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Author Topic: C5 Resurrection  (Read 2535 times)

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Offline Howard81

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C5 Resurrection
« on: 11, April, 2013 - 01:06:13 »
I thought I would finally start a thread detailing the renovation of my C5!  I don't really want to call it a restoration as it was in really rather good condition to start with, but as it had been sitting around unused for most of its life I decided to give it a very thorough re-commissioning.

The story behind the vehicle is an interesting one - I acquired it from a chap who lived in Minorca, but had bought a couple of them over to the UK to sell while he was visiting family here over Christmas.  He had purchased loads of them as surplus 20 years ago, apparently from a company who had imported them to hire out to tourists.  They had been plagued with reliability problems (mainly with the batteries losing charge and stranding people!) so they allegedly only had a couple of months of use before being stored away.  I had been hankering after an nice original C5 for years, and this one fitted the bill perfectly - being complete right down to the original toolkit :)

Luckily for me the electronics were in excellent shape, the previous owner having had the control boxes overhauled by radiomarty - so the tyres were pumped up, a fresh battery fitted and I went for a 4-mile dash along the Thames path in the freezing cold - what fun!!  However, the rear-right wheel was making a strange noise and I got some clicking from the motor.  The tyres where cracked badly where they had been stored flat, and the poor thing desperately needed a good overhaul.  Further investigation on the wheel noise revealed the bearing cone had cracked around the bearing race.  Looking at the tyres, this must have happened when the C5 was new as the tyre was very worn along the inside edge, yet the opposite one was perfect!  I also noticed that the motor had fallen off the little plastic shelf (it was loose in the bracket!) and the rear drive cog was rattling about as the spacer washers were missing.  Certainly no more rides until I had given the poor thing a good overhaul - besides, it was far too cold outside  ::)

The C5 was stripped down as much as I dare and again was found to be in excellent shape.  There is a very small amount of light surface rust on the rear chassis arms, but it's very minimal and has now been treated with a rust convertor which should keep things at bay.  I also found that my C5 was originally a dual-battery model as it has a sticker on the tunnel saying to turn both the batteries on if two are fitted.  There was also the bracket for the extra keyswitch, but the wiring for this had been removed.

So far, the renovation has consisted of the following:

  • New rear axle bearing cone fitted
  • New rear "large" drive cog to replace the cracked original
  • New spacer washers between the axle and rear cog (plastic ones for now as I can't find metal ones the correct size!)
  • Motor put back on the plastic ledge and original bracket to keep it there correctly fitted
  • New drive belt
  • Rear wheel bearings removed, degreased, re-greased and re-assembled
  • Front axle stripped down, degreased, re-greased and re-assembled
  • New Schwalbe City Jet tyres front and rear
  • Rear brakes stripped down, cleaned up and re-assembled
  • New inner and outer brake cables
  • New front brake blocks
  • New battery securing straps
  • New side stripe stickers
  • New wheel stickers
  • Both brake levers and light switch bracket bare-metalled and repainted satin black
  • Second keyswitch assembly wired in
  • Two new 015 batteries
  • A very good scrub of the body tub!

The majority of the parts needed were from Karl and Chas, so a big thanks to them, plus everyone else I have received parts from! 8)

So far I have it almost back together, the only jobs left to do are fit the repainted brake levers and adjust the brakes.  My aim is to get it ready for the Crawley Run on Sunday, so stay tuned

Some photos of the renovation:























More photos coming tomorrow :D
« Last Edit: 03, June, 2013 - 16:08:52 by Howard81 »

Offline radiomarty

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Re: C5 Resurrection
« Reply #1 on: 11, April, 2013 - 01:24:11 »
Intresting stuff and well done on the work-I think this was part of a batch of 5 control boxes I (not C5Martin) did for a chap who used the exchange service because he needed to take them back to Spain the next day ! - I recall he also had a Sinclair Zike Regards Marty

Offline Howard81

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Re: C5 Resurrection
« Reply #2 on: 11, April, 2013 - 01:28:40 »
Whoops, sorry about that - duly corrected!  :-[ ;D

Yes, that's the chap, he did mention he had a Zike too!

Offline radiomarty

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Re: C5 Resurrection
« Reply #3 on: 11, April, 2013 - 05:45:16 »
No worries -if you email me your address I have a few spacer washers - Marty

Offline C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER

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Re: C5 Resurrection
« Reply #4 on: 11, April, 2013 - 08:44:30 »
Well done great job .some serious competition I see ....Keep up the good work

Chas

Offline Retro Andy

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Re: C5 Resurrection
« Reply #5 on: 15, April, 2013 - 20:47:39 »
Looks really nice  :)

Retro Andy.

Offline Lancealot

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Re: C5 Resurrection
« Reply #6 on: 18, April, 2013 - 20:01:16 »
looking good keep up the good work

Lance