Dicky’s Disastrous Debris - it runs! 25/12/24

[Joey spud]

5 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

This forum has gone to shit as far as I’m concerned, ruined by excessive moderation and various shouty people with big egos and politically correct mentalities. And barely an old car between them.

Yes I can mostly relate to that view too. 

There's a lot of weak (I'm being polite) content washing around the place nowadays.Having a 20,000+ post count doesn't necessarily mean your content or viewpoint is thererfore better than that from a new guy who posts infrequently (quality not quantity anyone?).

The front page used to be rammed with projects and progress reports.

The effort you put into chasing down long obsolete parts for this old Austin is impressive.So too are all the images you take time to post up not forgetting your knowledgeable write ups too.

I feel there is just a tiny dark corner of Autoshite left now for the lovers of genuine old tat.

Then again I may be totally wrong and i haven't been hanging around wearing my rose tinted specs in vain hoping the place would return to better times after all.

[grogee]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:16 AM, Angrydicky said:

Read “always overlooked” I often get asked which classic cars I have and you can sense the disappointment/person losing interest the moment I say that I’m restoring an Austin A70 Hampshire. They’re ridiculously unloved!

In fact, come to think of it, the only car of mine that tends to elicit any enthusiasm from your average MG/Stag/Jag owning classic car owner is my A35 and that’s only because of the historic racing series (which I have no interest in).
 

That’s a good tip about the steering box. I thought it would be a cork seal in there so was quite surprised to see the old seal was quite similar to a modern rotary shaft seal. The new one was a bit tight to fit as the corner of the casing has had a knock at some point, but I managed to drift it in ok using a drop of oil to help it slide. Seems oil tight so far. I bought the seal from AH Spares along with a new brass olive which seals the bottom of the steering box where the wires for the trafficator switch go. I’ve currently got it bunged up with a rubber grommet for testing purposes.

AH Spares is right next to where I lived (until yesterday). If you ever want me to pick something up and store it, just ask.

[grogee]

4 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

This forum has gone to shit as far as I’m concerned, ruined by excessive moderation and various shouty people with big egos and politically correct mentalities. And barely an old car between them.

TDW is like a breath of fresh air in comparison, and it’s really busy.

Other views are available.

I love this forum, whether it's different to the 'olden days' I don't know. The forum has helped me out in myriad ways; advice, parts finding or often just moral support/shoulder to cry on. 

I would like to be included in the 'politically correct' sweep of your statement, and FWIW my cars are 13, 22 and 34 years old.

Long live the beige pages.

[Angrydicky]

I’ve been here since 2009. I was 18 then. I’m 31 now. That’s a big part of my life and for a long time I was addicted and checked the forum several times a day. There were some brilliant threads back then.

I’m glad you still enjoy it Grogee. It’s nice to do things that give us pleasure. I’ll still look occasionally but don’t get the pleasure out of it that I used to. I used to dismiss people who left as flouncers, and I don’t want to be considered as such, but I felt I needed to put my point across.

[Matty]

I joined up and read the rest of the thread. Wouldn't have the skill or the work ethic to get that far. Fair play that, seriously impressive

[LightBulbFun]

hey @Angrydicky you have been papped!  

(either that or someones doing plate cloning proper 1950's style LOL)

 

I mean for once Facebook "suggested for you" is not complete Random nonsense!

[Angrydicky]

It’s been a while hasn’t it. 
I thought I was better off trying to put everything in one thread.

So firstly, how could I resist this cracking Princess 2 in finest Russet Brown?

A one owner car that had been laid up since the owner died in 1995, it’s lived in the same village virtually all its life and is completely original. The underside is like new! I got it from the son of the former owner of Goslings of Mareham who sold the car when it was one year old. He had done quite a lot of recommissioning work to it and got it up and running again but more was needed. But fortunately, no welding.

There was one major problem, the old boy who owned the car used to ride the clutch and it was completely worn out and slipping badly.

I stripped it down, found the flywheel was badly scored as it had been down to the rivets. Had it skimmed by a local engineer, fitted it all back together with new gaskets and seals and stuff and eventually got it working again. Hurrah!

That was a particularly involved clutch job. On these you can either remove the whole engine or do what I did which was to remove three engine mountings and pivot the engine over to the left and down to give the required room to get the clutch housing and the transfer gears off. At least I didn’t have to disturb the driveshafts or exhaust.

Having got it all back together, I changed the oil using Vulgalour’s recommendation of 10w40 as I didn’t know what was already in there. As the engine and gearbox share the sump oil it is important to use 10/40 as 20/50 makes it harder to get into gear.

Other jobs done recently, a bloody good clean. Replaced broken speedo cable for nos one and now the speedo works. Fitted nos distributor cap once I’d extracted the broken screw from distributor body. Fitted nos condenser, new spark plugs, air filter and copper cored Ht leads. Remade manifold to downpipe joint. One of the parts fitted by the previous owner was a full Unipart exhaust system which was a nice bonus. Freed off heater controls. And a really good tuneup.
It drives really very well indeed now. Pulls well with no flat spots or misfiring or anything like that. The suspension isn’t too bad but a little hard at the front and there’s an annoying clonk from the rear over bumps. I’ve booked it in to have the hydragas displacers replaced and the system regassed in September.

 

 

 

[Matty]

That's awesome. How do you find them? Usual ads or are you known to be into old stuff in your area so folk come to you? Congrats either road, that looks lovely.

[Angrydicky]

[Angrydicky]

Had my first proper drive of it today and it is so flipping cool! I love it!
 

 

 

[Matty]

O series as well isn't it? So bet it goes well in addition to riding nicely.

[Angrydicky]

5 minutes ago, Matty said:

That's awesome. How do you find them? Usual ads or are you known to be into old stuff in your area so folk come to you? Congrats either road, that looks lovely.

Usually I’m offered stuff. This Princess I spotted in the next village and left my phone number in case the chap ever wanted to sell it. That was in May last year, when he did finally call I had bought three more cars and not sold anything so not the best time! But I couldn’t resist it. Local car from new and 40k genuine miles. Really nice survivor.

[Angrydicky]

2 minutes ago, Matty said:

O series as well isn't it? So bet it goes well in addition to riding nicely.

Yes, 2 litre O series. Not a quick car by any means but it pulls quite well, especially with the new clutch!
I have recently acquired a very cheap towbar off eBay and it looks like the mounting holes on the Princess are already there for it. 

It just so happens I have a classic caravan that needs a towcar so it looks like the Wedge might be more useful than I first thought (the other classics with towbars on the fleet are all too weedy).

[artdjones]

They had excellent roadholding. I could throw mine around corners. 185/70/14 was a big tyre in the 70s.

[Angrydicky]

Not much left to do now really. Drivers seat has sagged badly though. I took it out and checked the diaphragm, which is NLA, and the clips, none of which were damaged. @vulgalour told me the diaphragm tearing is quite a common failure. I think on this car the  diaphragm has sagged because it’s been abused by the elderly owner pushing himself in/out of the car, there’s damage to the sill carpet and wheelarch carpet in the drivers footwell where he’s been pushing against it to haul himself into the seat and I think it must be a relic of that.

I’ve removed the seat and cut out the central part of the foam ready to glue some sheet rubber in to reinforce the diaphragm, followed by some foam cut from an old sofa cushion. I hope it works.

[Dan302]

Looks brand new underneath 🤯 

[Joey spud]

Leyland so nearly got it right with the Princess (needed a tailgate option from day one) compared to the MK4 Cortina or MK1 Cavalier these were totally different gravy.

Always loved the wedge shape in my book you couldn't go wrong with quad headlamps and a shark nose.

[JeeExEll]

I once repaired a car seat diaphram using Halfords luggage tie down straps across the metal frame of the seat. They're not 'ratchet' but same sort of idea and you can tighten the tension easily.

Google URAQT luggage tie down straps. Available on Amazon. £13 for a 4 pack delivered to your door. 

Maybe need 2 packs

Or just go to Halfords.

That Princess is in great condition.

[somewhatfoolish]

Seat diaphragms from other old shite should be bodgeable even if the anchor points don't line up completely. They're definitely available for the usual suspects, MGB etc.

[wuvvum]

That is fantastic!  I've only ever had one Princess, a 2200 HL - lovely thing to drive, if very undergeared for a big torquey low-revving engine.

[vulgalour]

That foam looks in great shape, they've normally started turning to dust by now.

[vulgalour]

On 04/08/2024 at 20:59, Angrydicky said:

Yes, 2 litre O series. Not a quick car by any means but it pulls quite well, especially with the new clutch!
I have recently acquired a very cheap towbar off eBay and it looks like the mounting holes on the Princess are already there for it. 

It just so happens I have a classic caravan that needs a towcar so it looks like the Wedge might be more useful than I first thought (the other classics with towbars on the fleet are all too weedy).

I am told by various Princess owners I've met over the years that one thing to be aware of is the Princess will squat quite badly when towing, they're just like that.  To prevent it, the usual trick is to fit an extra rubber spacer to the rear bump stops to assist the rear suspension and prevent the sag.  Makes the ride a little stiffer when you're not towing.  The squat is worse on the O series cars because the engine isn't as heavy as the E series cars, which have less of this particular issue.

[Angrydicky]

Drivers seat back in and much improved with new foam, it was starting to fall apart.

Unfortunately the clutch slave cylinder has started leaking. I took it for a drive earlier and it got steadily harder to get gears. Found clutch fluid running out of the slave cylinder when I got back.

I stripped it down and cleaned the bore up. It was very bad, deeply corroded and needed resleeving. I was prepared to rekit it, to get the car mobile again, but then promptly managed to drop it on the workshop floor, like an twat, and broke the casting. Obviously they’re quite rare, I tried a couple of the usual suspects without success but the Princess club spares came up trumps and a nos one should be winging its way over here tomorrow.

In other news, the annoying rear end clonk is the o/s cross tube bush, completely shot. A really common problem on Princesses and interestingly, my dad had exactly the same fault on his Ambassador in the late ‘90s (HWC 295Y) I loved that car but he never got to the bottom of the clonk.

Managed to also get a pair of genuine Unipart bushes from the club spares, not cheap at £45 each, but they’re not being made any more so you’ve got to get them while you can. It’s a fairly involved job to change them, involving depressurising the suspension. So it makes sense to get the Kennedys to do them as they’ll have it all apart anyway to do the displacers on it.

[vulgalour]

Actually, you can replace the cross tube bracket-bush metalastic things without depressurising the system, if you don't mind weilding two jacks and a bit of mild peril.  However, if you're having a regas it's easier to do it that way.  Don't forget to grease your pivot shafts if you can get the damned things out, apparently the Kennedys know how to do it, I'm hoping they can sort mine when I can get it over to them.  I did wonder if it's possible to put a grease nipple into the cast part of the rear suspension the pivot shaft goes through so you can keep the things greased properly, they're so bad for seizing in place even when regularly maintained.

[Angrydicky]

I’m going for the full displacer removal and refitment service and they’re going to change the bushes while they’re in there (although he is reluctant to change a good bush due to the scarcity of new items).

It’s a mobile service and they come to the house and do it here. Not cheap of course but it saves a lot of work me trying to get the pivot shafts off. I think they actually bring spare shafts with them in case they get one that won’t play ball with lots of heat and hammering!

[Matty]

I'm amazed that the slave cylinder isn't shared with anything else through the BL parts bin. Typical really. I've got bits of mini and midget all over mine. At least you've managed to turn one up though.

[vulgalour]

33 minutes ago, Matty said:

I'm amazed that the slave cylinder isn't shared with anything else through the BL parts bin. Typical really. I've got bits of mini and midget all over mine. At least you've managed to turn one up though.

The slave cylinder and the rear brake cylinders are really close to Mini, but not quite.  It's really annoying.

[Noel Tidybeard]

allegro, marina, sd1?

[High Jetter]

11 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

allegro, marina, sd1?

AR were really branching out, almost pitting Lockheed against Girling, I guess for cost. Repair seal kits used to be abundant

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, vulgalour said:

The slave cylinder and the rear brake cylinders are really close to Mini, but not quite.  It's really British Leyland.

FTFY.