project 1980 Austin Princess

[Noel Tidybeard]

dodgy bike numberplate- check

 

 

murrican capri style inidcators- check

 

[Fumbler]

Oh yes. I think so.

[vulgalour]

So... can we put the number plate thing to bed now, please?

 

I'm happy with where it is and that's where it's staying.  So far, nobody has suggested anything I haven't already tried (that's not a challenge, Samantha/Gregory), so there's nothing to gain here.  I'm genuinely really happy with how the car looks overall now, it's just a case of polishing up the finer details and keeping it nice now.

[PhilA]

It's endearment.

 

 

But. Please. More videos of it going along please!

 

 

Phil

[chompy_snake]

I have known this car since I first saw it lingering on that driveway and told you about it.

 

I have seen the low and high points with it and also enjoyed driving it.

 

I haven't agreed with everything that you have done to the car. But after all these years finally see what was in your crazy velvet filled head

 

It's looking great and certainly cannot be mistaken for any other ..... Keep it up

[vulgalour]

I don't have any spares, unfortunately, and the one I removed went in the bin because it wouldn't seal after 6 years of trying to make it so wouldn't have been any good to you.  All I can suggest is to keep an eye on eBay, the 1.7/2.0 ones do come up occasionally.  I don't think www.leylandprincess.co.uk have one in stock but it doesn't hurt to ask if you're on there.  As far as I'm aware, Ambassador and Princess 1.7/2.0 are the same exhaust front to back, BL left almost everything mechanical alone on the Ambassador with the exception of the rear displacers (Princess ones are interchangable, they just have a separate hose rather than integrated), and an automatic choke that often doesn't work properly.  Just make sure you don't get the 2.2 exhaust downpipe which is in two bits and sometimes listed incorrectly, yours will always be a single Y piece.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Just spotted this on Lookatthefun*imhavingbook™

 

[vulgalour]

That's it, I'm moving.

[SiC]

Pretty sure you need to convert some of your pictures into B&W and then change the Wiki article on how BL did a prototype facelift to answer the complaints about the awkward rear end styling. Any response can then be linked to the article and see how long before it become legitimised as an apparent BL prototype.

[vulgalour]

These are my spare Princess wheels.  When I started, they were orange from being sat outside for goodness knows how long.  It took quite a while to clean them up to a stage where they were good enough to smother in rust treater, which is what we have here.

 

Then, it took most of this week to get them painted and lacquered because of drying times.  I forked out a chunk of cash for some nice new Uniroyal Rain Expert 3 tyres, then a chunk more today to get them fitted and balanced, and then faffed about getting them on the car.  I also put some original wheel trims on and some random rim embellishers that came off that orange Princess I had a few years ago.  I just fancied a change.  You have to put the original trims on before the wheel nuts so they're a bit of a faff to do if you're not already changing the wheels.

 

Looks alright.  I'm looking forward to trying these tyres out.  On removing the 16 year old Runway Enduros and given them a closer inspection off the car there are some spots where the rubber is starting to craze that wasn't visible when they were on the car.  The single mismatched Arrowspeed has become my spare for now because on close inspection it isn't exhibiting signs of cracking and is holding air, eventually I would like to replace it with a matching Uniroyal.

 

 

Rover came into its own with that folding rear seat today, made it lots easier to get all the wheels and tyres in.

 

For the curious, the Rover wears Firestones, which are a very nicely matched tyre to the car and seem to be wearing at a sensible rate.

[binhoker668]

Have just sat here reading this for an hour. Shattered from work and collapsed in a comfy chair. Great work fella, love your enthusiasm and openness to change/new ideas.

Dashboard was a highlight!

Keep ‘er lit boyo - this is why I love this site....

Chris

[purplebargeken]

Just going back to the front number plate, yes, I know.

 

Just do what they do in this here London. Take it off the front, break it in half and lob it on the dash. It's legal innit!

 

I'll never mention number plates again. Ooops.

[vulgalour]

I'll do what all the cool kids do and cable tie it to my roofrack.

[320touring]

I have the Uniroyal rain experts on the Audi Skip - was fearsomely good in lashing rain on the motorways of S Wales last weekend

 

Enjoy!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The Rover roof rack for extra fuk da polis pointz yo

[JeeExEll]

Now those wheeltrims have messed with my head. For some reason I associate them with Dunlop Denovo run-flat safety-tyres from Mini 1275GTs and Rover P6 3500s.

Aircraft styled wheels.

It fits right in with the rocket tail-lights theme.

 

Princess Mach 2.

[vulgalour]

The Mini trims are the same design but not interchangable and there's an almost identical design to the one you're thinking of for the Princess that's quite rare.  These are the regular ones.  The runflat ones (Princess got the Dunlop Denovos too if you wanted) were usually a dark silver rather than a bright silver.  Interestingly, the stock trims make the wheels look much skinnier and smaller than the chrome ones.

[JeeExEll]

Do these Princesses have tilt-steering column?

 

At this stage in the project I'd be tempted to fit an aircraft steering-wheel. Drive really fast in a straight line, switch on the lights, push down on the steering wheel, and it might actually fly.

 

If you make the right rocket noises.

 

It's now safe for landing in rainy conditions too.

[vulgalour]

Tilt steering column?  We don't have the budget for those sorts of luxuries, man!  We spent all the R&D on ashtrays.

[captain_70s]

The tyres on my Triumphs also feature SHARK SKIN TECHNOLOGY. Well bought.

[stuboy]

all coming together now fella.

[Noel Tidybeard]

was just about to post the same as GXL about the trimz & lights

[chompy_snake]

I do prefer how the stock wheels and trims look over the full disc trims you had on there.

 

Why is there a long hole in the lower part of the rear wing? Speed hole or other reason?

Do the Wikipedia thing also as stated.

[vulgalour]

I bet it's not that difficult to do you know, worst case you get a spline adaptor.  There is the small (large) matter of the cost of getting hold of a really nice late 50s/early 60s wheel like that.  Fabulous looking thing all the same, just think, if the Allegro had glitter in its square steering wheel people might not have stuck their noses up at it so much.

[Ghosty]

Looks great on the standard trims!

[Rocket88]

I shall probably bet burnt at the Autoshite stake for saying this but.............rear wheels would look better if about an inch wider....................

[vulgalour]

Ghosty:  I prefer the look of the chrome ones, I do still like the originals, just not quite as much as the aftermarket ones.

 

colc: agreed.  The Lotus wheels look just right on the back for that reason.

[Rocket88]

Not expensive to get done.................

[vulgalour]

It really is.  At a bare minimum I've got to get another set of tyres for the alloys (they currently have no tyres on) and since I liked how the old Avons looked, I'll be going for the same tyre dimensions which are different to what's on the steels.  If I'm putting new tyres on I should get the alloys refurbished too and since I want parts of them polished that's more investment in either a shitload of time or handing them to a professional to do which is another chunk of cash.  So, minimum it's another £200 if I DIY refurb the alloys, stick another £200 on that if I want someone else to refurb them.

 

I could buy a car for that.

[richardthestag]

 

I could buy a car for that.

 

yes but it wouldn't have "cool as penguin piss" rimz on it