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...

[wuvvum]

17 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

049/048 battery is a teeny bit smoller but is more plentiful in choice

048 is what the Renault 6 uses, so should be plenty for an engine less than half the size.

I'm actually about to splash out on one of these:

As the battery I bought in the ECP megasale a few years back is starting to show its age.  This will only be the third battery in the 17 years I've owned the car so not bad going really...

[Mr Pastry]

Fwiw an 038 is same size and capacity as an 037, cheaper and more common, but has post type terminals and the opposite way around so could be used with some adaptation.

[Snake Charmer]

1 minute ago, Mr Pastry said:

Fwiw an 038 is same size and capacity as an 037, cheaper and more common, but has post type terminals and the opposite way around so could be used with some adaptation.

I was looking at the 037 case dimensions earlier for different capacities and post configuration to see if a cheaper option was available. 

[egg]

50 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

certainly your more then welcome to drop by if you want to i, certainly some film photographs of REV would be awesome interesting in their own right  

Cool I'll DM you if time becomes available. And you can tell me the quickest way to you from Stratford International - as TFL has some funny ideas about that.

[dollywobbler]

Loving this. Nissan Leopard I think is the only car ever to have mirror wipers, just to go back a couple of pages.

Regarding TWC, she tends to get higher speed runs due to the nature of the roads here. I'll leave her for months with the battery connected and she'll usually churn into life.

I fitted one of those Enduroline batteries a few years ago but it's a real stretch for the Dynastart earth cables. I should try and get longer ones as they don't look brill anyway.

[Talbot]

6 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I have also got a bench-top DC Power supply from my electrical/electronics/lightbulbs hobby side of things which worked well last time  IIRC but please do correct me if I am wrong here, to charge a normal lead acid battery off such a power supply, you set it to 14.4V with a current limit of 10% of its rated Amp hour rating and then once the current draw hits 1% of the amp hour capacity of the battery it can be considered charged

 so what I did for mine was set it to 14.4V and a 3.5A limit, and let it charge up with the battery on the balcony outside so any hydrogen does not accumulate in the house and and then when it hit 0.35A I took it off charge, and it seemed to be fully charged as best I could tell

That's not a bad protocol to use.  You could likely charge it a bit harder than that.  0.1C for a charge rate is very low indeed, you could step up to 0.2 or 0.25C without any issue at all.  For float voltage, 14.4 is correct.. you can generally leave it on 14.4V for as long as you like, what usually determines "fully charged" is when the current doesn't drop away any more.  Once it's stabilised (probably at about 100-200mA) then it's definitely fully charged.  It will yhen just sit there drawing 100mA forever but not getting any more charged.  That is how alternators work.. voltage limited to 14.4v.

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

a continental fuse, but its a bit shorter and its fully round IIRC, and the body is ceramic.

IIRC conti's came in 2 lengths initially, ended up as one. Idk, 20mm?

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

All options seem to involve walking from Stratford International to Stratford, the international station doesn't seem well connected. 

I'm sure last time I did that journey I took the DLR.

[High Jetter]

46 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

IIRC conti's came in 2 lengths initially, ended up as one. Idk, 20mm?

Maybe t'other was 25mm?

[Mr Pastry]

1 hour ago, CGSB said:

Given how many classic cars* get robbed these days it might be best to not post this sort of thing up on a public forum.

Agreed.  I had no great difficulty in locating both Lightbulb Towers and the FoD from information which has appeared on the public side of the forum.

[JJ0063]

37 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

Agreed.  I had no great difficulty in locating both Lightbulb Towers and the FoD from information which has appeared on the public side of the forum.

I didn’t believe @CGSBin all honesty so laying in bed I set myself a challenge to find it, bloody scary, 5 mins on maps. 

[Yoss]

7 hours ago, CGSB said:

I don't want to be too much of a dickhead (well, not excessively more of a dickhead than usual) but your recent posts of "Your nearest station is X" and "this address is just down the road from you", combined with photos posted by LBF meant it took about 3 minutes to find the exact location the wheelbarrow is parked at night. Given how many classic cars* get robbed these days it might be best to not post this sort of thing up on a public forum.

Ah, OK, fair point. I didn't think I was being that specific but as two of you seem to have proved, I was wrong. Post deleted, sorry, was just answering the question. 

[Christine]

Bah, it's been locatable for years given the photos Dez  himself put up !  

[Weird Car]

On 04/09/2024 at 19:14, Weird Car said:

Another thing to add @LightBulbFun please please get some kind of tracker installed, even just an air tag hidden under the dash, if owning very small strange cars that easily fit into vans has taught me anything it’s that people will try to steal them, it was a constant worry for me, to the point with my last Invacar where I wouldn’t let it out of my sight and kept it covered at home on my hidden driveway, and that was the relatively peaceful city of Chichester, I couldn’t imagine what it’d be like in the centre of London where god knows how many motorbike and cars thefts happen daily

 

if someone wants it they’ll take it but at least with a tracker you’ll see where it’s headed 

 

9 hours ago, CGSB said:

I don't want to be too much of a dickhead (well, not excessively more of a dickhead than usual) but your recent posts of "Your nearest station is X" and "this address is just down the road from you", combined with photos posted by LBF meant it took about 3 minutes to find the exact location the wheelbarrow is parked at night. Given how many classic cars* get robbed these days it might be best to not post this sort of thing up on a public forum.

With all the talk about Rev growing legs and going walkies I’d just like to re bring up a post I made a while back that seemed to get slightly overlooked, honestly Dez with the 10s of 100s of bikes getting chucked into the back of vans in London daily it’s only a matter of time and for the cost of an Air tag hidden under the dash it’ll give you that fighting chance of getting it back 

[loserone]

7 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

set myself a challenge to find it,

Alright, with a decent res screen I managed in under a minute, but the thing that really surprised me was fuck me there's a lot of football pitches in a small space.   I had four false starts 😂

[Christine]

You need to pull  the photos  of it going onto  the  trailer  , up to Red 5s  ...    outside your flat .  All the info is in the background ....   

[martc]

Meanwhile, back in the USSR

An SMZ S-1L (and M72 motorcycle) Orenburg region, Adamovsky district, '1950's'.

Back a page - those ceramic fuses where used in MZ motorbikes as well. The fuse box consisted of a covered plastic block, the fuses pushed into brass clips, could be a German thing. Obvs the wrong fuse for one of those plastic 'tube' holders - should be a glass fuse in there.

 

[LightBulbFun]

1 minute ago, martc said:

Back a page - those ceramic fuses where used in MZ motorbikes as well. The fuse box consisted of a covered plastic block, the fuses pushed into brass clips, could be a German thing. Obvs the wrong fuse for one of those plastic 'tube' holders - should be a glass fuse in there.

I did wonder about this since that part of REV's electrical system is all Bosch  

[captain_70s]

I think @juular's Volvo Amazon uses a similar (the same?) design of fuse as well?

The Cresta, Dolly and Acclaim all have normal glass fuses. The 740 uses the blade type. So perhaps it is a European thing?

[LightBulbFun]

12 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

I think @juular's Volvo Amazon uses a similar (the same?) design of fuse as well?

The Cresta, Dolly and Acclaim all have normal glass fuses. The 740 uses the blade type. So perhaps it is a European thing?

funny you should mention that  as @juular posted this picture of the Amazon's fuse box during its restoration

which prompted me to ask about it then

 

On 09/11/2023 at 20:50, LightBulbFun said:

Awesome stuff! the restoration of this is simply fantastic! some amazing work and skills on show  

 

that short stubby fuse is a curious one, its not the fuse for the charging circuit, going from the dynamo voltage regulator to the battery was it?

although looking at things now, I dont think the weird fuse I have is quite *that* short and its not for the same circuit

On 10/11/2023 at 09:55, juular said:

On 09/11/2023 at 20:50, LightBulbFun said:

its not the fuse for the charging circuit, going from the dynamo voltage regulator to the battery was it?

It's essentially the main ignition switched live that runs everything else. There's no fuse in the charging circuit. Most of the electrics are primitive and clunky and nowhere near modern standards. There are for example no relays to run the horn and lights, everything is fed through heavy switches.

Something I might fix in the future, as well as doing an alternator conversion (plans already in motion).

 

[chadders]

15 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

I think @juular's Volvo Amazon uses a similar (the same?) design of fuse as well?

The Cresta, Dolly and Acclaim all have normal glass fuses. The 740 uses the blade type. So perhaps it is a European thing?

My VW T2 has 'Amazon type' fuses, my MGB glass ones.

[LightBulbFun]

speaking of electrical gubbins, the electric regulator arrived, and thankfully is what it showed in the listing pictures

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295927581581

which I was a bit aprehensive about since the part number actually written in the listing is different to the one we need/is shown in the pictures, but thankfully I need not have worried the correct part for me showed up  

although it did confirm my initial suspicions that the battery B+ spade connectors are chunky 9.5mm things, and the rest of the spade connectors are normal 6.3mm affairs

I was not sure on this front since I thought the B+ one looked chunky but I was not sure without reference if it was overly large, or if all the other ones where overly small (say 4.8mm connectors)

ill have to get some 9.5mm spade connectors then  and locate where the B+ wire is on the old regulator  according to the wiring diagrams B+ should be a brown wire, but the only brown wire in this shot seems to be a short loop of some kind, so thats something to look into 

(the red with the fuse is D+ the brown and yellow above it is the charging light, and yellow bottom right is DF, so I suspect the read terminal top *right* might be the B+ im looking for, but ill have to investigate)

 

that reminds me slightly embarrassing question, but for cleaning up mating surfaces, for example the regulator grounds through its bolted connection to the chassis, and i'd like to ensure a good connection, whats grit sandpaper should I use to clean it up? (when I got REV back in 2021 I did get a large selection of sandpaper cuz I figured there would be a fair amount of cleaning up crusty connections/surfaces etc!)

[Pieman]

Just caught up with this thread - really pleased to see that after all the infighting and confusion over the last few weeks that Dez has his car back and is finally using it on the road.  I was in London on Monday and if I'd known I'd have tried to come and take a look at it!

Best of luck Dez and I am looking forward to following your adventures - be safe and careful, and most importantly enjoy it.

[Mr Pastry]

17 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

whats grit sandpaper should I use to clean it up? (

Purely depends on how rusty it is and what you happen to have available!  Start with a fine grade and see what it does.

[Snake Charmer]

30 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

of cleaning up crusty connections/surfaces

I quite often use a rotary wire brush ( pointed decoking type) for ring terminals PK screwed into chassis or body.

[Dyslexic Viking]

1 hour ago, Snake Charmer said:

I quite often use a rotary wire brush ( pointed decoking type) for ring terminals PK screwed into chassis or body.

Just wear protection when using these in case a metal thread comes loose, losing an eye is no fun.

[Inspector Morose]

8 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Just wear protection when using these in case a metal thread comes loose, having a thread picked out of your eyeball by a traditionally built optical practitioner using what looks like a miniure scythe at your local eye hospital is no fun.

 

[busmansholiday]

32 minutes ago, Inspector Morose said:

Just wear protection when using these in case a metal thread comes loose, having a thread picked out of your eyeball by a traditionally built optical practitioner using what looks like a miniure scythe at your local eye hospital is no fun.

It was the end of a hyperdermic needle that a nurse tried on me at the local "walking wounded clinic". 

She eventually decided that it wasn't going to work so sent me to the specialist eye section at the "big hospital".

 

Still have a scar....

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

speaking of electrical gubbins, the electric regulator arrived, and thankfully is what it showed in the listing pictures

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295927581581

which I was a bit aprehensive about since the part number actually written in the listing is different to the one we need/is shown in the pictures, but thankfully I need not have worried the correct part for me showed up  

although it did confirm my initial suspicions that the battery B+ spade connectors are chunky 9.5mm things, and the rest of the spade connectors are normal 6.3mm affairs

I was not sure on this front since I thought the B+ one looked chunky but I was not sure without reference if it was overly large, or if all the other ones where overly small (say 4.8mm connectors)

ill have to get some 9.5mm spade connectors then  and locate where the B+ wire is on the old regulator  according to the wiring diagrams B+ should be a brown wire, but the only brown wire in this shot seems to be a short loop of some kind, so thats something to look into 

(the red with the fuse is D+ the brown and yellow above it is the charging light, and yellow bottom right is DF, so I suspect the read terminal top *right* might be the B+ im looking for, but ill have to investigate)

 

that reminds me slightly embarrassing question, but for cleaning up mating surfaces, for example the regulator grounds through its bolted connection to the chassis, and i'd like to ensure a good connection, whats grit sandpaper should I use to clean it up? (when I got REV back in 2021 I did get a large selection of sandpaper cuz I figured there would be a fair amount of cleaning up crusty connections/surfaces etc!)

Assuming your wiring matches mine, I think I posted an annotated diagram of what goes to which terminals last page.

These are my usual go to for cleaning up terminals and the like: https://www.toolstation.com/abrasive-clean-up-roll/p58309

Think it's actually intended for deburring copper pipe, but being a fairly thin strip makes it less cumbersome than trying to get a big sheet in there.  Not saying it's the best solution, just what I've found works for me.  Also ideal for cleaning up crusty hose barbs and such. Just wish the strips weren't such a bugger to find in the UK (they're way more common in the US).

[martc]

4 hours ago, captain_70s said:

So perhaps it is a European thing?

Actually, thinking about it the various Moto Guzzi's I had in the '80's also had those ceramic fuses. Contrary to popular myth the Guzzi's electrics were perfectly reliable so I was less familiar with their fuses than the MZ's. So a European Thing.

ps here's a random '80's Guzzi fuse box on evil bay to confirm my memories -