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...

[Sunny Jim]

@Andyrew should be nominated for Autoshite Hero for Services To Shite status for his work sorting members' cars.

[Dobloseven]

How is 500 pages going to be commemorated? Won't be long now!

[LightBulbFun]

50 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

That is faster than me these days. My Rolls has a recommended max cruise speed of 50 mph.

thats one of the nice things about REV, I am never really in danger of ever bothering any sort of motorway variable speed limit  

since i am usually doing somewhere about that speed, depending on gradient, so it makes near as no difference to me LOL

I would still like to twiddle with the advance see if I can eek out a bit more power, not for continuous faster running, I understand the concerns people have about me possibly prematurely wearing out/blowing up my engine, but I would like a bit more grunt, just to be able to overtake a bit quicker and things like that, I think her current timing is set to about 3 degrees, I think REV was originally set to 12 but it got reset in the work she has had in recent years, so I do wonder if that might be worth playing with...

[LightBulbFun]

16 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

How is 500 pages going to be commemorated? Won't be long now!

good question! in true Autoshite fashion I am still not sure! really I should of saved these pictures for Page 500 celebrations LOL

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/482/#comment-3236992

 

[Christine]

My dad said to me once , imagine hitting the top of the pistons with a sledgehammer  2500 times in a minute ..because that, boy ....  is what the engine's going through at  60mph....

Lucky i have a redline at 7500 in my Honda then . 

[Six-cylinder]

22 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

I would like a bit more grunt, just to be able to overtake a bit quicker and things like that.

I overtook a car for the first time this week with my Rolls. It was driven by an older person braking down from 42mph on a 60 mph A road for every curve, when I am sure a 61 plate Volvo XC90 could take the curves at 80 mph. I took the 20/25 up to close to 60 mph as I did not have unlimited space to be on the wrong side of the road.

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I overtook a car for the first time this week with my Rolls. It was driven by an older person braking down from 42mph on a 60 mph A road for every curve, when I am shaw a 61 plate Volvo XC90 could take the curves at 80 mph. I took the 20/25 up to close to 60 mph as I did not have unlimited space to be on the wrong side of the road.

with the last trip I did which was taking her to Andyrew's where I decided to keep speed more around 50 rather then 60 for the sake of mechanical sympathy and to see what cruising at that slower speed was like (how many people would I get in the way of etc)

I was rather bemused by the fact that I was *still* finding myself over taking people, on a Motorway I should add! not an A road or anything like that but the M1! 

[High Jetter]

Looking forward to the collection thread! Well done @Andyrew, top shiter.

[Dyslexic Viking]

45 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

How is 500 pages going to be commemorated? Won't be long now!

I think @LightBulbFun doing Lands end to John o groats in Rev would be appropriate.

[S2000]

11 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I think @LightBulbFun doing Lands end to John o groats in Rev would be appropriate.

It would. For Charity. On a solo mission it would be stupidity without a fairly large backup crew.

[Dyslexic Viking]

4 minutes ago, S2000 said:

It would. For Charity. On a solo mission it would be stupidity without a fairly large backup crew.

Someone here has just done a long Scotland trip in 2 Reliants without any problems and they are quite similar. 

So I would trust Rev more to make the trip than many 10-year-old cars.

[Andrew353w]

16 hours ago, Andyrew said:

 

The first picture gives the impression of a tree growing through REV! I love this thread and I recon you could extract a few more hoses from the engine, by judicial tuning. Air-cooled engines seem to have weird timing settings and so I'd suggest having a tinker......

[Floatylight]

1 hour ago, S2000 said:

It would. For Charity. On a solo mission it would be stupidity without a fairly large backup crew.

Support crew of @dollywobbler @Zelandeth @AdgeCutler in their Invacars and all of us along the route could come out and cheer them on..

In all seriousness though would be a great way to do some fundraising!

[urpert]

22 minutes ago, Floatylight said:

Support crew of @dollywobbler @Zelandeth @AdgeCutler in their Invacars and all of us along the route could come out and cheer them on..

In all seriousness though would be a great way to do some fundraising!

Or they could do a scaled down version. Take them across to the IOW and do a Needles-Bembridge Trans Island Rally. Get @TheIsleofShite in on the act. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I'd say leave the timing well alone and just enjoy the fruits of andyrew's hard graft. 

If it ain't broke, don't try and fix it!

[barefoot]

2 hours ago, Andrew353w said:

I'd suggest having a tinker......

And bobbing on a delorto 44.

[Sheefag]

54 minutes ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

I'd say leave the timing well alone and just enjoy the fruits of andyrew's hard graft. 

If it ain't broke, don't try and fix it!

Aye, a very good point.

A very smart man once advised me, "A good question to always ask yourself is, What Do I Win?"

The faster it goes, the shorter its life is going to be.
Blow it up and you're totally fucked.

Thing is, you're a custodian of something that was never designed nor intended, to last this long. 
With custodianship comes responsibility.
It's a testament to the skills and generosity of others and it deserves respect.

[Snake Charmer]

23 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I would like a bit more grunt, just to be able to overtake a bit quicker and things like that

Just add a wee dab of throttle in a bottle to crest those hills with a smile on your chops. 😁

[LightBulbFun]

so as mentioned yesterday, today was REV collection day  picked up by my brother with the Corsa we cruised up the M1 and was soon at @Andyrew's

with a resplendent looking REV  strange seeing her actually shiny, I put a water bottle on the roof as I often do and then had to catch it from sliding off!

after lots of general nattering about with @Andyrew and @Mrs6C who kindly popped over also, we applied one last finishing touch, I figured now was an appropriate time as ever (especially as I keep forgetting otherwise!)

 and then off I rode into the sunset with my brother behind as rear gunner, well to a local Esso to get some petrol (as I always like to brim the tank on long trips for MPG calculations, peace of mind and what have yah)

 

and thats when the Ghost of rear brake problems past made itself known, as performance did not feel quite right, sure enough when I pulled into the petrol station well first of all they had no petrol what so ever! so that was off to a good* start,  the rear brakes where a bit hot, and REV had become harder to push by hand (and oddly notchy too)  so nothing for it as they say, after resting for a mo to let things cool back down, turned around and at a more leisurely pace headed back, and @Andyrew after a bit of twiddling, had one of the rear drums off 

cant say I have ever seen brake shoes with chunks missing out of them like that, it was the same on both shoes, the shoe on the left had it missing on the side against the backing plate and the shoe on the right had it missing on the side facing the drum, curious how it is like that opposite sides for opposite shoes!

Andyrew also discovered a sad looking boot and some rusty gunk came out of the slave cylinder which was also did not want to return home, so current thoughts are that the slave cylinders have failed, so the plan is for all the rear brake hardware to be renewed, and all fingers crossed, I can finally put this rear brake malarky to bed!

this is nothing I "blame" Andyrew for of course! the brakes worked fine when I took her up there, so there was no reason to go near em, just is sods law as they say! and I am at least glad it showed up while we where close to the Workshop, I rather it show up where I could still limp back, rather then say somewhere on the M1 wondering why my wheels are on fire or have it show up a couple days later when im on my own in the dead end!

so of course goes without saying, REV has stayed with Andyrew for some further fettling, to hopefully blitz the brakes  

(oh and just to add to the "Jeopardy" of it all my brothers Corsa disappeared all the coolant in the expansion bottle in sympathy, so Andyrew kindly topped that up, fitted a new oil pressure light switch, and gave us a Haynes manual for it as well, which I very much appreciate  me and my brother will keep an extra vigilant eye on that!)

obviously a bit sad not to have REV back still, but it was very awesome to see and drive her again for bit, and she is very much, much improved! especially in general refinement, all the bits that @Andyrew did really show, many of the squeaks and rattles have been fucked off, and the ride in general is a lot better, especially on rougher ground like that dirt track, where she would very much shake rattle and roll, it was a lot more composed, like someone had smoothed off all the harsh edges so to speak, so I am extremely well pleased about that  and of course most thankfuly to Andyrew for all the awesome work done, it really has given REV a major uplift so to speak  

 

[S2000]

12 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Someone here has just done a long Scotland trip in 2 Reliants without any problems and they are quite similar. 

So I would trust Rev more to make the trip than many 10-year-old cars.

They are completely different….

[Dyslexic Viking]

5 minutes ago, S2000 said:

They are completely different….

Both are 3-wheelers, made of fiberglass and built by a hungover factory worker who would rather be at the pub.

So some similarities.

[Dyslexic Viking]

And sad news with the brakes but at least good it happened close to anyrew.

[LightBulbFun]

Just now, Dyslexic Viking said:

Both are 3-wheelers, made of fiberglass and built by a hungover English factory worker who would rather be at the pub.

So some similarities.

 the general work atmosphere at Invacar was a positive one 

there a great account from a chap called Peter Wonnacott who used to work for Invacar, he is still alive, I had the pleasure of briefly talking to him recently, turns out he still lives in Southend on sea or there abouts, so I do plan to pop over with REV, probably been a few years since he last saw a Model 70!

http://www.virtualgaz.com/invacarpage.htm#update

gives a you a good insight into how things where back in the day  

(a lot of the other stuff on that page is out of date/not very accurate etc, so I would not rely on it as a source of fact otherwise for the most part)

[Christine]

 CHIPS GOT !    Even  in the brake linings now eh?   Peculiar.. maybe just age , or rattling around in a box for years ?  New ones today are shrink wrapped ,whether to keep them dry or stop them  knocking against each other and chipping  i don't know .  Bet those are asbestos based  though,  what did they smell like ?  

[dollywobbler]

Ah nuts. But as you say, the right place to fail. I had issues with TWC's handbrake pivot under the floor getting sticky before now, causing brake binding. 

I think these engines are a bit tougher than people give them credit for. They're pretty hardy. A small timing correction is probably worth it I would say.

[beko1987]

Shame about the brakes but as you say, get them replaced (they look overdue anyway) and job done!

My stepdad had a Zafira that emptied it's coolant tank once on him. Would have been sub 3 years old (company car) so we topped it up and it didn't happen again, was very odd.

I'd pop the bonnet and check every week for now until you can trust it more...

[LightBulbFun]

4 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Ah nuts. But as you say, the right place to fail. I had issues with TWC's handbrake pivot under the floor getting sticky before now, causing brake binding. 

I think these engines are a bit tougher than people give them credit for. They're pretty hardy. A small timing correction is probably worth it I would say.

thats a good shout on the handbrake pivot, certainly worth giving a once over to be on the safe side

[beko1987]

Meanwhile Andyrew be like

[Zelandeth]

That's a bit of a bugger, but often seems to be the way with old cars.

I'm pretty sure I've still got a wheel cylinder in stock if it's needed and can't be got quickly.

[plasticvandan]

The chunks in the shoes look characteristic of someone trying to force the drum on when the shoes are adjusted too tightly.they also need a chamfer filing on the leading edges so they don't grab and snatch.