project 1980 Austin Princess

[vulgalour]

Oh no, FTP!

 

Pulling into the unit I lost power as if I was in the wrong gear, it was very odd, and on pulling into the yard the car just DIED.  After it being so good for the last couple of weeks this was both mortifying and completely expected!  Popped the bonnet, had a look, and whenever you had it idling there would be fuel pouring out of the carb overfuel until it just... died.  Some application of a hammer to the carb got it to stop overflowing for a bit but it would quickly start again.  I just wanted to get it into the unit to pull apart suspected culprits and we made it with hammers and patience, having to push the last foot or so because it wouldn't even idle.  At least the car had the good grace to die at the unit which I was where pre-MoT stuff was being checked since it's the only day I have free until the MoT now.

 

That cause?  Collapsed fuel filter.  This filter hadn't looked too bad last time I'd looked under the bonnet and certainly hadn't caused issues so it wasn't on my priority list for jobs to do.  Bought the last one in stock at the local motorfactors and replacement of that was nice and straightforward.

20180324-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

on removing the carburettor, it was clear that it the float needle was stuck and the bowl was full of orangey sediment from the filter itself.  This was confirmed when refitting everything and running the car showed the new filter to be lovely and clear and free of any sediment at all, so it's most likely not a fuel tank issue.  Took a little while to clean the carburettor out and the car was a bit recalcitrant to start again, but once it had primed properly it idled perfectly happily.  Look at this mess.  The whole carb was full of this stuff.

20180324-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Unfortunately that ate rather more in to the time I did have than I wanted and nixxed the plans to get the welding work done I wanted to.  With the clocks going forward and the trip to get Rover stuff tomorrow, I had to be super careful with how much time I used and my personal energy levels.  Work has had me pretty flat out lately and I don't want to burn out on non-work stuff if I can help it,  deadlines are pretty important to me like that.  The other thing that needed sorting for MoT was securing the rear suspension hoses which proved a little trickier in practice than theory.  We went with the best solution that prevented itself to us so the cables aren't flopping about but are secured in a way that they won't get overstretched when the suspension is in use.

 

As an aside, I really need a rear bump stop if anyone has one.  I've had zero joy through the club or online finding one and I don't have spares.  As far as I know they're not shared with other BL cars either and are a unique slotted and curved shape to accommodate the displacer unit.

20180324-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

There simply wasn't time to weld up the 'sharp edges' at the back of the car so I went with the temporary default instead.

20180324-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

She's as MoT ready as she can be now.  Lights all tested fine, brakes are as good as I can get them without a rolling road thingy to double check, wipers are good, washer jets are aimed correctly now, etc.  If we fail, we fail, but we should pass.

[SiC]

Take those carbs off and rebuild them at home in the warm?

[vulgalour]

Not much point.  The carb (singular) I've got sweats through the body so it's probably knackered anyway.  I've got a spare of unknown quality off the orange car I parted out a few years ago that I keep meaning to get professionally cleaned and then rebuild it myself with a kit since there's not a lot to replace.  I'll also need a new choke cable because the old one has frayed at the end and there's absolutely no way it will go back through the hole on the the carb.  I know this from experience.

 

It works, that's what matters.  The only thing causing an issue really was bits of dissolving fuel filter which has now been eliminated from the system.

[dave21478]

Might i suggest that filter is a wee bit small for a relatively large engine? Thats size is often fitted to lawn mowers and stuff...it wont really restrict the flow during normal use but the small surface area of the filter paper will clog quickly.

 

There are larger unversal ones like what you have, or something like a Quinton Hazell QFF0303, which is my go-to inline filter for pez engines.

[vulgalour]

I used to have a larger drum type one on there that was much better until it wore out, of course. I just bought what was available today.

[junkyarddog]

A dab of superglue is helpful on that last few MM of cables to stop them fraying.

[vulgalour]

Bit late for that.  The end of the choke cable looks like a pile of spaghetti.

[PhilA]

Looks like you might benefit from a fuel filter with a sediment bowl.

 

 

http://www.classicpartsusa.com/product/FUEL-D_1953/1953_Truck_Parts_Carburetor_Items?gclid=CjwKCAjw7tfVBRB0EiwAiSYGM8InkE7MFD0zD9_nD_kStmXm7p_pAen1V5QF_XbvmC4wmx82CH2RChoCm6YQAvD_BwE

 

$25, also have the advantage you can stick a strong rare earth magnet on the bottom of the filter and it'll grab anything ferrous too.

 

Phil

[vulgalour]

A comedy of errors has meant the MoT is rebooked for Thursday.  No problems with the car, just a few unfortunate events at the garage we were heading to.  Never mind, gives me more time to get worked up about potentially failing so it feels more like a proper MoT.

[dozeydustman]

GLWTMoT

[vulgalour]

Oh good, there's the pre-MoT nerves I was missing!  Was beginning to think I'd got complacent and over-confident there.

[richardthestag]

not liking nerves ^^ bit but glwt MOT

[panhard65]

Oh good, there's the pre-MoT nerves I was missing!  Was beginning to think I'd got complacent and over-confident there.

What were you worrying about straight through with no advisories, well done !!!!!

[loserone]

Well done!

 

Hope you got back before the rain kicked in, that was fuggin horrible even in a modern electrical appliance

[vulgalour]

MoT's are always a bit scary, especially when it's an older car and one that you've decided to rely on as a daily as I have with this one.  I couldn't really find anything amiss so I got in the car to set off in convoy with Mike only to find the dash-mounted cigarette lighter won't power the sat nav, which is a bit odd because it didn't have a problem before.  That meant convoying without knowing exactly where I was going and Mike not realising that his fuel injected straight six turbo Supra has just a little better acceleration than my carburettered straight four Princess.  The drive out was a teensy bit stressful.  As was rediscovering Princess blind spots, made worse because I couldn't take the time I would normally for fear of losing where Mike was going.

 

We arrived without drama, happily, and the weird chuntery hunting thing the engine has been doing was still happening.  One look under the bonnet and Scaryoldcortina noticed that one of the spark plugs was loose!  I'd checked this several times and completely missed it, when I went to tighten it up it was only finger tight.  Glad we figured out what was causing the chuntering and resolved it before an errant spark plug could cause any damage.  Princess went through the MoT first and decided not to play nice with Scary and not let him have gears without a fight, behaved perfectly fine once I got in.  This car is a character like that.

20180329-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I assumed I'd missed something somewhere really obvious and while I did get a mild ribbing for the Arrowspeed (circa 1992) tyre that's on because the Camac (second hand from a Porsche, of all things) for that corner has a leaking rim, she went and passed with flying colours.  I was actually surprised at this, I had expected an advisory on something even though we've only done a couple of hundred miles since the last MoT because of breakages.

20180329-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

So here's to another year of happy motoring, I hope!  On the drive home we did get caught in the sleet and rain, which was less than pleasant, and the whining speedo cable is pretty annoying at motorway speeds.  Oh, and the hazard switch celebrated the pass by now not working, so I need to fix that.  Clean sheet though!  I'm really happy about that, it makes all the hard work feel like it's been rewarded properly.

 

Just had a flash of inspiration and looked in the fuse box. I reckon I've found my issue with the non-operational hazards and cigarette lighter.

20180329-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

[danthecapriman]

Sweet! A richly deserved pass that too.

[captain_70s]

Excellent stuff! Planning on painting it this summer?

[vulgalour]

There's already paint on it, why apply more?

[captain_70s]

There's already paint on it, why apply more?

Thicker paint = Stronger car.

 

Obviously.

[vulgalour]

That's the sort of logic one expects of a Triumph owner.  Everyone knows the key to a stronger car is pop-rivetted road signs.

[tooSavvy]

This thread.....

 

"Will it do The TON, Missta?"

 

 

TS

[mrbenn]

Congrats on the MOT, Vulg!

[vulgalour]

This thread.....

 

"Will it do The TON, Missta?"

 

 

TS

Book top speed for this car is 97mph. So sadly not

[vulgalour]

The issue is what caused the fuse to blow. Have you found that?

I have not yet. It could be the wiring for the rear cigarette lighter. It could be related to when the throttle cable was being an earth which weakened the fuse. It could just be a rubbish fuse First port of call will be to fit a new fuse and see if it does it again. If it doesn't, then check the things it powers are working as they should. Then, well, we'll just have to see I suppose.

[purplebargeken]

A new MOT is a wonderful thing. Well done to you all (car included).

[dozeydustman]

Well done Vulg. Having followed this thread from start to finish over the last couple of months since joining I'm sure Princess will give you many more years of motoring pleasure.

[320touring]

That's the sort of logic one expects of a Ballade owner. Everyone knows the key to a stronger car is pop-rivetted road signs.

EFA

[PhilA]

Book top speed for this car is 97mph. So sadly not

Congratulations on MoT.

 

It's evident you've improved the aerodynamics so it'll likely run the ton now.

 

Phil

[vulgalour]

Fuse #5 (16A) - non-ignition accessories

Powers (as far as I can work out): cigarette lighter (front and rear), interior light, hazards

 

Problem:  too much power going through this circuit is blowing the fuse.

 

Investigation:  I've checked for loose wires, bare wires and errant connectors.  Everything is present and correct.  I've disconnected the items listed in Powers to eliminate them from the system.  Fuse sparks when fitting, will blow if fitted.

 

Conclusion: Earth problem?   It's a bit strange really, I can't see anything that's changed to cause the problem and I can't find anything that looks faulty so I'm not sure what to do next.

 

Everything else works on the car exactly as it should, it's just this one circuit.  Any ideas?

[vulgalour]

Friend suggested it could be the clock, which also runs with the ignition off.  Disconnecting that makes no difference at all.  I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to have to pull the dashboard out again.