project 1980 Austin Princess

[plasticvandan]

Mmm princess " fan" club,number of princess owners,zero?

[vulgalour]

It's on Facebook, it's bound to be bollocks.

[Pillock]

Ssssh. You're wrong.

[chompy_snake]

Anyone able to identify the broken wiper car from the dash?

[Pillock]

That chap who posted it is in the Maestro and Montero Owners Group on FB but it doesn't appear to be one of those.

 

He also drinks in a pub I used to go in for the quiz every week, and he likes Ed Sheeran.

[DodgeRover]

Can someone post that it is a BMW/ Austin joint venture prototype?

[theorganist]

I had just joined that page thinking that as it was for British cars it would be less of a bear pit than the barn find page. The first post I saw was the picture of Vulgalours Princess and some of the comments were your typical anti BL comments. I got into a slight argument with the guy who set the page up as he said that a Princess was not a "Classic" and that the Maxi wasn't either, apparently a classic is something that was ground breaking or set a trend. I should have mentioned the Allegro and Marina and see what he thought of those, the Maestro no doubt would have induced some kind of medical emergency!

 

I told him it was snobbery, clearly he only thinks British cars that you can drive wearing goggles or a flat cap and of course a pair of driving gloves merit the word classic.

[vulgalour]

It's great when people set rules about what is and isn't a Cl*ss*c. Anyone saying in the same breath that a classic is "ground breaking and sets a trend" and then dismisses the Maxi for being neither of these things is an idiot, quite frankly.

 

Generally speaking, if a car has made it to 30 years old as far as I'm concerned it's earned classic status. Some are worth more than others, some are faster, some are more interesting, but they've all survived far longer than they should have in various conditions and that's what should be praised above all. Be it an E-Type or a Maxi, an enthusiast can appreciate them even if they don't like them. Too often folks confuse opinion with fact, in this and so many other aspects of life.

[PhilA]

Generally that onus appears to be applied to vehicles that were "old", and not on everybody's driveway when they remember them being new.

 

Unfortunately, now quite a lot of these people would be upset because they themselves have reached "classic" or "vintage" age. It appears to be a form of denial.

 

Phil

[captain_70s]

I told him it was snobbery, clearly he only thinks British cars that you can drive wearing goggles or a flat cap and of course a pair of driving gloves merit the word classic.

I think its just general arsery.

 

Person Y has been told by people on the TV and down the pub that Car X was shit. If Person Z likes that car they must be wrong, because Car X is shit. Anybody who likes that car is suggesting that Person Y's opinion is wrong, and that makes Person Y very angry because Person Y needs validation to maintain their self worth.

[dozeydustman]

There was a big hoo-ha in Practical Classics about 20-25 years ago when I first got into classic motoring in my mid-late teens, people writing in and complaining that a Hillman/Chrysler/Talbot Avenger was "Too modern to be in the price guide", but lauded the inclusion of the Austin Princess/Ambassador and Morris Marina/Ital as classics - all 3 from the same sort of era. All 3 are definitely classics now, but back then I thought they were just old rammel.

 

Badge snobbery will unfortunately never go away. Hyundai, Kia and Dacia now make some cracking cars, but there will always be someone who turns their nose up at them with "I wouldn't be seen dead behind the wheel of that" without actually seeing what it's like on the road and will probably never be regarded as classics by the mainstream press or motoring world. If someone can't make an informed opinion on a car without putting it through their paces, they are a fool.

 

At the end of the day, one man's food is another man's poison.

[vulgalour]

POP

20180914-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Was a bit more difficult to remove than expected because there was some rust hiding that was holding onto the seal on the driver's side.  The bubbling at the top of the seal wasn't too bad, thankfully.

20180914-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I wasn't aware of rust problems on the driver's side so I've a little more work to do, including this corner.

20180914-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

This flange was fairly damp and crusty (stop it) and once cleaned back the outer panel layer will need replacing while the inner it spot welds to looks okay.  Shouldn't be too difficult to repair since it's a straight strip of metal with good access for cleaning up.

20180914-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20180914-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

The other top corner I did know about the rust from when I bought the car and has been dosed with rust potions and covered with tape for a while which as kept things from getting really bad.  Someone had been in here before and squidged some putty into the seal on the corner so this has been an issue for quite some time.  It's the main reason I wanted to take the screen out to do repairs.

20180914-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20180914-07 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I'll be making a start on these repairs this weekend since this is the most difficult bit to do, the corners particularly are going to be very fiddly to get looking nice.  Hopefully the screen goes back in without too much grief.

[vulgalour]

Today was going moderately well, certainly made healthy progress with the surround repairs.  I went around the surround and cleaned back anything that looked suspect, uncovering two more areas that needed small patches.  Then I made cardboard templates for the patches, which you can see here in white, ready to be recreated in metal.

20180916-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Putting the new pieces in was much easier than taking the old rust out since I didn't have to worry about cutting through too much with the cutting disc.  Welder behaved itself and apart from feeling awkward because this all felt like it needed to be done left-handed, it was looking reasonably good.  I hadn't had any errant sparks go into the cabin or on the glass, all was well (I did protect things better than the pictures make it appear, photos were taken out of order).

20180916-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Then, just as I got the penultimate piece tacked in...

20180916-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

... black smoke EVERYWHERE.  Something was very on fire.  Something in the boot... the boot I'd forgotten to empty out because I forgot that there's a straight route from the bit I'm welding into the boot itself.  Open the boot, or leave it shut?  You know when an engine catches fire you're supposed to not open the bonnet because it can make things worse... Open the boot because otherwise how am I going to put it out, maybe it's just a lot of smoke and nothing else.

OMG THAT'S A BOOT FULL OF FIRE.

It's something behing the spare wheel, quick hurl that out of the car!  Oh no, more fire, quick grab something to pull out the thing that's on fire!  That's no good, that's a plastic door bin and that's on fire too now you idiot.  Just take your welding gloves off and grab the edge of it.  SHIT IT'S PLASTIC.  Now there's bits of plastic in the boot on fire and bits of plastic on floor on fire.  Grab that leather jacket, it makes a good fire blanket.  Good, boot isn't on fire any more.  Now put out the fire on the floor by stamping on it because... no don't do that!  It's plastic you idiot....

... eventually the fire went out.  I burned my hand a bit but not A&E amounts, just a couple of small blisters.  I breathed in some plastic smoke, not very pleasant that.  I'm okay though.  No harm really done.  Most importantly the harm to the Princess was really minimal with just some soot staining in the boot and a couple of blobs of melted plastic on the floor mat.  The culprit was a welding spark going down the inside of the C pillar and setting fire to the front door moisture membrane and tool bag, both plastic, that were stuffed behind the spare wheel well.

20180916-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

20180916-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

I'm normally really careful, I have no idea why I didn't think to empty the boot today.  I'm just grateful the damage wasn't worse or lasting to me or the car.  Be careful when you're welding, kids, it's a dangerous hobby.

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Glad you’re ok mate. Kind of mistake we all make. Once.

[purplebargeken]

Gulp. That could have been so much worserer.

[Felly Magic]

Ooft, not good there, glad you and the car are OK

[Mally]

I've done that a time or two, panic sets in.

Have a break until the hand gets better.

[Zelandeth]

This is why having a fire extinguisher - especially either a powder or CO2 one - is always a good idea.

 

Therefore that process would change to "oh crap fire..." *Grab extinguisher, schoosh!* "Hey look, no more fire.". Then you can start looking for what caught fire when the clouds clear.

[vulgalour]

Hindsight is 20/20 isn't it?  Thing is, there are fire extinguishers at the unit but it would have meant navigating the obstacle course that was tools, wires, and two-post ramp to get to the other side of the unit, find the correct extinguisher, remember how to use it, and put it out.  In this instance, a singed hand was preferable to trying to find extinguishers... next time, I'll get the correct extinguisher in my work space ready and make sure I empty the boot out properly.

[MarvinsMom]

at least there is no real harm or damage done...

[155V6]

Just glad you & the car are ok.

[danthecapriman]

Great work despite the accidental flamage!

 

I’ve done it myself a few times, mostly it’s just seam sealer or old foam insulation catching and easily dealt with but I once set myself alight while laying under a car welding. I didnt notice for some time as I had the visor down but it began to get intensely hot down one side which I thought wasn’t right!

It’s funny really how you don’t think straight for a while in the blind panic!

[PhilA]

Yeah. I would always put the fire extinguisher next to the welder- that's easily to hand and where you remember it being, also because stick welder that's the first thing that needs to go off, then grab extinguisher before the smoke gets too bad.

 

Glad you put it out, and minimal bodily harm was done.

 

Take care cleaning that up, goodness only knows what is in that black sooty crap. Wear a mask and gloves cleaning it up.

 

Phil

[dozeydustman]

Glad it was only a minor hiccough and Princess is fine.

 

More importantly that you are relatively unscathed and safe as well.

[SiC]

Oops! I feel less wasteful now that I refill a bucket eveytime that temporarily lives within a grab distance of where I'm working. Also have an airline nearby which seems very efficient at stopping smoldering underseal.

[vulgalour]

I'll make mistakes like this so you don't have to

[Skizzer]

Like for the (relatively) happy ending and the evocative account of the experience. I know some of us are old hands at this game, but lots of us (=me) aren’t and people being honest about stuff going wrong is immensely helpful.

[danthecapriman]

Like for the (relatively) happy ending and the evocative account of the experience. I know some of us are old hands at this game, but lots of us (=me) aren’t and people being honest about stuff going wrong is immensely helpful.

It was your Granada that set me on fire!

[Timewaster]

You won't do that again

[eddyramrod]

Bloody hell!  Glad you (and the car of course) have survived the experience!