1977 Leyland Princess 2200HL

[mk2polobloke]

Roll on tomorrow Brett, get them pics up!
Our resident Princess enthusiast Angyl will love this.

[lilbob]

was this the one off ebay that's in Gloucester?

[jomfun]

I love a bit of BL tin and in Sandglow too! But I'm biased.

Is it too nice to use every day?

[lilbob]

iv passed it a few times and it looks really nice well done on buying the old girl

[grifterkid]

Blimey, you are one lucky wedge owner...!!!

I can't wait to see some detailed snaps of this little gem.

[bumper3d]

I'm speechless!

Such a nice and tidy example. Never knew the 2200's were 6-pot engines.
It's always a joy seeing one of these around, and it's good to hear she has someone to look after her.

[MK2VR6]

Good lord, that's clean. I don't think I've seen one that straight and tidy since my Uncle Bill sold his 'T' plate white Princess in the mid-eighties! Quite a scoop being the second owner too; the first was clearly a meticulous man!

[goingfinn]

Wow! Lovely car.

[boltonlad]

Brilliant car - bought one of these brand new in May 1976, same model but in Tahiti Blue whilst in the army serving in Germany (so tax free). Marvellous motor - when it was 2 days old I returned to the UK on 2 weeks leave and covered 1600 trouble free miles. Only kept it for 18 months but enjoyed every minute of it. Good call - look after it. All the best - David

[djefk]

Nice Princess! are you able to share how much you paid in the end? i need to squirrel away enough for another one day.

I've never driven a 6 cylinder, how does it drive and what's a comfortable cruising speed? The 1800 B series version feels comfortable at around 70-75 mph.

Did the fuel computer work? If so then what's this beast like on fuel? If you decide the computer is definitely not going back on then I'd be interested in buying it as a complete kit!

[markgenesis]

That's absolutely stunning, really pleased to see you are keeping it standard, amazingly original car (notice it still has it's original reg plates not hideous acrylic replacements), interior is gorgeous, looks a bit too nice to use as a daily (IMO), but should be ok, i'd invest in more Dinitrol and give the paint a good coat of wax.

[markgenesis]

BTW forgot to mention i have fond memories of these too, my sister had a very early (75,76 ?) Morris 1800, the one with the raised V on the bonnet and oval chrome trim on the center of the grill, it was bright red (Vermillion ?), this was in 83 or 84, her then boyfriend wrote it off though when he ran it off the road (drunk) into a field and smashed it over a tree stump, i remember seeing the car afterwards, still looked stunning but was destroyed underneath , damned shame, Wolseley and Morris versions are mega rare now.

[varelse]

I'm sort of surprised the lord of wedges, @volksangyl hasn't spotted this yet.
Very tidy piece of cheese, this!

[eternaloptimist]

Mar 19, 2014 17:49:15 GMT gone! said:

Another busy day with it today, the electric fan turned up so i fitted it in the place of the original one only to find it needs to go on the inside of the rad as it seems to pull hot air off rather than puch cool air onto it ! great ! Oh well, i'll sort that out tomorrow.

That looks great. Re. the fan, not sure I understand what you're saying in the above - if it's now in front of the radiator, is it pushing air into the engine bay?

I'd leave the aerial in place by the way - it's extra work to patch the hole, and I think they might have come from the factory with an aerial pre-fitted. For what my opinion's worth, I'd be looking for a period Radiomobile push button radio, I think you'll find one easier than finding a blanking plate.

[joloke08]

Cant Believe Vulg hasn't commented yet!



Nice car,there's lots of old cars about but you gotta love one where it almost seems like time has stood still.

As of October this year the Paper Tax disc will be abolished,after that time all you need is a period one just to finish things off

Well Mr Vulgalor we are waiting................

[Granadaman72]

Lovely looking car and a great colour combo too!

[grifterkid]

It just keeps getting better...

Personally I would leave the aerial where it is and source a period radio (Radiomobile, Motorola or Unipart perhaps?!) as it'd be a right pain to fill the aerial hole in and finding a correct blanking plate would be tough. It'd be good to have something filling that radio shaped hole whilst you hunt for the blanking plate in question... I'd even be tempted to get the existing radio repaired and put that back in as it looks a good match for the car (you could also get it turned MP3 friendly whilst you're at it!)...

You are very lucky to have this Princess as it's got to be infinitely rare being a cross-over model between the 18-22 and Princess...?! Lucky, lucky, lucky...!!!!!!!!!

[Deleted]

Here I am! Happy to see someone has bought this, and I'm hoping to provide a few answers to things you've found on this one.

Sound system - the aerial is original, the radio looks like it is too, so if you're restoring this to original spec I'd leave those in.

Cooling - blocked thermostat or radiator are likely culprits. I found the original fan on my beige car was rubbish so I replaced it with one from a Rover and most of the time the car doesn't go above half gauge unless I'm in traffic. I also replaced the thermostat and I've flushed the system through a couple of times and that has made a lot of difference to cooling efficiency. I'm not as familiar with the E series engine you've got in there as the O series I've got, but an engine is an engine. To find out what the fan is doing, connect it and put your face/hand one side or the other to find out which way it's blowing air, then connect it to the car accordingly, but if the fan isn't doing it's job it's likely you've got a blocked system instead as this is usually forgotten.

Your pictures do this car far greater justice than the adverts which made it look damp and soggy, not a good condition for a Princess to be. You should find with regular use that switches and whatnot start working all on their own. Give the car a full tank of fuel a couple of times if you can and it might refresh the sender and get the gauge working, I had issues with the beige one with a fuel gauge that would randomly turn off completely until I'd run a couple of tanks of fresh fuel through.

It looks to sit nice, which is always a bonus, your brakes might just need a bleed through as they should inspire some confidence even compared to newer cars. Whenever you find spares you can stash, do it. Parts are only going to get harder to find, in particular the suspension spheres and not-rotten doors.

Out of interest, what economy was your device telling you that you were getting? Princesses are surprisingly economical on the go juice, and while the E you've got is the thirstiest engine it's balanced out by having a manual box instead of the auto in your case.

Oh, and obviously I've bookmarked this thread.

[Deleted]

Also, get yourself over here: leylandprincess.co.uk/forum/index.php

You don't have to be a member to join, you don't even have to own a Princess, but there's a useful amount of info on there and they'll definitely be able to get you up to speed on what is and isn't right for your car trim wise and how to get your engine in the rudest health.

[baggabones]

Love it! ....although me being me I'd have left all the old accessories in/on it....love history like that