project 1980 Austin Princess

[somewhatfoolish]

Or a pair of these?

 

[fordperv]

Those lights look the business! Really suit the look.

What about an E-Type fantail exhaust?

And internal louvres?

You can still get them custom made here in Australia, I’ve been tempted to get some for the Jag.http://www.autoshades.com.au/

Internal louvres do look cool but can't help to think they look like venetian blinds, this is on a South African mk3 cortina I saw a couple of weeks back

[plasticvandan]

Been following the princess for some time,mostly with a " what the fuck is he doing" expression as we've gone through lights,bumpers,trim,colour changes.now I see why.I commend you for having a vision in your head and the patience of a saint to keep going until it was realized

[MorrisItalSLX]

Internal louvres do look cool but can't help to think they look like venetian blinds

You say that like it’s a bad thing?

[vulgalour]

Those internal blinds have a habit of rattling and jingling too, which I don't know that I could be doing with.  I'll just go the Japanese taxi route and fit a net curtain, that'll sort it.

 

PVD:  You and me both!  It's been very frustrating knowing what I want to do and not being able to do it until recently.  I knew this funky looking car was in there, it just took some coaxing out.

[vulgalour]

Finished the welding for the lights today.  I had to make a second pass to catch up some pinholes and a couple of spots where I'd been too aggressive with the flapwheel, as usual, but it all went fairly smoothly.  I dropped the foglights off the bottom of the car and my indecision has been cleared up and I will be keeping them off the car.  As had been mentioned, and I suspected, it does clean up the rear end a lot with the benefit of making things look a bit wider than they did what with the split colour and the matching lights.  I will incorporate the fog into one of the inner clear lenses, making use of the red bulb I bought for just this purpose.  I also sorted out the slightly misaligned backing plate, which was bent from the drill impact, and moved the paler lens to one of the inner buckets which helps balance everything out better.

20180930-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I've got to trim down the backing plates next since they serve as bulb holder and reflector.  They have a bucket shape to them that I can't use so I just need to trim the walls off, which is easy enough since they're aluminium.  They stick out barely further than the buckets in the boot which also look much smarter now than they did previously and will be lots easier to panel in when I get to that point in the future.  Making custom boot trims is going to take me a bit of time, and is a job for after the house move when that finally happens (long story, for another time).

20180930-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

After getting as much of the welding done as was needed and dressing everything back to filler standard, I got busy with the filler, and then the sander, and then a dusting of primer so I could see where I'd been.  The last time I did this rear panel I had to rush the finishing off because the space was needed for other things and I never got to revisit it.  This time I'm able to do the job properly.  The only irritating thing was that the filler on the passenger side seemed reluctant to cure, it was a different brand to the stuff on the driver's side so it could be that, or that I didn't use quite enough hardener... or any number of other factors.  If it's still soft when I next go in, I'll dig it all out and redo it, though I'm hopeful it will be okay because it had started to harden by the time I was packing up today so it may just have been that the unit had got a bit too cold.

20180930-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I'm using the primer as a guide coat because this rear panel has lots of wibbly wobbly bits, much of which is historical damage presumably from reversing into a wall, and some of which is from a very old panel repair.  I could have stripped it all down and built the panel from scratch but there's really no point, judicious application of filler will be perfectly adequate in this instance.  This is after the first fill and sand, you can just about make out the imperfections under the light units.  I could get away with leaving it as is because it's a difficult part of the car to see, I'd just rather do it right while I can.

20180930-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I'll be spending this week sorting out the filler and paint work on this panel so we can get everything back together again

[vulgalour]

Also, for those wondering, here's a handy diagram.

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

still think it needs 4 running tail lights- for safety in numbers obvs*

 

 

 

 

 

 

*although cooool may feature too!  :mrgreen:

[PhilA]

Nice.

 

Looking forward to seeing them all in action!

 

 

Phil

[vulgalour]

Noel: it's safety I'm thinking of by only have 2 running lights because then it makes the FIVE brake lights more visible by contrast.

[oldcars]

That looks brilliant. Much smarter with the fogs off the bottom.

[Noel Tidybeard]

Noel: it's safety I'm thinking of by only have 2 running lights because then it makes the FIVE brake lights more visible by contrast.

 

dont be silly! this is an british leylandii princess- there isnt enough loom smoke to power 5 brake lights

 

 

honda spaceship civic does 4 tail & 4 brake + high level brake

[chompy_snake]

This looks very silly .... But I love it!

 

Carry on and try not to incinerate it before completion

[Zelandeth]

Controversial idea: side exit exhaust so it removes further clutter from the rear profile and helps the 50s sci-fi rocket ship look.

[vulgalour]

I'd have to lose the rear silencer to do that because there's nowhere under the car to fit one that would allow a side-exit, at least not in a way that would mean the pipe wasn't really visible.  The exhaust is definitely one of the In The Future jobs, the stock set up works fine and isn't too offensive.

[vulgalour]

I was having trouble finding the correct incandescent bulbs (no LEDs here, thank you) in amber for the high level indicators so opted to get plain ones and some Tamiya 'clear paint' to turn them into amber indicators.  This is handy because I do miniature painting and the Tamiya paints are useful for that.

20181002-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

The filler I'd put on the passenger side that wasn't behaving hadn't all cured.  Some of it was fine and sanded perfectly normally but large chunks were still soft and half-set.  I'm putting it down to it being an old tin of filler since I'd mixed it thoroughly and applied it the same as the other stuff.  Dug out the bad stuff, flattened back the good stuff and slapped a dusting of primer on everything.  Already looking smarter.

20181002-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

This side is much worse than the other because of the drunk neighbour that reversed his Corsa B into the Princess a few years ago and there's some dents from before I bought the car.  It needs a lot more work and there's not really any access from the back to knock things out so I'm opting for filler here since it's the best option in my circumstances.

20181002-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Second round of filler work went better.  Unfortunately I ran out of time to do anything once it had cured so I'll go back in to do some sanding and applying more filler later this week.

20181002-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20181002-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20181002-06 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

There is a lot of sanding to do.  I hate sanding.

[chompy_snake]

Vibration white finger much?

[vulgalour]

More of the same filling and sanding rigmarole today.  Some of the filler hadn't cured at all, I'm putting this down to the Stevens brand stuff because I've had this issue with it before.  It doesn't matter how well you mix it, the prep on the panel, the temperature... sometimes it just doesn't work.  After today's efforts I got myself a tin of reliable P38 because there's more to do but I want a filler that I can actually trust.

 

Driver's side C pillar and window surround is ready for paint.

20181003-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I got some new sanding pads for the vibratory machine and since they actually fit it properly, it works much better.  That allowed me to get the whole back panel flatted back and the next round of filler down.  Lots of long, shallow fills on this.  Hopefully when I take this back it will be much smaller areas to do.

20181003-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Dug out 95% of the filler on the passenger C pillar and redid it.  There was one small area that had cured perfectly fine and sanded really nicely, the rest was like it had no hardener in it at all.  Very strange given how much effort I put in to making sure the filler and hardener was well mixed and to the suggested quantities.

20181003-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I'm really hoping I get this all good enough for paint this weekend.

[Rocket88]

Looks most excellent...top work

[vulgalour]

Right then.  Switching from Stevens brand filler to good old Isopon P38 was a GOOD THING.  I suspect they've changed P38 and, unusually, it's for the better.  It went on smoother, gave me a suitable window of time to work with before it cured, it actually cured, and was a doddle to sand.  The P38 was like spreading butter on toast where there Stevens had been like trying to spread toast on butter, if you follow my meaning.

 

I have not made everything perfect.  I have made it good enough.  There are some small imperfections just as on every other panel of the car and I'll go through these at a later date, one panel at a time.  It's my way of making the whole task a bit more manageable.  Great joy was achieved today because after filler and sanding was done, I even had time to splosh some paint around!  The C pillars and rear window surround were all painted in gloss beige before the satin black was applied which should prevent any porosity issues the satin might have in the future, though I'm aware satin is not as porous as primer, I wanted to play it safe given the amount of work involved.

 

20181006-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20181006-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

That's the best that bit of the car has ever looked while I've owned it, so I'm dead chuffed with that.  Next thing I got good enough was the back panel.  Likewise, there's some imperfections still to sort but nothing that requires dismantling the car, so it's good enough for now, and it's not a wavy wedding car style finish so it'll do.

20181006-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20181006-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Having that back panel all uniform colour is an enormous improvement.  Next up is seam sealer where required and a little bit of paint in the boot to protect the back of the buckets.  Then it's wiring and reassembly.

[uk_senator]

Would this be a bad time to suggest upturned Monza/Senator A back lights, complete with reflector? 

[uk_senator]

(Or skinning the boot down to `bumper` level, round the lights, to make the rounds look more integrated)

[vulgalour]

It's never a bad time to suggest things.  There's no guarantee I'll take those suggestions on board, particularly at this late stage.

[Rocket88]

Would this be a bad time to suggest upturned Monza/Senator A back lights, complete with reflector? 

 

Yup..............these look great IMHO....................roundness balances up what is a pretty 'set square' design of the rest of the car.

[uk_senator]

Fair do`s, I think 1986 Street Machines Motivation page would approve.

When I tidy up the garage, I`ll dig my Senny lights out & measure them for you.

[Felly Magic]

Looking a bilionty times better now with paint on

[JeeExEll]

Vulg I can't wait to see those rockets. Lit.

[SiC]

Amazing how anything looks so much better with fresh paint on.

[plasticvandan]

I think a central exit zorst,ala 1100,crab,would do well for symmetry at The arse end,maybe even frenched into the valance to match the lights. Top job on sorting it,it's been much colder of late so not surprised you had problems,tho I deffo agree l38th is much smoother and fluid than it used to be.

[320touring]

YAAAAAASSSSSSSS!

 

Looking spot on chap:)