project 1980 Austin Princess

[vulgalour]

The thing that puzzles me with it is how would the original pin hold the gear change better than the bolt?  It must be compressing something inside the gear change box and taking out some slop.  I keep meaning to get a replacement box, it's the same as used on classic Mini, the only difference for the Princess is that the rods that connect it to the gearbox are longer.  Gear change has been pretty nice today, unsurprisingly, so I'll likely forget all about this until it becomes a problem again in a few months.

[Noel Tidybeard]

stupid as it sounds these gearbag-in-sump changes seem to feel better with a later type mini/metro/maestro gearknob like this

but with this pattern

[SilverMachine]

  On 19/02/2025 at 15:06, Noel Tidybeard said:

stupid as it sounds these gearbag-in-sump changes seem to feel better with a later type mini/metro/maestro gearknob like this

but with this pattern

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cue the knob jokes?

[Noel Tidybeard]

  On 19/02/2025 at 16:27, SilverMachine said:

cue the knob jokes?

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a bigger knob feels better in the hand🤭

[vulgalour]

Changing gear in a Princess is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman.  You have to be firm but gentle, determined but patient, and always be grateful for whatever she is willing to give you. /Swiss Tony

That's also why I don't really like those later knobs, they encourage you to grip and shove and if you try that on the Princess it will fight you and refuse to give you the gear you want.

[Noel Tidybeard]

  On 19/02/2025 at 17:54, vulgalour said:

Changing gear in a Princess is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman.  You have to be firm but gentle, determined but patient, and always be grateful for whatever she is willing to give you. /Swiss Tony

That's also why I don't really like those later knobs, they encourage you to grip and shove and if you try that on the Princess it will fight you and refuse to give you the gear you want.

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well it worked on mini 1000 & allegro 1500 5spd

[vulgalour]

It might be more down to the length of the rods from the gearbox to the remote selector box since they're a lot shorter on the Allegro and Mini than the Princess, it's remarkable what difference that little bit of extra length can make (stop it).

[SilverMachine]

princesses do like longer rods,,

 

[High Jetter]

  On 19/02/2025 at 17:02, Noel Tidybeard said:

a bigger knob feels better in the hand🤭

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That's why I'm married! 🤣

[vulgalour]

A full half of the companies I called tonight to try and get someone to fit the windscreen to the Princess had told me it's too old and they won't do it.  One was at least honest enough to say their work force is too young to know how to fit the type of seal the Princess uses, but that's not what you want from a company that promotes itself as a specialist in fitting classic car glass!

I've got one lead from a local fitter who is booked up for the next week.  I have another lead from a heavy plant glass fitter.

All the big names - Autoglass, National, etc. - won't do it at all.

One company won't do it on site because the job takes too long so I have to take the car to them, which is a bit difficult since it has no windscreen and I have no way of getting the car transported over there.

I thought I could fit the windscreen myself.  I've done the pull-it-in-with-a-string types loads of times.  After TWO HOURS of my housemate and I fighting to get the seal to co-operate I gave up.  There's nothing wrong with the seal or the glass, I just don't have enough hands to hold enough of it in place to get the whole thing on the glass, and then keep it there while I load the string in, and then the soap, and then get it over to the hole in the car.  I've never known a windscreen seal of this type to be this difficult before.

I'm hoping one of the fitters that might be able to help actually can.  The trouble is the car has overstayed its welcome at the unit it is in by a week due to things beyond my control, and it really is supposed to be out by this weekend.  I'm not optimistic about getting it out.  I might be able to fit the screen myself if I had three or four people to help, I certainly can't do it on my own.

[comfortablynumb]

TBH we've found the big glass companies to be completely useless with anything more than a few years old. We had immense problems getting a screen for an '88 sapphire, and I had similar problems with classic range rover stuff.

The smaller one man band style guys, on the other hand, couldn't do enough to help.

 

Edit - and ones bonded, and the other is a rubber seal, so I guess at least they're consistent 🤦

Edited March 18 by comfortablynumb
Additional

[SilverMachine]

bugger, i know yesterdays video is from a little while ago, early ish last year ? very good on repairing the seat bases, could you edit the title to cover all austin morris stuff from that era and you may get a little more coverage?  but had no idea you had windscreen issues with the princess! my first thought for help fitting the screen could be people that paint cars / trucks / maybe a vw specialist could also? other than that its classic car restorer peoples and there prices - probably close to the vw prices too. id offer help but i have never attempted to fit a windscreen in anything, side glass yes but never a windscreen! and i wouldnt want to break yours as my first attempt!

theres always the option of transporting it by driving  while  wearing goggles? probably very last resort.

what actually happened? i thought it was the van that was needing a screen?

[SilverMachine]

id dare say my cousin dave could do it as hes done a few mk1 and 2 escort rebuilds but hes over an hour north of doncaster (leeming- ish) at normal speeds id dare say you wouldnt want to do motorway speeds without a screen too! if you want me to contact him and see if he could let me know!

[vulgalour]

The Princess has needed a windscreen from day one.  Grinder spray on the driver's side from before I owned the car, and so many microscratches.  Recently the original screen picked up some stone chips and it's got so bad it's been particularly taxing seeing anything driving at night because of the damage to it.  Ordered a new one from Pilkingtons some time ago and because I've done this type before I didn't foresee any issues with fitting.

Now the car is stuck at a friend's unit with no windscreen in it until I can either get enough hands on deck to attempt another DIY, or I can get a pro out to do it for me.  Work is being pretty busy this month too so finding the time to get all this done is proving challenging.

I don't really want to drive it anywhere with no windscreen in it, unless it was round the corner a few yards or something like that, certainly won't be taking it on the motorway.  It's just one of those awkward logistics things, if I had my own garage space to stuff it into that would be ideal but I don't here.  Most paint places farm the glass jobs out to other companies rather than doing it themselves, they'll usually get someone in to do it before the car goes back to the customer.

I think I've just fallen foul of forgetting how old the Princess is and, by extension, how old the people who worked on these era of cars on the regular are now.  In my head a lot of the time I think of it as a ten year old car, not a forty five year old car.  It'll sort, a solution will present, just a bit of a nuisance in the short term.

[SilverMachine]

im even thinking there may be some bus perverts  enthusiasts that may be familiar with those seals? even lorry garages / haulage yards that do there own bits?

only other people i know that could possibly do that sort of thing are all up this way. i dont think i know anyone in south yorkshire.

maybe dez from the blue forum is near ish to you and has the skills you need, or knows people in the area that have? am sure he's somewhere not too far from doncaster so could be worth reaching out, but i dont know him other than seeing his posts on there

if you were going to attempt diy again friday is forecast to be warmest and dry.

[vulgalour]

That's been another issue, Scunthorpe might as well be on the moon when it comes to getting someone out.  I've just sent an email to a heavy plant company with details and photos, the woman I spoke to on the phone wasn't sure but was happy to have a look and see if they could help so fingers crossed on that one.

We have a back up plan of Saturday morning, friend who owns the unit can afford me an hour and maybe if the housemate is free that's three of us and we *might* be able to DIY it.  Bus/lorry people is a good call, I know the local bus company, Hornsby, has a vintage coach on the fleet so they *might* be able to point me in the right direction.  Companies just love me asking them obscure stuff like that.

[High Jetter]

Does no-one in the wedge club society have any ideas, or even a knowledgeable local guy who might do it?

[vulgalour]

I'm not a member these days, haven't been for quite a few years, I recall them DIYing the job rather than getting someone out and it taking three or four people to do it because of the issue I was facing and it being one of those jobs where once you'd done it once, it wasn't actually that hard the second time.

[SilverMachine]

Just had another thought. Re.embered a thing called an emergency windscreen. I'm guessing some old little motor factors may have that sort of thing stashed away. Google suggests they were supplied by auto King or humphrey Thomson. There's also some on ebay. May be worth considering if you have to move from the unit to somewhere else that may be able to do the fitting. 

[plasticvandan]

I drove a robin with a smashed screen home about 20 miles,just wore a crash helmet and opened the windows to let the air out,no biggy really. Sounds like you need to have the rubber sat in some boiling water for half an hour and lots of silicone spray.

[beko1987]

Shame I'm not more local or I'd come and help hold something still for a bit.

Borrowing a bike helmet and doing as @plasticvandan said (probably on back roads) could be an emergency plan though? Maybe open all the side windows so the air pressure doesn't blow the back screen out 🤔

[Rocket88]

Ref windscreen… tried these guys?

[vulgalour]

@Rocket88 They're on my list to call back today.  When I tried to call there was nobody picking up and I assumed they were busy.

@SilverMachine aren't those emergency screens more to go over a shattered one to hold it together?

@plasticvandan helmet could be the way to go on this one, hadn't thought of that as a transport option, still makes getting the screen there a challenge since it won't physically fit inside the car in its box and I'm not sure I trust having it floating around loose on the back seat or whatever given the way my luck has gone so far on this job.

Not had a reply yet from the companies I've contacted that are looking into if they can do it, I'll chase them up on Friday if I don't hear anything by the end of today.

[comfortablynumb]

@vulgalourI've transported many screens on back seats, couple of blankets, stand them upright and secure with seatbelt if you have them, or bungeed across the rear door internal handles and Roberts your mother's brother.

Never lost one like that 👍

[vulgalour]

Hopefully it won't come to that.  GW Windscreens sent me a quote that's quite reasonable and said they'd be happy to work on the car, which is quite different to everyone else!  The quote isn't even terrible, so hopefully I can get a date for that to happen.

[SilverMachine]

  On 20/03/2025 at 14:39, vulgalour said:

@SilverMachine aren't those emergency screens more to go over a shattered one to hold it together?

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im not actually sure ? possibly? ive never used one, just remembered seeing them years ago in the aunts old petrol station and other accessory shops! but surely if it says temporary windscreen it should be a replacement not a plaster?

[High Jetter]

  On 20/03/2025 at 22:03, SilverMachine said:

im not actually sure ? possibly? ive never used one, just remembered seeing them years ago in the aunts old petrol station and other accessory shops! but surely if it says temporary windscreen it should be a replacement not a plaster?

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Yup, should do the job for a while. Not the clearest thing to see through, IIRC.

[vulgalour]

Okay, update time.  First week of April is the earliest anything can happen on this.  I've got one company who wants to send a technician out to look at the job, which is totally reasonable, and another who is booked up until that date but seems keen to do it.  I won't have access to the unit until then anyway so it's no big problem and of course the car is safe and dry in the meantime which is probably what matters most right now.  It'll be a relief when this is finally sorted.

[SilverMachine]

  On 21/03/2025 at 14:43, vulgalour said:

Okay, update time.  First week of April is the earliest anything can happen on this.  I've got one company who wants to send a technician out to look at the job, which is totally reasonable, and another who is booked up until that date but seems keen to do it.  I won't have access to the unit until then anyway so it's no big problem and of course the car is safe and dry in the meantime which is probably what matters most right now.  It'll be a relief when this is finally sorted.

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in the grand scheme thats probably a good solution! looking forward to seeing it eventually! is the van keeping you occupied between work, self preservation and other things?

[vulgalour]

The van is being very well behaved at the moment, thankfully.  I'm sure if I go looking for trouble I'll find it.  The most adventurous thing I've done is adjust the washer jets which have a habit of self adjusting into the wrong position.  Don't want to upset the Shite Balance if I can help it.