project 1980 Austin Princess

[Des]

That's a good turnaround, I hope that timing belt is in good order. Is that the same engine or block that was used in the Rover 800? If so I wonder if the gasket would be the same, and has anyone done any kind of transplant shenanigans, be quite interesting that, a Princess powered Rover.

[keef]

Great news.

[purplebargeken]

Super fab brilliant!

[plasticvandan]

dont forget to retorque the head

[mouseflakes]

Things are quieter and less smelly in the cabin

That's good to hear, though this could simply be down to the dietary choices made at breakfast.

[phil_lihp]

Great news! Sounds like a worthwhile job well done, now hurry up and show us those wheels!

[cort16]

good work vulgangle good to see it getting fixed.

[trigger]

Well done but wouldn't it had be advisable to have the head skimmed in case it had warped or you'd be repeating this task all over again in a few weeks time?.

[Pete-M]

Not necessarily. If the head is straight there's no need to skim it.

[vulgalour]

The head was easier to get a level on with the straight edge than the one that came out of the HLS and I couldn't get the rule to sit wonky at all so I'd say it's flat and doesn't need a skim this time around.  I'll be taking things steady over the next week or so and keeping my senses open for anything amiss.  Should it go again in the near future then I'll have to get it checked just to be sure, but everything felt very snug and the gasket we used was pretty substantial which will help compensate for some degree of variation in the faces if there is any.

[trigger]

Not necessarily. If the head is straight there's no need to skim it.

 

I must admit both the Alto and Acclaim heads I had skimmed out of practice, the Acclaim turned out to have a hairline fracture in one of the bores that needed welding too. 

[vulgalour]

What, more progress?  Yes indeed.  Having been able to properly inspect the Lotus wheels and wheelnuts it's now clear why regular sleeve nuts don't work: both the wheel and the nut have a very, very slight taper to the shank.  With the proper wheel nuts the alloys went on beautifully well and centre up as you tighten them so I'm delighted.  This is at the local air station which is usefully on a slope so I need to get a better picture for you all at some point in the future because it makes my arch gaps look really silly.

 

 

However, nothing is ever plain sailing with this car and one of the tyres I'd let the air out of to help me polish up the wheel has come off its bead and won't hold air.  I know there is a method of fixing this with fire, but I don't want to do that.  Instead, I'll let my trusted local tyre place sort it, but since they closed before I got there today and are, I think, closed on Sunday I'll have to do it Monday.  In the meantime, I've got my spare steel sat on one corner until I can tootle over to the tyre place and it's safe enough to be parked on the street that way.

 

 

I was already concerned about the tyres on the steels because they're not the best but I'm probably a little more concerned now than I was because a lot of the little bits of noise and jiggles and random things you experience only really as a driver have disappeared with the Lotus wheels on even though one is still a not-Lotus.  I'd say the tyres on the steels are probably completely jiggered.

 

I'm on the lookout for a spare matching alloy should anyone spot or have one.  No great rush, but I like to have a matching set and I know the alloy fits in the factory wheel well neatly.  Didn't wash the car or reset the suspension arms because it's insanely windy here today, but I will get these things done soon.

[Skizzer]

I'm a big fan of the standard trimz on these, but I have to say those Lotus alloys look goooood.  Well worth the effort IMHO.

[AndyW201]

Fantastic, back on the road AND with the Lotus rims on! Just love this car (and wish I'd had the balls to go for Lotus rims on the Allegro when I had it...)

[vulgalour]

They don't work so well on the Allegro, I've seen it done.  They stick out too far because the Allegro has skinnier arches than the Princess' massive Oxford Bags.

[AndyW201]

Ah right. Did see a guy trial fit a set of those rims on a Metro turbo-engined Aggro on RR, at the time I had mine. They did seem to 'poke' a smidge, but he reckoned they could be made to go on.

[philibusmo]

Top job, you are the undisputed master at mending Princesses.

[vulgalour]

Next weekend, I'm planning to sort the interior out in the HLS including fitting nice carpets, those posh seats and reinstating the dashboard...  unless the weather is shit, obviously.

[philibusmo]

I await with great anticipation.

[barefoot]

Happy Christmas.

[oman5]

BL should have fitted those as standard. it changes the whole look of the car for the better.

[purplebargeken]

Them wheelz look kool.

[eddyramrod]

Before you broached the subject, I doubt I would ever have thought of putting those Lotus wheels on a Princess.

I would have been RONG!

This is a hugely impressive saga on all levels.  I bow.

[Des]

Might help to seal the tyre bead back on the rim by winding a ratchet strap tightly around the tyre thread circumference, save the fire for when you stretch some skinnies on bro.

[Ghosty]

 

 

There's a vague look of 'gasser' about this and it's giving me silly ideas... Even if they are FWD.

In all seriousness though, it's looking great!

[Asimo]

More cool than a cool thing.....

[stuboy]

looking great!!!!!!!!!!!!

[vulgalour]

After completely failing to DIY refit the tyre that I'd managed to pop off the wheel, I took it to my local friendly tyre place to see if they could help.  They could, took all of two seconds and cost me the grand total of nothing.  The chap that sorted the tyre was very complimentary about the wheels too, as everyone that sees them seems to be.  I didn't get as far as jiggling with suspension settings on the back because after sorting the tyre and giving the car a much needed proper wash to get the deadly winter muck off I'm left with little daylight to work in, as is usual for this time of year.

 

The weird ride height is now resolved with the steel wheel back in the boot where it belongs.  I will still try and find the time to sort out the rear arms, but since there's no issues driving the car at all at the current settings I'm not in a rush.  The new wheels are quieter on all but the roughest road surfaces, the car stops considerably better and goes around corners like it's glued to the tarmac.  So not only are they a nice aesthetic improvement, they're a massive driving improvement too.

 

 

 

 

The car itself seems a lot healthier.  Temperature guage seems to stick at 1/4 and go no higher.  Engine idles much quieter and is far more willing to go from a standstill, I'm using about half the amount of pedal I used to for the same effect.  Fuel economy seems much the same, not really better or worse.  I'm not consuming oil or water, several smells that used to come into the cabin through the air vents that I'd considered to be 'old car smells' have disappeared.  I don't have to run up and down the gearbox so much when I'm in traffic and more often than not I can get the car up into fourth and leave it there, where it seems happy to stay, where before I'd be hopping in and out of third just to keep things smooth.  This all makes the driving experience much more relaxing and inspires greater confidence.

 

I am yet to go on the motorway to get a feel for the car post head gasket fix and alloys but I have had it up to 50mph on some of the back roads around here and experienced absolutely nothing untoward.  I keep marvelling at how different this car is to drive than when I bought it, I do feel like my effort and money spent is being rewarded and that in turn makes me more willing to reward the car with more effort and money as and when I can.

 

Really, I could leave the car as it is now and probably have no problems at all for a good long while, but I'd rather continue to work through the niggles, the following are what I'm aware of:

 

> Dashboard switches - Need cleaning, they're 98% reliable but I think there's some mucky contacts

> Radio & Speakers - Radio needs fitting properly, I can do this when the dash comes out for the switches.  Need to swap the old BL speakers out for some better Lexus ones I have to match up with the radio better.

> Rear suspension - Need to reset the trim level and double check torque settings since doing the sphere

> Brakes - Bleeding required.  Brakes are very effective, but a bleed wouldn't hurt.

> Handbrake - Needs adjusting, again.  Doesn't always work properly and I'm still not sure why.

> Fan/Temperature switch - cooling fan is permanently on with ignition and has been for a while, I need to find out why.

> Headlights - Need adjusting, but resetting the rear suspension may mean they don't.

> Interior - Still have interior trim to swap to finish off the paler interior that's going in.

> Paint - yeah... I need to sort that when the weather gets better

> Rust Protection - ongoing, as usual, but not too bad at the moment.

 

I think I'm over the worst of the problems now, regular maintenance and tinker time should see this car sorted fairly easily now, I hope.

[Bobthebeard]

You are a hero! Much respect!

[cms206]

That looks the fucking bollocks.

I'm off to the bog, I won't be long...