, because I have dragged @barrett and @Mrs6C into this as well  

but yes the Harper Mk6 has been saved!

I never thought in a million years Id end up finding and owning a Harper Mk6 of all things!  (or I guess that should that be we, since it is a joint venture so to speak! not sure @barrett ever expected to end up with one either!) theres gotta a be a joke in there  somewhere about 3 people jointly owning a single seater car

but I cant overstate how awesome this is! the Harper Mk6 is a near extinct machine, before this one came to light only 2 Petrol hard top harper Mk6's where known to survive,  172EPH with the Wroughton Science Museum, and 11SCW in New Zealand, and thats it! now 3 with 447FPH  

so as you can imagine I am very excited by all of this! just to see another survivor crop up! is fucking amazing let alone to have actually ended up with it! 

of course it was not an easy task to get it saved and I have to give many massive thanks to @worldofceri for being available to transport it at such short notice, and @Mrs6C for similarly being available at short notice to also assist in everything  

 

its in remarkably good condition for what it is, its all there and solid, and the engine even turns over! (I do wonder if it might be worth putting something down the plug hole to keep it oiled/lubed up?) I really am very pleased with it, even more so hearing how relatively good it shape its in, I was at least expecting the engine to be seized after so long but no! I do wonder how much it would take to get it running and driving

and its also been just been very fascinating to study, again Harpers are such rare things, that very little exists out there on them let but I do have this as as a baseline  so to speak at least (fittingly from @barrett)

but still to actually get a good look at one! would be worth a write up all on its own, its been quite interesting to see on our harper all the little things, like the door and engine cover being made of steel, and it really does look like they did just plonk the battery in the Cabin! which I have to say is rather crude even for an invalid car, and especially for a Harper! seems very last minute/hap-hazzard "Oh shit we forgot to make room for the battery in the engine bay!" its also very interesting to see that ours has a Hydrulic clutch, talking with Stuart at the other day, he did mention in pasing breifly that he thinks this might be a Mk6A so I do wonder if thats one of the changes (if I am reading the period writeup correctly it sounds and looks like theirs had a cable clutch)

its also interesting to see it seems to have an Invacar type throttle arrangement where the entire twist grip and clutch lever move with throttle input

its also fun to see the speedo clocks up to 70! now thats ambitious for a Villiers machine, less then 3K on the clock too practically brand new! LOL 

and its been very interesting to see that indeed the wheels ARE NOT standard Ministry Dunlop LP 591 wheels, this is something I had long suspected but never been able to confirm until now (I had suspected it because the wheels on a Harper never looked quite like Ministry wheels and they always had different style hub cpas)

and indeed they are quirky 3 stud things! how french! I do wonder if these wheels are unique to Harpers? or the PCD for that matter!

I think they are still 12 inches in diameter, but shod in 12x4.00 rather then the 12x4.40 that later machines where fitted with, thus I do wonder will 125R12's fit these wheels? (as in I know 125R12 will replace a 4.40x12 tyre but what about 4.00x12?) still need to confirm the tyre size however

and finally a couple more pictures of the Harper as it was found

you may notice no side windows, thats because it never had any! it would of had cellulose type side screens, this is a 1957 specification machine from before sliding glass windows where a thing!

it has had a repaint at some point in its past life, originally it was a metallic peacock blue, think early Invacar Mk12, but metallic like a Barrett midget

and sadly on that front, little is currently known about its history, other then its a fairly typical story, of old chap passes away and old car is unearthed from a garage, I will try and badger the seller for more details in the coming days, but I am not sure how much even he knows! but hopefully we can find out more in time  

so yeah as you can tell I am pleased as punch with this! and I am also if I am allowed to say, rather proud of myself, , that I managed to get saved such a rare machine, and on top of that be directly involved and orchestrate its saving! 

it was no easy feat! I felt like a conductor, conducting a large band, as I negotiated with the seller for the purchase and details of the machine,  all while coordinating everyone with everyone and passing on the relevant details here there and everywhere! properly frantic LOL, I made first contact on Wednesday and he needed it gone by well, today Friday! so I had about 36 hours to work out how to save the thing! pulled it off in the end tho!

totally worth it  of course! there just was simply no way I could stand by and do nothing! I am not kidding when I say love the British invalid car I mean it unconditionally! 

 

I look forward to the day, this Harper FPH, REV, TPA, TWC, Dolly, XWC, and  Brian are all able to stand proud together   

once again many thanks to @Mrs6C and @worldofceri for going out of their way to rescue it, and all the physical hard work they put into said rescuing!, I cannot overstate how much I appreciate it! I owe you both many gallons of your preferred beverage! 

 

 

 

as a side note I find it rather fitting we unearthed this Harper on the same day @dollywobbler unearthed TWC for the first time in a fair while!

 

I can't blame you at all - what an incredible find!  Personally, I find the Harper Mk 6 one of the most stylish of the Invacars.

[MGBetts]

On 2/27/2023 at 7:32 PM, brummiejon said:

Just seen this…. Is it a regular 3 wheeler or an invalid carriage?

 

That's an AC Petite.  Not an Invacar in its own right, but a cousin to the AC Acedes (Model 57) which was.

[AdgeCutler]

I’ve now made a start on the window handles which are fairly important if you wish to open the windows or indeed lock them, the locking rod engages against them. The two remaining originals are well rotten as with all steel work throughout the car. I’m using stainless as the cost of chroming as per original was prohibitive, I hope I can be forgiven for this slight stray from originality?

[AdgeCutler]

Handles now knocked out and trial fitted, a bit of a polish and they might just be passable?

[LightBulbFun]

Awesome to see the fine tweaking/fettling of Brain continuing, I still think he should be entered into the Festival of the unexceptional's concourse section! 

or at least someone needs to make an  "epic restoration" section for Brian to sit in  

 

 

in other Blue 3 wheeler news, I see TPE409S has been papped out and about, sadly I still have no clue who now owns this one, but its good to see it is being used at least  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/carsyoudontseeanymore/posts/3654068398248032/

[High Jetter]

16 hours ago, AdgeCutler said:

Handles now knocked out and trial fitted, a bit of a polish and they might just be passable?

Looking sharp!

[AdgeCutler]

Spit and polish!

Also, in other news. Today I decided to fully open the throttle on a short stretch of level, straight road. A glance down at the speedo told me Brian had reached the dizzying heights of 51mph, something I won’t be doing often but curiosity forced me to.

[LightBulbFun]

3 Locomotives to move 1 Stanley Mk7? thats like the Train equivalent of when you see a large car transporter with one of those little Tikes cars strapped to the bed LOL

perhaps it was: *looks at loading sheet again* "ooh 6.00 cwt not 600 cwt..."

https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/how-load-wagon-invacars-oo-gauge

(Yes I know theres probably a full train load of wagons ahead of the Stanley but still an amusing photo in and of itself ) 

[Remspoor]

@LightBulbFun Th link above is for subscribers.

But here is a work around.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/how-load-wagon-invacars-oo-gauge

[egg]

On 13/05/2023 at 18:13, AdgeCutler said:

Brian had reached the dizzying heights of 51mph,

Blimey, maybe a new land speed record for a Villiers powered invalid carriage (accuracy of Smiths dials not withstanding), that took some guts!

[LightBulbFun]

47 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

@LightBulbFun Th link above is for subscribers.

But here is a work around.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https://www.keymodelworld.com/article/how-load-wagon-invacars-oo-gauge

hah interesting because I am not a subscriber! but still loads just fine for me, maybe it just knows better then to try and hide Invalid vehicle imagery from me  through the sheer will power of invacar LOL

30 minutes ago, egg said:

Blimey, maybe a new land speed record for a Villiers powered invalid carriage (accuracy of Smiths dials not withstanding), that took some guts!

I wish there was someone on the road side to record/photograph the high speed drive past! "Neoooow" (but in 2 stroke noises)

bonus points if you manage to flash an Audi or such out of the way

[AdgeCutler]

On 5/18/2023 at 5:14 PM, egg said:

Blimey, maybe a new land speed record for a Villiers powered invalid carriage (accuracy of Smiths dials not withstanding), that took some guts!

The speedo seems to be accurate, at least it reads the same as the speed check signs locally. I’ve checked it against them on numerous occasions at various speeds and the readings always match.

[AdgeCutler]

All ready now for Castle Combe rally after roading two steamers and two Invacars to the showground. A little more steaming early tomorrow and then, relax!