project 1980 Austin Princess

[vulgalour]

I did.  Trouble is the bodywork needs as much prep as it would if I were painting it, and where the paint might last the lifetime of the car, a wrap will get maybe ten years.  Cost of paint materials (because a friend is helping, the paint job will be considerably cheaper than usual) is about the same as a wrap of decent standard too.  Doesn't make sense to wrap it when you do the numbers.

[Rocket88]

Fair point 

[vulgalour]

I can't say I wasn't tempted by the rainbow holographic vinyls though...

[Rocket88]

😁😁😁😁

[vulgalour]

Bobbled over to the Humber Bridge car meet last night on a total whim, was a great time, there's a thread here:

Princess behaved herself nicely, was a pleasant drive on fairly nice roads, car seemed a lot happier for the run understandably.  Today's job is going to be greasing and fitting new boots to the lower ball joints up front, the old boots have split and one of the balljoints was a bit squeaky on the way back, hopefully no harm done and not too horrible a job, at least it's stopped raining for a bit.

I'll be curious to see if the Princess pops up in videos and photos anywhere, if you see it then give me a prod over here.  I know there were people recording cars arriving and leaving, and the Princess got a fair bit of attention at the show which mostly seemed to be positive.

I start my new job on Monday so we'll be doing a commute three days a week for that and I've not had to commute for over a decade now so that's going to be a little culture shock for me I think.  Little bit nervous about this new job, it is something I've done before so I should be fine, I'm just out of the mainstream employment loop these days and it feels a bit First Day Of School.  I'm sure I'll settle in just fine, it can't be any more stressful than being self employed and it'll be nice to have someone else to tell me what to do for a change.

[Rocket88]

Been to that show a lot in a variety of old nonsense.. always an eclectic mix…..

[Morris 63]

Nice to see you and the Princess getting out and about. 

Good luck for Monday. 

[vulgalour]

The balljoint job defeated me, I simply don't have the tools (or the energy) to get the lower balljoint to part company with the lower wishbone so I can get the boot on.  Did consider maybe splitting the boot so I could re-glue it  since I think it's only the boot that needs doing and not the whole balljoint but we all know that's going to end up with grease and superglue in all the wrong places so instead I headed over to a local garage that had been recommended to me.  Totally unphased by the Princess at the garage, or the job I want them to do, so that bodes well.  Booked in for Friday and if it's a good experience, I'll get them to do some other jobs I don't want to do.  I've got to reduce the amount of DIY in my life right now, if I'm not careful I'm going to hit burnout with all the plates I've got spinning while I try and keep my life moving in the right direction.

Once I've got next week out of the way I can hopefully look at getting a fresh bottle of welding gas to finish off the sill and a few other bits, maybe throw it back at the garage with some parts for the steering rack boots and the worn out rear axle bush, and just keep plodding away.  Not having another project car is definitely helping and while I have been tempted to pick something more modern up so I can focus on the Princess I know what will actually happen is I pick another car up and it eats all the cash I need to spend on the Princess and nothing gets done on it.  I just have to crack on and use the bus if things go sideways.

[Dan302]

Bugger I'd have popped across the bridge for the meet if I'd known! 

Good luck in the new job 

[vulgalour]

There's always next month, hopefully.

[MorrisItalSLX]

 

[vulgalour]

First week of new job completed (it's a part time role) and it's been surprisingly okay.  The hospital is an absolute nightmare to navigate because it's about five million years old with a thousand buildings randomly bolted on, but I find myself navigating by hastily repaired bits of floors and walls since the NHS never has enough money to make anything look nice.  I've really only been doing training this week, with a little bit of actual work, it takes a while to get through all the security guff and get set up on the various systems.  It is at least familiar work, some of what I've done is exactly what I've done in previous roles just with a slightly less clunky computer system these days.  I can't say whether or not the work is difficult yet as I've not done enough of it, we'll see how I fare a few months down the line.

I've been commuting in the Princess, which surprisingly I can get insured to do for a few extra groats a year.  My commute is only about 4 or 5 miles, an annoying distance that's not quite short enough to walk, and just too far to be sensible on public transport (only one bus every hour for the route, not ideal) so it's not particularly arduous, and schools are off at the moment so it's also not as busy as it might be in the morning.  It's not really any more mileage than I'd normally do, if anything it's a little less, so the Princess has been no bother so far.  You just get in, start it, and off you go.  I did get a NOS fuel cap for it because I've started getting a bit of fuel leaking past the old one even when it isn't brimmed, the new one has a much more pliable seal so hopefully that'll deal with that problem.

The only challenge I've so far faced is rejigging my usual schedule.  I've been self employed working from home for such a long time I've had my routines well established, now I have to shuffle things like gym times and shopping times to accomodate the new job.  I'm not falling behind on anything yet so again, this is something to check a few months down the line.

The nice thing is if this does all work out as I hope it does, I will be able to be financially independant, have some financial security and still be able to pursue my artwork career alongside the NHS job.  For me, having two very different jobs is actually preferable, and only having to travel for work three times a week is a more manageable level of stress etc. than doing so full time.  I'm hopeful this is the start of a good chapter of my life.

[Dan302]

Hope the new job goes well, I keep an eye out for the princess whenever I pop into town!

[vulgalour]

One day it'll happen.  One day.

[plasticvandan]

4-5 miles,I would definitely be bicycling that and keep the princess for when it's hammering it down

[vulgalour]

I'd like to, just got to get the funds together for it. (it's only 4 months since moving in to this place and it wiped me out financially).  Other thing I need to find out is where I'd put a pushbike at the hospital, so far I've not seen a single person cycling in.

[vulgalour]

Found a few minor problems today that need addressing.

- Squeaky front brake.  This is intermittent, and when mine is doing it I hear other newer cars doing it too so I'm not worrying about it too much.  Front driver's side disc brake is the culprit here, nothing is getting hot, even the caliper is cold enough to touch after a drive, it just seems to pick the most embarrassing moments to make horrendous squeaking noises.  Interestingly, if you turn the wheel even slightly left or right, the squeak immediately stops.  It's a rotational noise, it doesn't correlate with bumps in the road, and it changes with speed.  There is a chance it could be CV related except for the fact it's not clicky and it's intermittent, and if it were CV I'd expect turning one way would make it quieter and the other wouldn't, so it's probably not that.

- Coolant Overflow - I have an additional coolant overflow pipe on my radiator top hose because of the way it's put together, it isn't necessary since I have an overflow bottle.  However, lately I've noticed it's letting a bit of coolant out when it shouldn't, not because the car is overheating, just because of where the overflow is located means the coolant is getting pushed out on its way around the system.  I need to blank this off with something, might just weld up the outlet since it's mild steel.  Related to this, at some point I need to revert the thermostat and top hose arrangement to factory now I have the parts, which is likely a garage job rather than a me job since I need a glued-in-pipe removing.  These problems all started because the original cast waxstat housing disintegrated.

- Knocking - something, somewhere, is occasionally knocking on deceleration.  I can feel it through the accelerator pedal but I can't hear it, and haven't been able to detect play in the balljoints or similar at home.  It could be a track rod end again on the way out and since I have to replace the steering rack boots anyway, it might just be time to do the TREs while I'm in there.

[vulgalour]

Squeaky front brake isn't a dragging caliper, it's a very slightly warped disc.  Solid discs on the Princess and they are prone to warping for some reason.  It'll probably self clearance and probably already is which is why the problem is intermittent.  I haven't done any particularly hard braking so I'm not sure why the disc has warped but it's not the first time it has on this corner so I guess it's just a thing it does.  Can't detect any play in the bearings or TREs either so maybe they're okay too.

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, vulgalour said:

- Knocking - something, somewhere, is occasionally knocking on deceleration.  I can feel it through the accelerator pedal but I can't hear it,

Upper engine tie bar rubbers, if felt both on and off the gas?

[vulgalour]

No tie bars on this one, just four rubber donut engine mounts.  No clonk on acceleration, and no clonk on deceleration that I can replicate, it's anotherintermittent one.  It might be a tired engine mount, that said, or maybe one of the bolts has back out a tiny bit and needs retorquing?  Something for me to check.

[High Jetter]

If you feel it, shirley mounts

[JeeExEll]

17 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

If you feel it, shirley mounts

Is she around on Saturday night?

[High Jetter]

10 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

Is she around on Saturday night?

Always 😁

[vulgalour]

I tried to get that intermittent clonk to happen and now it resolutely refuses to do it, typically.  Brake disc is also self-clearancing so I'm not worrying about that either since there's not much I can do about it.  Might end up buying another pair of new brake discs, they're not too bad to replace if I remember rightly, just expensive for what they are.

----

Got the sill fully welded yesterday, so that's a job that's almost done.  Need some time and energy so I can get it painted, cavity-waxed, undersealed, etc.  It's in paint so it's fine for now.

Also found a small section of failed weld under the back seat on the passenger side and a tiny little crack.  Very well hidden since you can't see it without either removing the back seat base or getting fully under the car.

That highlighted another small repair I was unaware of to the rear axle mount on the same side which I need to get a finger sander to do since the smallest tool I have for cleaning back to good metal is too big to get in the narrow gap. I can get in with the welder, just not anything that will sand or cut metal that I currently own.  I've been wanting an excuse to get a finger sander anyway, so this is as good a one as any.

After that, as far as I'm aware, the only welding remaining is cosmetic stuff and I believe I have every panel I need to do it all.

I also addressed the overflow issue, couldn't weld it because it's actually brass for that piece not steel, so I've wired a bolt and sealant in place until I can get a proper plug for it.  Later I'll find someone able to revert the current top hose set up to the factory waxstat set up, for now it'll have to do as is.

Today is all about doing as little as possible.  It's been a heavy week for me with all the reorganising of work schedules, deadlines, landlord visit, welding the car... I need a day to myself.

[High Jetter]

Do these have an upper engine tie-bar? If so, the 'clonk' could be movement in the bushes.

[vulgalour]

Nope, just four rubber donut mounts, no tie bars.

[SilverMachine]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

Nope, just four rubber donut mounts, no tie bars.

rubber doughnuts arent as nice as the sugar ring kind from m+s.... and warp factor approved brakes, thats one fast princess!

good to hear your getting settled there fella, wonder if you could get one of them ebike people to send you a bike to review (and keep) on the old youtubes? know that a certain french and australian ford youtuber managed it, although his channel may be slightly larger than yours... i do think he should send some traffic your way! come on ian, shout out the amazing princess and other crafts and hobbies channel out there! @dollywobbler

[vulgalour]

I just got off the phone to someone who has a pushbike for sale and some welding that needs doing, we may be figuring out a game plan.

I might have also figured out that knocking noise.  The brakes have been clearing up of their own accord but I did notice that the knock happens only on coasting deceleration and usually when the brakes are dragging a tiny bit so perhaps what I'm feeling is just the disc knocking on the pads and that's why I can't find any play anywhere.  Engine mounts seem healthy and tight so I don't think those are the culprit either in this instance.  Car doesn't have droplinks or stay bars or anything like that and the front end suspension is double wishbone, what bushes I can see all look fine.  No anti-roll bars either.

[SilverMachine]

40 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

The brakes have been clearing up of their own accord but I did notice that the knock happens only on coasting deceleration and usually when the brakes are dragging a tiny bit so perhaps what I'm feeling is just the disc knocking on the pads

partial dissasemble maybe check the torque of the caliper bolts? and caliper carrier?

 

[vulgalour]

Pretty sure the mystery knock is the front driver's side caliper now.  The brake has started to clear up of its own accord and on coasting deceleration I could hear the brake and feel the knock at the same time when they did appear, and that does make quite a lot of sense as to why I couldn't find any play in anything.  A dismantle and re-grease of the caliper would probably be a good idea when I have time.

The new fuel filler cap I bought recently also seems to have cured a very long term issue.  The car always barfed fuel out when it was a hot day and the tank was full.  Recently I brimmed the tank and it's been hot enough for the barfing to occur and I'm pleased to report a lack of barfage.  I've also seen no evidence of leaking in general use which the old cap had started to do recently.

Generally the car is running a lot better, starts easier in the morning, and is generally just easier to live with.  I've been taking longer routes home when possible on slightly faster roads and that certainly seems to have helped.  The run to the Humber Bridge meet definitely did the car a lot of good so I suspect a lot of the very short journeys I'd been doing had been causing a bit of built up in the passages that have now been blown out.  Car doesn't seem particularly stinky either so I'm hoping when I tuned the carb I got it about right.  It certainly drives a lot better than it has in a while.  That one noisy valve is quietening down of its own accord too, which I'm told is a thing that happens when you do the clearances, so I'm leaving that alone to see if it gets quieter still and prevents me having to pull the head apart yet again to try and find the perfect sized shim since I'm yet to find anyone willing to do the job for me.

On the welding front, I've got a horrible bit of upside down bad access work to do at the back which I need a finger sander for, bit skint at the minute so that's going to have to wait a little longer.  I might do some of the cosmetic welding in the meantime instead, just to get it done and get the space back that the new panels are currently taking up.

I am making progress on the car this year, pretty good progress too on a lot of jobs that have been deferred for a long time.  I'm avoiding getting any more projects if I can at all help it.  A second car might happen to assist with the house move but it won't be a project, it'll be something I can just use to move house with and figure out what to do with afterwards.  I don't really need two cars aside from the convenience of having a working car while I'm fixing the broken car.  And of course we all know how bad I am at getting a second car that isn't a project and then ending up with three cars to look after because I bought another car to deal with the two broken ones...