project 1980 Austin Princess

[vulgalour]

It's weird how almost every annoying noise is now gone too.  With the exception of a trim rattle somewhere (forgivable, given its age), every other annoying noise is gone.  That old exhaust must have been comprehensively fucked, had it been an easier part to replace I would have done so a LOT sooner, but the O series downpipes don't come up for sale very often, the one I bought is only the second one I've seen in six years of ownership.  The  B and E series engines are far easier to find parts for,  especially the E series in fact, which are rather spoiled for choice most of the time.

[vulgalour]

Okay, so, in an attempt to get more miles on this I've been pootling about for a few hours today in it, trying to balance stuff I need to do with the spare time I have, and I can report that the noisiest thing in the cabin now is the comforting whine of the gearbox and the whirr of the speedo cable.  I have never had these noises be the loudest in the car before, it's very offputting having it be so quiet!  There was a clickety noise that I hadn't really heard before which I thought might be the manifold gasket blowing but, when I checked, it's just the engine internals making their regular engine noises.

 

I also checked my tyre pressures, something that you need to remove the hubcabs to do or have tiny child fingers to get in at the valve caps and yeah, I should have maybe checked that more recently as one was down at 21psi and another at 25psi.  Inflated them all back up to 28psi (book says 24psi and 26psi, other owners say 30psi, I find 28psi is the happiest medium for comfort and handling) and the only discernible difference is that it rides a bit smoother on broken surfaces.  That's one flaw with the Hydragas, when you've got a low or flat tyre you can't really tell when you're driving.

 

Sploshed some fresh fuel in and that's helped with a bit of an occasional chunter.  It's not a misfire or hunting, it's just every now and then there's a bit of a chunter.  I'm pretty sure this is down to stale fuel as the more fresh I've put in and the more I've used the car, the less its appeared.  It's been so well behaved on today's errands that it's given me a bit of a confidence boost about its reliability now.  I'm not confident enough to make the 300 mile journey down south to visit my other half just yet, but I might end up doing that since I'd like to stagger the Rover and Princess MoT dates a bit further than 1 week, so I might end up with the Princess being my only road legal car for a bit yet.  We shall see.

[Parky]

The engine might still be in a state of tune more suitable for 4 star fuel which as I recall was 98 Octane.

 

Are you using normal or super unleaded? I find chucking in a tank of something higher octane (Tesco Momentum 99 or Shell V Power Nitro seem good) can help where the engine feels like it's missing a little something

[oldcars]

Love the nodding tiger its class. 

[SiC]

Excellent work. Does the lack of noise add or hinder confidence in it?

 

These updates have made me want to give my MGB a spin to increase my confidence in it. Even left work early to. Naturally it's peeing it down, so cba.

 

Has your other half had a trip in it yet?

[vulgalour]

Parky:  It seems to prefer regular to premium, so that's what I run it on.  When you feed it premium it goes lumpy, runs on badly every time you turn it off and is generally horrible.  On regular it behaves like a car should.  I really do think it's more down to stale fuel than anything else.  I'll be rechecking the state of the tune on it since it was last done when sporting a different air filter, so the tune could be slightly off.

 

SiC: A quiet car is a suspicious car.  Makes me feel like it's planning to break something difficult at the worst moment.  At least when it's noisy and farty and smelly and only half-working I know how to coax it along.  When its behaving I get very nervous.  Other half has been in it once, wasn't so sure about it until he took a ride and now he's adamant that it'll live in a garage of its very own when we find the right house so I'd say  he's pretty sold on it.  I might even let him drive it one day, if he can control his Kentish driving habits.

[Zelandeth]

Very much like me with the Lada then.  If there's at least something not working properly I'm at ease.  If everything is working right, I immediately become hugely suspicious of the thing and start wondering what will decide to play up next.

 

At least the carb, AFR, distributor and EGR systems no longer exist, so it can't pick those to mess around with...the tail lights have been replaced, so the usual musical dodgy earths there are no longer on the table...Oh, wait...the heater fan has just started squealing...there we go...normality has been restored!

[vulgalour]

*phew*  I was worried you had a fully functional car for a minute there.

[Zelandeth]

*phew* I was worried you had a fully functional car for a minute there.

See also: why I'm loathe to fix the squeaky belt, creaky strut or regas the A/C on the Activa...it has the potential to mess me about in so many other truly exciting ways that car...

[dozeydustman]

Excellent progress, I'm sure the beige beast will sail through the mott no problem when it comes round to it.

 

I might even let him drive it one day, if he can control his Kentish driving habits.

 

 

What's wrong with Kentish driving habits? I feel hurt.

[vulgalour]

What's right with Kentish driving habits?  Bullying, fiddling with phones, shouting out the window, tailgating, razzing the tits off your car in ever gear...  Calm down, dear!

[vulgalour]

It is raining and miserable here and the school run time so it's the perfect time to take the Princess out so I can get something supplies.  I'm 99% sure the occasional chuntering is stale fuel, with a few miles on fresh fuel, the chuntering has pretty much stopped even on a damp day like today.  Earthing problem definitely resolved for I had all the things on and the throttle cable stayed nice and cool.  Mirrors are less than great in these conditions, but not terrible now I've almost got them set where they need to be.  It is a little too easy to speed now that the car is so quiet, my usual audio reference points have all gone and the interior fan motor drowns out any potential references I might have, being the loudest thing in the cabin.  Do have to drive with the driver's window cracked open a little because of the leaking windscreen seal but the aerodynamics of the car are such that I don' t get wet and it isn't uncomfortable.

 

Long and short of it is today has given me another confidence boost with the car.  If it can handle with stop-start traffic and miserable weather without embarrassing me, then it's probably fine.

[dozeydustman]

Bullying, fiddling with phones, shouting out the window, tailgating, razzing the tits off your car in ever gear...  Calm down, dear!

 

 

I would say that's an exception as opposed to the rule. The nearer London you get, the standards of driving drop, certainly.

[vulgalour]

We figured it's actually more to do with population density.  1 in 10 being a moron isn't so bad in the wilderness of Wales, but in the heavily build up bits of the South East, it hits a sort of critical mass where it feels like nice drivers are the exception rather than the rule.

[SiC]

 

 

We figured it's actually more to do with population density. 1 in 10 being a moron isn't so bad in the wilderness of Wales, but in the heavily build up bits of the South East, it hits a sort of critical mass where it feels like nice drivers are the exception rather than the rule.

100%. The more people driving, the less fun it is to drive yourself. Living in Bristol for 14 years has made me loose my mojo for driving. After the accident on Saturday it's made me want to move out.

 

We went on holiday to West Wales (Lampeter area) the other week and the roads around there reminded me of my love of driving again. Shouldn't really choose where to live based on how fun it is to drive, but it did sway me!

[Ghosty]

Same reason I try to avoid motorways, especially smart ones. Theres no fun, it just makes me anxious.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Same reason I try to avoid the South. Theres no fun, it just makes me anxious.

[Angrydicky]

Driving anywhere inside the M25 is a nightmare of being tailgated, cut up and pulled out in front of. Everyone's in a massive rush and no one gives you an inch. My girlfriend lives in Southall (near Heathrow) and I hate driving around there.

 

Essex (outside the M25) is pretty good in my experience, Kent is somewhere between the two.

 

Norfolk? People just drive way, way too fast (apart from the farmers in their tractors, naturally)

[egg]

Kent is variable

 

Herne Bay = sedate suited to egg style driving

Medway = drive fast everywhere

Maidstone/Canterbury = doesn't matter, you're doing 2 miles an hour anyway

[dozeydustman]

The M25 anywhere is pretty much horrific, the section between J30 for Lakeside at Thurrock and Heathrow via the Dartford Crossing & Clackett Lane is usually dire in both directions. It has got much worse since they removed the hard shoulders, widened it to 4 lanes and made it a smart motorway, so if someone breaks down, the nearest refuge bay is normally half a mile either way so the carriageway gets blocked.

 

The M20 is normally reasonable but has absolutely no scenery so makes for a dull drive. The bit around Maidstone can be awful with its split sections.

 

Worst road I've driven on for aggressive driving and general arseholes on the road is the A34.

 

But we digress and going a bit OT from the post.

 

I'm happy to see the princess is now behaving for you Mr Vulgalour.

[Rocket88]

Do not let it get anywhere near the M4...you [and it] will die of boredom.

[vulgalour]

Little job done today.  After the throttle cable wanted to be an earth strap it still worked, but wasn't exactly the smoothest operation.  To remove the cable you have to pull the cable out of the sheath so you can unclip it from the pedal, it's a bit wierd but fairly easy once you know how it works.  The old cable had warped a bit, presumably from the heat of serving as an earth cable, and wasn't particularly bendy.

20180313-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

New one fitted, cable adjusted properly at the carburettor end and smooth accelerator restored.

20180313-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

[Felly Magic]

I hope the smiles are there as you waft along in your slice of cheese. Mmmmm, wedgy

[vulgalour]

Today marks the first day that I trust the car so much I didn't open the bonnet on getting home "to have a look, just in case".  I wonder what's going to break tomorrow?

[vulgalour]

Princess is still being the daily. Every outing seems to improve things and flush even more tiny silver birch tree seeds out of the air vents. We've been out in good weather and bad and it just gets on with the job of being a car, allbeit a little slower than others until its warmed up a bit. I am hoping to start the cosmetic fettling if we ever get Spring, it keeps being too cold for painting.  Not gone anywhere today, I'm staying indoors where it's nice and warm and dry.  I suspect the Princess would like to do that too, but it can't, so tough.
20180317-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

[vulgalour]

Let's fix an oil leak today.  I know Princesses are supposed to have oil leaks as part of their total loss oil rust prevention system, but I've swapped that out for underseal and welding on this car which seems to be working better for me so far.

 

In all seriousness, the only oil leak I was aware of since doing the big clutch work and selector rod seals was from the spade connector end of the oil pressure switch.  I'd bought a replacement switch online for a mere £4.44 delivered, it's a fairly common part on a lot of vehicles, it seems.  If you want to make life easier, remove the belts from the engine first.  I find this isn't necessary if you're careful and you can thread a 14mm open ended spanner into the gap to get to the adaptor that screws into the oil filter housing thing.

20180320-01 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

With patience, it unscrews and then you can remove the adaptor with the sender still in it.  Be sure to disconnect from the loom at the other end, of course.  You will find the oil in the filter comes out when you do this which is unavoidable because of the way things are designed.  The oil hasn't been in very long and is already looking quite dark so I'll be doing another oil change later this year I suspect.

20180320-02 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

With the adaptor removed, pop it in a vice to make the next bit easier.  I actually find it easier to do this way rather than trying to hold the adaptor on the car and unscrew the sender from it because of access.  The sender is a 24mm spanner job.  Here I've already fitted the new one, with the old one resting in the vice gap since the thread is thinner than the adaptor, obviously.

20180320-03 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

Refitting the adaptor is quite fiddly but providing you take care and don't force anything, you're not going to risk damaging any threads.  I cleaned off the spilled oil with some degreaser and did the errands for the day, including sticking some fuel in.  I was surprised to see I've done over 50 miles since the last fuel up, I really didn't think I'd done that much running about over the last few days.  On getting home I had a look and there are no oil leaks.  The wetness here is water, rather than oil.

20180320-04 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

20180320-05 by Angyl Roper, on Flickr

 

I'm happy with that.  The new switch works too, which I was sure to check, and I've kept the old one in a labelled box, in case of emergencies.  Perhaps a little superstition too, since I'm convinced that every time I dispose of something functional but less than perfect I end up needing it and cannot get one.

[vulgalour]

I'm feeling like I'm in a bit of a sweet spot with this car at the moment.  The oil leak has stayed fixed and the engine is actually drying out so it could well be there isn't another leak to worry about.  I've also found myself looking for excuses to go out in it - today's was screenwash, even though I hadn't run out and had enough for a few more weeks yet, really - because the experience of driving it is generally so positive.  The reaction of total randoms puts a smile on my face every time I go out in it.  Some people know what it is, lots don't, and generally it's met with surprise and smiles rather than jeers.

 

Even better, the more I'm using it the better it's getting.  Whether that's the car actually getting better as everything settles back in or me adjusting to it I'm not sure, but I do know it's not a car that likes to be left idle.  Use it every day and it's usually perfectly happy.  Leave it alone for a week or two and it can be a chore.

 

Oh yeah, and the MoT is on Monday.

[plasticvandan]

use makes things better

[320touring]

Tremendous:)

[Felly Magic]

Good luck with the MOT and glad you are at a current winner status with the wedge