project 1980 Austin Princess

[vulgalour]

Definitely too big, There's only just enough space for the 5 3/4" twins as stock, I haven't got the extra 2"-4" I'd need for the Dodge lights, they're that wide it'd be like trying to squeeze and extra lamp in the gap.  There'll be depth issues on the battery side too, I can guarantee those Dodge units will be four times as deep as the sealed beams.  I don't doubt they'd be a better quality of light output, but I reckon I'll just upgrade to halogens at some point in the near future, twin sealed beams are getting difficult to get hold of now.

[Ghosty]

Put rectangular lights in at a jaunty angle, they'll go great with a Boso bonnet.

[Timewaster]

My ocd will never accept the outer rearlights being a totally different shade of red to the inners.

 

So long as your ocd is fine with that then I guess it's okay.

[vulgalour]

Ghosty: You're the one that sits on my left shoulder. My right shoulder is currently vacant, it seems.

 

Timewaster: Doesn't really bother me. Like everything else "meh, close enough"

 

---

 

Popped into the unit today and made the milestone of completing all the custom bodywork welding that needs to be done. Usually, I'd take lots of pictures of just what was done, this time I didn't. My brother was keeping me company and arrived just as I was tacking the new number plate box in. That means no progress pictures of the box I had to make from scratch, or the fiddly work of bending it to match the three opposing curves in the panel. It was quite a quick job really. I also blanked the old bumper holes with my brother helping by holding the tiny little pieces in from behind while I welded them from the front. With that all done, I drilled a single hole just above where the number plate sits for the ultra bright LED number plate light. Originally I had two of these but one the wires snapped off close to the housing when it was removed. I only need one, they're incredibly bright, and it's a nice subtle solution since the panel will be a dark colour.

 

 

Doesn't seem like it'll be enough light, so here's a shot from when there were two on the back. Pretty sure it'll be fine.

 

Everything on the back was cleaned up, the welds flattened down and primed so I could see what I was really dealing with. This panel has had a lot of abuse over the years so it's going to need a lot of work to get straight. I got as far as primer guide and first fill before I ran out of time. I've applied seam sealer where the bottom joins the side of the light buckets, running my finger around to make it smooth. That should keep the weather out of the boot and give a nicer finish when painted.

 

I'm feeling very happy about this so far. Now that I'm on to the tedium of filler and paint I feel like I'm in more comfortable territory. There isn't this huge pile of jobs ahead of me anymore, it's all fettling now.

[plasticvandan]

Just a thought for you vulg.I hate aerosols,and can't/afford spray jobs,so when I needed to paint my bike I brushed on tractor enamel (tough,quickish drying,hard wearing). And cheap (£10 a litre) anyway I thought I had arsed it up,as I misread the recoat time so my really nice first coat became rippled and lumpy on the second,after that I just thought fuck it and slapped 5 thick coats on.3 day s later with nothing to loose I had a go at flatting it back,from 600 to 1200 grit,then t cut,and its come up like glass,and you would never know it was brushed! Just thought as a cheap,durable decent fginisdh that you can do piecemeal, especially as you have unit,it might work for you? here's how the bike turned out

[vulgalour]

I've used enamel before, it's nice stuff.  I'm using Rustoleum tins to do it piecemeal as it's not too expensive and they're nice to work with, certainly quicker than using enamels.  Very smart looking bike too

[ShiteRider]

The last picture lucks like you've caught a cyberman mid morning shave.........

If you described to me what you're doing i'd be thinking WTF! But actually to look at it, it's coming along really well. I think purple and polished wheels it's going to look really good.

What are you doing with the front plate? Recessed as well?

[mat_the_cat]

Just a thought for you vulg.I hate aerosols,and can't/afford spray jobs,so when I needed to paint my bike I brushed on tractor enamel (tough,quickish drying,hard wearing). And cheap (£10 a litre) anyway I thought I had arsed it up,as I misread the recoat time so my really nice first coat became rippled and lumpy on the second,after that I just thought fuck it and slapped 5 thick coats on.3 day s later with nothing to loose I had a go at flatting it back,from 600 to 1200 grit,then t cut,and its come up like glass,and you would never know it was brushed! Just thought as a cheap,durable decent fginisdh that you can do piecemeal, especially as you have unit,it might work for you? here's how the bike turned out

HPIM3030.JPG

 

Nice MZ, I used to have an ETZ 125!

[vulgalour]

@Shiterider:  hung from a bracket under the front valance so I can smash it to pieces on every curb I misjudge so it's nice an tidy and doesn't spoil the look of the front end.

[Noel Tidybeard]

why not try and make some kind of mounting that will "give" if contact is made but it return to correct position after

[vulgalour]

Like some sort of hinge?

[Noel Tidybeard]

yes but there may be legal issues if the number plate is forced backward due to wind restistance from the sheer speed of the vulgarincess thus preventing visibility to speed cameras

[PhilA]

You have made the back of your Princess into the front of a Corvair.

 

I approve

 

 

Phil

[They_all_do_that_sir]

This is one of my favourite cars / threads on here, have really enjoyed reading it all

[vulgalour]

Frank:  So... a motorised hinge then, with a switch on the dash to... nope.  That's just too much faff.  I'll just smash it on all the curbs instead.

 

PhilA:  I make that 3 people that have said the same thing now!  There is no engine in this end either so perhaps it really IS a Corvair in disguise?

 

TADTS:  Thank you

 

---

 

You'll have to imagine what several hours of sanding and filling looks like because that was my day.  BOOOOORING.  I'll get some pictures when the filling is done, it's looking pretty good so far so should look super when the paint goes on.  Tomorrow might be Renault fettling instead, I fancy a break from bodywork stuff.

[hairymel]

 

 

Des:  It might be.  I got linked to https://www.lasaero.com/site/products/article?id=N04HO75SL which seems a more sensible price for the required fitting.

 

also try http://www.skygeek.com/ats-556.html about £31 delivered from us of a. would guess the lasaero will add vat and shipping, though the skygeek one may incur customs 

[PhilA]

also try http://www.skygeek.com/ats-556.html about £31 delivered from us of a. would guess the lasaero will add vat and shipping, though the skygeek one may incur customs 

 

Amazon also have them, GBP39.40 including shipping and import duty. The Amazon reviews are interesting, people say it has a copper sealing washer inside that does not seal well.

 

Seeing the postman's face delivering a box with a CN22 form, and the description "High pressure cock" on it would be worth it

 

--Phil

[vulgalour]

I've ordered a compression fitting for the pipe to replace the bodge and very suddenly found that the car now needs to be put outside again.  I don't have enough time to finish off all the filler before the paint goes on, which is very annoying.  In protest, the pipe bodge has started to leak and now the car can't easily be moved because it's resting its arches on its tyres.

 

Not to worry, I did what I could with the filler on the car to make it look as presentable as I could in the time I had and then used the paint I do have to get a weather proof coating on the primer and bare metal areas before it does go outside. This is not the way I wanted to do things, it's the way it has to be.  I'd rather a quick bodge-paint now to flash rust and bigger problems later.  It means I'll likely only be able to bring the car in for a single day to get work done or work outdoors which is not an ideal situation but one I've worked in before.

 

Photographs quite well, all the same.  The filler work that's left to do is the final fettling, the bit that takes ages to get right.  The bulk of it is done.  It's not too shabby from a few feet away.  I'll reinstall the rear lights tomorrow most likely when the paint has hardened a bit.

 

 

 

 

To be honest, you can't really see the bad bits that much in the photographs and the purple is surprisingly flattering when it comes to imperfections.  I'm likely switching to the Rustoleum beige in favour of the Halfords paint because it's a nicer, brighter shade that compliments the purple and it's cheaper.  It's also nicer to work with and gives a smoother finish straight out the tin.

[purplebargeken]

I'd be tempted to purple'ise it totally. A very cool colour!

[vulgalour]

It's the usual reason, best not to try and argue it because I'll get even less work done on it.

[Ghosty]

I like the split, it's starting to look great

[mat_the_cat]

Seeing the postman's face delivering a box with a CN22 form, and the description "High pressure cock" on it would be worth it

 

And if you need lubrication...

 

[junkyarddog]

It's really starting to come together for you,

 

I think you should shave the door handles/boot lock and trim and side repeaters too,

the smooth uncluttered look along with the frenched taillights/number plate would really show the cars cool shape.

[vulgalour]

Door handles I'm going to try out in beige, I've got a spare set I can do this with.  They should blend in better than chrome ones and mean I don't have the faff of trying to shave the existing handles and all the bodywork involved in that.  Eventually I'll probably shave the back door handles.

 

Boot will be de-badged and de-locked and I'd like to fit a cable release as I'm fond of them over electronic releases.  If it fails, you can remove the rear seat from inside the car to get access and it means no more fiddly Princess boot lock that I don't like.  For now, as with the door handles, it's a job for another day because it's more bodywork I don't want to tackle at the moment.

 

Side repeaters are being moved.  Where they are now they're too far back on the wing so people tend not to see them.  I'm planning to move them ahead of the front arches so they're more visible, perhaps even change them to something like the teardrop units as found on the Austin Three Litre.

[vulgalour]

Today, Chompy and I got on with electrical stuff on the Princess.  Mostly, I was cleaning bulbs and operating controls, Chompy was the one doing the wiring work because he's good at it and understands it.  Previously, the headlights had been fitted but not tested, at some point the earth wire had gone missing for them which is strange as there was no reason for that to be removed.  I may not do the hideaway grille on the front because it looks really good just as it is right now.

 

 

Much of the original wiring loom didn't need altering.  After checking which wires did what and a lot of fiddling about with old connectors, Chompy had figured out which of the original spade connectors went to which part of the BMW units and soon had them all wired up and fully operational.  This was part way through proceedings.  The wiring diagram in the workshop manual (not Haynes) doesn't actually exactly match my wiring loom, but then neither do the instructions for the carburettor so we weren't massively surprised by that.

 

We then had an issue with the driver's side outer light unit in that the lens wasn't aligned properly with the light quadrants so half the reversing light illuminated with the brake light  Annoyingly, the only resolution was to rotate the unit to get it all properly aligned and now it sits pointing in slightly the wrong direction because the backing plate is at the wrong angle.  This is very easy to fix, it just means un-welding and re-welding the backing plate at the correct angle.  A job for later, there was no way I was tackling that today.

 

Chompy and I plodded on with the job until we got all of the rear lights functioning.  I need to get a couple of bulbs as with them being old second hand ones, several did die or were already dead.  At the front, we got the indicators, sidelights and at one point all of the headlights working.  Then only the driver's side headlights worked and now I only have the outer driver's side headlight working on main beam so we need to investigate what's going on there.  It's probably a problem with the earth or the switch or both.

 

At the back there's a few bulbs missing so to explain, outer units have running lights (lower outer quadrant) which is also the reflector, brake lights (upper outer quadrant), reversing lights (upper middle quadrant) and indicator (middle).  Inner lights have running lights (lower outer quadrant), brake lights (upper outer quadrant) and indicators (middle).  I was going to put the fog lights in the inner units but there's no way of splitting off the light for the two halves of the red lenses to do this because of how they're designed.  I'll have to rethink that side of things, I do have some spare fog lights if I need to fit them or I might be lucky and the car may pre-date the fog light requirement (even though I'm pretty sure it doesn't).

 

Tomorrow we're getting the hydraulic repair pipe, the bulbs we need to replace and we'll hopefully be finishing tidying up the wiring loom and heatshrink wrapping the last few joints it got too dark to finish tonight.  We may even figure out why the headlights aren't working and why the indicators and hazard lights got more and more recalcitrant about working as the day went on.

[vulgalour]

I think I figured it out.  The Renault had that funny light problem and that was down to a dirty connector.  Given how much corrosion issues we've seen with other connectors I reckon we clean them all up and try again.

[Alexg]

That's looking rather bad-ass.

[Noel Tidybeard]

why not use inner unit, upper quadrant as fogs instead of 2nd set of brake lights?

[vulgalour]

That was my original intention.  Unfortunately there's no divider so the fog will bleed into the brake and vice versa and there's no way to really fit one to prevent it because of how they're constructed.  I've got some smart Wipac stainless steel bodied fog lights I can fit, if I tuck them up under the rear valance they shouldn't be too obvious or fussy while still being perfectly legal.

[stillOrange]

I want wing mirror like that!