project 1980 Austin Princess

[SilverMachine]

12 years,  she is in better shape now than 12 years ago, and dare i say she will keep you busy for another 12 years at least! you have some remarkable devotion, determination and patience, after reading this in its entirety i can see its often been a rollercoaster!

maybe she will behave enough to let a certain 2cv driving member drive her for his very popular youtube channel (while plugging your own)! @dollywobbler

one thing i seem to have missed though is whatever happened with the rover? did it stay with miketheknight?  i thought that was in reasonable shape? or did it want to be a kettle?

[vulgalour]

Dollywobbler has actually driven this Princess, the reason it never made it to video was the car was being a tart and it was dark.  On the drive home that day the tensioner pulley began screeching and the headlights randomly stopped working... it was one of those days.

As for the Rover, that was sold to my brother who needed a car and so I could buy the 1.7 BX from Dean.  Unfortunately the Rover lunched its gearbox and my brother opted to scrap it.  A shame, since it was a very solid car with more good points than bad but it wasn't my car at that point so it wasn't my call to make.  Had the BX not come up for sale I might still have the Rover and it might have got the gearbox it needed.  Big problem for me with the Rover is that it was just a bit too good at being An Car, it didn't really hold my attention like other cars I've had.  The Rover's downfall with me was that it was too good I suppose, I like a car with a bit of... character.

[SilverMachine]

that is a shame, oh well, she may now behave enough if you give him a call? although hes probably to busy dealing with rust event related activities!  which i was considering attending but without staying in a b+b and sorting out animal feeders it would be a long long day!

got on to thinking about headlights again and was remembering there was hid conversion kits for h4 fitment lights, i think ed china on an old wheeler dealers may have fitted some to a lexus ? i could be imagining that though or could be someone else? also thought about clubman fronted minis but they probably use the same units you have! unless any other upgrades were available for them?

hopefully the rover donated parts to save others!

[vulgalour]

Generally speaking, if it's single round headlights then it's 7", if it's twin rounds (like the Princess) it's 5 3/4".  American market has a lot more options since they used standard sealed beam sizes like this for ages, unfortunately we modernised too soon.  Doubt Ian would be interested in driving the Princess now, he's already done a test on a Princess and an Ambassador.  Besides, I want to get it painted and properly sorted before anyone tests it.  There's always other folks out there like JayEmm, I Drive a Classic, Morsels and Motors... and so many more.  Something for the future.

Don't you need to make sure you've got a levelling system in place for HIDs?  I was actually thinking of a variation on Zel's suggestion and maybe fitting a small LED light bar under the front number plate since there's brackets I can use there.  It'd be subtle and give me just a driving light assist which might be enough for some better spread and distance.

[SilverMachine]

im not entirely sure the led bars are legal? although i have seen a fair few being used on the roads! possibly make sure you have what you need to remove it with you in case a law enforcement person decides to pick on you,   was also wondering if any modern bikes were using uprated round lamps, but thats probably limited to bikes without fairing and then they would most likely be 6v. could always ask in a motorcycle shop!

Another silly suggestion, i remember seeing an anime poster a while ago which featured a renault a310 with extra headlights (so it sort of looked SM esq) which i quite liked, could another pair aid your night vision? or would it take too much from the front.

i didnt realise you had more paint plans but if there top secret then i will wait for the suprise! i also didnt think there was much left to do, she seems to be keeping you occupied enough already!

edit found a link!

[2flags]

What you can do with your LED light bar, I might have done this on my Landrover, is to put a 3-way switch on it. One way the LED lights are off, One way they come on with the main beam headlights, 😁 and in the other position they are on all the time. I just turn them off for the MoT. 

[vulgalour]

Bike headlights are no good for car application, they don't have the correct kick up to the beam pattern as I understand it (not that it stops people using them anyway) and most bike headlights are the wrong size anyway.  If I fit auxilliary lights, LED bar or otherwise, I was just going to wire a separate switch in so I could manually turn them on and off.  That just feels like the most sensible solution rather than having anything complicated.

Paint plans are nothing secret, been talking to a friend who is keen to help me get the paint actually nice, it's all a case of finding time and resources for materials etc.  I am not wealthy and now I'm going back into rented accomodation after a few years of being in an owned house, I'm going to be even less wealthy.  Not really looking forward to having a lot less fun money, this year is going to be all about circling the financial wagons.  It's also a big part of the reason I didn't buy a replacement to the Maestro, I literally can't afford to, Maestro sale money has all already been spend on house move expenses.

[SilverMachine]

cool i look forward to seeing the next incarnation of paint!

house moves are a pain in the posterior. after moving myself to a temporary flat then my mother after she sold her place, i decided to pay people to move me into my less temporary place, which took about half a day with two runs in a luton and the distance only being 20 ish miles... but i still think 300 was a bargain. would have took me a week at least on my own never mind stuff that dont fit in cars! and i didnt need to do any heavy lifting,  so yes spent a few quid but saved my back!

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

i do believe you prinny is old enough for you to be able to put led bulbs into the std lights

see furious diving vid about mx5

[vulgalour]

It might be old enough to do that.  I just want to be sure the light output is actually properly shaped and spread so I'm not just having ultra bright LEDs that don't actually help with driving.

 

Was on MoT ferrying duty today.  Bad news, Pat's van failed its MoT on emissions (bad injectors) and a cracked front antiroll bar which even the garage thought was a very peculiar failure.  He's now got to figure out what to do next, repairs are about the same as replacing the van and while he's had it ten years, he's not sure where to go next.  He'll figure it out.

Princess on the other hand behaved itself, even though Maidstone and surroundings is traffic hell thanks to a new housing development that's going in.  Stop-start traffic has highlighted that the Princess can get quite hot, not overheating, but certainly hotter than I'd like.  Cools down quickly once on the move again, it's just that thing where you're driving a couple of feet, idling, driving a couple of feet... heater on full and watch the gauge and it was fine.  Never actually got to the top of the gauge, a second/better radiator fan might solve it.

Speaking of solving things, the ridiculously hot heater issue was solved.  I'd had the output set to windscreen and turning the dial wasn't really altering that very much which meant I was getting the full heat right to my face.  Over the last few trips I've been wiggling the dial and now it actually operates the blender doors properly, I can direct the heat where it should go and it feels far more normal now I have it on face and feet, which is good!  I guess things just got a bit stuck from lack of use.

Another problem solved was Pat lent me a hand with the alternator tensioner since the auxilliary belt was particularly obnoxious sounding on the trek to the MoT garage.  With both of us on the job we could get enough tension to stop it squealing while still having about a 1/3 twist available on the belt so it shouldn't have so much tension it's causing issues with alternator bearings or whatever.

[Westbay]

Some older BMW headlights are 5 3/4 if that helps ...

[vulgalour]

They need to be pretty short, there's not a lot of space behind the driver's side lights because the battery lives there and I don't want to relocate it.  If there's a BMW unit that drops in that isn't too long and an improvement over H4s that would be great, I just don't know which one that would be.

[Stinkwheel]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

They need to be pretty short, there's not a lot of space behind the driver's side lights because the battery lives there and I don't want to relocate it.  If there's a BMW unit that drops in that isn't too long and an improvement over H4s that would be great, I just don't know which one that would be.

BMW e28 5 series definitely used a 5 3/4" sealed beam unit - Only problem is most of them were 2 lamp units per side, so possibly used one for main and other for dip, so could be unsuitable for what you need

[vulgalour]

That's exactly how the Princess is.  Outers are dipped, outers and inners together is main.  Pretty standard practice for all twin headlight set ups.

[Noel Tidybeard]

i would imagine whatever fits a princess will be similar/same as crapi/rs2000 etc

[vulgalour]

And absolutely no improvement since the Capri et al is the same tech and age as what's in the Princess already.

[plasticvandan]

I've certainly used car 7" headlamp units on bikes and had no issues with the beam,it's still a rhd headlamp

[vulgalour]

Okay so next headlamp question then, on the assumption the generic LED units being sold as for classic cars and bikes are actually good.

All the ones I'm finding online have fancy patterns to the LED bits for sidelight and indicator (I'm okay with that bit) and ugly black 'bowls' for want of a better description.  Is anyone doing these aftermarket LED headlamp units with a silver or chrome bowl instead?

The black bowls might look okay since the headlights do sit in a strip of black plastic on the front of the Princess, I'd just far rather retain the current look with traditional silver headlight bowls.

[Noel Tidybeard]

get some decent led bulbs- matt furious checked the beam pattern and found it beter than the std bulbs but eleventy times brighter

 

[vulgalour]

Bulbs don't solve the problem really.  I do want to move the sidelights and indicators up into the headlights themselves if I can, LED units can do this, but they're all so fugly, except in the US where you have actual choice but those are all LHD so no good for me.

 

Also, my adblocker/virus scanner does not like the site of the company FD is using so I'm suspicious.

[SilverMachine]

16 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Bulbs don't solve the problem really.  I do want to move the sidelights and indicators up into the headlights themselves if I can, LED units can do this, but they're all so fugly, except in the US where you have actual choice but those are all LHD so no good for me.

Australia / N Z are lefties maybe they have something?

any word on pats van? did wonder if some injector cleaner and a good thrashing may help emissions. i would probably stick with it (if the rest is still good and going to be good!) as another van could come with new problems?

[vulgalour]

Pat's van update for you:  Part exchanging it against a new van.  His little Fiat Doblo has been a faithful companion for about ten years now but began developing injector issues as his driving changed from long distance to short hops.  Injector cleaners variously helped for a bit but it was clear the injectors would need work/replacement.  By the time it got to MoT, all the injectors were knackered, the turbo has issues, and the cost to replace them (because this isn't something Pat wanted to DIY, and neither do I, I hate working on diesel engines) exceeded the value of the van.  On top of that, in addition to the cracked front antiroll bar, it also needed two new tyres, new antiroll bar bushes, attention to the rear suspension and just a general mechanical sprucing up to get it back into rude health.  It had just got to the point where it needed the first big spend and Pat had to weigh up his sentimentality for it and what he needed it for.  He needed something ULEZ compliant better suited to short hops and found himself a four year old Ford Connect van with similarly basic spec in much better shape overall, being petrol will suit his needs better too.  He's sad to see the old Doblo go, hopefully someone will scoop it up and make use of it either by DIYing the issues and using it, or as a parts donor.  Body and interior in it were still in excellent shape and I've never known a van so resistant to rot so I reckon if you wanted a little diesel van with no frills that asks for nothing you could do a lot worse than a 2014 Fiat Doblo.  Hopefully the Ford Connect will serve him as well as the Doblo has.

[mercedade]

4 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Bulbs don't solve the problem really.  I do want to move the sidelights and indicators up into the headlights themselves if I can, LED units can do this, but they're all so fugly, except in the US where you have actual choice but those are all LHD so no good for me.

 

Also, my adblocker/virus scanner does not like the site of the company FD is using so I'm suspicious.

Might be barking up the wrong tree, but I think @gm had a bit of experiment with LED lights on the Exo. 

[gm]

2 hours ago, mercedade said:

Might be barking up the wrong tree, but I think @gm had a bit of experiment with LED lights on the Exo. 

indeed i did, unfortunately the outcome was that they are mostly shit  the ones i settled on do give out a decent light but are fugly and haven’t a hope of passing an mot 

 

 

[vulgalour]

You weren't kidding about the fugly and highlighted some of my fears re: beam pattern.  Final set don't look too dreadful, it helps that they're more in keeping with the style of the rest of the car.  I'm so behind on project threads (edit: the reading of, that is) lately, house move and such has kicked my free time arse the last few months.

[vulgalour]

Got spotted in the wild a couple of days ago, because it's Facebook I didn't know until someone mentioned it over on the blue.  Here's a FB link for those that do:https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKBarnFinds/permalink/2120459284978188/

 

And the photo for those that don't.

 

Because I'm one that doesn't, I can't see all of the comments.  What I could see were at least more positive than usual without so much of the outright rudeness this car normally attracts on Facebook, so that was nice.  Building up a nice little collection of spotted-in-the-wild social media posts on this one now, totally oblivious to the joy/rage it induces in others.

[High Jetter]

I'm going to be totally honest here. Having worked in BL dealerships in the 80s I'm a bit of a purist. I'm not a fan of pink, on anything. I'm not keen on your lights, or the mirrors. 

But...

 

That looks well cool, as the kids used to say.

[vulgalour]

If it helps, should I find myself with another wedge in the future I would definitely want it to be totally stock.  I'd love to get hold of an L with the vinyl interior, or a hearse, or a Princess in one of the not-brown metallics they were available in, or an Ambassador of any flavour... one day, I hope.

[SilverMachine]

13 hours ago, vulgalour said:

If it helps, should I find myself with another wedge in the future I would definitely want it to be totally stock.  I'd love to get hold of an L with the vinyl interior, or a hearse, or a Princess in one of the not-brown metallics they were available in, or an Ambassador of any flavour... one day, I hope.

its probably just me, but i always think the ambassador looked bigger than a princess. i know its essentially the same size, but it must be the boxyness?

[vulgalour]

The Ambassador is exactly the same size really, it's the same body shell and doors with some styling tweaks (underlying extra structure hidden from view for the tailgate notwithstanding).  Technically a smidge longer because of the front end facelift and the bigger bumpers, maybe even less of a smidge wider due to the same.  The styling with the extra window in the C pillar and the wide flat lights makes it look bigger and lower.