Sold 1981 Austin Princess - [expletives removed]

[philibusmo]

This is now due to be picked up on Wednesday, and in typical fashion failed to proceed again today. It seems to be in the habit of evaporating all the fuel in the pump when it is taken for a run (up to full working temperature) and then turned off. When the fuel has evaporated the pump won't then pump anything until it has some fuel in it, so a gravity feed has to be set up.

 

The water level is normal and appears to be circulating around the engine as it gets up to temperature in a usual amount of time and then happily sits there so goodness knows why it is doing this. I also can't find a single thing wrong with the fuel lines. What I am going to do tomorrow so that the new owner has a fighting chance of making the hours journey home is to get the pump going using a gravity feed again and then make up a heat shield from repeatedly folded tin foil around the pump and lines that sit directly over the inlet and exhaust manifolds. Hopefully that should solve this issue as it's happening after pretty much every use now.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

does it have an electric pez pump in the tank? It might have a mechanical one on the engine but do you know for certain that theres not an electric one as well? When i was a 6th former, the in-tank pump on my Ambassador started playing up. Like a twit I decided to ignore it and fitted a mechanical one on the engine AS WELL!!!! It worked for a while, till i lent it to a really cool chain-smoking upper 6th form goth-type lass. Predictably it broke down when the mechanical pump couldnt draw any more fuel through the u/s electric pump and left her stranded on the side of a Northumbrian back road much to everyones amusement except my own.

[vulgalour]

If it's any consolation, mine does this in the summer and I'm told it's normal.  A heatshield on the carb apparently helps as the vapourising apparently happens there and goes back to the pump which stops it working.  Some Montegos are known to suffer a similar malady.

 

EDIT: and someone on the Princess forum expressed an interest at the original £500 asking just after the auction ended, so there's a back-up buyer if you need one

[trigger]

This has changed a bit, the current owner has gone right thorough it mechanically and got it back on the road again, he's even started to jazz up the paint work.

 

 

 

[phil_lihp]

Blimey!  And to think I missed out on winning it when it came up on eBay by about £2.  That looks massively better at the back...less so at the front but everyone has their own taste, is there a forum thread somewhere for it?  

 

I still think it should have been wrapped in flock wallpaper....

[trigger]

Its now owned by a guy called Gar Cole who posts about on a Facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/642597662442457/

 

He's taking it to a car show at Bressingham on Saturday which I'm hoping to go too so i might see it there.

[ShiteRider]

I love seeing things like this, the guy who bought my parts car cortina has stripped it to a shell and is shoe horning a boa cosworth into it.

I'd rather old shite got modified and existed than left to rot into nothing.......it can only be changed back if it still exists after all.