project 1980 Austin Princess

[barefoot]

Re the rear window blind,

I have one of those on my beetle, picked it up at an auto jumble for pennies because it came without any fittings.

It was made by autoplas, so I phoned them up, asked about the bits needed and the nice lady sent me a load of stuff that didn't fit! So I called her back and she sent me lots of other bits and a fitting tool as well.

How nice can you get?

 

The purple is growing on me.

[face]

The purple is growing on me.

 

EEEEEEWWWWW

[MrDuke]

The purple is growing on me.

 

EEEEEEWWWWW

 

 

 

 

Why yes, I am incredibly bored this afternoon...

[vulgalour]

^I thought I told you not to put that picture of me on the internet. Now everyone knows my HORRIBLE SECRET.

[vulgalour]

Today, my recently acquired mirrors turned up for the Princess a good week ahead of when I expected them to. My theory was with them being such a bargain, if they turned out to be good I'd fund them by selling the long necked chrome jobbies I was going to fit instead. Originally I wanted to mount them on the door, but I just couldn't see anything so on the wings they went. I prefer wing mirrors anyway. First job was to find out where the mirrors sat on the car so I could see them, this meant dismantling them a bit and then taping them to the bodywork. Using a bit of gaffer rolled up on itself seats the mirror onto the bodywork and a bit of tape holds them in the desired location. Bonnet clearance was tight on the trial fit, but I could open and close it without bumping anything, I wanted things to fit quite snug.

 

This allowed me to mark one mirror location, then measure the other wing so they both sit in the same place and drill the holes. Unfortunately, I had to enlarge the windscreen side holes a little on both sides because they fouled the bonnet by about a millimetre. The holes were giving a good coat of rust preventative to tide me over until I repaint/replace/repair the wings.

 

 

Dad popped out to see what I was up to, which was really useful for getting the mirrors bolted in place properly and checking clearances as I could do the heavy work and dad could do the light work of holding the mirrors in place. I think they really suit the car.

 

 

 

Visibility is even better than the original Tex door mirrors and once I move the passenger wiper properly I'll have full visibility out of the mirror on that side. The mirrors are both tinted, the driver's side more so than the passenger which will come in handy on motorways at night, and they have convex glass which gives me an excellent field of vision. My only problem is that whenever I get behind the wheel I get these little markers appear above pedestrians.

[Shep Shepherd]

Those mirrors are super-cool

[vulgalour]

Been trying polishing again. With no drill I'm having to work by hand but because the Lotus alloys were polished from new it's not as hard going as it might be. They look okay as they are, with the exception of needing the black paint redoing obviously.

 

 

I couldn't really see or feel the imperfections that were keeping me from a mirror finish so I made use of the super-macro setting on the camera to see what needed doing.

 

You can make out on the central 'cup' where there's some surface scratches, some of which are deeper than the 400 grit I started with could make. Some might be from the original casting and machining, I'm not sure.

 

Super macro mode highlights the imperfections in the surface quite well. All these little pits and scratches are what's preventing me from getting a really crisp mirror polish.

 

You can see some of the imperfections a little easier on the rim, especially on the inner edge where there's still casting lines visible.

 

However, you can see that for much of the outer rim the finish is very close, I probably just need to work on it a bit more than I have to get it to really shine properly.

 

I think I probably just need to spend a bit more time going over the wheel a tiny spot at a time until it's properly perfectly smooth and make more use of the super-macro setting so I can see when the rim is actually as smooth as I need it for polishing. It's much easier to polish paint, and much more satisfying while you're doing it too.

[Split_Pin]

That camera setting is a jolly useful thing! Good going, hope you get it MoT'd for the summer!

[vulgalour]

Did you not hear? I passed the MoT recently with flying colours. I'm just playing the waiting game to get the tax and insurance sorted in a few weeks time.

[vulgalour]

Few things to report now. I've ordered the replacement part for the carb that will hopefully resolve my over-fuelling issue and at £6.50 it seemed rude not to. I also contacted Adrian Flux to chase up my quote with them as nobody else could come close; instead of £1000 to insure the BX, they quoted £730 for the BX and the Princess with the bonus of unlimited mileage and commuting and 60 day European travel cover. Obviously, I'm going for that as it's super cheap and a decent policy.

 

Buoyed up by some good news for once I decided it was high time the Princess got some attention, she's been very patient with me. The main job on my mind was to reconnect the bottom vents on the dash and relocate the wire that gets in the way of the blower speed slider. That didn't happen because I was SHAMED into cleaning the Princess who was looking decidedly down at heel.

 

Oh, and I put my nodding tiger back in, this time with some blu-tak under his paws to keep him from scooting around. If nothing else, he's creepy enough to stop people tailgating me.

 

Today I outdid myself on the cleaning and got the vacuum cleaner into the engine bay to suck out some detritus that was difficult to pick out. I have never done this before, it must have looked very strange to anyone watching. But she scrubbed up well and while the bonnet drank about a quart of polish it does at least look that bit tidier and feel that bit smoother every time I do clean it. I love this car, but not in a wanting-to-marry-it kind of way, I'm not that weird.

 

Problems next, obviously. Paint lift is happening all over the shop, it's worse on the bits of the car that are handled regularly, like the driver's door handle.

 

It's popping up in other places too, like the rear door handle on the same side.

 

Looks like someone has opened a door into me at some point too, I'm not sure when that would be, but the paint is lifting in a big sheet here and I'm loathe to prod at it. It's not so evident in the photograph, but water can get under the paint and that's only going to help it lift more. Disappointing.

 

I still haven't dealt with this door. I will, when I've got a working drill again and can clean it up properly. There's quite a lot of filler here, I'm not sure how much door corner is actually left.

 

More paint lift, this time at the bottom of the passenger A pillar. It's lifting all along the edge of the windscreen rubber which is itself disintegrating steadily.

 

Clearly, I didn't do a good enough rust-removal job on this pillar. I'll go back over it again, but this was the worst visible bit of rust on the car when I bought it and is much better than it might have been had I left the vinyl on.

 

That rear screen really is going to have to come out and I'm dreading it. Rear screens and rubbers aren't exactly commonplace, but more rust bubbles are appearing along this edge and I know it'll need doing sooner rather than later.

 

Finally, my dashboard let me know that while most of the telltales had responded well to my fix last year, the sidelight telltale decided it didn't like being all nice and has come unglued. I'll just redo this and put it back in the dash, quick and easy job.

 

In other, happier news, I've determined that I'm going to get some Mumford style murals applied to the flanks and dashboard insert eventually, I've got some ideas but until they're more concrete that's all I'm saying on the subject.

[vulgalour]

So far so good on the fix-one-thing-a-day plan. My new float needle arrived which I was hoping would help with the leaky carb and less than perfect running. I knew it was needed, but didn't realise just how much until I saw a new needle (right) next to the old (left). I had to change this without taking the carb off the car as I don't have a replacement throttle and clutch cable and the ones fitted have frayed on the ends so won't be able to be rethreaded if removed. Quite annoying, really. The carb is still sweating fuel on the side it was leaking, but it's only a dampness. There are no gaskets in this carb and haven't been since before I got the car, only a rubber O ring that seals the base plate. I'm wondering if a set of paper gaskets and a new O ring will resolve the issue fully.

 

The new float needle has reduced the leaking issue massively and the engine runs a fair bit smoother, though I suspect the idle might be a bit on the high side now, something to fiddle with later.

 

The other job I tackled was the airbox. Like much of the repainted bits of the car, the airbox was given a liberal coating of black gloss before I bought the car, complete with runs, sags and dust contamination. The plastic elbow was covered in poor black paint and silver overspray, most of which came off just by running it under the tap and the stubborn bits were removed with the aid of my thumbnail.

 

Stripped the airbox into its component parts and found that the tinging noise I'd been getting is the flap that's part of the hot/cold air feed, I'm guessing it should have a bit of rubber or cork to prevent the metal making a noise which has long since fallen off. I didn't have any paint stripper so I couldn't clean up the jubilee type clips but I will at a later date so they don't let the side down.

 

Didn't take too long to blitz the surface of the components with some 120 grit, prime with some grey and top coat with some satin black. The whole thing looks far smarter now than it did, I'm happy with that job.

 

Before (March 2012)

 

After - I've noticed that I've put the hot/cold bit on differently to how it was, I hope that won't cause any problems, I can't see how it would.

 

 

I'll go back at a later date and do a proper job, I'd like to strip the parts back to bare metal so they can be rust treated properly and some of the imperfections removed. They might be repainted a different colour too, but for now I'm very pleased with them.

 

Once I know I've got what I need to seal it all up properly, I'll remove the rocker cover and get the bad silver paint removed from it. I'll have to disturb the fuel pump and the distributor to do that, annoyingly, but it should make a big difference to the cosmetics under the bonnet and I'll be able to resolve the minor oil leaks at the same time.

[alf892]

When you remove the rocker/cam cover you will to remove the cam belt as the cam cover holds the cam in. Then as you undo the cover the valve spring will push to cam up. All of this is ok...........as long as you are expecting it!

 

This assumes your is the O series which i think it is?

[vulgalour]

I'm not sure whether or not there's two versions of the O series rocker cover design. In the manual, it implies that it's just a cover - with a gasket and a central oil filler, neither of which mine has - and nothing will explode in my face, but the cover on mine is different to the one illustrated in the book. I'll be very careful when I get to removal so that I don't break anything or lose anything, it's going to be a moderately involved job as I'll have to sort out the fuel pump and the distributor at the same time, certainly not something I'm rushing into.

[alf892]

Oh............I have only ever seen one type in Ital, Sherpa,Ambassador and Montego but happy to be wrong. Have a look at the section covering fitting of the camshaft in the manual as might give you a clue...........if the top half of the cam bearing is part of the cover then the cam is going to lift. No gasket either - just a thin smear of silicone sealer

[Captain Slow]

Montego certainly had two different types. As to whether there were more I don't know!

[vulgalour]

Today's job was not the rocker cover. Partly because it was raining, but mainly because meh.

 

Today's job was the dashboard. For at least as long as I've owned it there have been what I thought were wires fouling the 3 speed on the blower selector. I determined to resolve this, especially since I remember the car getting quite stifling last summer with the blowers not quite being strong enough.

 

You know how sometimes you decide to do a job with the attitude of "it'll just be a quick tweak" and it ends up taking you HOURS? Yeah, that happened.

 

First up was the chore of disconnecting things so that I could dismantle the fascia. I was hoping to just lift out the wooden insert, but that's not how the dashboard comes apart. To get to the bit I needed I'd removed the glovebox (which it turns out I didn't have to do), the top dash vent trims and all of the fascia. I also had to disconnect and remove the radio and dismantle the steering column shroud as well as removing the lower half of the dashboard to resolve another issue I needed to sort out.

 

I annoyed myself by managing to poke the battery telltale and push the filter off the surround so that's another one to fix.

 

My main goal was those pesky wires, I couldn't figure out what they were for at first and I started by removing the heater control panel. It's actually fairly tidy behind the dash, especially considering what a mess is on show on the driver's side.

 

 

Someone had been in here before me. A number of the screws were not original and there were clear signs of tampering. I'm not sure what the previous fettler was after, but whatever they'd done they'd disconnected the wires from the heater display and reconnected them by running them through the selector for reasons that entirely escape me. All that's happened as a result is that the wires have been crimped a bit as a result. I realigned it all and connected it up and still couldn't figure out what they were for, they didn't seem to do anything.

 

Chasing the wires did make it clear, eventually. The same strange wires were used on the switch bank and I hadn't twigged at the time that what I was actually looking at was single density fibre optics.

 

Can't say I ever expected to find fibre optics in a car, I can't decide if it's an impressive space solution, or a gimmick, but I don't recall it being mentioned by fellow Princess owners or in literature so maybe it was considered far more ordinary a thing than I'm giving it credit.

 

 

The other job was to reconnect the centre ventilation flap for the blowers. When I'd been in at the dash before (I forget what for now) the rod had come adrift. Easy enough to refit and works properly now. The fibre optics were tidied away and now for the first time I can select 3 on the blowers, which is a bit fierce and totally welcome for the warmer weather!

 

I did annoy myself when I'd put the dash back together though. The binnacle has three plastic trims for the dials which are held into the wood by metal spring clips. You can only seat the trims into these clips with the fascia off and I didn't think to sort them out while everything was in bits. Ah well, another job for another day, they've not been seated properly since I got the car so it won't hurt to for them to be loose a while longer I suppose. I also forgot to put the bulb back in for the clock, but I need to remove that to repaint the hands at some point anyway and that's an involved job that can definitely wait a bit longer.

 

Tomorrow... well, maybe we'll get a bumper fitted.

[Micrashed]

Random wires are not uncommon in many cars where they share a loom through the series but yours may be lacking in some bits.

 

Though fiber optics in a Princess be impressive

[Paul Dupart]

The night illumination on the bank of 6 switches on the right hand side of the dash, is done from a single bulb with fibre optics likewise.

[vulgalour]

The switch bank lights up lovely. The same cannot be said for the heater controls.

 

Since it's dark, I got a couple of shots of the dash that the fibre optics illuminate. The cigar lighter has a dedicated bulb as far as I can tell. Looks like my radio doesn't illuminate but I can't remember if that's always been the case, or if it's just started doing it. This is the dash with the interior light on, just so I could see what I was photographing.

 

And without. It's a bit crap really, always has been.

[Captain Slow]

Can't say I ever expected to find fibre optics in a car.

 

Angyl mate, what did you think illuminated the column stalks in a Maestro/Montego? Same principle of a bulb mounted remotely and fibre-optics to it

 

I'm surprised it appeared in Wedges though!

[vulgalour]

I seem to be doing more than one job a day, this can only be a good thing, except for the fact that I'm running out of jobs to do!

 

Today, I decided I wanted to at least get the back bumper on since it's a straight forward bolt on job, made easier when you've got a second pair of hands. Rather than sort the rear out first, my brother and I twisted and hammered and otherwise straightened the front bumper as much as possible to get it refitted to the car. It's not perfect, but that's okay. The important thing is how much better the front end now looks. The only issue was that the two wing bolts have gone missing so I'll need to have a rummage for something suitable to replace those with. The valance is still squished back a bit too, but that's also useful because it means I didn't have to move the number plate. Just as well since I still don't have a working drill or any sticky pads to hand.

 

By comparison, the rear bumper was a breeze, just fiddly getting it all to line up.

 

The telltales I broke are currently sat on my desk setting so I can reinstate them which is another job done and I found a sticker that I'd convinced myself I'd put on the boot of the Polo. Had the perfect spot for it on the Princess, I hope Mr May would approve.

 

Tomorrow should be a challenge because I'm pretty much out of jobs to do now that don't involve spending chunks of money for things like fresh oil and DOT4. I might have a go at deep cleaning the engine bay to really get things tip top under the bonnet, but other than that I'm struggling to think of anything that wants for attention.

[Shep Shepherd]

Love the James May decal

[PhilA]

Removal of the newer vehicles in those images would be perfect* late 80's Thatcher-recession material.

 

Perfectly grim. Well done!

 

--Phil

[vulgalour]

I have quite a few suitably grim images of the Princess throughout the thread. It's the benefit of living in a post-Thatcherite ex-mining area full of whinging Northerners. Very atmospheric.

[AnthonyG]

Good to see the beige beast back on the road - it does look a lot better with bumpers on. Just a query though, isn't the front plate now obscured by the front bumper? Could be technically illegal I think. Originally did the plate hang off brackets attached to the the bumper, or off the front valance?

She will look great with those Lotus alloys on

[Captain Slow]

 

 

My own fan club! I feel speshul.

 

I've had a haircut since though, so you may want to amend the sticker.

 

Sam.

[vulgalour]

@AnthonyG: It's not actually that obscured. Because the bumper is bent into a slightly downward V and the valance is pushed back a bit it's much more visible than if everything was as factory. Originally, there were two upright brackets that tied the bumper to the front valance and these held the number plate. I'd removed the brackets and relocated the plate into the air scoop to tidy the front end up before the accident so now the brackets are straight but won't line up with everything else which is bent so the number plate stays put. I really dislike the number plate locations on the Princess, there's no tidy solution to them.

[PhilA]

The design looks to have come to fruition without the plates being part of the design. All of the concept sketches I've seen are devoid of them; why design something without a piece it must have in order to be used on the roads?

 

The front has no tidy solution other than it being a sticker on the leading edge of the bonnet, and that'd just look weird- the back one needs to be frenched in a little to my eyes, on a /--------\ kind of shape, aping the shape of the rear screen.

 

Shame you can't fit smaller plates without getting the "Illegible Font Squad" writing you a piece of paper

 

--Phil

[vulgalour]

Today on Fix the Princess - BBC Four's only successful motor car programme and not to be confused with BBC Three's programme of the same name - we are going to show you just how to go about bleeding a brake system that probably hasn't been touched for 20 years... is what I would have said except that we were sensible and decided to soak the bleed nipples overnight in penetrating oil to further prevent the chance of snapping them off when we attempt to bleed the system. For such an integral part of the brake maintenance system, bleed nipples are as we all know notoriously fragile.

 

Instead, I went looking for jobs. Purchased 2ltrs of DOT4 - I might be bleeding the Clutch hydraulics too, and the brake system needs a proper flush, better to have more than not enough - a bleed hose, some nuts and washers and priced up the oil change and clutch kit. Couldn't get a price on a clutch kit in store as it's another special order item so they'll call me back Monday afternoon with a price if they have any in stock. The back up plan for the clutch kit is to go online and spend about £40 on the relevant three part kit. So, brakes tomorrow.

 

Today it was a case of having a poke around the car to find something to do that didn't involve dismantling bits of engine. I'd just about run out of ideas when I noticed the interior light didn't work with the driver's door, I had got so used to this I'd forgotten about it. Hoorah, a chance to meddle! Switch out to investigate, turns out the driver's side one wasn't even screwed in just sort of wedged into the door seal. Passenger side was attached properly. Nice and easy to remove and disconnect.

 

That restorer has been in here too, look at the state of this. One screw was all that needed to be undone and they wouldn't have got brush paint beige all over the trim and seal. This sort of thing makes me grumpy, it is a bad bodge.

 

Checked both switches and found that they were both all black on the connecting faces. The passenger door switch would work intermittently and was less heavily corroded.

 

Quick clean up with some wet and dry on both surfaces and it was ready to reinstall. Also gave the switch trims a clean to get rid of overpaint and the like.

 

Back in the doors and the switches work as if they were brand new. I'm very pleased with this, probably more than I ought to be. It's the little things.

 

 

Last thing to do was make use of three washers, a bolt and a nut in each wing to stop the front bumper jiggling. Fiddly, but straightforward and while it's only a tweak to the front end it does pull the edges of the bumper in a bit neater and stops it looking a bit droopy at the sides. Unfortunately, the duct tape appears to have bonded with the paint so wouldn't peel off properly. Fortunately you can't see it so it doesn't matter.

 

Brakes tomorrow then. 7 days until insurance, 10 days until road tax. I am literally counting the days until I get back behind the wheel, having this car off the road for 6 months is far, far too long.

[vulgalour]

As of 3 minutes past midnight, we are now fully road legal. To celebrate, I went on a hunt for a 24 hour petrol station. Of course, I was massively paranoid about every unfamiliar smell and noise and sensation the car gave me, but even when I stopped to check if the carb was pissing out fuel (it wasn't) or if there was an oil explosion or my engine had fallen out or something equally stupid I was rewarded with zero drama from the old bus.

 

The only issue is the continued dampness on this side of the carb, particularly where the float's rod connects to the casing. Whatever it is that's causing the dampness feels slightly greasy and has no discernible odour, which would match the description for the fresh ATF that was put in the squelch pot but I don't understand why it would end up at the bottom corner of the carb. I'm certainly not leaking petrol like I was before fitting the new float needle and seat and the base plate doesn't appear to be leaking at all now. Time will tell on this one, I do want to rebuild the carb properly anyway at some point, but that'll mean a new choke and throttle cable thanks to the ends of the current ones being badly frayed.

 

Took a quick photo opportunity and noticed that the LED lights I had previously dismissed as being dull and pointless are actually very bright, looking for all the world like I've fitted neon lights in the rear valance. Weird.

 

 

Happy that nothing was doing anything it shouldn't, I headed off in search of a petrol station. I found a Murco station that's open 24 hours that I thought was only regular hours and stuck a much needed £15 in the tank. On the way to the station the car had been a bit stuttery and sluggish, with fresh fuel she seemed to perk up quite a bit. Seems unlikely that fuel would go stale in only 7 months, but I suppose it's possible.

 

So we're back as a team and on daily duties once more. Retro Rides on Monday, then it'll be a case of working through the last few mechanical niggles before moving on to purchasing new metal and paint. You never know, I might actually have her looking presentable this time next year.