project 1980 Austin Princess

[eddyramrod]

If there's one thing that can help a project along - apart from parts and funds, of course - it's the support of likeminded people ... we're both completely mad.

 

I want it to be much more ostentatiously 70s, ivory interior and purple exterior with those Lotus alloys ... eventually I'd like to put a FWD Lotus engine in this car and turn it into a 70s Lotus Princess

 

Agreed, agreed, and OHHHHHHHHHHHHH YES! I'm right with you there, that's such a cool idea!

[oman5]

Lotus Princess? you HAVE to do this. could look seriously cool.

[vulgalour]

 

Making some headlight louvres out of the damaged grille and headlight surrounds I kept hold of 'just in case', I both get rid of some rubbish and do something interesting with the front of the Princess. Should cost nothing to make since I've got files and sandpaper and knifes and glue and loads of time. It'll also be a fun little project.

 

Rather than going for a plain straight across flat grille, I'll make use of the step built in to the grille and extent the steppiness into the louvres.

 

They'll probably only be show/daytime use, I'm not sure how much they'd restrict light output, but since it's only a case of undoing four screws to swap out the louvres for the regular trims I see no reason why I shouldn't give it a whirl.

[Spiny Norman]

Be really cool if you could make them swing away when the lights came on, a la Dodge Charger.

Good to see the progress being made, keep up the good work.

[eddyramrod]

That looks really cool! Good move!

[dollywobbler]

Now, it might just be me, and it's hardly a priority for this car, but are the driver's and passenger's wiper arms the wrong way around?!

 

Slatted headlamps look fab. Will probably be next to useless, but look good.

[vulgalour]

I don't believe they are. The passenger one doesn't hide away, never has, but they clear the screen properly so they're probably okay.

[vulgalour]

Yesterday, my brother sprang an MoT on me and gave me five minutes to prepare. I had only managed to stop the oil leak on the fuel pump, fit the new driver's seat and start on the vacuuming of the interior. A quick slice of temporary insurance and off we went for a very impromptu test. I wasn't surprised that I failed, but I was surprised that I only failed on a single tyre (the emissions were corrected during the test) and got an advisory on weak rear brakes, though they did pass the required test.

 

Today, I got a new tyre fitted and balanced, got my tracking sorted and tootled off to get a nice fresh clean sheet. The advisory also disappeared, but since I'll be fitting rear brake shoes in the very near future, that's okay. Not bad, I think, all things considered.

 

I was hoping to go to Pride of Longbridge tomorrow with the Princess, but I haven't the time and funds to get insurance and tax sorted out to be legal for that so we'll save it for another year (again). In the meantime, the Princess will get some cosmetic attention as it seems that's all she needs and next month will be pressed back into service as my daily and, when the BX sells, my only car.

 

I really couldn't have hoped for a better result, I'm thoroughly impressed with the old girl as were the MoT testers and even the paintshop chap passed a favourable comment, surprising considering how much like Elmer the Elephant the car looks at the moment.

 

[purplebargeken]

Congrats on the pass! Made my day that did.

 

Ken

[eddyramrod]

That's great news! I know what it means so I'm very happy for you!

[Black_GT]

Yes! Well done

[beko1987]

Finally! Great news dude.

 

Now paint that mutha purple, flat it back and machine it up like a mirror I'll come over with me rotary and help!

[PhilA]

Huzzah, I say! Huzzah with highly polished brass knobs on!

[vulgalour]

Thanks for the support, all, it is very welcome

 

___

 

I got underway with a period accessory today. Eventually, I want to fit a rear window louvre as well, but it's a case of finding one that'll fit or modifying something to work... I'm in no rush really, something will come up in the future.

 

I had a spare broken set of headlight trims and a broken grille. None of it was really good enough to repair and keep as stock spares which is why I wanted to try out an idea I've had for the front end for a while. I knew this job was going to be a lot like a giant Airfix or similar kit, so I already had the relevant skills to give it a go.

 

First job was to cut the old broken grille in half, handily there's a mould line dead centre on the back of the grille I could use as a guide. Then any protruberances on the back of the grille were removed to make it as flat as possible and I was ready to do the next bit. Marking out I usually do with a pen, but I didn't have a suitable colour to show up on black plastic - with hindsight, I should've used some masking tape and a biro, colour doesn't matter then - so I used chalk instead, marking the headlight trim to line up with the grille with everything fixed to the car.

 

I already had a rough idea of how this was going to look from a Photoshop I'd done earlier, but this is putting that into practice. The next thing to do was first dry fit.

 

This allowed me to see what changes were needed, and what shape to cut the outer edge as I couldn't commit to this until I'd got everything lined up on the car. Normally, I'd tack things together with superglue since it can easily be broken apart afterwards if you use a small enough quantity, but a lack of said glue to hand and the shapes involved meant I used masking tape instead.

 

Once the side was trimmed down with a saw and the edges filed smooth to the rough shape I wanted, I could trial fit again and see what else needs adjusting.

 

 

 

I was happy enough with that for a trial fit. From the front it looks much as I anticipated, but there's a few bits I need to tweak to make it fit exactly how I want it to.

 

To improve the fit I need to take a lot of material out of the depth of the grille to push it back more snugly against the bodywork, something that will take a while to achieve. Power tools and plastic generally don't mix so well as the temperature tends to melt the plastic, so it'll be a fair amount of hand sanding to get the profile I want. I think it will be worth it in the end.

[vulgalour]

Here we go, more Photochoppery. This is about as close as I can get to what I see in my head as the end result. This is what I'm working towards. I'm not so great at getting the colours perfect so there is some discrepancy between these on that front, but you get the idea.

 

 

 

 

So there you have it. Aconite purple for the bodywork with all the chrome intact. Champagne Beige for the roof and C pillars. Bumpers probably removed, but I like the Princess with them as well. At the back we'll have a louvre over the rear screen and Lotus-esque letters on the back panel with a BL badge hiding the original lock location as I'd like a remote opening boot (cable release, probably). Up front will be the headlight louvres to tidy it up and the Princess crown (not shown) will likely get reinstated on the bonnet or possibly fitted centrally on the grille.

 

Much further down the line I'd like to fit a FWD Lotus engine and would then rebadge subtly with a couple of yellow Lotus badges, possibly on the C pillars. It will be quite unlike any other Princess out there.

[eddyramrod]

Yep, I can see that! Damn good ideas there my friend, and if I can be of any help.... oh wait, I can! Cable boot release? Look at a late Montego, they had exactly that. You should be able to grab the entire mechanism from a scrappy for next to nothing, assuming any scrappy round you has a Montego in at all. The cable should be just about the right length too.

 

Oh and... bumpers ON. Deffo. Don't be tempted into black number plates, those will look awful.

[vulgalour]

Captain_Slow is already on the lookout for a Montego cable release, a Sierra one might fit too, though the release handle wouldn't fit in with the interior so well. As for number plates, I'm sticking with white and yellows, but we're going for metal with raised plastic digits because those are my favourite number plates and would be appropriate for this car, I think.

[dollywobbler]

I'm with Eddy. The bumperless look doesn't work - though everything else sort of does. I wonder if body-coloured bumpers would work?

[cort16]

It's certainly eye catching.

I have to say VA that this in beige with the lotus wheels would look mega. Less is more and all that.

[Parky]

Now THAT I like. A lot. It's the sort of thing Huggy Bear would drive if Starsky and Hutch was based in Rotherham.

[vulgalour]

^a million times that, Parky, I couldn't have put it better myself. Remember, the interior is going to be ivory velour, vinyl and shag pile carpetting.

 

I think the bumpers will be refitted eventually, they do finish things off nicer, but they're not vital and while I'm sorting paint out it's better to keep them in storage. As for the colour debate, there's nothing inherently wrong with the beige but for what I want to do the Aconite will look better for me, personally, and since it's my car that's what I'm going to do.

[Parky]

Yes, I think the bumpers will set it off nicely and will help to give the front end a bit more definition. Are you planning on doing the body in coach paint and flitting it back as you did on the rear wing? Was well impressed with the way that turned out.

 

I also noticed you can buy fibreglass wings for these which might be worth looking into if you ever wanted to get that front wing perfect. They weren't too expensive either and might be a cheap option?

[vulgalour]

yup, we're going to brush paint it like that wing. It's much more cost effective and means I can work through the car at my own pace and fix any problems I come across one at a time. Having seen the fibreglass wings in the real world, I don't think they're worth the saving over buying a metal wing or getting the current one repaired (replacement is probably more sensible) because they look a bit soft around the edges and over-sized. Apparently, the fibreglass ones are really tough to fit properly too as they don't line up as well as they ought. Ideally, I'd get the front end repaired at a bodyshop, the bent bits should be straightenable (that's a word now) with the right tools and professional knowledge, I think I've done as much as I can to it.

 

I'm going to price paint and thinners up when I collect the parts I've ordered to see how much I need to save, shouldn't be a huge sum.

[MrDuke]

The one other thing I'd be tempted to change is the rear lights - the way that the inner angle doesn't quite follow the line of the bootlid just looks sloppy, and the outer edge should really be vertical - I think fitting some smaller, more rounded units would look a lot better. That's just me being picky, though.

[vulgalour]

That's precisely what bugs me about the rear lights! So far, I'm yet to find anything that's an improvement over the original units, and I've had a plethora of great suggestions thrown my way, everything from Alfa Romeo Alfetta to VW LT and many more in between. So far, Viva HC, Austin Princess 4ltr and Opel Manta A are my favourites as possible alternatives. This is what they look like.

 

 

These would be turned upside down to work best, I think.

 

[eddyramrod]

I'd already thought Viva HC... A very slim and elegant light. Or, you could go the other way and use mk4 Zodiac lights, with the red reflective strip across the middle. I know other cars have had them since, but not with all the chrome bars...

[Parky]

Didn't you have some Corsair rear lights knocking around!

[vulgalour]

I like the aircraft carrier lights, I'd forgotten they looked that good. I do still have those Corsair lights, I kept them back 'just in case', but I wasn't sure if they'd work but mounted sideways they might, I'll give it a try in the daytime and see what I end up with. I do suspect the Corsair lights won't look right, I have a feeling they'll pinch the back end in and emphasis the fat arsedness (that's a word now too) of the Princess too much.

[catsinthewelder]

Looking good VA, I'm particually liking Eddys idea

 

 

I can't do Photoshop so you'll have to put up with MS paint

[vulgalour]

Holy carp, I'm going to have to get some measurements now because that (I'm imagining it with the bumper back on) is right up my street. Old Ford parts are cheap right? There's no scene tax or anything is there?

 

EDIT: according to Wikipedia (I'm sure it's accurate...) Zephyr MkIV is 71.25" wide and Princess is 68.1" wide. I bet the petrol flap cover is more than 3" wide, but I wonder if the width state includes the bumpers and, if so, just how close to the width of the Princess bodywork that rear light unit actually is.