Jump to content

1980 Austin Princess


vulgalour

Recommended Posts

That wouldnt look outta place Cruising Roswell!

Regarding the front I think it needs round indicator units but not just off the shelf Lucas jobbies it needs something merican of a similar period to the rears?1969-dodge-charger-rt-front.jpg

Or keep with "4 lights at the back, 4 at the front", bin the spotlights and put the sidelights and indicators on the inner lamps.

 

Less fussy, the back end really suits the clean lines and the front is similarly flat/pinstripe sharp edges.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today I used the Princess instead of the Rover to do all my errands.  I had to spent 2 hours cleaning it first to get it to basic clean standard, it was filthy inside and and out from all the bodywork and wiring work and whatnot that's been done.  I needs another clean yet really, and a polish/wax ideally.  Fun thing with the rear lights is that when I press the brake pedal now people back off like I'm about to explode, so I guess they're fairly visible.  Also, people creep RRIIIIIIGGGHT up to the rear end at lights and you can see them peering and trying to read the badges.  Two fun things too, the indicators randomly stopped working and the car didn't want to start after giving it a wash, a wiggle of the relay got the indicators to wake up and the starting was probably because I'd got a bit too much water under the bonnet when waving the hose around.

 

A good 20 miles or so of stop start performed flawlessly afterwards, so I'm happy.  Rover next now that I've got the new front struts it needs and the Princess to use just in case taking a look at the Rover's rear brakes results in yet more parts buying and the car being off the road for a while.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You must be totally sick of people's opinions by now.......

 

 

I would satin black the section under the indicators but leave the strip under the lights beige and maybe the bottom edge.

Then the sidelight / indicators need to be as glam as those fantastic tail lights.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So... can we put the number plate thing to bed now, please?

 

I'm happy with where it is and that's where it's staying.  So far, nobody has suggested anything I haven't already tried (that's not a challenge, Samantha/Gregory), so there's nothing to gain here.  I'm genuinely really happy with how the car looks overall now, it's just a case of polishing up the finer details and keeping it nice now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have known this car since I first saw it lingering on that driveway and told you about it.

 

I have seen the low and high points with it and also enjoyed driving it.

 

I haven't agreed with everything that you have done to the car. But after all these years finally see what was in your crazy velvet filled head :D

 

It's looking great and certainly cannot be mistaken for any other ..... Keep it up

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have any spares, unfortunately, and the one I removed went in the bin because it wouldn't seal after 6 years of trying to make it so wouldn't have been any good to you.  All I can suggest is to keep an eye on eBay, the 1.7/2.0 ones do come up occasionally.  I don't think www.leylandprincess.co.uk have one in stock but it doesn't hurt to ask if you're on there.  As far as I'm aware, Ambassador and Princess 1.7/2.0 are the same exhaust front to back, BL left almost everything mechanical alone on the Ambassador with the exception of the rear displacers (Princess ones are interchangable, they just have a separate hose rather than integrated), and an automatic choke that often doesn't work properly.  Just make sure you don't get the 2.2 exhaust downpipe which is in two bits and sometimes listed incorrectly, yours will always be a single Y piece.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pretty sure you need to convert some of your pictures into B&W and then change the Wiki article on how BL did a prototype facelift to answer the complaints about the awkward rear end styling. Any response can then be linked to the article and see how long before it become legitimised as an apparent BL prototype.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

These are my spare Princess wheels.  When I started, they were orange from being sat outside for goodness knows how long.  It took quite a while to clean them up to a stage where they were good enough to smother in rust treater, which is what we have here.

post-5335-0-84922500-1541691717_thumb.jpg

 

Then, it took most of this week to get them painted and lacquered because of drying times.  I forked out a chunk of cash for some nice new Uniroyal Rain Expert 3 tyres, then a chunk more today to get them fitted and balanced, and then faffed about getting them on the car.  I also put some original wheel trims on and some random rim embellishers that came off that orange Princess I had a few years ago.  I just fancied a change.  You have to put the original trims on before the wheel nuts so they're a bit of a faff to do if you're not already changing the wheels.

post-5335-0-03236300-1541691868_thumb.jpg

 

Looks alright.  I'm looking forward to trying these tyres out.  On removing the 16 year old Runway Enduros and given them a closer inspection off the car there are some spots where the rubber is starting to craze that wasn't visible when they were on the car.  The single mismatched Arrowspeed has become my spare for now because on close inspection it isn't exhibiting signs of cracking and is holding air, eventually I would like to replace it with a matching Uniroyal.

post-5335-0-78729500-1541691984_thumb.jpg

 

post-5335-0-95112000-1541691990_thumb.jpg

 

Rover came into its own with that folding rear seat today, made it lots easier to get all the wheels and tyres in.

post-5335-0-52246300-1541692162_thumb.jpg

 

For the curious, the Rover wears Firestones, which are a very nicely matched tyre to the car and seem to be wearing at a sensible rate.

post-5335-0-23492000-1541692229_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have just sat here reading this for an hour. Shattered from work and collapsed in a comfy chair. Great work fella, love your enthusiasm and openness to change/new ideas.

Dashboard was a highlight!

Keep ‘er lit boyo - this is why I love this site....

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Mini trims are the same design but not interchangable and there's an almost identical design to the one you're thinking of for the Princess that's quite rare.  These are the regular ones.  The runflat ones (Princess got the Dunlop Denovos too if you wanted) were usually a dark silver rather than a bright silver.  Interestingly, the stock trims make the wheels look much skinnier and smaller than the chrome ones.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do these Princesses have tilt-steering column?

 

At this stage in the project I'd be tempted to fit an aircraft steering-wheel. Drive really fast in a straight line, switch on the lights, push down on the steering wheel, and it might actually fly.

 

If you make the right rocket noises.

 

It's now safe for landing in rainy conditions too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...