project 1980 Austin Princess

[vulgalour]

I'll start with the list, since I've now officially cleared off all the items on the old failed MoT.  All issues now are new ones mostly from the car being unused for a few years.
 
Project List:
FAULT FINDING
> identify why brake lights aren't coming on with pedal
> identify why passenger side reversing light not working
> replace hazard relay - DONE
> identify why hazards only work on one side
> replace fuel gauge - DONE
> identify why fuel gauge not registering
- potentially stuck sender as fuel gauge was a known working replacement and is getting power
> identify why 
temperature gauge not registering
- potentially failed temperature sender as temperature gauge was a known working replacement and is getting power
 
MECHANICAL & SERVICING
> clean carburettor to resolve excessive overflow - DONE
> tune the carb
> coolant flush and change
> exhaust downpipe/manifold joint is blowing
> exhaust stay needs replacing
> exhaust centre hangers need replacing
 (ordered)
> trim/bend exhaust pipe tip so it clears fog light better
> bleed the brakes
> identify insecure CV joint fail from previous MoT - DONE
 
I wasn't going to go in today and fiddle with the car but I'd already done what jobs I needed to and was kicking my heels when the hazard relay arrived so... off I toddled for an hour or so to see what I could get through. First up was replacing the seatbelt warning light since the long-eared bulbs had arrived.  With one of those fitted the light now comes on like it should and extinguishes when the seatbelts are plugged in.  A small job.  It also highlighted that the seatbelts could do with a squirt of furniture polish, all the dust from storage has made them quite sluggish where they used to zip back quite readily.
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/volksangyl/Serendipity/20170316-01.jpg]
 
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/volksangyl/Serendipity/20170316-02.jpg]
 
After that, it was a case of trying to find out why the fuel gauge and temperature gauge appeared to be doing nothing.  Both gauges are known good ones so replacement was ruled out for now.  On checking for power, both are receiving it.  There is enough fuel in the tank for it register and I'm wondering if either the sender in the tank has failed/got stuck or if I've just been really unlucky and this fuel gauge has also failed.  Tested the temperature sender in a cup of boiling water and that wasn't giving a reading on the gauge so again that's either a fault sender or a failed gauge.  This one is going to be troublesome to sort because I have to identify what has failed and correct it.
 
Every time I consider putting the dashboard in I go through the functions to check everything is working to hopefully prevent me having to take it out again for something I missed.  This time I already knew there was an issue with fuel and temperature - and I'm not driving this car until I *know* they work, they're quite important although not needed for MoT - and when I started going through things the fog lights had stopped working.  Two of the dial illuminations had also stopped working.  A quick test and it was discovered a bulb had blown and replacing it meant the fog lights worked again.
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab16/volksangyl/Serendipity/20170316-04.jpg]
 
With that sorted, the new hazard flasher relay could go in.  As far as I know this is the same as the one I removed (and have misplaced) that was presumed dead when the hazards stopped working along with lots of other things.  Trouble is, now that I've fitted this the indicators aren't right.  With or without this relay, the regular indicators all flash just a little too rapidly and are illuminated for too short a spell, not as fast as if a bulb had blown, but too fast to be right.  They were perfectly fine on the same relay so I don't know what's happened there.  When you use the hazards, they illuminate at the proper brightness and slightly slower than normal but only on the passenger side, regardless of what you do with any other function.  I am utterly baffled by this.  It needs fixing before the MoT can be attempted, I just don't know where to begin on this one.
 
Here's the relay fitted, it's a massive thing.

 
For now I'm leaving the dashboard out until I can figure the indicator problem out.  I might need to buy a couple of upgraded relays, I'm not sure.  Don't you just love auto electrics?

[michael1703]

Touch the terminal of the temp sender wire to the engine,the gauge should read full.

 

You can Earth the fuel sender wire and that SHOULD also read full

[vulgalour]

Rovamota on here suggested on the Princess forum that it's likely to be the voltage regulator.  I'll probably refit the original cluster as was, I think there was probably nothing wrong with it and I've chased myself in a circle before finding it was actually the cigar lighter at fault.

 

Mike and I brought everything home to test the temp sender and left the sender at the unit, because we are morons.

[michael1703]

I think the wiring to the voltage regulator is stupidly bright green, think the regulator has to be earthed?

[Noel Tidybeard]

hazards- it will usually be the switch if only one side is working right

 

indicators- what is the rating on the flasher unit? is it shown as something like

1. (21x4) & (21x2) = car with NO side repeaters
2. (21x4+5x2) & (21x2+5) = car with side repeaters

if you have one rated as no. 2 and you dont have working side repeaters there will posibaly be an increase in flashrate

[vulgalour]

Noel: Ah, but I did have all 6 indicators and both side repeaters working normally before the dashboard gremlins appeared.  It's since then that the flash rate problems have started.  It's potentially related somehow.  It's been suggested by a friend as well as by yourself that the hazards is probably down to a duff switch, I'll try the spare I've got and see if that's any better since the spare is the known working one that used to be fitted.  I only changed the original switch out so I could have a full bank of black toggles rather than one red one, more fool me if that's the root of that issue.

 

Michael:  it is, and apparently it does.  It's probably the voltage regulator at fault so like I say, I'll swap the instrument cluster back to the original one and it should put everything right again.

[michael1703]

Flash rate is also effected by the tell tale bulb or bulbs

[MikeKnight]

I don't think having a red hazard switch will look too nasty, it is after all the one you need to find quickly in an emergency or when thanking someone.

 

The dial cluster in these is actually quite nice to work with, it's all modular and you can swap stuff fairly easily.

[vulgalour]

Today was a good day for Princess fettling.  To jump ahead a little, the dashboard ended up almost getting refitted and to help me out I decided to take the steering wheel off.  Glad I did, turns out I hadn't tightened the nut up properly the last time the wheel was off, it was only finger tight!  This is why it's important to do this de-snagging stuff beyond the MoT requirements.

 

Yet another bulb blew, different one this time being the bulb for the dash fibre optics.  Luckily I had one of these in my spare loom so I didn't have to go out and buy one.

 

Mike then tested the temperature sender properly and we found that the temperature gauge and sender appear to work.  I did swap the voltage regulator on the dash cluster to my known good one but still no life from the previously known good fuel gauge.  Personally, I think the sender is stuck from when I ran the tank dry by accident.  I'll fix this when I have to drop the fuel tank to do those boot floor sections as well as cleaning the tank up properly.

 

Changed the known good switch in too and I'm still only getting hazards on one side of the car.  At this point, I suspect I've bought the wrong relay.  The indicators have sorted themselves out, strangely, as have the brake lights which are now fully functional.  We found two bulbs weren't sitting exactly right, a small amount of aluminium tape resolved that, and now all the lights on the car work as they should.  I also replaced the handbrake warning light, which had blown.  All the bulbs that are blowing are old ones so it's hardly surprising, there doesn't appear to be any malicious reason for it.

 

 

The exhaust centre hangers I ordered arrived today so I got those fitted today.  This was SO much easier with a lift!  Predictably, the exhaust sits much nicer under the car now.  At the front, I removed the home-made copper stay and replaced it with a home-made steel stay and extra washers.  This should prevent the exhaust from blowing at the manifold again.  I've got to reseal the manifold to downpipe join on the driver's side, I just ran out of time to do that today.

 

 

Last job was chucking the funky seat covers in the car.  Front ones need adjusting since they were made for seats without head rests, a quick sewing job for when the car is back on the road.

 

 

Project List:

FAULT FINDING

> replace hazard relay - DONE

> identify why hazards only work on one side - presumed incorrect relay

> replace fuel gauge - DONE

> identify why fuel gauge not registering - presumed stuck sender

> identify why temperature gauge not registering - DONE

> identify why brake lights aren't coming on with pedal - DONE (self healing issue)

> identify why passenger side reversing light not working - DONE

 

MECHANICAL & SERVICING

> tune the carb

> clean carburettor to resolve excessive overflow - DONE

> coolant flush and change

> trim/bend exhaust pipe tip so it clears fog light better

> exhaust downpipe/manifold joint is blowing

> exhaust stay needs replacing - DONE

> exhaust centre hangers need replacing - DONE

> bleed the brakes

> identify insecure CV joint fail from previous MoT - DONE

[Guest Breadvan72]

[adw1977]

I love the seat covers!

[KruJoe]

YES to the long-awaited crocheted beauties!

 

Now we see them going on, we know this tish is getting serious! I expect to see this taxed on 1st April. Thank you.

[vulgalour]

That's actually incredibly likely, Joe.

[KruJoe]

[plasticvandan]

Vulg has discovered the secret to shitemojo and progress.just have one,unless millionaire with endless time and resources,trying to fix and maintain more than one shed is soul destroying and almost impossible.

[vulgalour]

Today, I smell mostly of exhaust fumes.  That's okay, this time it's a good thing.  My list on the Princess is incredibly short and as of today, it's almost completely cleared.  First up was those pesky hazard warning lights not working properly.  I dismantled both of my old switches after seeing they looked like this.

 

 

Not great.  A quick buzz with the Dremel saw them nice and clean again.

 

That actually made the hazards not work at all, on either switch... and then they sprang to life randomly working properly.  After a lot of fiddling and inspecting it turns out if you put the the plug into the switch just wrong it won't work.  Also, while it normally does work with the dashboard reinstated, sometimes you have to give the switch a little sideways nudge.  Never mind, they work, that's the important thing here.

 

So, onto the next job which was the carburettor tuning.  This was easy, just needed to turn the idle down a smidge.  Then I noticed the temperature gauge was climbing (yay it works!) and climbing, and climbing.   On the plus side, temperature gauge and ammeter both work.  Annoyingly, the fuel gauge is still playing dead and the bulb I replaced for the speedometer has failed and seemingly took the bulb for the clock with it, these problems could well be related I suppose.  We did test the fuel gauge wiring and got no life from it at all so it's also possible the gauge is duff.

 

 

 

The fan wasn't coming on and the override switch wasn't working either.  A jiggle of the wires and the fan would only come on with the override switched on.  Culprit were these snap locks, I thought we'd eliminated all of these!

 

Mike removed them and replaced them with bullet connectors.  A retest and turns out the fan switch isn't working.  Since I need to do a coolant flush anyway I'll replace the switch at the same time.

 

The exhaust blow was up next, once everything had cooled down (probably should have done this first).  Awkward access but not too bad to remove and clean up the clamp before refitting with lashings of exhaust paste.  Exhaust blow seems to now be resolved, time will tell.  It's certainly quieter than the engine now if it is blowing.

 

Fuel pump is back to leaking oil from the seal sometimes, but not always.  It's much reduced as a problem since fitting the new gasket but I doubt I'll ever resolve this as it was a problem owners of this engine and pump combo have regaled me with several times now.  Oh well.

 

Didn't get as far as trimming the tail pipe down.  Since fixing the blow and replacing the front stay and centre hangers, the exhaust sits more towards the middle of the car and bounces off this fog light at idle.  I'm going to trim the last few inches off the pipe and fit a down-turned chrome trim to tidy it up.

 

With all that done, I drove it outside to get some sunshine pictures.  The brakes definitely need bleeding and while they work, I wouldn't want to rely on them in an emergency as they stand.  It'll mostly just be from the car being stood about for a few years.

 

 

 

It looks friggin ace!  I'm well chuffed.  I'll be more chuffed when I've got the cosmetics properly done and an MoT under my belt, of course.  Here's the list as it currently stands:

 

Project List:

Bleed brakes

Coolant flush and change

Trim exhaust pipe

Replace fan switch

Replace dash bulbs x2

Replace fuel gauge/identify actual fault

Underseal

 

ALL the MoT jobs are done.  The car is effectively now ready to hit the road.  I just want to try and get through that tiny list so it's in the best possible shape it can be.  To celebrate, here's a poor quality video of the car in action.

 

[captain_70s]

FUCK. YES.

 

I did shit myself a bit though when I thought you were going to reverse straight through the fence...

[vulgalour]

That was the exact moment I realised the brakes need some attention.

[320touring]

YAAAAAAAAAS!

[Felly Magic]

I bet that has done a hell of a lot for your mojo, a tiny list of jobs to sort, and it's time for MOT

[michael1703]

Like a John shuttleworth promo

[Ghosty]

Have we got a video?!

 

Great news, exciting times.

[Felly Magic]

As has already been said, worry about the cosmetics once you get a fresh ticket on it, with that it will boost your mojo by eleventy billionty twelve percent

[MikeKnight]

Tuning the carb properly (mixture-wise) and coolant flush next because they can be done at the same time on the ramp, as you need to run the engine up to temp to flush coolant.

 

I can make a start on that tomorrow before you arrive. Yes I will remember to leave the fan running. 

[vulgalour]

It's really weird getting in, turning the key and driving this car now.  Really weird.  It's been broken for that long with me stubbornly lugging it to new addresses it's hard to believe I'm here now.

[DeeJay]

 

 

Judging by the reflection you're getting a bit too excited about the MOT. 

[vulgalour]

In readiness for tomorrow's MoT I wanted to just do a few bits and pieces on the car today while I had chance. Mainly, I wanted to make sure it was clean, particularly the glass, and while we're not talking claybars and snow foam, I did at least want it to look like it hadn't really spent the past few years in and out of a working garage getting steadily covered in rubbish. As it turns out, this wasn't so foolish as the glass was much dirtier than it initially looked which wouldn't have done my new wiper blades any favours. I also sprayed some trim spray on the seatbelts so they're not so lazy - I left the furniture polish at home - and T-cutted the whole roof to get some of the really stubborn marks out of the paint. The roof used to be the best panel on the car, paintwise, but it having a cover on it when it was outside a few years ago has put paid to that. I had hoped it was just smudge marks but it's actually wrecked the paint, the only original bit left on the outside of the car. Oh well. I fitted the sunstrip tint as well, it needs some bubbles pushing out but really does help with that annoying high eye level glare you get driving without any shade across the top of the screen. Last thing I did was fit the grille badge, a present from Autosh*te.

This side already looked quite good. It needs more work to be perfect but it's fine when viewed from across a car park. It'll do.


The other side will need the doors stripping back to bare metal and the front wing replacing/repairing so I didn't do any prep and just blasted some purple on. It doesn't look great, obviously, but again it's good from a distance and looks better than the mismatched paintscheme it was on this side. Also sprayed a bit on the rear wing under the filler cap where there was a petrol incident that stripped the paint off.


After all that, there wasn't anything more I could do. I did trundle about the yard a bit and the brakes are immensely improved after having bled them so I feel more confident with those. The tune is perhaps a little off, we'll see how she behaves when in use, just doesn't seem quite as she used to.

To wrap things up, I took some snapshots with the Rover, a bit of compare and contrast. I'll report back tomorrow at some point on the MoT.

[Felly Magic]

Good luck Vulg

[MarvinsMom]

yes, good luck!

[KruJoe]

CALENDARISED