AC Type 70, tidy up

[Big Al]

I have currently got the somewhat scruffy Type 70 Steyr Puch Invalid Carriage up for sale. I made no great efforts on this to get the ball rolling. Just a scrub, and wash off. Fitted the doors. Its on Car and Crashit classified.

The thought was as and when pockets of time came available I can tidy it a bit further as the ad runs. So the remains of the tow hitch have been removed. The rear lights, a very good pair of the correct early fitments, as this example was withdrawn before all the lights were changed, were fitted. The correct boot stay was located in the parts and added.

Andrew helped me attempt to start the engine. This proved problematic. The electricity was only reaching the solenoid for the starter. Using a long feed cable I checked the sections of wire beyond. There were numerous poor connections, resistances and faults. I therefore decided to use a complete spare primary wiring loom we had in second hand spares. This was cleaned up on the bench. Then it was mounted loosely. It immediately became apparent that there was a wiring discrepancy. Logic bought to bare said the car on was wrong, as the live feed to the ignition switch was the wrong side of the Solenoid, meaning it would be impossible to switch on. That thought was put behind my ear, as it were.

So with the wiring now of a known conductivity throughout, we tried again. Nix. Now the ignition switch was getting no live feed. I swapped it for a serviced one, just because. Then looked for the big brown live wire that should provide the current. It left with, arrived without, gaining a white tag on the way. The joint was traced back to the fuse holder. The live feed clearly should have powered the one contact, with the brown/white wire next to it going on to the ignition, The lights being on the other side of the fuse. What I had, was no fuse, and the brown wire on one side, the brown and white on the other, isolated, and another wire, live. Ear lodged wiring fault, removed from ear. So it was hot wired. Turning the fusebox back to the correct layout, and we had ignition switch power. From then on the starter was very happy to spin, much more so then previously, when supply was put onto the feed wire from the old solenoid and wiring loom. Proof, if you need it, of the loss to resistance time corroded connections offer.

A current check on the coil, and to the points, revealed continuity, but the dissy needed a good spring clean. I do not know if cobweb is a conductor, but decided not to find out. All looked good for a fire up. So off with the air filter, it does have one of the flap control springs on it, so a bit of fiddling to retain adjustments. Bit of fuel down the carb and the engine fired up pretty readily. It sounded very quiet, and smooth. Bodes well, as these units out of tune, or worn, can be lumpy and rather laud.

So to the fuel supply. There wasn't any. The fuel tank was pulled and contained some of the bitterest tasting petrol I have had in my mouth. The entire pipe was gummed despite repeated attempts to clear it. The gunk reformed a barrier. So a bench clean up. All pipes sorted, it was back together. Still no fuel coming out for the carb. Lifting the tank I could feed fuel direct into the carb. In this way the engine ran. But we were about to loose battery power, and it was clear that the pump needs a rebuild. Maybe the carb will need a clean up too. But done the machine can have its drive system tested. The engine sounds like a very good unit.

Its still on Carlos Fandango wheels. I will source a set of proper wheels for it shortly, and tidy up the wheel arches. If we get the car running, it then becomes an issue to get the brakes working, as the car will be drivable. I think at that point I will be looking at breaking up the duffed Mk12, so as to make its front panel available for the Type 70. For with that nose modified to fit, and the car driving, it passes to being a more valuable vehicle and will require a new advert at a higher price. Indeed, but for having so many projects I would do it up to a good standard. Its an easy restoration.

Good progress made, then.

[Big Al]

Further work made.

The loom with the replacement ignition switch, solenoid and regulator was put back in place, now it was proved to work as it should. The solenoid needing to have an earth to function.

Attention turned to fuel supply. The pump fitted was doing nothing, so it was removed. But meantime I had got a spare one out and rebuilt that one. The pump is not my preferred type, being somewhat similar to that on an NSU. That is the diaphragm has no physical seal below it, to the crankcase. Thus a diaphragm failure can fill the crankcase with enough fuel fumes to spontaneously ignite, blowing the engine apart! On the NSU we habitually pulled off the pump for a electric pusher under the fuel tank. This eradicated three issues. The poor pump delivery leading to fuel starvation, and an over heating engine. The possibility of a diaphragm fail, and a disaster. And the lack of friction draining power from the engine and the marginal increase in performance. I am not sure the Type 70 will be driving as hard as an NSU, so I am not proposing to alter the fuel delivery from standard.

As it happens the pump design on the Puch is actually better. It has a none return valve on both inlet and outlet. It has a filter gauze insert you can clean. It has a double chamber. The down side is one flap valve is not accessible. The chosen pump was filthy. So I spent a good time cleaning the muck out. You really need a compressor to chase out the inaccessible flap valve. Sadly some helper had once again managed to cripple mine, so I now have to repair that. The pumps swapped, with one non return valve not really to my preferred standard, I then set about cleaning the removed one, in case it offered better performance. I think it probably will, but some sealant had been used to seal the end cap, rather than a proper gasket. The excess had polluted the filter gauze with a sticky layer of latex like plop, to which any muck in the fuel had stuck. Minimal fuel was getting passed the filter. The actually problem for nil delivery was the diaphragm shaft had seized from lack of use. The shaft was a simple lub job. The filter is soaking overnight. Bit wiffy in the kitchen. Stale petrol soup.

Returning to the engine, I got my test tank out. It takes about a pint of fuel. That allows me to have the tank above the engine, and best chance of a fuel supply while testing. The serviced fuel pump proved OK, but clearly the charged battery selected is going duff, as we only got a few test runs out of it before it failed to supply enough power. In the doing it showed up a bad earth on the engine earth strap. There work stopped as it was time to head to the shed and sort out the Fiat exhaust and pick parts for a Messerschmitt project being sold. The selection of spares going with the Type 70 grows.