project 1980 Austin Princess

[SilverMachine]

just found this, could be useful?

https://www.angclassiccarparts.co.uk/products/austin-morris-bmc/morris-marina-ital-allegro-maxi/engine-gaskets-seals/head-gasket-set-marina-17-ital-princess-ambassador-oseries-engine

also the company name, could be a good omen?

[24vdiamond]

Worth checking if the head has been skimmed is the length of the head bolts, you need a vernier or something really, screw a head bolt right into the block and measure from the block face to underside of the bolt head and then measure the thickness of the head where the bolt squishes to make sure youre getting plenty of squish when its torqued down! 

[vulgalour]

ANG is my usual for getting parts, they're often the only supplier with what I need in stock.

Dropped the head off at the garage and the vibe was actually really positive.  Some mild ribbing from the younger lads about the Princess being an ugly car, not had that in a while, but the guy actually doing the work seemed keen to work on something properly old for a change.  We'll see what the report is from them soon.  I did ask for a couple of other extra things to be checked over so I'm not expecting that 24-48 hour turnaround since there's more work than a skim and pressure test to do, just little things I can't check or fix myself that they can.  However, on initial inspection they didn't spot anything glaringly amiss and were happy that I'd done all the stripping down of the head for them, so hopefully it all goes very smoothly.

[vulgalour]

Got a call from the garage to tell me the head is ready to collect.  It's all good, no horrors.  They did the extra bits I wanted doing so it did cost a little more and take a little longer and that's totally okay.  I've now got to wait until Thursday to collect since that's the soonest I can get a lift over to the garage to do so.  In the meantime I'm hoping for reasonable weather and health so I can get on with finishing the exhaust job on the van for its MoT, chuck it in and see what it fails on.

[vulgalour]

Ready to be rebuilt.  Hopefully I'm going to get into it this weekend.

[SilverMachine]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

Ready to be rebuilt.  Hopefully I'm going to get into it this weekend.

supermarket veg crates are handy! i have a couple myself...

hopefully there will be a few hours of sun over the weekend for you! but please, take it easy!

also wondering if theres still any companies that will put new linings on your old brake shoes, and or refurb them for you? as i know linings used to be available to rivet on yourself!

[Angrydicky]

8 minutes ago, SilverMachine said:

supermarket veg crates are handy! i have a couple myself...

hopefully there will be a few hours of sun over the weekend for you! but please, take it easy!

also wondering if theres still any companies that will put new linings on your old brake shoes, and or refurb them for you? as i know linings used to be available to rivet on yourself!

Charles Johnson in Norwich are who I use for shoe relining. Nos ones probably cheaper if you can find them. 

[plasticvandan]

I would kind of hoped they had found something,in at least it might have explained why it blew. 

[vulgalour]

Okay, a more full story on what's going on with this head then.  Pressure test was fine, no cracks or similar identified.  Bearing surfaces in the cambox and on the camshaft were given a light wet-and-dry just to clean them up, otherwise fine. Valve guide stems are quite healthy, no damage there.  Original waxstat housing installed in place of the modification that had been done, apparently the pipe that was in there was a real bear to get out so I'm glad I didn't try that one myself.  Head itself needed the barest whisper of a skim, almost as though the last time it was done it was maybe not done well enough, but it certainly wasn't bad enough that you'd call it warped in the usual sense.

Today I've spent time cleaning the carbon off the valves, lapping them in with the old twizzly stick and valve grinding paste,  and rebuilding the valve train.  I hate this particular job and I hate the next job I have to do even more, which is setting the valve clearances.  Fortunately I do have the proper Churchill tool which does make it a bit bit easier and I don't have to sacrifice a cambox to make one.  Next job is feeler guages and micrometer to get all the valve shims to the correct thickness so that the clearances are nicely balanced and I can hopefully do away with that one noisy one.

From what we can figure out it seems that the cause of the head gasket failure is a combination of a bad gasket and possibly a less-than-perfect skim when it was done last, it's just taken a while for these two things to get bad enough to actually fail and of course I caught it immediately so we didn't go into mega overheating and mayonnaise territory, which is good.

[beko1987]

That's good then! Be nice if it was just a 🤷 one of those things and fine forever now. Reckon you'll tell any difference in how it drives once done or had it not blown in a way that reduced the already I'm sure amazing performance? 

Only one way to find out though 😂

[vulgalour]

It had better.  There's still plenty of steps to go wrong between now and then!

I should definitely notice an improvement in how it drives.  Boxing Day I could get up to 40mph pretty normally, but getting up to 60mph from there was hard work.  Sustained speeds above 50mph would be accompanied with the occasional stumble too so was definitely down on power.  If I can get that noisy valve to be quieter I'll likely get better performance from that side of things too.  I do think the piston rings are pretty tired, if I had more time (impending house move), more money, my engine crane and engine stand (still down south), indoor space (garage still down south) to work on it etc. I'd do something about that especially since I've got a full set of piston rings in stock.  Job for another day that one, I'll just keep sticking oil in and staying off the motorway for now, drive around the problems, that's the way to do it!

[vulgalour]

What a palaver.  Yesterday went on a daytrip to Cleethorpes, first time I've ever been, so that was fun.  Unfortunately the knock on is that today I'm having a rough health day so while I felt okay this morning, now I'm just exhausted.

Happily, after much frustration, this morning I finally got the Princess running again.  I really want to get it out for a test drive to be absolutely sure, I'm just not up to it physically and know when I feel like this I need to rest whether I like it or not, we'll try tomorrow.  I can say it's an awful lot quieter than it's been for years.  I'm hoping to take it over to the place that did the head work for me just to have an expert eye and ear cast over it, perhaps they can fine tune it to run even nicer for me.  If nothing else, it'll be nice for the guy to see what his work went into.

Once I know the Princess is trustworthy again I can turn my attention more properly to the Renault van and get an MoT on it, something that should have happened by now had the Princess not gone and done a Princess and monopolised my resources.

[plasticvandan]

Perhaps retorque the head now it's got hot and cooled down before driving it? Assuming these don't have stretch bolts or any of that nonsense? 

[vulgalour]

No stretch bolts, happily.  I've got some errands to do tomorrow which should allow me to get things hot enough to do a proper temperature cycle and then I can retorque where needed.

[SilverMachine]

glad your feeling a little better, and well done for getting on with it, ive been procrastinating a lot due to the crappy weather, finding other stuff to do instead indoors.... or being at work on milder days....  hopefully having the old girl going again will give you a bit of a boost too! if you manage to get over to the place that did the head work maybe a pic of her outside showing there buisness signs so they get a free plug and the fame that follows a.s!

any updates on the impending move? they can be very stressful, only advice i can give is try and get packed up in an organised way,  id even suggest numbering boxes and noting down brief descriptions of contents. im still looking for some rather large matsui car shelf wedge speakers  that used to live on the parcel shelf of my micra about 18 years ago - i packed away for moving over 4 years ago..

[vulgalour]

The first step of the house move happened this weekend actually, it's all in hand, and I've moved house so many times by now I know the drill.  I'll let everyone know where I'm heading to and all that once I'm set up.

Today was nice, did some errands in the car and it's the happiest I've known it in a very, very long time.  The sump plug is spotting when parked so I'll have to tighten that a smidge, the other usual leak culprits don't seem to be, time will tell on that.  Cautiously optimistic, just want to get a few more miles on, give the engine bay a clean, check for anything coming loose etc. over the course of this week.

JT Motors did the work and I would definitely recommend them.  Really quick turn around, great communication, professional, friendly... everything you want really and not even expensive.  They do any engine you care to think of too, from lawnmowers to vans, and were unphased by the antique I presented them with.

Unit 54, Hebden Road, Scunthorpe, Humberside, DN15 8DT

01724 855 255

[bigfella2]

On 03/02/2025 at 21:28, vulgalour said:

No stretch bolts, happily.  I've got some errands to do tomorrow which should allow me to get things hot enough to do a proper temperature cycle and then I can retorque where needed.

What no you tube footage?? much disappointment.

[vulgalour]

Princess videos are on quite a delay these days, at least 6 months, so it'll be a bit confusing when they do come out for those reading here I imagine.

[bunglebus]

[beko1987]

That's a promising sign of a going well shakedown period then 🤞🤞

[iainrcz]

13 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I've just seen that. Thought I recognised it.

[bunglebus]

9 hours ago, iainrcz said:

I've just seen that. Thought I recognised it.

It could be the other pink and black Princess with mad accessories though

[beko1987]

12 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

It could be the other pink and black Princess with mad accessories though

I bet that other guy didn't have to do the hg in January either on it 😂

[vulgalour]

Yeah, we're doing okay.  Keeping it super local at the minute until those sump plug washers arrive, it's doing a bit of a Land Rover at the moment and I don't want to push my luck.  I did have some oil smoke out the exhaust the other day which has since cleared up.  One of the spark plugs was a bit loose, some oil was getting out of the hole so I think that was causing the oil smoke as it stopped doing it once the plug was tightened.  I checked the plugs when I found the loose one and they all look pretty healthy, no oil or soot fouling, that nice pinkish colour they should be.

I did have an oil leak from the old camshaft oil seal, that seems to have stopped completely now which is nice.  Fuel pump hasn't started leaking oil yet (four paper gaskets with a smear of Wurth 250 Red between every mating surface seems to have done the trick).  There's no mixing of fluids or bubbles in the coolant and the head bolts are still nice and tight.  Manifold bolts and carburettor bolts have stayed tight too.

I did have the wiper motor fuse fail which did worry me at first.  However, it appears that it hadn't blown, it's just a poor quality ceramic style bullet fuse and the metal had just corroded away enough that I had no connection.  Replaced it and all was good there.

I also found a potential culprit for the intermittent poor running which is that the wires for the electronic ignition had been chafing on the rotor arm shaft, completely unseen.  There's nothing to keep the wires out of the way of the shaft and they run over the top rather than underneath by design.  It had gone through the insulation but not the wire so I've taped them because there's nothing else I can really do about it other than keep an eye on it and possibly get another kit.  I still suspect the distributor is a bit worn out, I'd like to get it rebuilt or replaced, unfortunately the new ones out there are apparently not worth the asking price and tend to be worse than a knackered old one.

[NigeT]

2 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Yeah, we're doing okay.  Keeping it super local at the minute until those sump plug washers arrive, it's doing a bit of a Land Rover at the moment and I don't want to push my luck.  I did have some oil smoke out the exhaust the other day which has since cleared up.  One of the spark plugs was a bit loose, some oil was getting out of the hole so I think that was causing the oil smoke as it stopped doing it once the plug was tightened.  I checked the plugs when I found the loose one and they all look pretty healthy, no oil or soot fouling, that nice pinkish colour they should be.

I did have an oil leak from the old camshaft oil seal, that seems to have stopped completely now which is nice.  Fuel pump hasn't started leaking oil yet (four paper gaskets with a smear of Wurth 250 Red between every mating surface seems to have done the trick).  There's no mixing of fluids or bubbles in the coolant and the head bolts are still nice and tight.  Manifold bolts and carburettor bolts have stayed tight too.

I did have the wiper motor fuse fail which did worry me at first.  However, it appears that it hadn't blown, it's just a poor quality ceramic style bullet fuse and the metal had just corroded away enough that I had no connection.  Replaced it and all was good there.

I also found a potential culprit for the intermittent poor running which is that the wires for the electronic ignition had been chafing on the rotor arm shaft, completely unseen.  There's nothing to keep the wires out of the way of the shaft and they run over the top rather than underneath by design.  It had gone through the insulation but not the wire so I've taped them because there's nothing else I can really do about it other than keep an eye on it and possibly get another kit.  I still suspect the distributor is a bit worn out, I'd like to get it rebuilt or replaced, unfortunately the new ones out there are apparently not worth the asking price and tend to be worse than a knackered old one.

Congrats on getting it up and running again and keeping the best thread on AS going. A proper roadtrip would be video gold. 

[vulgalour]

Dirty Girl!

The roads are still disgusting.  This weekend was another trip to see mates and it seems like my health has finally turned a corner, the drive there and back didn't exhaust me and I feel fine today so that's a bit of a milestone.  Another milestone was winding the Princess up to 60mph which might not sound much until you realise that's not on the motorway and instead on pothole and sodden, sometimes muddy, wiggly Lincolnshire roads.  I wanted to see what the car was happy doing after the head rebuild and try and find its happy speed.  That speed is still somewhere in the region of 55-57mph, that's where everything feels sort of balanced and happy and the point at which the wind noise is starting to increase and become annoying.

I can say the car keeps a really steady temperature and has lost the intermittent stumble and hesitation now.  I do think I could push to motorway speeds if I really wanted to and the car would do it except for one thing.  I hit a pothole a little while ago that knocked my tracking off and I've had a quiet occasional knock from somewhere at the front too that until today I couldn't pin down.  Above 55mph the handling feels a lot like I've got a worn tie rod and since I can't find any play or adverse wear anywhere I suspect when I hit the pothole it's also damaged a tie rod end and that's where the knock is coming from.  I'll order a fresh pair and get the garage to fit that, the steering rack gaitors, and do the tracking all in one go.

I've got about 100-120 miles on the car since rebuilding the top end and I feel much more confident in the car again now.  Aforementioned garage job aside, next task is probably the welding work I want to get through, I've got the panels together, just don't want to dig into that until the van is MoT'd, just in case the welding work goes sideways on me.  Welding is all cosmetic really, wheel arches, bit of a sill step, and a brace underneath the car that's trying to add as much lightness as possible.

Needs a bath too, it's disgusting.

[vulgalour]

Minor embarrassment last night.  Parked up at the pub for a social and lost reverse.  This wouldn't be a problem except for how tight the car park is and I was right up against a van I was trying to park next to and trying to reverse to get a bit more space to make the turn.  Fortunately, another patron spotted for me and we just squeaked in.  I have been having trouble with the gear change getting sloppier and knew what the issue was just didn't want to tackle it because I'm a BABY.

This morning got under the car, tightened the bolt on the side of the remote gear change box that a previous owner installed in place of the original pin, and have all my gears back and a much improved gear change.  Gave the sump plug a little extra tighten while I was under there too as it had a little tiny drop of oil on the bottom of it that was hanging on.   Amazingly, the fuel pump mount still isn't leaking oil, this is the most miles I've done with that staying oil tight.

[SilverMachine]

2 hours ago, vulgalour said:

This morning got under the car, tightened the bolt on the side of the remote gear change box that a previous owner installed in place of the original pin

can you get any thread lock on it?

good your feeling better and getting the old girl out too! just still take it easy!

do you need to get the welding done before completing the move? or is there a suitable drive way area at the new place?

[vulgalour]

I have tried threadlock in the past and it didn't work for very much longer than without, but I've also learned recently there are different kinds of threadlock so I'll try a stronger one.  As for the welding, that's a bit of a Forth Bridge situation.  I can get the important stuff done before the house move, and then I'll just have to do the rest as and when and where I can.

[SilverMachine]

i was also thinking a spring washer or locking nut, but as its replacing a pin, could it be drilled and use a split pin? (where it threads into) or maybe thats probably more effort than just nipping it up as and when!