Jump to content

1980 Austin Princess


vulgalour

Recommended Posts

There's still snow, but it's not snowing, and the snow was melting so I chanced a few hours at the unit today since I'm desperate to get the Princess mobile again.  MoT is in April and I feel like I've barely driven it since the last one!  Should be an easy pass then, right... right?  Probably.  I removed the air horns and the wiring loom that was in the way.  Going to need some fresh P clips and screws to put the loom back in as the old ones mostly fell to bits on removal, at least removing them allowed me to get to the little rust blebs underneath them and deal with those.  I remembered to take the car's original head in with me so I could get the little cam cover bracket off  as the replacement head doesn't have one.  Once I've cleaned it up I'll probably redo it in VHT silver so it blends in with the aluminium head nicely.

39750183702_0c505ce04f_b.jpg20180119-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Removed all the engine mounts, laid them out on the box lid so I know which ones go where, and they'll get degreased before being fitted.  Apart from the big steel washer, nothing needs painting on these since they're lovely cast aluminium and big chunky rubber bushes.  I'll just scrub them clean and repaint the washers black so  they look nice and smart again.

39750183412_c20c9e4087_b.jpg20180119-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I gave the thinners a go on what paint was left to remove and it made the job a bit quicker than what I'd done already, mainly because the remaining overpaint was very thin.  Dosed up the freshly cleaned areas with rust converter which stopped me being able to paint the front sections today.  It already looks much better, just for being cleaned of dirt and flakey paint.

39750183042_34ccb9c327_b.jpg20180119-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Temperature was touch-and-go as to whether or not I could risk repainting the bulk of the engine bay once I'd finished the laborious task of masking off the  brake lines.  I decided not to mask off the displacer adaptors since they're bare steel and a little extra protection certainly wouldn't hurt, but I did  mask off the schrader valves so at least it looks like I give half a hoot about this job.  Then it was a tentative spraying of zinc rich primer (which I've found is great at slowing down rust on BL stuff compared to regular primer) to see if the temperature was okay before risking some top coat.  The paint behaved fairly normally going down but the temperature had dropped a lot by the time I was finished so I may come to this tomorrow and find it's all a mess.  Time will tell.

39750182702_c3a3dd06f8_b.jpg20180119-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

39750182402_8d4c689295_b.jpg20180119-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

28003419869_2e9b6ed70a_b.jpg20180119-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

It looks so much better now.  When I unbundle the newspaper from that corner it's going to stick out like a sore thumb, I'm just not prepared to dismantle my braking system to do that area at the moment, especially since it can be done once the engine is back in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fortunately when I checked on the paint today it wasn't too bad.  There's a couple of less-than-perfect spots, but that's okay, this is only a freshen up.  I gave the whole engine bay a warm over with a heat gun before applying the final coat of beige and more heat gun just to help things along.  For the most part this worked really well and with the heater on in the unit and temperatures above freezing for a few hours it meant the paint was even hard enough to start on the next phase: assembly.

 

First up, let's get those engine mounts and brackets degreased.  A thankless, disgusting job if ever there was one.  Definitely worth doing, all the same, since it will make maintenance and leak spotting much easier.

39090545884_0bf27f8ab0_b.jpg20180120-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

There's a handful of rubber items I need to de-paint which I'll do at home as I'd left the thinners there instead of taking them to the unit with me.  Won't take long to do and will improve the look of these considerably.  The horseshoe shaped piece is the rubber insert for the cold air intake pipe bracket while the two little acorn type things are the bonnet bumpstops.

38901538515_bd73249031_b.jpg20180120-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Lots of time spend with degreaser, a toothbrush, the desk grinder wire wheel thingy and VHT silver to get all four engine mounts and bracketry nice and smart again.  I opted not to repaint the washers on the engine mounts because they look okay enough next to the rubber mounts as they are.  The cam cover bracket spruced up really easily.  Wiring loom was rerouted loosely, I couldn't find the P-clips to replace the ones that broke.  I may do a little bit of extra wrapping to tidy up a couple of wires and attempt to improve the look of the wiring in the engine bay, it's fairly messy on the O series cars as standard, especially when compared to an earlier B series car.

38901538325_2768b6d1d2_b.jpg20180120-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Unmasked everything, reinstated the heater hoses with new jubilees, the washer bottle and pump, and the large cold air intake pipe and coolant pipe  bracket that I repainted in VHT silver like the rest.

39090545784_ea6a808410_b.jpg20180120-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I'm actually quite proud of this job, for a 'quick freshen up' it looks so much better than I expected.  Even the brake component corner isn't as terrible as I feared it might be.

38901538145_cefbbdbd93_b.jpg20180120-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

We're now on reassembly, which is always much more enjoyable than the pulling apart and cleaning bit.  I'm hoping the job goes fairly smoothly from this point and I'm excited to see what the engine bay will look like with everything all properly cleaned up and presented nicely.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mike and I braved the cold to see if we could make some progress on this job.  We were hampered somewhat by the heater running out of fuel so didn't get massively far.  Importantly, we did get the old clutch off which was fairly easy, here it is on the left next to the new one.

39817705621_06a136fd94_b.jpg20180121-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Release bearing off too (old on the right).

24947462587_f2595770f3_b.jpg20180121-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

It is fair to say the clutch is dead, almost down to the rivets in fact.

39817705231_25b72c067f_b.jpg20180121-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Other things of note is that the release bearing has significant amounts of play in it and the rattle that the old clutch made when the hydraulics were bled was the splined hub being loose.  I got  just about as much use out of the old clutch as I think was possible as a result, so this was definitely an unavoidable job.  One nice thing on checking the new clutch over was that it's stamped "Fly Wheel Side" so you can't get it in the wrong way around.  I've never seen this before and it's super sensible!

39817704941_28de5964c5_b.jpg20180121-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Got the new kit bolted loosely in place once I'd checked that it absolutely definitely matched the old one.  I've got a little bit more fiddling about to do before we align and tighten this up fully but at least now it's ready to go for the next stage.  Mike spent as much time as the temperature would allow to clean and wash out the inside of the clutch housing, which I don't have a photo of, and we called it quits when the snow started coming down along with the temperature!

24947461907_6763b63bc1_b.jpg20180121-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

One item added to the shopping list is a new rubber  boot for the clutch arm that goes through the housing.  This old one is not only covered in overspray but also  degraded and crumbly, it barely keeps anything out.  If anyone has one up for grabs, please let me know.

39817704711_e895759df7_b.jpg20180121-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

39817704571_6b61b7468d_b.jpg20180121-07 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Then it was time to down tools and go home because the unit was icy cold and the snow was getting heavier.  We didn't want to end up with cars stuck in the icy car park outside the unit so Mike and I made a hasty retreat home.  Rover's pretty good in the snow and ice really.  It would benefit from some winter tyres, the ones fitted aren't so great when the temperature gets as low as it is today.

24947461647_ef897e29da_b.jpg20180121-08 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

24947461137_5b4390535b_b.jpg20180121-09 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did many hours of work yesterday so I could get a larger chunk of time in on the Princess today.  Pretty worn out as a result.  First job was getting the clutch fastened in place properly once it was aligned.  The clutch alignment tool we have is too short for the Princess' clutch so I improvised with various suitable diameter tools to get it in the right place.
25986976068_8fb216e695_z.jpg20170123-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
A lot of time was spent between Mike and I scrubbing off grime and grease and scraping off old gasket material to prepare the gearbox housing components for reassembly.  To make sure all was healthy, Mike wanted to make sure the bearings weren't dry and followed instructions in the manual to set about removing a bearing to repack with grease, before realising it could just be oiled because of how everything works.  We then couldn't get the bearing to seat back in fully and don't have a press, so he's going to sort this out tomorrow.   The  parts all look lovely and clean now at least, we just couldn't get the gearbox back together because of this.  Rookie error because it's a weird gearbox and we're both new to this particular design, the manual makes it very easy to get *too* involved in a job.
25986976578_2518a500e4_b.jpg20170123-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
The cold air feed bracket I'd previously repainted now has the rubber insert refitted and the cold air intake pipe in place.  I need to replace the rubber insert because it has some historic damage and that pipe could do with being replaced too because someone in the past has brush-painted just the top surface with silver paint.  It's a bit too fragile to clean and since it's spiralised ducting I'm hoping I can just buy a length of generic replacement in black or silver.
25986976478_059c87f3f4_b.jpg20170123-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
Some of the old wiring loom wrap had come undone so I re-wrapped that.  I then did some wire tidying and used some tiny cable ties just to get everything more respectable.  This has to be the first time the engine bay wiring has ever actually looked tidy in my ownership.
25986976328_3f4b134414_b.jpg20170123-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
When we measured up the rubber radiator hose to replace the damaged steel coolant pipe we found it was too short.  Instead, I chopped out the worst part of the old pipe, repainted it with some VHT silver and bridged the missing section with the radiator hose that happened to be exactly the right diameter for the job.
39860417521_9bcdbfdaf7_b.jpg20170123-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
25986975968_dceae3fe7f_b.jpg20170123-08 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
Ah yes, and the radiator went back in!  It's not in the way of the engine when fitted and I reckon it will be a lot easier to put in now than when the engine is in.  Before fitting, the Rover 400 fan (bubble type, not R8) it was wearing was removed (but not binned, because it still works really well and is a good back-up).  Before that, the spare original radiator fan was tested and found to be working well, the fixings were a bit stubborn and since I want to get the radiator refurbished in the future I decided not to fight with it and just get it back in the car for now.  One very odd thing about the radiator - which was salvaged from the orange Princess I broke a few years ago - is that someone had chopped the plug off and twisted the wires back together to reverse the fan.  This would mean the fan was pulling hot air out of the engine bay, through the radiator, and trying to expell it out of the front of the car because the fan was fitted in the factory location when I removed it.  That's UTTERLY baffling.  Mike corrected it and resoldered the joints properly.  He had to use loom wrap as we'd run out of heatshrink.
25986976158_7fa2e97354_b.jpg20170123-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
There was a bit of faff figuring out which side it went to and getting the bolts to line up, the radiator and fan together are a very tight fit but the dipstick and distributor are much more accessible with the factory fan installed.
25986976208_1d1d0c99aa_b.jpg20170123-07 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
 
Frustratingly close to done now.  It is at least just a case of bolting things back together, there's very little cleaning to do and only one engine bracket left to paint.  One more long afternoon and it should be sorted.
25986975798_60005ed3d3_b.jpg20170123-09 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Need a bigger freezer.  You see the gear on the casing?  The bearing is on that and won't come out or go in, so I need a freezer big enough to put the WHOLE casing in.  It wasn't knocked all the way out, just far enough for Mike to realise it only needed oil and not packing with grease, and now it won't go back in with the tools we have.  Bit of a nuisance.  Fortunately a neighbouring garage has a press and they'll have it sorted in about 5 seconds, they just weren't open when we needed them today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's great work Vulg - nicely tidied...... I tend to end up going overboard and redoing (for example) the radiator ends there - repainted, the front panel as 'Im doing the inner wings anyway etc.... and then end up with a job taking far far too long and pissing me off royally.

Excellent finish, top work on the cabling and pipework too. Good luck with the bearing.

 

I keep 'finding' things to do at home instead of hitting the garage at the moment - too bloody cold!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For that cold air intake pipe, how about just giving it a blow over with one of the darker shades of alloy wheel paints?  Should allow it to take on a "clean" but not too blindingly bright and shiny appearance, so it at least doesn't stick out like a sore thumb once everything's reassembled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For the pipes, it turns out www.carbuildersolutions.com does exactly the ducting I need in original spec, so I'll be ordering suitable lengths of that once everything is back together again, bit more expensive than trying to refurbish/repaint the existing pipes but a whole load easier.

 

---

 

I am finally winning with this job!  With the housing all clean, the new release bearing was installed with some copper grease, the R-clps reinstated and everything checked for security and mobility.

25007276367_d824bfd76a_b.jpg20180124-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

With all the relevant surfaces cleaned up, I got the new gaskets out and put the big one on ready for the clutch housing to be dropped in place.  Mike had been into the unit before me today but other jobs meant he couldn't stay to help.  For the most part this wasn't a problem as it was nearly all one-person work really.  He did find a longer clutch alignment tool and confirmed my improvised approach was accurate, like there was ever any doubt.

28098520999_dbc1d0a748_b.jpg20180124-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Clutch housing was slipped into place, which went surprisingly easily, and bolted down where needed.  I then reinstalled the remote drive gears, being sure to get them the correct way around, and the locking washer and bit nut, which was a bit of a faff trying to tighten the nut and lock the flywheel on my own, but I managed it.  The fiddly sunken nut was reinstated too,  which again went much easier than I expected.  With that done it was time to reinstall the end plate and I found that there were only two ways the new gasket would nearly fit but none that it actually would.  The gasket looks to be a bad cut, if you stretch it a little it does all line up, you'd just never get it to seal properly because it's paper rather than rubber.  It's almost as though the template slipped when they were cutting it out.  Oh well, it happens, and even though the packet lists this gasket and seal set as suitable for the 1700 manual my car is equipped with, perhaps there was some peculiar difference back when it was new.  RTV to the rescue on this job.

28098520689_bf3ae0a6ef_b.jpg20180124-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

28098520489_b60e55a3a2_b.jpg20180124-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

The end plate dropped on very easily, the RTV looks to have squidged out just enough to suggest a good seal, so I'm hoping this doesn't leak once everything is filled with oil.  After some jiggery pokery with the jack and engine stand I had one engine mount in place and bolted in loosely.  Didn't want to do the bolt up fully until the other three were fitted so that I have a little bit of alignment wiggle room if I need it.  I couldn't figure out the correct way around for a couple of the engine mount brackets, partly because Mike removed them so I had no memory to help me with on this job,  and partly because I was getting a bit work blind  trying to remember stuff.  I pretty much ran out of things to do at that point so tidied up and went to get some axle stands to support the engine rather than relying on the jack and engine crane hydraulics and managed to smack my head hard enough on a shelf that I felt ill.  Whomever put the axle stands in a big jumbled mess right in the corner underneath the shelves, half boxed in with other things, was an idiot.  Perhaps not as big an idiot as me who went and injured himself trying to get useable axle stands out.  Oh well.  I can't wait to get my own workshop some day that nobody else is ever allowed to reorganise so this stuff doesn't happen.

28098520279_8a10edbb90_b.jpg20180124-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

28098519989_d0bff8a179_b.jpg20180124-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

It's almost in properly now at any rate.  Bolting up engine mounts, a bit of belt-side degreasing and then fresh fluids and a test run can be done.  Weirdly, I haven't really felt stressed out by this job even though it has been an absolute chore.  There's more work to do on the car after this, of course, but doing the clutch was always going to be a massive job since there were so many other smaller jobs I wanted to get done at the same time, perhaps it's the satisfaction of getting those smaller jobs done that's cancelled out the frustration of the bigger clutch job?

 

More updates when I have them.  Might not get further on this until the weekend as Mike may need my help with the Wolseley to get it ready for it's MoT on Friday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of the big reasons for swapping the head since that housing won't come out of the old head without smashing it to bits and the good one in my replacement head the car is currently wearing is likewise stuck!  One time, all the water came out on the motorway because of that broken bit and I had to fix it with metal putty in a Tesco car park and fill the coolant system up with sodding mineral water to get me home.  Ah, memories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have to admit - fwd clutch jobs (I've only done 3) were all on mates cars and I always said Never again........ dont know why but they fought me every bloody inch of the way.

You've made it seem* piss easy in comparison........ well done fella. I'll also admit I'm nowhere near as methodical as you though, so am sometimes my own worst enemy - Oh - and also usually that idiot who puts the most useful tool/tool you'll need next where you'll be injured picking the damn thing up!

 

Do you have a planned fill up and test it out date?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fun handy tip; the clutch shaft on these comes out with a small press or a lump hammer as it's integrated with its own bearing (and held on with a C clip). Ours fell out accidentally when the housing got knocked but the handy thing about it is you can then use it as a perfect clutch alignment tool. As long as you have access to a small press it presses right back in to the housing when done. Thanks BL!

 

I was slightly annoyed Angyl managed to align the clutch by eye, something I have never been able to do accurately. I believe my exact words in the text to him were "you jammy bastard".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today has been the longest day ever.  It was so long Mike ordered pizza to enjoy at the unit instead of going home and cooking food and it's STILL not finished.  Most of the jobs remaining I could do myself but Mike's help was invaluable faffing about with the engine mounts.  With those secured I could work my way through the many items still to fiddle about with and get reinstated.

26026132628_1aa623c02a_b.jpg20180125-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I removed, cleaned and repainted the clutch slave cylinder before fitting it with a cable tie for the rubber boot since it didn't have one when we removed it.  I haven't been able to find a gaiter the right size, I got close with some tractor parts, but not quite close enough to actually fit in the hole so I'm using the old one for now, turned around so the better looking side is to the top since it's too fragile to even  clean.  I also removed, cleaned out and repainted the oil catch can/breather and replaced the pipe that runs from it to the carburettor since the pipe was completely blocked.

25027545657_538a050b70_b.jpg20180125-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

The original air box - which I'd refreshed a year or two ago and still looked fine - was reinstalled along with some salvaged ducting, I'll be replacing the ducting with new eventually.  Also refitted the cam cover and bracket and improvised some grommets so it doesn't rattle.  I've been unable to find any of the original conical shaped grommets in the size I need for this so I'm hoping my improvised approach is sturdy enough to last a while.  Carburettor, heatshield and cables all reinstated.  Rotor arm and distributor cap refitted.  Oil dipstick cleaned of yet more brush paint too.

26026132518_78d810f6f3_b.jpg20180125-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

There was a little hiccup when installing the battery when the thread on one of the clamp rods stripped.  Luckily I had a spare, unluckily that was destined for the 1100 so I'll have to source another clamp rod for the 1100 now.  Did my best with the wiring around the battery, none of which is attractive, and added a band of electrical tape to the coil so it actually fits the clamp properly now.  Plug leads aren't plugged in yet, that's a job for next time.  Popped the front wheel covers back on too, they were taken off when we thought we might have to remove the driveshafts.

25027545557_5969ce222c_b.jpg20180125-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

26026132408_72bbae1897_b.jpg20180125-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

25027545437_456f3f06dd_b.jpg20180125-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

With the engine bay all tidy, got the plastics reinstalled and that was it for today.  Doesn't sound like a lot but because of all the up-and-down and fighting with bolts and all that, I invested about 6 hours work in this today.  The engine bay looks pleasantly complete now.  The indicators need new bullet connectors, the gear selector rod seal needs replacing, the oil pressure sender needs resealing and then it can be filled with oil and water, tested for leaks, and fired up once all is good.

25027545427_8e2b50f224_b.jpg20180125-07 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

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...