project 1980 Austin Princess

[AnthonyG]

You're certainly cracking on with this. Are you bringing it to Shitefest?

 

What's the black car door in your temporary security barrier - Toyota Camry? Rover 800?

 

By the way those Lotus wheels look very right on the car - it looks like one of Harris Mann's original drawings.

[vulgalour]

I doubt I can make it to Shitefest. I've got two shows on my annual calendar at the moment which are Waddington at the end of June and Motornutz Retro Night Fever in August and that's it. I'm financially pretty fucked at the moment for doing anything other than paying bills and paying out tiny amounts to keep on top of the car maintenance side of things. Sucky, but there we are. I'd love to be at Shitefest, and the RR Gathering and numerous other shows but like last year, it looks like I'll have to put off the vast majority until next year.

 

The door is from a Lexus LS400 my Dad had. When he scrapped it he told me he'd be taking the door and the bumper skin the next day... several weeks later it's still here. I've also got the tan leather seats and dash from Dad's green Lexus LS400 (broken then scrapped) which are in my way that he said he was getting rid of at some point and hasn't, apparently a friend wants the leather but that's as far as that has got.

 

I love Harris Mann's concepts, I hope with this Princess I can do the Mann proud, he's much maligned for no good reason.

[vulgalour]

Now the Polo is out of the garage, the Princess had to go in the garage. I couldn't be doing with finding homes for all the crap in the garage at the moment, but I will have to do something about it because it's a bit of a tight squeeze at the moment.







I must be getting to know the Princess' dimensions because the only thing I hit is the cardboard on top of the barbecue. I couldn't get out of the driver's side because I'm an idiot and hadn't thought that far ahead so it was a shuffle across the car to get out. Tomorrow, I'll clear out everything but the essentials and find new homes for things, some of which should really just go on a fire.

[254575]

what a great car. just the right colour and spec. nothing ever comes up when I want to buy one!

[Captain Slow]

Steve, it's just as nice for real!

[PhilA]

I never really scrutinized the design of these closely until watching your progress.

 

I'm finding so many trapezoids in the vehicle's shape, too. Side windows, door handles, rear lights...

 

Keep at it, it's interesting to watch

 

--Phil

[vulgalour]

Do you know, I'd forgotten to add the latest trials and tribbles. Not much has been happening in the world of Serendipity because - touch dashboard - she's been perfectly fine and given me no grief at all. Seriously, it's bizarre, this is a 30 year old Austin and she's doing daily duties as reliably as any other car, it's great!

Awesomely, these arrived in the post for me, at my favourite price. Originally I was looking for a black with red reflector set for the Polo but since I'm not using atm and the Princess is all about period originality, they suit her much better. Thanks go out to Kinkersaab for their generosity, once I'd put them on they looked like they'd always been there.


The only shot I have of them in situ was when we went to sort out a replacement camera for my brother.


The same day, my new wing mirrors arrived which are going to look absolutely stellar when I get hold of the correct sized drill bits. I think they're the most ridiculous period mirrors I could have got hold of, but they should make seeing behind me a lot easier. I hope to have these fitted before the end of the month.


My brother tried out his new camera on the way back, it's quite good.


Even when I was throwing the Princess around a roundabout or two and he was complaining that it was hard to hold the camera steady, it could take pictures of boring Micras with ease. I was trying to get rid of a Ford Focus behind me that had a badly aligned HID headlight that was shining directly in my eye. Fog lights and erratic-seeming breaking (got to love that squidgy pitch-happy suspension!) made him back off a looooooooooong way and disappear down his first available turning.


Every day is an adventure in the Princess, of course, and I'd mentioned this little incident elsewhere. The driver was okay, just a grazed wrist, but his Golf and the barrier on the corner didn't fare so well. Be careful out there, folks.


Thank you for the compliments too, always a pleasure to read

[michiel]

always a pleasure to read

 

Right back at you!

[idiotboy]

Now the Polo is out of the garage, the Princess had to go in the garage. I couldn't be doing with finding homes for all the crap in the garage at the moment, but I will have to do something about it because it's a bit of a tight squeeze at the moment.

 

 

 

 

I must be getting to know the Princess' dimensions because the only thing I hit is the cardboard on top of the barbecue. I couldn't get out of the driver's side because I'm an idiot and hadn't thought that far ahead so it was a shuffle across the car to get out. Tomorrow, I'll clear out everything but the essentials and find new homes for things, some of which should really just go on a fire.

 

You have a garage with space, light and power. Soooo jealous.

[vulgalour]

I do know how lucky I am! Before this I've never had a garage to work in and I've always been doing stuff outside or occasionally in the house so to have a dedicated car space is wonderful.

[AnthonyG]

Just a note - those door reflector things will bugger up the paint underneath after a while, as they always move a fraction each time the door is shut.

 

This observation is based on the fact that whenever I took some off a car, lots of minute scratches were underneath, necessitating a long T-cut and polish session.

 

They do look very 1987 giffer-spec, though, fresh from a trip to Halfords!

[Captain Slow]

Just a note - those door reflector things will bugger up the paint underneath after a while, as they always move a fraction each time the door is shut.

 

This observation is based on the fact that whenever I took some off a car, lots of minute scratches were underneath, necessitating a long T-cut and polish session.

 

They do look very 1987 giffer-spec, though, fresh from a trip to Halfords!

 

 

It's the look we tend to get at Motornutz meets Angyl - the elderly chap's prized Princess and the pushy lower-management type with his upper--mid range brand new Montego, circa August 1987!

[vulgalour]

I know about the paint issue but really, with the paint on the Princess, it's not going to make anything any worse and I can always check them annually if I need to.

 

Tiddly little update today. Parked up in Morrisons in Chesterfield and my wipers decided to stop working, for no apparent reason. Checked the fuses to find they were all fine, checked the wires to the wiper motor and couldn't figure out what was wrong, nothing looked amiss. Got back in the car and the wipers were working again... until I got to a roundabout and they stopped working. Pulled into a pub car park and had another fettle, unintentionally moving the fuse box, which made my wipers jump to life again and made my intermittent disco lights behave like normal lights.

 

I think I have a gremlin living under the fuse box, further investigation is required.

[KruJoe]

Re: the door reflector things, why not protect your paint with a carefully sized bit of tape, then clip them on over it?

They look ace btw, I'd forgotten about them!

Keep at it, lad.

[DSdriver]

Are those the type of wing mirrors that can turn out at 90 degrees so you can see past your caravan when towing but follow the line of the bonnet when folded in? Ace.

[Pete-M]

Are those the type of wing mirrors that can turn out at 90 degrees so you can see past your caravan when towing but follow the line of the bonnet when folded in? Ace.

 

Especially on a car with no tow bar.

 

There'll be bonus AS points for that.

[vulgalour]

I didn't realise that's part of what they were for! Bonuserific, as I do plan to fit a towbar eventually and have a matching caravan eventually, one day, maybe.

[Shep Shepherd]

A certain someone of our mutual friendship just told me that he really liked being driven around in the Princess this weekend, although he was surprised that it didn't have rear seat belts

 

However, he prefers The Volvo as it never goes wrong. That's what he thinks...

[worldofceri]

 

Is that the A60 thru Chesterfield?

 

Qwalität thread this, by the way.

[vulgalour]

@Shep: Our mutual friend got to experience the joy that is my electrical gremlin, he was mostly very quiet as a passenger and I always find that unnerving, as though they're looking for an excuse to get out due to my appalling driving/car.

 

@worldofceri: yes? I'm not sure of the road name, it's the mini-bypass that runs from the Kwik Fit roundabout to the Tescos roundabout.

 

 

___

 

More on the gremlin front. Dad knows a thing or two about electronics, so it was handy when he came over yesterday and we had a brief fettle at the car. We didn't have the time to get the multimeter out, but what we did do was run through the fault again (disco lights, mainly) and check the connectors and the back of the fuse box. Interestingly, the back of the fuse box does look nice and healthy with no obvious signs of corrosion, loose wires or anything that might be causing an issue. Dad is also of the opinion that there's an earth problem somewhere, but all the earths on the car do seem fine (again, we had no time to multimeter it, but we will) so the other thought was moisture contamination in the fuse box.

 

Dad got the WD40 which says on the can it's fine for electrical stuff and gave the connectors in the fusebox a squirt. Put all the fuses back in and tested the lights to find that I then didn't have any brake lights and my wipers wouldn't work. No amount of fiddling and cleaning and unplug-replug would get them to work again and then we ran out of time.

 

Today, I went to see if I could sort them out, at the very least to see if I can sort out brakes and wipers. Checked the fuses to find one of the 16amp fuses was a bit misshapen but swapping it with a good one made no discernible difference to anything. I cleaned out the fuse box, got some sandpaper on the connectors and fuses, put everything back together and I now have brake lights and wipers working again. Sadly, I also still have the disco lights.

 

For now, I give up on this one. Dad has left his multimeter with me so I can go through stuff with the help of the wiring diagram to try and chase the location of the fault when I'm of a better frame of mind to do so. The thing that made me give up today was dropping the blue fuse for the heated rear screen and then being unable to find it again, I think by some fluke it's gone into the hole in the side of the chassis rail, never to be found again, so for now I have no heated rear screen until I snaffle a replacement blue fuse (I'll check what amp that is at some point).

 

Bloody annoying this electrical gremlin because now not even wiggling the fuse box makes any difference, nor do weather conditions, messing about with earth connections, light clusters, connectors, dash switches or anything else that's easily accessible. I'll get the tape deck reinstated now it has new belts fitted and see if that makes the problem magically disappear, which it might given the rat's nest of wiring that it connects to.

[nigel bickle]

Buy a set of new fuses. Sometimes they look fine -but just wont work properlyu, consistently. It'll cost pennies- and rules another' issue ' out

[vulgalour]

New fuses it is. On my way home just now, the horn stopped working for no apparent reason. New fuses certainly won't hurt and as you point out, are dirt cheap, I just didn't think fuses could cause this much of a headache.

[RedSparrow]

It's 30 year old BL wiring, it's not gonna be great, believe me I know the feeling well.

 

The TR7s instruments die/return to life randomly too. The clock usually only works once or twice a year though.

I find a firm thump to the top of the dash (old telly style) works wonders.

[vulgalour]

You won't be surprised to learn that the tellythump trick was one of my first efforts to resolve the issue, to no avail. Since Princess and Polo share the same sorts of bullet fuses, I'm as well getting a pick-and-mix style bag of them for both cars anyway and just keep my hand signals in mind for if my lights do decide to just give up completely. Out on errands my lights did work normally for a brief moment, then they didn't... the only common factor seems to be when I go around a left-hand corner if the lights are working, that's when they'll decide to stop working as they should and I don't know if that could be connected to anything or if it's just coincidence.

[PhilA]

Same era, different designers though, probably similar issues. The big multi-plug that came up the steering column harness on my FD would cause allsorts of havoc, though if the engine ground is bad your lights and gauges will go haywire.

 

Try clipping jump lead from - on battery to engine somewhere and seeing if the oddities go away. Being it happens when you corner could be anything from corroded wire to a split spot-weld.

 

Worth a try.

 

I know you own a set of leads, it's in the rules.

 

-Phil

[vulgalour]

I don't own a set of jump leads *le gasp!* but I think my housemate does. I may have found the culprit today, thanks to Dad's multimeter.

I had some things I wanted to do on the car and although it took a while to get motivated, eventually I did and refitted my PYE deck which, as it turns out, is the worst sound system known to man. Disappointed I was It sounds shockingly poor, none of the dials on the front do anything and noise only comes out of one speaker. The replacement belt - the smallest we could source - is okay for the first few minutes but then it seems to stretch and shrink at will judging by the noise coming out of the speakers. Not a brilliant start to proceedings but it did help me eliminate another part of the wiring as the root of my gremlin.

Here's what's what with the wiring for the tape deck, done at some point in the car's past. First, there's a replacement flasher relay from a Nissan of some description. This provides a blue wire that has to be screwed into the underside of the dash so it earths on the metal there, even though I'm pretty sure it's not an earth wire. If it's connected to anything else, my indicators don't work. The green wires join the steering column bit of the wiring loom.


Then there's the tape deck plug, which has one red wire marked Battery + that rejoins the wiring harness...


...and one black wire, that doesn't connect to anything, and apparently doesn't do anything either but is marked Battery - which means it's probably an earth. It is not, however, the root of my electrical problem.


I want to reinstate all of this wiring properly, but I'm going to have to wait until Dad gets back from holiday as I'm not confident with wiring. So, after setting the tape deck aside (but retaining the speakers) I turned my attention to the rear of the car with the multimeter. On the passenger side, there's this odd little chocblock that the earth terminates in, but the circuit is good and it's doing it's job according to the multimeter.


The earth wire runs back along the loom and comes up into a spade connector for the driver's side cluster before rejoining the loom and disappearing over the wheel arch and behind the rear seat somewhere.


The wiring loom has been hacked about a bit, probably to fit the fog lights, and it's not a great job. The earth cable under the electrical tape has had the casing split, and that allowed me to test the wires inside which, when I could get the probe to connect properly also showed a healthy circuit. I went back to the spade connector and there's no circuit there at all, which is odd since it's in parallel with my two other reference points, both of which show a good circuit. The reason I hadn't tested this before was that I didn't really know what I was looking at or how to do it and lacked a good amount of confidence with it.

I had a bit of a natter with Dad about it and he's suggested I try fitting a new spade connector here as it's possible there's a circuit running through the earth cable but the spade connector has somehow become isolated from the circuit, leading to the peculiar habit of the lights. All the shops were shut today so I couldn't buy a new spade connector or new fuses, but a look in the book also revealed that the fuses in the box aren't actually all what they should be so that will get rectified too.

Some progress made at least. Tomorrow I go shopping for fuses and spade connectors and see what happens. Thankfully, I've made nothing worse from investigating things today, but disappointingly I didn't make anything any better. Oh, and my horn works again after I swapped two identical fuses around, which makes very little sense to me.

[vulgalour]

Another wiring update. I really need my Dad here to talk me through this because no matter how well I try to educate myself with info from the internet and books and whatnot, I'm a bit lost on this and with my Dad being trained as an electrician (okay, not auto-electrician, but it's the same basic principles) he can help me understand better what's going on.

First thing I did was go to the local shop and get myself as many bullet fuses as he had in stock and a spade connector to sort out that dodgy earth.

On investigation, two fuses were a bit dead.


I restocked the fuse box with brand new 16amp and 8 amp fuses, as per the book. Checked the back of the fuse box again for loose wires or corrosion of which there is none, everything is healthy and secure. I didn't know how to use the multimeter here so I'm waiting for Dad's direction on that one.

This is the fuse box before.


This is the fuse box now.


Additionally, I rechecked that spade connector which was still showing no circuit, trimmed and spliced in the new connector (no pictures, camera ate them) and now have a circuit at this connector, but it made no difference to the oddity with the lights. However, my interior light now only comes on when the passenger door opens and not when the driver's door opens.

I was a bit stumped by all this as now I appeared to have good earth in both suspected locations and yet I still had disco lights. I made a start trying to understand the wiring loom in the boot, if I didn't have a commitment to the Waddington show at the end of the week I would have pulled the loom out but I'd rather the car have odd lights than no lights.

So, I chased where new connectors had been put in, with this being the first one you come across behind the number plate light. As far as I can remember, one of the black female plugs has always been devoid of a matching male plug and swapping the male plug to the empty female just makes my fog lights come on permanently.


Worked along to find out what else was hiding and found a loose wire. A-ha! thinks I, this will be the root of the problem.


I noticed there was a scrap of copper wiring in the chock block that matched the exposed wires of this newly discovered wire, so I tidied it up anew.


Plugged it in and...



... nothing changed. I tried unplugging the red wire and nothing changed. I tried putting it in that empty female connector and the fog lights came on (switch was off).

So now I have no idea what's going on. I have this sinking feeling that when Dad helps me go through the wiring loom properly that I'm going to end up having to remove the wiring loom to chase a dodgy earth wire and while the loom is at least nice and simple on the Princess, it's still not something I want to do.

I don't understand wiring diagrams, unfortunately, I understand the principle behind them and that they work in a similar fashion to the London Underground maps but that's as far as I can get.

I'm wondering if the fault is in the headlight or brake circuit, even though I understand that an earth fault can cause oddness across the board. The reason for this thinking is that I only get the problem with the lights when both sidelights/headlights are on and I then press the brake pedal, and it's the pressing of the brake pedal that always causes the problem, nothing else.

[Captain Slow]

I don't own a set of jump leads *le gasp!*

 

Bet you buy some the day after you need them, like I did

[Betaboy2.0]

Just a thought - have you checked that the right type of bulb is in the brakelight (or brake lights)? If a single element bulb has been put in instead of a double element bulb (or vice versa) it can cause all sorts of strange things to happen.....

[vulgalour]

Which would apply if the problem arose after I'd changed any of the bulbs, which I haven't... so yes, I've checked that and checked that all the bulbs work in the way they should, which they do, until the magic disco light combination happens.