project 1980 Austin Princess

[binhoker668]

Loving this mate - keep 'er lit!

End result will be awesome.

Unless it's purple.

[stuboy]

good work !! i used tow rope and barrier to straighten friends combo van

[Wilko220]

Another uplifting read!

[chaseracer]

I'm a proper Autoshiter, I do things the Autoshite way. I'd've used a tractor if I had one to hand...

Steve's a Perkins diesel? Arguably, then, you did...

 

Excellent work on the Princess!

[vulgalour]

MOAR! I wanted to get the ratchet strap out again today, but instead I spent four hours cleaning a month's worth of crap off and out of Steve so I didn't get opportunity to do much on the Princess.

In addition to previous images, here's some key areas that require attention. This shows that the outer layer of metal work is close to being correct, but that the inner layer where the bumper bracket mount, headlamp bracket and strengthening upright are located is still pushed back and needs pulling forwards again.
20130105-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Here, you can see the seam that had been threatening to rot out that had split in the accident. The wing sits very nearly where it ought but the lower valance has been pushed up both from a previous encounter with a lump of concrete and from the accident. I'm not certain how I'm going to remedy this as access is limited in this area without having a lift ramp jobby.
20130105-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

20130105-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

The trouble with Champagne Beige is that it overexposes very easily. Highlighting the damage on the wing is tricky, but these shots should show how far it's come and what little is left to address cosmetically.
20130105-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

20130105-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr
20130105-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

20130105-07 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

This shows what shape the wing has become and what shape it should be, comparing side to side. This also helps me understand better what has deformed. Again, this area is difficult to gain access to without removing the wing (which I'd rather not have to do) so I'll have to do some thinking about how to repair this area. At the moment, I'm thinking of using a long pole with a rounded tip (wooden broom handle, perhaps?) and hammering the other end to pop the worst of the dent out and then skimming with filler to reprofile. Filler is not always evil, it's how you use it that counts.
20130105-08 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

20130105-10 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

This will be another tricky repair. When the front corner was pushed back, the upper and lower skins of the valance became compressed together. Access to this area is very difficult and I've not yet decided on a course of action here. Suffice to say, I will find a solution even if it's just bolting everything together and leaving it alone because it's not that obvious a bit of damage, at least until I can find and afford a repair panel.
20130105-09 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Finally, because I can.
20130105-11 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

[Captain Slow]

Genuinely laughing at "ETHEL"!

[phil_lihp]

Very good, sir! Outstanding work both on the Princess/Maestro tug of war and the Ethel teaser. Will that be released on VHS any time soon?

[oman5]

brilliant job, sir. I am so glad this has been saved, they've been maligned and unloved almost into extinction. i have nothing but fond memories of the two wedges I had back in the early '90s.

[vulgalour]

Do you know, of all the people that have talked to me about Wedges that they have owned, none have had a bad word to say, even those that had examples with galloping rot. The naysayers who wander past muttering about how dreadful a car it is on their way to view another Sherpa Sports or CPT Minor seem to have exclusively never owned one, or at least claim never to have. A case of bad public image, perhaps, that didn't line up with the experience of owning one of these most magnificent of British beasts?

[Angrydicky]

I know the owner of this lovely example quite well, and he hasn't got a bad word to say about it. He has spinal problems and tries to use the Princess as much as possible because it's so comfortable. His modern (Jaguar S-Type) gives him backache when he drives it so that only comes out when the weather is too bad to get the Princess out of the garage.

 

 

 

It still only has 30,000 miles on the clock and is very tidy indeed.

[vulgalour]

You should let him know his car is one of my inspirational motors, that's the standard I'm hoping to achieve with my own. Absolutely beautiful thing, wouldn't change one iota of it.

[Morgan84]

Will you paint the back wing beige again until the whole lot gets done,or keep it as a target to aim for; you're doing a grand job saving Ethel

[stuboy]

MOAR!

Finally, because I can.

 

were ethels little willy??

[vulgalour]

@Morgan: I think I'll be leaving that wing purple, I'm set on having a purple Princess. The nose end, however, will likely get patched in with beige for the meantime.
------

I'm pleased with myself today because I made some positive progress on the Princess again. First, I bashed out this corner of the wing so it was more or less the correct shape. As has been pointed out, to repair this area the wing should really come off because there's no access from the back to that crumple, even with a suitable drift. It'll do for now.
20130107-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

20130107-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

While bashing things into the right shape and exploring the few bent bits, I found some holes in the usual spots.
20130107-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

This looked like some cracked paint, I'd noticed it before the crash but this time gave it a poke. Hidden by a big blob of fibreglass resin.
20130107-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Unfortunately, I did manage to pop the welds on the bumper locater bracket so this needs to be reattached. It's actually undamaged and is part of what's pulled the panel work in on this area as it's far stronger than the surrounding metal work. It's okay though, I don't need the bumper for the MoT.
20130107-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

To see how far I'd pulled that wing into shape, I offered up the chrome arch trim which I haven't fiddled with since removing. We really have pulled this a lot straighter than it was, even when you take the additional flex of the trim into account.
20130107-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Things were looking close enough to being MoT worthy, if not perfect, so I stuck the lights back on.
20130107-07 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Then, after a much needed wash for the car before airing her out some more today (it's a lot less damp inside now) I got all of the lights working properly and put the new lens on the passenger side. I would have fitted the whole lens/indicator unit on the passenger side as supplied, but the screws that hold the old one onto the car look more like rusty rivets than posi-drive screws and will need drilling out, it was easier just to fit the lens.
20130107-08 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

I'm incredibly pleased with this now. A bit of tweaking is still required on the driver's headlight bracketry, but not much. There's a few small areas of welding to make it fully MoT worthy on that corner too, but again not much. It's not pretty, and far from perfect, but it is very close to being road legal and I can now turn my attention to getting everything checked out in readiness for an MoT. Perhaps my plan of attending Brooklands Austin-Morris day isn't so far fetched after all?

[beko1987]

Looking good on every update mate!

[skattrd]

It's getting there.

I wasn't sure if the repairs were going to be redone in purple. Touch-ups in beige for now makes sense instead of adding to the repair work

[Spiny Norman]

Slowly but surely you're getting there, keep it up.

 

That brown one in Dicky's post is an absolute honey.

[Captain Slow]

Angyl, you are a bloody hero. Even this early in 2013, I reckon this warrants nomination for Autoshiter of the Year.

[STUNO]

I agree with the captain! And as for the comfort etc, I have never heard a bad word about the wedges. My old 1800s was my favourite ever car, and a very nice place to sit.

[Split_Pin]

Thats looking a whole lot better now, good work again!

[Wilko220]

You're definitely convincing me that I need to have a Wedge in my life some time in the not too distant future. This is all epic work.

[shedvan]

Its probably just me but it looks like adding the grille back removes some of the zany swoopy snarl from the front which sort of made it look more like the pre-production styling exercises

 

[Morgan84]

Once the bumper and number plate are back on ,that will really see it looking a much happier car again;you've done a good job considering you are having to improvise with what tools and facilities you have available. I'm sure the lower wing edge will be fine with a pop rivetted plate to the front panel,and then fiberglassed over before a nice coat of paint.

 

At least once you have the car MOT'd,you can drive and enjoy her whilst searching for a replacement front end;ideally purple panels so its easier when you change the colour to that lovely purple which I quite like

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I know the owner of this lovely example quite well, and he hasn't got a bad word to say about it. He has spinal problems and tries to use the Princess as much as possible because it's so comfortable. His modern (Jaguar S-Type) gives him backache when he drives it so that only comes out when the weather is too bad to get the Princess out of the garage.

 

 

 

It still only has 30,000 miles on the clock and is very tidy indeed.

 

 

Even if I had 20 million quid - that would still be in my car collection. It's frankly wrong to NOT want that.

[Captain Slow]

I bumped into Angyl earlier today, and we went to see the Princess.

 

NO WAY has this been done by using a Maestro to pull it out and a HAMMER to straighten it. It's far too good, looks straighter in the metal than in pics, and completely beggars belief.

 

For me, Angyl's already Autoshiter of the Year. It will take something big to top this.

[Pillock]

I hope you take this the right way, but you've done a proper shite repair there. Not shit, but shite

Back in the day that sort of prang would have been repaired in exactly the way you've done it - a hammer, a good eye, some secondhand bits and a bit of time. It surely wouldn't have been unusual to see that car in that state being driven around whilst some good panels are hunted out.

[chaseracer]

/\/\

 

The ultimate AS compliment, right there...

[stuboy]

dam shite work keep up with it..

[vulgalour]

Pillock, I cannot take what you said the wrong way because that's precisely how I feel about it myself. It's really uplifting to be so encouraged after the initial rounds of naysaying I experienced on the interwebs following the accident. Growing up, it wasn't uncommon to see friends, family and neighbours fix cars this way and it's really what gave me the inspiration to try it considering my tighter-than-tight budget given that I'm reasonably good at adapting tools to serve whatever purpose I need them to. I'll almost be sad to eliminate the crash damage completely, as it stands at the moment it's a little slice of mid-90s motoring that has all but disappeared from the roads.

 

I'm hoping that once I've got this week out of the way - it's proving to be super busy - I can actually get on with getting rid of some of the rust and doing a bit more remedial work. I will definitely be taking up some of the offers of welding that have been put my way. I've also decided I want to repair the wing rather than replace it, converting it to bolt-on if I can. It's not 'the done thing' but I know for a fact that it can be done and would make panel replacement and repair further down the line that much easier. Not only that, from what I can gather the original panels are of a superior quality to any replacements I might obtain.

 

Really, it's only the weather and pocket money stopping me from getting on with this now, both things that should (hopefully) improve in the next couple of weeks. Thank you to everyone for their support thus far, it really has helped keep me optimistic about this.

[vulgalour]

Decided that after some final tweaking of the panels, I've got the nose as straight as I can with my limited tools. Now I'm going to focus on making her presentable and to do that, I need to get all that loose paint off the front wing. The thing is, every flakey edge I chased became a big flappy sheet of paint hiding at least 2 resprays that were also not great.
20130111-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

I've been aware of how blobby the finish is on the paint, and how the sharp crease in the bodywork is a bit blunt. Some exploratory flapwheel action on the top of the wing revealed the thickness of the paint, and filler, and paint, and more filler, and finally a gentle skim of surface rust underneath everything.
20130111-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

Not only that, the blistering (solvent pop) that's been appearing all over the car since I bought her and which has steadily been getting worse, was much more pronounced on this wing than it had been pre-crash. I explored this and soon disappeared in a cloud of filler dust, and paint flakes, and sheets of paint. More bodgery.
20130111-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

I ran out of time and it got too cold to do much more so I've given everything a semi-protective coat of primer until I get another flap wheel and some beige paint so that I can strip back the paint on this wing properly where needed and get it waterproof. It does look like the car has had a bump on this corner in the past, well before I bought it, due to the hints of repair work and that replacement headlight panel. I found a lot of fibreglass resin sculpting in the slam panel and valance too, hiding yet more deformity in the slam panel and holes in the valance. Both of these items will be replaced with new when I can afford to, something to aim for at least. In the meantime, I'm more concerned with the cosmetic. I am saving for a new set of sheet metal to replace the rusty and damaged stuff. It will not be cheap, I am under no illusion about that particular fact.

To counteract any rubbishness I've recently been experiencing, I came across a set of the Lotus alloys I really want, in very good condition, not too far away and at a very good price. I am delighted about this because it'll be a lot easier to use these than to get my steels sorted out which are, in a word, knackered and need refurbishing rather badly as the rims have a habit of leaking regularly. It means that this little image I knocked up a while ago will actually happen in a few weeks time and I am very excited about that fact.

 

-picture lost-