Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[Zelandeth]

The fact that someone has already done it makes it easier.

It's basically a case of getting all the details together, filling in a V62 and including a covering letter. In some cases a covering letter from the Invalid Carriage Register is also helpful I believe, which basically just confirms what you've put in the V62.

I may still need a V62 to change the vehicle type from Invalid Carriage to Motor Trycycle - but I've done that for enough buses and coaches that were having their vehicle class changed as they were never going to be used to PCV use again, it's not too hard.

The problem with getting a V5 for a lot of them is that the majority were actually recorded as scrapped - and their systems aren't really set up to un-scrap a vehicle so manual intervention is required. Pretty sure if you caught someone on a bad day that they could make that a real chore!

[CitroJim]

The problem with getting a V5 for a lot of them is that the majority were actually recorded as scrapped - and their systems aren't really set up to un-scrap a vehicle so manual intervention is required. Pretty sure if you caught someone on a bad day that they could make that a real chore!

Now that's interesting as I was under the impression that once a vehicle had been scrapped, that was it. Game over...

I got that idea from some classic press stories of cars being put through the latest dealer-inspired scrappage schemes that could not then be un-scrapped...

There was a celebrated case of a really nice Standard 10 that suffered such a fate a while back...

[Zelandeth]

I suspect that they "got away" with it in this case as it was done such a long time ago, and that they had evidence that we weren't talking about one car, but a bunch of a hundred or so. It's also quite possible that these cars which escaped the actual crusher may never have had a certificate of destruction issued. Apparently mine is relatively rare in that it still has the identity plate riveted to the body just behind where the driver's right shoulder would be. The "scrapping" process for quite a lot of cars apparently consisted of prying that off the body and then parking the thing in a field.

Apparently the ICR are hoping to relaunch their website soonish, hoping that some of the info to appear there might be how they actually managed to get the DVLA to play ball.

[CitroJim]

hoping that some of the info to appear there might be how they actually managed to get the DVLA to play ball.

Now that will be a story worth reading as the current view is that to get them to play any sort of ball at all is not by any means easy...

[Gibbo2286]

Re glass fuses, I have a selection on my workshop shelf, not many but there are 1a 2a 10a 15a 25a and 35a sitting there waiting for a new home.

[Zelandeth]

Cheers for the offer, but given that the fuse box is already having issues, and only offers protection for two circuits I think a modern upgrade makes sense.

Especially as the 25A one blowing has the capacity to completely immobilise the car as it kills both the starter and ignition circuits!

[Zelandeth]

As stated earlier, I didn't have a massive amount of time for this today, but did get a bit of time.

Two tasks.

Firstly was to give it a run for a decent amount of time and see if the smoke cleared. While this was underway it occurred to me that cleaning out the crankcase breather was probably smart too. It wasn't actually too bad really, but I did make a point of ensuring the valves in it were able to move freely. Not sure if it was related, but shortly after that the smoke stopped.

A few minutes later the accelerator jet seemed to rejoin the party and the engine would rev - at which point the now not full of oil exhaust decided to shed 20 years worth of soot. This was impressive, but only happened once.

The next task was to start pulling out the knackered floor. This first required me to remove the seat (which I'd already decided was beyond saving). This turned into the predictable hour long round of swearing at stuck fasteners and rotating nuts that if the car had been built by anyone sensible would have been captive. Eventually I got it out though.

I've got about as much of the floor out now as I can before I introduce it to the angle grinder. I can definitely confirm that the actual floor isn't attached to the chassis save for rivets at key locations. I think it's actually in two parts as well.

It would have been downright miraculous if the chassis hadn't needed some repairs, and sure enough a few holes have appeared. Nothing show stopping by any means though - especially with it essentially being a glorified ladder frame structure.

The annoying bit however is that it's clear that the floor was attached to the chassis and the body then plonked on top, bolted through both. So to properly fix it, the body will definitely need to come off.

I'm going to get underneath first though (or tip it over again) for a proper look through before I get too involved in that - especially given that I'm not done looking for possible body part donors yet. It would be annoying to take it off, reassemble it then have a better body turn up a week later.

I'm not going to faff about with fasteners when I do that - they're just getting attacked with the grinder and replaced with metric ones. This is the sort of proactive approach I'm taking - if it's going to save me time in the long run and make the car easier to live with and work on later - I'll sacrifice a bit of originality. There are plenty of concourse examples, and this is never going to be one of them!

[van ordinaire]

I also have a few glass fuses (which, curiously, are readily available in the US) - but, then I do have a 2CV (although C15's used the same fuse box until at least 2000). Down in Devon I have an auxillary fuse box I doubt I'll ever use - but I won't be down there again for a couple of weeks, to check it's more than a 2-fuse one, I think it's 4.

[xantia_v6]

American, Japanese and (I think) European glass fuses are a different diameter and length than English (Lucas) standard. English sized fuses and Lucas pattern fuse boxes are readily available for classic car market.

[Zelandeth]

Bother...totally meant to bring the fusebox inside with me to stick in the dishwasher tonight (it does a fantastic job of cleaning up brass like new!)...but I forgot. Not going back out now!

First task for today was to get rid of the stupidly oversized rear wheels. While they give it an amusingly aggressive stance, they also increase the overall width by about a foot and I'm fed up of walking into the nearside one getting stuff out the garage.

It's sitting on 10" wheels just now as none of the 12" wheels I got have currently got tyres on which will retain air. It will probably end up on 12" wheels though both as it can drop the cruising speed revs a bit, and as I understand it gives you a bit more choice in terms of tyres as well. ...Also reduces the amount of wheel arch I need to rebuild!

In case you wondered how much difference there was...here it is with one 10" and one 15" wheel on...

One thing I hadn't originally appreciated was how ridiculously heavy the 15" wheels are...Pushing the thing it feels like I've knocked about 10% off the overall mass!

My next task for today was to introduce my little AC to my good friend Mr. Angle Grinder.

Still have to attack the offside rear corner as I can't get at that until I've managed to extract the gear selector. Currently the fasteners holding that in place are resolutely stuck. They're currently soaking in Plusgas, and if they haven't decided to play ball by this time tomorrow I'll just attack them with the grinder - I've got another gear selector in a box that is in far better condition, so I'm not precious about this one.

90% of the rotten floorpan out, and both rotten sill covers off. Lesson learned, Invacar rubber floor matting does in fact burn quite nicely, and STINKS when you hit it with the grinder.

Then hit the surface of the chassis with the carbide sponge polishing thing that shifts rust, paint and everything else...Gonna need a few more of them I think.

Given the state of the floorpan, it's near miraculous that there's as little repair work needed as there is.

Here's the worst bit I've found so far aside from the bit down by the seat belt buckle.

Compared to what I've found on things like your typical MG of a similar vintage, and that it's been sitting in a field since the early 1990s, that's really not much rot!

I've also had a closer look and I reckon that I actually should be able to get away without removing the body. There's actually only about an inch of overlap at the front (assuming so far that the rear is the same) - the body is bolted to the chassis, and the floor is then riveted to the body just behind the nearby crossmember. This is a major bonus as it will save a heap of time.

Also learned an important lesson today: There is no inhibitor switch on this thing to prevent you starting it in gear. This is especially important when you have no brakes. Thankfully it moves off at a slow enough pace at idle that there was no drama - but worth remembering for future!

[Hell Razor5543]

I take it an inhibitor switch might make it into the finished article?

[Zelandeth]

I take it an inhibitor switch might make it into the finished article?

It might. Question really will be how difficult it will be to fit. It'll also be far less of an issue when I've not got a sticky throttle, as the clutch doesn't even start to engage until about 1200rpm...so normally it shouldn't be a problem. Just having "check it's in neutral" as part of the starting procedure won't be too hard a thing to do in future either - especially as the choke is right next to the gear selector. The lack of a seat at the moment (or a floor) means that the starting procedure is a bit fluid at the moment!

[Michel]

How do you select gears Zel? Is there a clutch lever or is it fully auto like the old DAF thing was?

I ask as my Yamaha YBR 125 has an inhibitor switch in the clutch lever assembly, it won't start unless the clutch is in.

[Zelandeth]

It's got a centrifugal clutch, the drive is actually through a Salisbury belt drive system - basically a more industrial version of the variomatic system as used on DAF vehicles. There's a little lever down to the left of where the seat should be which simply has D N R positions.

[bobins]

There's a little lever down to the left of where the seat should be which simply has D N R positions.

Ah no, that's what the previous owner put on it - it stands for Do Not Resuscitate.


....Sorry Zel, couldn't resist