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...

[brownnova]

Following my spot this week of the Elswick Envoy in a field… 

I fell down a rabbit hole about this fascinating little vehicle. 

I imagine you’ve seen this, but it has a few mentions of the invacar, including the claim that the owner of the Elswick had taken her Invacar to the Alps! Inspiration there! 

Either way, it’s a fascinating little film! 

[plasticvandan]

Bodies were made by Reliant,some footage in the 1983 world of reliant film on YouTube 

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, brownnova said:

Following my spot this week of the Elswick Envoy in a field… 

I fell down a rabbit hole about this fascinating little vehicle. 

I imagine you’ve seen this, but it has a few mentions of the invacar, including the claim that the owner of the Elswick had taken her Invacar to the Alps! Inspiration there! 

Either way, it’s a fascinating little film! 

indeed I have  https://autoshite.com/topic/32723-lightbulbfuns-invacar-general-ramble-thread-index-on-page-1-survivors-lists-on-pages-24134-adgecutlers-invacar-mk12-restoration-from-page-186-onwards-still-harping-on/page/303/#findComment-2725784

my predecessor of sorts, Stuart Cyphus did a lot of the behind the scenes work for that film, but sadly he rather got the short end of the stick and has understandably been a bit frumpy about things since!

https://rumcars.org/forum/index.php?topic=4450.msg34704#msg34704

but that aside I would not mind getting in contact with Nancy at some point, I would love to know the details of her Tippen Delta and Invacar, and I admit to being curious as to know what she would make of my exploits, regards to me and REV a disabled person using an Invacar as an Invacar with for much in the same way she kept using the Envoy for how it suited her specific needs/requirements, (slightly scarily I am only a few years short of owning REV vs how long she had that Envoy, and REV is much older especially now then the envoy was then!) and i'd like to think she would probably enjoy a chance to see an Invacar again after all these years!

funnily enough along those lines London Gateway Services is somewhere I have been with REV  

[AdgeCutler]

I was a little late to take a snap of 2000 miles since restoration. Here’s 2002 at high velocity.

Brian is loving life. Yes he’s been away for the winter and avoiding the salty roads but guess who’s back, back again!

[LightBulbFun]

24 minutes ago, AdgeCutler said:

I was a little late to take a snap of 2000 miles since restoration. Here’s 2002 at high velocity.

Brian is loving life. Yes he’s been away for the winter and avoiding the salty roads but guess who’s back, back again!

tis very awesome to see Brian is out and about once more  and thats a pretty impressive speed your at there! have you managed to take Brian onto a motorway yet?  having driven a Model 70 a fair bit and having confirmed to myself through this driving, that the people who shit-talk about them being unstable or bad handling, unsafe at speed etc, are talking complete and utter bollocks, I am all the more curious to get behind the controls of an older Villiers machine to see how they compare in terms of driving dynamics  

[Pieman]

23 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

indeed I have  https://autoshite.com/topic/32723-lightbulbfuns-invacar-general-ramble-thread-index-on-page-1-survivors-lists-on-pages-24134-adgecutlers-invacar-mk12-restoration-from-page-186-onwards-still-harping-on/page/303/#findComment-2725784

Out of interest, given how precisely you reply to queries about things already in the thread...do you search for them or have you got the order of this full thread memorised?  If so, then that is extremely impressive!

[High Jetter]

1 minute ago, Pieman said:

Out of interest, given how precisely you reply to queries about things already in the thread...do you search for them or have you got the order of this full thread memorised?  If so, then that is extremely impressive!

Great point. As a former librarian, if I didn't know it I knew where to find out, way before google etc. But yea, I reckon @LightBulbFun knows.

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, Pieman said:

Out of interest, given how precisely you reply to queries about things already in the thread...do you search for them or have you got the order of this full thread memorised?  If so, then that is extremely impressive!

my memory is a bit weird I suppose, in that I seem to remember/recall things, in a way many people dont it seems? I would certainly not say *perfectly* eidetic or photographic, (not for the most part) but in general, you show/tell me something, especially if its something that I care about/am interested in generally (lightbulbs or invacars for example) I can often tell you pretty precisely when and where I have seen that before and what the surroundings of it was, sometimes with what was said in the conversation at the time, so in this case of this thread, @brownnova shared the link, I knew exactly what to search to pull up previous time it was talked about in this thread   (or if the search function was down, I know about where in the thread to manually go what page/date range etc)

so dunno what to call but, yeah I suppose you could say I have this thread memorised to a degree, certainly the general chronology of it, but it also extends to more then this just thread or even this forum (ie for example I have a pretty good internal catalog of the vintage computer and lightbulb collection of close friends of mine) sometimes I feel a bit bad about it! as you say in this thread the amount of times someones come here to share an image, and I remember clearly where and when it was last posted here

but I will admit its rather fun in person where someone will say something, and then ill go "oh yeah at that gathering while you where doing blah, you mentioned blah" and the other person will respond usually with "how the fuck did you remember that"  (or give some indication/facial expression along those lines)

I can also still recall many of my childhood memories/experiences, for example the Model 70 that I saw back in 2003, when I would of just been 3 or 4 years old, which planted the seed for all this! I still clearly remember seeing it for the first time and asking my mum why does it only has 3 wheels (funnily enough a couple times while I was about in REV or working on REV, some toddlers passing by exclaimed much the same to their parents as I did then! " *finger pointing* that car only has 3 wheels why's that!")  and I remember Routemasters on Route 38 and Route 73 for example, and the purchase of my first fluorescent tube and what that tube was etc

this is also whats makes owning REV a bit surreal for me, because I first saw the film Ali-G in Da house, in around about 2005-2006 I want to say? and i do remember REV's scenes, but never in a million years would back then did I even remotely think "yeah ill own that someday" yet here we are!  funny how life works like that as they say!

[LightBulbFun]

had a bit of an impromptu outing in REV today  mum realised a bit late that she was out of the bread she liked, so asked if I could go fetch some to save her having to faff about trying  to get it after work

I also figured it would be good to give REV a little run about before the big one to Kidderminster tomorrow, and gave me a chance to do some pre-flight checks ahead of time

sliding doors mean I can park like this no problems (I could of parked a bit closer to the telecom box  still and I wanted to, but every time I moved shuffled her about, traffic would stop flowing as people stopped thinking I was about to move off or the such like, so seeing that vehicles could get past just fine where REV was otherwise, I figured best I just stopped messing about!)

finally managed to pap this Land Rover Light Weight I have kept meaning to photograph, tho I really need to get a picture of it from the side, its really quite something!

used the outing as an excuse to swing by the chippy also  

one of the employees there looks to have a Dacia Jogger and I do admit while I was looking at it, I realised just how easy it would be to sharpie that "J" in to a D....

anywho, I was soon home after that, not entirely without incident mind, as just as I was parking up REV's clutch decided it did not want to disengage fully so I could not change drive direction without turning the engine off first (or very quickly flicking it from FWD to Reverse)

its not dragging enough to move the car when its in gear, but if you take it out of gear you cant put it back into gear and you can hear the clutch drum spinning when it should not be, so I am *hoping* its just a case of the idle speeding having crept up a bit for some reason, and just needs tweaking back down (maybe REV is a bit frumpy about the fact last fill up i had to use E10 as they where out of E5? LOL)

but i'm also a bit fearful that maybe one of the clutch-shoe springs has snapped and is no longer appropriately being held back (this is what a Model 70's  centrifugal clutch looks like if your wondering!)

thankfully its not a show stopper, especially as for most of the trip I will be going flat out across the entirety of the M40 (and M42 and a little bit of the M5), constantly in motion, but having a clutch shoe constantly dragging even if it doesn't move the car is probably not a good thing when your at a set of light etc! so tomorrow morning ill see how it behaves, REV always idles a bit slower when cold so ill see if the clutch is still dragging then or not, which will hopefully give me a clue as to the issue (I would of tweaked the idle speed on the carburettor when she was warm after todays trip to try and see if that made a difference but it had gotten dark by then, so ill see about doing it tomorrow if I can, once I get to my destination) 

[beko1987]

I'm wfh today, if you get stuck by J6/7/8 of the m40 come off and call me 👍

Mind by beaconsfield too, the speed cameras sit on the gantry bridge just after a massive downhill stretch 🙄

[Andrew353w]

7 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

anywho, I was soon after that, not entirely without incident mind, as just as I was parking up REV's clutch decided it did not want to disengage fully so I could not change drive direction without turning the engine off first (or very quickly flicking it from FWD to Reverse)

its not dragging enough to move the car when its in gear, but if you take it out of gear you cant put it back into gear and you can hear the clutch drum spinning when it should not be, so I am *hoping* its just a case of the idle speeding having crept up a bit for some reason, and just needs tweaking back down (maybe REV is a bit frumpy about the fact last fill up i had to use E10 as they where out of E5? LOL)

 

This is exactly what my Daf does! When I started using 99 octane Esso Super fuel the tick-over speed rose and I had to reduce it a little bit to allow the clutch to engage smoothly. The clutch shoes might be dragging owing to the springs either detaching themselves from their pins or perhaps breaking, although it's unlikely. Another thing I discovered with the Daf was that after a period of fast running the tick-over was higher anyway, regardless of how carefully I had set it. Once the car had done some urban streets for a bit the tick-over would settle to its correct setting.   

It's good to see the inner workings of another centrifugal clutch as well and I hope to see this car soon! 

[calebaaront]

[beko1987]

Going well then 😂🤞

[trigger]

I was just about to post that too, upsetting the internet being on the motorway in it!

[beko1987]

4 minutes ago, trigger said:

I was just about to post that too, upsetting the internet being on the motorway in it!

Knowing what I've seen on the m40 before dez wouldn't be the slowest vehicle on it 😂

I hope the engine handled the long fast hills well though. 

[lesapandre]

Ridiculous - I mean the internet not REV. People need to get a life!

[catsinthewelder]

Chodspeed Dez, I'm not far from Kidderminster if you need a hand with anything.

[LightBulbFun]

9 hours ago, calebaaront said:

Oh cool! sadly it seems to have been deleted so I cant save the photo for the archives, would anyone here have happened to have saved the pic? (might DM the OP about it, I wonder if it was him that nuked it or the group admins)

 

as mentioned in my previous post today was the day of the big drive up to Kidderminster  (I also took the opportunity to  with a cold engine investigate the clutch issue, and even with the engine just turning over on the Dynastater, I can tell the clutch drum is spinning (which it should not be) so it seems not be an idle speed problem, which is a bit of a bummer, as to get to the clutch you need to drop the engine or gearbox out, dropping the engine out is only about 4 bolts and disconnecting some ancillaries , but it kinda meant to come out the bottom rather then the top...) 

anywho starting milage is thusly, 

first stop was to top up and brim the tank, (at 23635 miles) just to be on the safe side

and then I worked my way through Central London onto the A40 then flat out on the M40 until Junction 10 services, where I got more petrol and emptied my bladder

got 11.4L in the tank (and failed to measure what came out of my bladder)

which looks to be about 28Mpg? given that the first 10 miles of that was London Traffic and I was quite literally flat out at wide open throttle for the 60 miles afterwards, I dont think thats too bad  I did have a bit of a worry where she appeared to lose her idle, until I realised it was just the aforementioned clutch issue causing her to gradually stall when stationary and in gear, thankfully its a fairly gradual thing so was not a problem for the most part I only noticed it when was stopped at the pumps, again not ideal, but not a show stopper, anyhow after the above, I pressed on towards my destination, and I only accidentally took the wrong slip road taking me the wrong direction and having to go back a junction to turn around, twice LOL (once while trying to rejoin the M40 at the services I accidentally went back south and had to turn around at Junction 9, and then trying to join the M42 I took that going in the wrong direction so had to loop back around before joining the M5 briefly then onwards to my destination)

and eventually after treading a few more extra miles then planned and traffic coming to a standstill both times at the same time, I got to my destination, with good company on the driveway  pre-existing clutch issue aside, REV performed almost flawlessly despite being quite literally driven flat out at wide open throttle for the entirety of the trip, I even managed a new speed record of 66Mph at one point  although after junction 10 of the M40 I think there was a bit of a head wind as I was only able to do about 58~ for the majority of it, (which was fun because this new belt/pulley combo, has a very high pitched annoying whine at 56 Mph or so go below or above those speeds and it goes away, so all the more reason to go  flat out LOL, but the headwind or whatever it was meant i kept falling into that narrow 2.5Mph whiney range LOL, I also need to see about rejuvenating the suction cup steady mount for the interior mirror it likes to pop off the windscreen and then the mirror shakes about)

all in all 157 miles covered today, by far the biggest/longest trip I have done in REV and she handled it very well all things considered  ill be doing this same trip in reverse on Sunday, so REV's workout aint over yet!

[barefoot]

10 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

 ill be doing this same trip in reverse on Sunday, so REV's workout aint over yet!

Fuck me. Do they really go as fast backwards as forwards?

[urpert]

1 hour ago, barefoot said:

Fuck me. Do they really go as fast backwards as forwards?

82mph apparently

(also LBF, you aren’t the only one to end up the wrong way coming out of Oxford services!)

[beko1987]

Pppft, tourists 🙄 😂 I almost enjoy driving around the junction (there's an asda half a mile away in Wheatley ) and watching people be in the wrong lane for things! 

[urpert]

Actually Wheatley Asda is probably a much better bet for petrol for REV on the way back. ISTR Oxford services used to be one of the most expensive petrol stations in the country. 

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, urpert said:

Actually Wheatley Asda is probably a much better bet for petrol for REV on the way back. ISTR Oxford services used to be one of the most expensive petrol stations in the country. 

Then dez can pop 7 miles down the road to mine for a cuppa 😂 

(although I'm out tomorrow until tea time, going to my mums and if you divert to there your pretty much at the FoD which would be random for you to go to)

 

[LightBulbFun]

so with all said and done today was the return trip back home  REV checked over and oil topped up

as an aside, especially on the drive down I notice a curious film covered the *inside* of the windscreen, that I could draw on with my finger as if it was condensation,, see the X just on the door trim of the focus for example, I am rather curious to know what this is! is it just dust n stuff blowing itself out from the heating-demising system, or is it something else?

many lighting goodies acquired at the gathering loaded, if your wondering just how much stuff you can cram into an Invacar there are 5 streetlights in here, a fair selection of lamps, my 3 bags and my V shaped special pillow I take with me if I am sleeping over (something I am very pleased I can do now thanks to REV ) 

and then set out, first stop was petrol, about 28Mpg once more

and despite being fairly well laden, REV once more tackled the motorway without any fuss  stopped at the Junction 10 M40 services once more for fuel, 27Mpg returned, and while I was paying for fuel, a lady asked me where I was going because she said she had passed me on the M40 on Friday and had now ran into me again in the services! "Oh its that little car again!" and then a whole gaggle of french I think? bikers returning from a motorbike show somewhere descended on REV to have a look around and ask the obligatory questions, so that was fun  

then headed back out with the setting sun behind me, homeward bound, at one point I managed to slot myself in between a Ferrari Testarossa on forigin plates, and a large english registered, US pickup truck with a couple motorbikes in the bed, I wonder what the others around us made of our brief convoy! this drive back being a bit more relaxed just by way of not having quite as many lorries to have to overtake, it was rather interesting tho just how quickly the road surface becomes noticeably worse, the moment the M40 becomes the A40 mind... 

anyways after battling my way through Central London, I was home  milage total for the trip (23633 start 23926 end) is 293 miles, by far the biggest trip I have done to date

and I have been quite pleased with how the actual driving went, it goes without saying I am feeling very broken right now, but each trip was a 5 hour drive, there is no way I would of managed that in a normal car I know that for sure! I can tell however that REV is similarly feeling things a bit, fast running was on the motorway was as above without issue, but I noticed once I got into London's 20Mph zones she was not running as smoothly as she normally would, often coughing back through the carb as Model 70's often do, but more so then REV normally does and a couple times bogging down and losing speed until I acctuated the accelerator pump, so thats something to keep an eye on, we are not far off 1000 miles now, so I think ill look to scheduling in and giving her going over and a bit of a service soon (oil and filter change, check the points/spark-plug gaps and conditions, as well as the valve clearances if I can, and top up the differential and gearbox oil etc

but yeah all in all I am quite pleased with all things

 

[plasticvandan]

Glass (and interiors) do get dirty,given the marginal door seals,having windows open,a demister system relying on unfiltered air from outside to be pushed through a heat exchanger into the screen,I would imagine that's normal.cleaning should be part of your routine. Popping back and lumpy idle could well be closed up/dirty points or fuel starvation,check fuel filter if you have one.also check your oils as sustained high speed will have put pressure on your levels.

[beko1987]

I find myself polishing the inside of the windscreen regularly tbh, even with a  modern and cabin filter (but the window open alot) the grime builds up silently until suddenly it's a shitty damp night and it's constantly fogging up.

Autoglym glass polish is good stuff. Not too aggressive but easy to use and you then leave it to haze and it buffs off nicely. Be easier in Rev as you won't have to climb up onto the dashboard to get the back corners like in my qq 😂

[lesapandre]

Vinegar and a scrunched up newspaper clean glass very well and cheaply and are not full of toxic stuff like preparatory cleaners.

I'd read that the grime is partly composed of tiny particulates that get electo-statically charged thus they stick to surfaces.

Some of it is made up of brake and tyre dust - the latter is a significant source of particulate matter - all those tyres running on all those roads.

London too - plenty of dust! My stuff always stays much fresher when tripping out of London.

Best to give REV a good clean inside after each long run.

Maintenance just shows how much more needy in terms of their maintenance cycle and times pre-90's vehicles were - pretty much normal. Somewhat forgotten these days.

Looks good fun which is how it should be 👍🎉🥳 Enjoying you posts as usual!

[Six-cylinder]

FoD is only 58 miles!

[plasticvandan]

Going by how filthy the outside of it is I'm not surprised the inside is as well

[Heidel_Kakao]

@LightBulbFunI am curious about what makes REV so comfortable for you compared to a regular car? From my admittedly short blat around the FOD I can only imagine a five hour journey at speed with all the noise and vibration etc being much more tiring than a regular car where you could just set the cruise and relax.