project 1980 Austin Princess

[maxxo]

9 hours ago, vulgalour said:

 

Fitting wing mirrors to the Princess.  I've had various mirrors on this car as long term viewers will know and of all of them, these black aftermarket wing mirrors have been the best of the lot in terms of visibility and aesthetics as a combination.  The Honda Acty mirrors were easily both the best to see with and the ugliest on the car, while the original Tex branded mirrors were perhaps the most well suited cosmetically while also being the most useless mirrors I've ever had on a car.

When I started this job it was pretty cold and wet, there's never really good weather to do this sort of thing in so I just got on with it.

Gather my tools up which comprised a cordless drill, some masking tape, a pen, and some sockets for the mirror's fixings.

On the passenger side wing there were still the nubbins from where I'd ground back but not filled the welded up holes from when the wing mirrors were previously on the car.  The driver's side didn't have this guide to help me since that wing was replaced with a Frankenstein's monster of a thing made up of several wings.  Masking tape deployed to give me something to write on and to prevent the drill bit from skipping since I still don't have a centre punch for marking drill holes.

Start drilling and think the drill bit is blunt, check the battery and find out that actually it's got nearly no charge in it.  Recharge the battery and try again.

Then inspect the mirrors and find a couple of the nuts are rust-welded onto the bolt threads so spend some time cutting through the bolt threads after trying every other method, and then install new fixings.

 

Dry fit the mirror into the wing and decide I'm happy to once again have these back on the car.  I should never have second-guessed myself with these, they fit in with what I'm doing really well and I like using them, so I should have more faith in my own vision.

Next job is to remove the arch liners. These things are a pain.  If you leave them in they do protect the nose end of the wing from stuff building up, but they do nothing to protect the other end of the wing.  They also destroy the arch lip whenever you try and remove them.  They're held in with several screws.

 

Once the liner has been fought out, access to put the nuts onto the floating captive bolts in the mirrors is possible.  These mirrors aren't sprung loaded and you adjust them by pushing on the glass which is mounted on a ball socket inside the mirror housing.  Usefully, they don't stick out further than the car's widest point which you'd think would be a problem for seeing behind you, but with them so far down the wing it's really not an issue.  They're also pretty large for wing mirrors, so the field of vision is surprisingly good in them.

Looking up inside the wing you can see the spreader plate that's used to keep the mirrors from jiggling - they really don't vibrate at all, surprisingly - and I gave all this a coat of paint to protect it from rusting, I just didn't record that bit.

It's not really that easy to show what it's like to use them when you're in the car, the camera isn't really looking at the mirrors the same way you do when you're driving, but they really are great.  The big advantage is I can make a quick glance at either mirror and see what's going on behind me without really taking my eyes off the road in front, unless I'm doing over-the-shoulder checks of course because it always pays to be vigilant.  The one thing these mirrors do best of all out of all the mirrors I've had on this car is almost totally elimate the C pillar blind spot which is massive due to the 70s styling.

With both mirrors fitted it felt a bit more like my car again.  These definitely aren't to everyone's taste, and that's okay, I'm not building this car for anyone but me so I'm the only person I need to satisfy with it.

 

great work as always!

i do rather enjoy watching your vids on the old youtube

i love the way this car is coming along, it's different and i like it

oh, and the mirrors really suit it

[2flags]

On 7/14/2022 at 5:07 PM, vulgalour said:

The rubber part of the rear axle/crosstube mounting bracket has basically worn out.  The nut you see there should sit in the middle of that circular hole but the rubber has got tired so it can move about more than it should.  Replacement is necessary.  If you have a spare bracket, or know the part number, or anyone that's selling a good bracket (or even better, a pair), please let me know.  I'm coming up blank on this one and haven't been able to find replacements yet.

This was a know problem with these. I worked on them when they were new and this was something we did regularly under warrantee. 

[vulgalour]

Time to top up the front suspension... and make more work for myself than planned.

 

[vulgalour]

https://www.printables.com/model/258068-austin-princess-interior-light-cover

The before is my literally crumbling original lens.  The after is a raw print, no sanding or finishing.  This is a direct replacement part and, because it's a thing you can 3d print to demand, you can make them any colour you can get the materials you use in.  As far as I'm aware, this is the only replacement part out there and this is a part that's been unavailable for quite a long time.  Best of all, the download is FREE, so as long as you have access to a 3D printer this part shouldn't cost you a great deal to create.

[vulgalour]

 

Lion batteries are okay actually.  Fix a few other bits and bobs too.

[PhilA]

A new battery transformed my car. The old one was, as yours was, elderly and low on capacity. It was not being a very good regulator for the alternator, either and so the system voltage would remain unsettled, particularly when load was applied (fan heater, headlights, radio).

Definitely helps for cold starting, too. The old battery would dip to 8V or so with the starter motor engaged. With the ballast on the coil, the spark is being created with about 5V which is not good at all. The new one doesn't drop below 10 with the load of the starter, resulting in much easier starts and significantly less load on the battery each time (don't have to hold the starter on and try get it to catch).

Also, the battery is not a table, particularly not for metal tools... That's bad practice

[vulgalour]

Foolish of me to think nobody would notice my bad tool practice >.>

[maxxo]

On 9/13/2022 at 3:39 PM, vulgalour said:

 

Lion batteries are okay actually.  Fix a few other bits and bobs too.

never had an issue with Lion batteries

dads super modern high tech civic has one which has been on it 3 or so years now with no issues

great video as always!

[vulgalour]

Tried to do the rear brake on the Princess today and while it is back on all four wheels now, it hasn't gone as well as I would have liked.

I do have a blow torch, I can't light it. Every time I tried to get an ignition source up to the blow torch, the wind kept blowing it out before the torch could be lit. Talk about frustrating. So that stuck union is still stuck.

I did get the brake cylinder compressed properly due to getting some C clamps, that went very smoothly, but there's some black rubbery gunge that was oozed out that made me a lot less confident about using the cylinders so I've ordered a new pair complete with special E clips. Did I mention I've managed to misplace the special E clips I bought especially for this job already?

I did get the outer drum on. It was a fight. I cannot back the shoes off as far as I'd like so they're dragging rather more than I want them to, it's an adjustment issue but I can't seem to adjust them as I'd like them. Pretty annoying.

That leaves me with rear brakes that don't work and technically front brakes that don't work either since the main hydraulic line is open due to that seized up union. That means the car can't safely be driven anywhere.

Do I want to have to dismantle it all to fit the new brake cylinders when they arrive? Not really. Do I want to fight even more with that stuck union and possibly have to buy even more tools and materials to try and sort out a brake line that might need cutting? Absolutely not. What I want is some magic fairy brakemother to come along and make this job go away because doing anything with drum brakes can get in the sea.

[Noel Tidybeard]

your battery clamp is fitted wrongly- the 90° bend should be round the top edge of battery👍

 

i'm not sure why it was so hard to find an 063 battery? prolly the most common size

[vulgalour]

The battery clamp clamps the battery firmly and has done for a decade at least so it's fine.  It's also the same way every other Princess I've worked on has been so it's just how Princesses are.  063 batteries weren't in ready supply when I recorded the video, lots of things were out of stock at the time.

[Noel Tidybeard]

one can't help but wonder if you were actually witnessing a cell "going down" but not quite gone yet

 

it is amazing what shenanigans can appear with a shonky earth- nissan/renner i'm looking at you here!

[High Jetter]

Dim memory says 063 & 015 were 2 most common. Supplied dry, to Longlife shops, as were barrels of acid. It holed clothes, and the taste still lingers...

[MorrisItalSLX]

A photograph cropped up on the Princess Facebook page that looked familiar.

[vulgalour]

@Noel Tidybeard Failing cell has been suggested elsewhere too.  I don't know enough to know if it really was that but from what folks have described, it does seem likely.  Bloomin earth problems though, what a chore!

 

@MorrisItalSLX That's back in 2011 or so, it's the eBay ad the owner before me saw.  A good example of not judging a book by its cover, you wouldn't know the crap it was hiding given how clean and tidy it seemed to be back then.  Different story now of course, it's pretty decent and looks like an absolute shed.

[Noel Tidybeard]

earth problem i had- nissan primera p12

press brake pedal rear fog telltail glows + it would flash with indicators

- earth pins in rear clusters is about half as big as it really needs (the renner influence!)

[vulgalour]

First thing to do was get a new battery since the one on the car wasn't reliably holding charge.  Alternator was doing its job just fine and putting the zaps out, but the battery wasn't always holding on to them.  Headed out to try and find one in a shop, mixing it with the moderns.

Make way for the ambulance.

Then completely failed to find a battery in a shop anywhere.  Lots of shortages at the time, so it was probably that.  Amusingly, I found exactly the same kind of battery as I removed brand new online, so ordered that and plonked it in instead.

The other issue I'd been having was that the hazards weren't working properly.  Time to inspect the fuses, namely the one for non-ignition accessories.

The fuse I took out looked perfectly fine, if a little less shiny than would be ideal, but I put a fresh one in the socket anyway.  Experience has taught me that sometimes these ceramic style fuses just seem to go bad for some reason.  The problem was mainly that it had got itself stuck with corrosion.

That meant that when you turned the hazards on the interior light flashed and the indicators didn't, a very odd electrical issue that was a proper head scratcher.  Replaced the fuse and the hazards and interior light went back to working properly.  That's not really one I can show in static images so well, so if you really want to see that, go watch the video.  While looking for potential earth problems, I found the secondary main earth had gone rusty again which definitely wouldn't have helped.  Gave it a good scrub and got it back to as not-rusty as I could.  Used a bit of ACF-50 on it too which seems pretty good at keeping moisture, and by extension corrosion, at bay.

With that all sorted, it was time to see how much happier the car would be about starting.  Traditional choke pegs, check it's in neutral, and see if it fires up... which it did basically instantly.  This was a huge improvement on how it had been so I was pretty happy about that.

With the wipers, headlights, heater fan, and brake lights all on the alternator was keeping up with charge properly and while the wipers did slow a little, it was definitely in the realm of normal rather than struggling.

An 8 mile test run later, decided to check the head gasket seam for any issues because previously this had been a short enough run to highlight that. I was pleased to see the areas of concern previously were no longer areas of concern.  Also no bubbles in the expansion bottle so it looks like when I last re-torqued the head bolts down that's all that was required.

I did notice that the heaters had become very effective and the coolant had gone quite brown so I assume there was a blockage somewhere in the system that had cleared through.  The mileage I'd done in this video was about the same as I'd done when the head gasket last went so I was both hopeful I'd fixed the problem, and concerned it might be about to happen.

Finally, even though this video was recorded a year ago, I'm still on the look out for some of these Princess rubber floor mats, front and rear, since I only have the one.  They do occasionally appear, though never in great shape.  If you happen to have one or more of them please do drop me a line.

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

that shim is quite annoying isn't it? it makes the mighty O-series sound like a fiesta!

[Noel Tidybeard]

the tailpipe looks about the right grey colour

biscuit/brown= too lean

black/sooty= too rich

 

has the carb got the lift pin on the bottom for gauging mixture strenghth?

[vulgalour]

It's not far off on the exhaust, it's just a whiff rich but the fuel economy is about where it needs to be so in the end I just left it where it was.  I don't think this carb has the lift pin, I don't recall it from the last dealings with it, it's a pretty basic thing.  I've had a right job getting shims for this engine, they're a specific size, the last ones I ordered came via a friend in the US because I couldn't find anyone in the UK doing the diameter and thickness I needed.  Can't remember what thickness it was now, but I think they're 32mm diameter?  I'd have to check.

[Noel Tidybeard]

just found this

https://www.howacarworks.com/fuel-systems/adjusting-an-su-carburettor

[vulgalour]

That looks like a guide for an HS4 or HS6, more commonly found on Triumphs.  Princess uses an HIF44 which is a different layout and a more compact unit.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Don't know if you need it, but here's a guide to HiF tuning

Tuning - General - SU Carburetters

[vulgalour]

Been a while, here's a short video.

Watch me try and destroy a breaker bar.

[Noel Tidybeard]

i estimate those wheel nuts to be torqued to 12 ugga duggas! 😲

[vulgalour]

Yeah, this was a bit much.

[vulgalour]

So relieved that the rear arch repair panel, an item I've been after for pretty much my entire ownership of this car, is actually a really good fit. 

Not sure when I'll be doing the bodywork on the Princess, I need to get Maestro and Lanchester jobs out of the way first.  I do now have a front wing for the driver's side, a front arch repair panel for the passenger side, a full outer sill for whichever side it is I need it (I can't be bothered to go to the garage and check), and this rear arch panel.  That addresses all the remaining rust areas I'm aware of.

The only thing really stopping me using the Princess at the moment is the rear brakes and I'm just stretched too thin financially to get the tools/pay a person for the moment.  It'll sort, Princess isn't getting any worse where it is and is in no danger of going anywhere, it just has to wait a bit longer.

[vulgalour]

BOOM! Painted (mostly).

I will not be taking feedback at this time

 

Seriously though, it's been getting me down that the Princess has been on the backburner for so long.  That coupled with the occasional door knock asking if it's for sale/scrap... yeah, not a great vibe.  Yesterday it got a wash for the first time in months.  Today it got painted (apart from the rear panel because it was too much effort to remove the lights and number plate).  It is not a good paint job, and what you see there is fresh off the rollers.  I'm using arguably the wrong kind of paint even though it's perfectly fit for purpose, and I was very lazy on prep and masking due to a lack of materials and funds to acquire more materials.

Do you know what though, none of that matters.  I feel way happier when I see the Princess now even though I know there's still a bunch of work to do.  I love the black and pink colour scheme and will be sticking with it and I reckon the rear end will look even better when it's black instead of red, those big Galaxie lights should really stand out well.  Sometimes you just have to do a thing for yourself.  You don't have to do it well, or right, or expensively, you just need to do it.  I feel more motivated to do something on the Princess now than I have in months.

[Zelandeth]

I quite like that colour scheme actually.

Only thing I'd probably do if it were mine would be include the windscreen pillars in the black.  I think that would just tie things together a bit more, and help draw the eye to the line that swoops down from the windscreen base into the door glass.

Obviously your car so feel absolutely free to ignore that!

[vulgalour]

The reason I haven't done the A pillar is that there's a chrome trim that goes on the gutter that meets a chrome trim at the door which breaks the flow of black, obviously said trim isn't fitted at the moment.  If the gutter stopped at the top of the windscreen instead of going all the way to the bottom of the glass then I'd absolutely black the A pillars so we got a floating roof look.