1980 Austin Princess mild custom - 1951 Lanchester LD10

[Rich]

Jan 13, 2015 20:24:28 GMT vulgalour said:

I really should get some fresh metal to play with, at the moment I'm relying on a spare bonnet.

That won't help because if the old panel is galvanised it is difficult to weld. The flip side is that it lasts longer as a repair patch. I used a 206 bonnet to lash up some E36 sills once. Was such a pig to weld well as getting the galv off was a 'mare.

[vulgalour]

Galvanising was hit-and-miss on the Princess. My theory was that by using a bonnet from the same car I'm welding it to I stood a better chance of having the metals liking each other. It's easier than welding a Citroen at any rate, though having said that just about anything is easier than welding a Citroen.

[blackpopracing]

Fresh steel welds much nicer than old stuff.
Careful welding anything with galv on it, it produces mustard gas!

[vulgalour]

I'm being sure to take plenty of regular breaks so I'm not trying to do this all in one go inside the car, some areas have produced some really noxious smells which I'm sure would be very bad for me if I didn't take regular breaks while doing the job. Irritatingly slow work as a result.

[vulgalour]

Delivery for the Corsa today:
OEM radio with code and book
Offside door mirror casing in excellent condition and the correct unpainted finish
X2 sunvisor clips. I ordered grey ones but now I think I might actually need light beige ones. I've sourced some beige ones too but I shan't buy them until I've checked if the grey ones are correct.
X2 door mirror glass with normal magnification.


Just waiting on the wheel trims and HBoL arriving now. Car comes into the unit probably this weekend to make the fettling a bit quicker and easier as I can do it out of the weather, particularly useful when it comes to getting the paint tidied and machine mopped.

[vulgalour]

Thought I was better today so tried out some time at the unit. I am not better, this is something I have learned the hard way. Some progress was made. First up, those door mirrors. Even though I was the most careful person in the world I still managed to crack both of the old ones on removal, it became evident straight away why the passenger one wasn't working as it was missing entirely the large adjuster bracket.





After evicting a dead wasp and partially built mud nest in the driver's mirror housing I fitted the new lenses and casing. Camera ate some photographs. Never mind. Anyway, since my HBoL arrived I could find out how to remove the gear lever gaiter, snipping through the tie wrap that holds it to the gear knob once I'd unclipped the base from the centre console.





Easy pattern piece to replicate and I've already got the materials to do it, shouldn't be too tricky. This old thing cannot be allowed to remain.




My suspicion that I'd bought the incorrect colour sunvisor clips was found to be correct, they weren't grey they were just mucky, one of the few things that were. I'll buy those pale beige ones I got on order because these grey ones look really out of place when fitted.





Sunroof winder also surprisingly grebby, but cleaned up with no bother. Sunroof still not leaking and fully operational. Gave the sunvisors a wipe over, again they weren't that bad anyway. Carpet got a quick vacuum but it was too cold and I was too ruined to do a proper job, I'll save that for another day.





Didn't get as far as fitting the proper radio or taking the aftermarket one out, but I did at least give the knobs a proper clean. Looking forward to installing this.





Finally, on the aesthetic side of things, got the brand new number plate fitted and what a massive difference it makes to the front end! I've kept the old dealer plate just in case.





My last job was to get the multimeter out. A healthy 14.1 volts at the battery with the car running, dropping to 13.9 when you turn everything on. I'm fairly certain the starting issue is down solely to the starter motor and, as chompy advised when I quizzed him, a possible sticking bendix

[vulgalour]

Because I'm too utterly fubarred to go with Mike this weekend on the 800 mile round to collect a car - work stuff, not interesting here - with the Xantia he determined to sort out the radio. I knew the theory of disabling the alarm module which I passed on and Mike found quite a lot of water surrounding it under the carpet where nobody had realised it was sitting. Alarm bypassed, radio given a fresh fuse and tunes back, which is a pleasant novelty after having several months of just diesel car noise for company.



Seems likely that it's something to do with the fan heater letting water in from outside and pouring into the passenger footwell of the Xantia, another text book issue that we'll resolve... later. For now the passenger seat has been removed and the carpet will come out in the next few days to get everything dried out properly before tackling whatever the problem is.



Water ingress into the boot was also found to be a missing bung which appears to have fallen out. Fresh one installed today again by Mike to hopefully resolve that issue.

[vulgalour]

Today was my first tentative return to doing work after some hideous week-long illness. Didn't want to do anything too demanding so turned to Nugget to get some of the smaller jobs sorted. Can't do anything on paint due to temperature levels and can't get particularly involved on cleaning the engine bay as I'm still a bit wobbly.

What I can do is a few smaller jobs in the cabin. I'd already sewn the new gear gaitor together taking the original as a template and stapled the vinyl back to the plastic frame at the unit so it could be put in place. To fit, you have to turn the gaitor inside out and sort of fit it upside down... makes sense when you do it.


There's a channel on the bottom of the gear knob that the tie wrap sits into. Pull the tie wrap as tight as it will go and snip off the excess. This is exactly how the original was fitted and I shan't argue with that.


Then pull the whole thing down and clip it into the centre console. There's a bit of fiddling to make sure the vinyl edges are tucked away. The gaitor seems to sit very puffed up compared to the old one, probably down to it being brand new. I imagine with a bit of use it'll sag and stretch a little to look less new. I know it's the right size as I compared the finished article to the original, but the original had all the stiffness of a twenty year old tee shirt.




I did give the gear knob a scrub afterwards too, turned out it needed it but looked less dirty when it was sat next to the old gaitor. With that bit done I turned my attention to repairing the seat bolster. Used the nearest grey thread I had and stitched the tear closed as tidily as I could. Ideally, I'd like to replace the seat or cover but for now I just wanted it a bit tidier and less likely to tear further.


After comparing the beige clip I got to the originals I decided to go with the grey ones I bought as they best matched what was inside the car. I think the original trims are a sort of beige but have discoloured with age, the beige sunvisor clips looked far too bright next to the visors and headlining, the grey ones are less offensive.


Prized the remains of the tailgate badge out of the handle so I can get a proper match for it, no joy so far. The badge I had bought was from a later Vauxhall, too big and curved, I really just need the domed bit that sits in the middle. When I find the right size badge I'll buy it. Turns out only the very early Corsas have this type of tailgate handle, after a couple of years Vauxhall performed a minor facelift changing the bumpers and the tailgate handle to a very slightly different design.


That's it for now.

[tineca]

A bit of carbon fibre wrap carefully trimmed woul smarten that b post lovely

[vulgalour]

Princess update.

Finally got the floor corner finished today.  I've got the welder working how I want it to, I'm feeling far more comfortable with the quality and strength of the welds I'm putting down and while they're not professional-pretty they also don't look like bird droppings. Adequate for an amateur.  After going around and sorting out a few of the areas I wasn't as happy with I cleaned up the area and put the strengthening beam in and got some seam sealer on everything on the inside.  I even managed to clean up the underside as I got the car sat higher now I can actually jack it up.  Not the best picture, but it shows that there isn't a hole.  Top coat of paint still to apply.




I've marked the replacement outer sill ready to cut and tidy.  Before I fit that I have to repair the inner and outer arch and fabricate a closing panel for the sill end as the original had completely rotted away.  Since I should have repair panels that are the right shape for the arch and sill repairs it shouldn't take me as long to weld up, I'm hoping to have this corner finished and possibly even painted in a couple of days time.

[vulgalour]

Checked the front brakes on the Corsa and there's plenty of meat on the discs and pads so I've no worries there.  I begin to think there's nothing actually wrong with the brakes, I'm just used to the Xantia's discs all round.  I also got about a third of the Corsa clayed before the weather put paid to those efforts.

Before the Corsa fettling I was doing the onerous task of removing the sodden carpets in the Xantia.  I'd already mopped out two pints of water at home and today after spending a few hours removing seats and trim I eventually got the carpets out.  Driver's side was lovely and bone dry, passenger side had a further 6 pints hiding in the carpet foam and sat in the foot well!



I've got both front and rear waterlogged carpets draining into a bucket, it looks like there's another 2 pints still to come out.  It would seem the problem is the scuttle trim on the passenger side of the windscreen which was loose.  That's now been siliconed back in place and the carpets left out of the car until I know everything is dry and the leak is cured.




I'll get the carpets fully cleaned before they go back in.  I found 2p in the centre console, a mango-and-orange lip balm from THE PAST and a lot of dust and dog hair so at least I'll be able to tidy all that up.  The only real annoyance is that now I've unplugged and replugged the seat airbag sensors the airbag light itself won't go out.  I'm guessing if I disconnect and reconnect the battery it will and if it hadn't taken me about 5 hours to strip and refit and de-water the interior I probably would have bothered to do that today.

Looks like I'm back to running two jobs again, which is always absolutely knackering, but it'll be worth it in the end and it's only going to be for a few weeks.

[darrenh]

good work matey, that gear gaiter came out well. the standard "leather effect" material is thin as tissue paper as standard which would explain the business at the top

p.s just twigged the allams of epsom. thats allam as in jeff allam of 1980s/1990s btcc fame

[vulgalour]

Hadn't realised there'd be something so random as a BTCC connection to Nugget, consider that my new thing learned for today! Speaking of, my new badges arrived and turned out to be precisely the right size and close enough to the original design to be acceptable. Tailgate looks much improved now.


The proper wheel trims arrived too. I'm always amazed how much difference the right wheel trims can make to a car, they've made such an improvement on Nugget's overall appearance that I'm very happy with them.


Hoping to be wheeling the Princess outside soon so Nugget can come in for paint detailing, it's just too cold to be doing it outdoors at the moment, especially with much of the work being fiddly stone-chip repair. So, the Princess then. I'm actually really excited about the progress made today because it's ALL positive.

My first job of the day was to strip down the remains of the orange donor car.  I've salvaged the wing that's good where my damaged one is bad (and vice versa) so I can splice them together later and a couple of other bits.  There's a chap in Germany who needs this part for his LHD Princess (yes, really!) more than I do, my valance is slightly more solid than this just a little bent here and there.


I don't have a picture of the spare driver's door I brought in to repair.  It's in slightly better condition than the door fitted to the car, but only slightly.  I've cleaned it up and worked out what needs replacing but I have no easy way to make the long bits of rectangular metal I need for the repair, could really do with a guillotine.  The repair to the door is super simple, but I expect it'll warp if I think about it too hard let alone attempt to weld it.

Next, my Winter Beater of Distinction sticker for the bonnet.


Made a start on the scruffy rear arch.  It's pretty solid, all I've done is blitz it with the flapwheel and weld up the trim holes so far, I've got various small sections to patch back in to finish this off before top coat.  For now the metal is protected with some weld-through primer.


The most awkward bit to weld in was the sill closing plate.  I put this in before welding the outer sill on and I didn't enjoy doing it at all.  Plenty of seam sealer to keep the water and dirt on the proper side of it and to give a nice smooth finish.


Offered up the outer sill section and found it welded in really easily, surprisingly so!  You may recall that the old sill had been bashed in and given a lot of filler that I didn't know about which means the profiles aren't a perfect match.  Welds ground back lovely, I feel much more confident about getting a consistent bead now and while a little filler will be needed it's not too horrendous.


Top edge is fastened down and just needs neatening up with some seam sealer.



The bottom sill rail needs welding together to pull everything nice and tight.  I feel like I've broken the back of the bit of the car I was dreading the most now and have a lot more confidence about doing the rest.


I'm not worrying about making things pretty yet, I just want it all solid with as much rust chased out as possible.

[vulgalour]

Urgh, today was no fun.  I found that the trailing edge of the sill wouldn't sit close enough to the bottom rail.  I should have checked this when I first fitted it and I'm not sure why I didn't.  The problem turned out to be part of the curve on the sill closing plate was a fraction of an inch too big.  Could I get in with tools?  No, of course I couldn't.

Off with the sill repair, a tweak and a trim of the closing plate and I offered the sill back up again, this time it fitted a bit better.  While I was at it I also took out what I could of the dent in the original sill so the two parts line up without that step.  Silver lining I suppose.  I also fabricated a repair panel for the bottom 2-3" of the arch where it meets the sill.  I haven't the means to make the repair in one piece as it's a bit complicated with the curves and whatnot and spare panels just don't exist which means two or three smaller patches cunningly snipped so I can fold and weld them into a continuous piece.  All that time reading and enjoying welding and fabrication porn has helped me understand this task a lot better.

Will all my pieces set and me on target to get the corner finished today bar top-coat paint I was feeling pretty positive about it all.  Got the welder all set up, cleared my work space and set to... zzaapstackatacktacka...  One tack, and not a very good one at that.  Now, last time I'd done the welding there was a moment when it played up a bit and just made this staccato noise as it welded badly, I'd put it down to needing a break which I took, after which the welder was fine.  Today it was down to the gas bottle being completely empty, couldn't get anything out of it at all.  I could have carried on without the gas, but the welds were going to be ugly and I suspect not as strong.  I decided to be sensible and down tools.

Rather than get too huffy I had a good tidy up of the inside of the car, everything has been a bit rushed and I've been struggling to find decent chunks of free time to really get through the work on the Princess.  Clearing out the cabin meant I could properly inspect the floor and reminded myself of the dent that had appeared in the passenger floor pan shortly after it was taken for inspection for welding after she failed her MoT last year.  Happily the metal hadn't split and judicious application of the universal adjustment tool saw it bashed out pretty well so there wasn't a big lump sticking in or out of the floor.  There is another smaller dent further forwards which has split the floor pan, no rust on show so I'll knock this back and give it a tickle with the sparklestick to make it good again before painting and undersealing.

After that I had a think about what was actually left to do.  Since the car was so recently in daily use and I hadn't gone mad taking it apart I knew I was still likely to be able to get everything done by the end of February.  There's probably a week's worth of full-time work to get it all done properly, especially if I have someone to help me with things like the brakes and suspension.  So here's the list.

Welding
Several small patches on the passenger floor pan, nothing more than about 4" square
One large patch on the driver's floor pan.  Happily I have a good section of floor liberated from the donor car for this
Reattach sill end and spot weld bottom rail
Rebuild rear arch inner and outer

Electrical
Refit rear wiring loom - I've got a good spare which has already been modified for the towbar I will fit later
Fuel pump.  I'm fed up of the mechanical one leaking and have admitted defeat, I've got a spare blanking plate for the new head and I'll get a suitable electric pump wired in somewhere tidy and as much out of sight as possible
Check fan switch, I recall this was being a bit funny

Mechanical
Strip and rebuild the rear drums again to try and get the handbrake working properly
Replace front sphere and pump up hydragas
Swap later rocker cover onto rebuilt head with good thermostat housing and fit in place of existing head with knackered stem seals and knackered thermostat housing
Fit carburettor/manifold heatshield to try and alleviate fuel vaporising issue
Bleed brakes, a job overdue by at least 12 months now

Trim
Refit carpets and seats and anything else that needs to go in
Purchase appropriate trim clips to reinstate C pillar trims
Reattach sill trims
Weld up remaining arch trim holes
Weld up door mirror mounting holes


When that's done I can get an MoT booked.  It's not that scary a list of stuff to do really.

[vulgalour]

Didn't get much time on the Princess today. Acquired a new gas bottle and then found that it didn't have the right fitting for the regulator we've got so I'll have to try again, or get a different regulator or something. Rookie error that one.

I had mentioned in a previous update the repair I'd started to do on the rear arch. I've also splashed a bit of orange paint on to keep the moisture away from the metal I'd previously primed, I've got no beige in at the moment and this was the nearest to a match I had. As you can see, with that first bit repaired at the bottom of the arch the rest of it is pretty straightforward if a little fiddly.





Okay, so I can't do any welding. I've got brakes, suspension and engine on my list for attention instead. Could not be doing with messing around with brakes today, and I haven't a pump accessible for getting the car back up once I've replaced the sphere so engine it is. I was going to swap the head over for the rebuilt one so the first job is draining the water out. Which somehow evolved into me removing the radiator, and the front grille when the bonnet release cable decided to break a clip and not work. I now know how to get my bonnet open if the cable snaps in the future, which is handy.


Battery needed to be disconnected so I thought I might as well remove it... and the tray... and the three horns (why are there three horns?), and the expansion bottle... A lot of degreasing action happened too.


With all that lot out I could clean up the scabby bracketry too. Pleased I did this as the battery clamp had some really thick, really flakey powder coat on it which I've now removed. Took an age to clean up the battery clamp. Everything primed I went to put the top coat on and realised just how cold it was when the paint just refused to cure and mostly wanted to run straight off the metal slowly. I'll finish these another day then.


I brought the expansion bottle home, it's disgustingly mucky.



This engine bay used to look a lot cleaner than it does at the moment, I want to get it back to being clean again if I'm doing engine work in there. A few localised bits of degreasing and a few tiny areas that need a bit of paint touch up should see it all shipshape. I may have to unwrap, tidy and rewrap the wiring loom too, there's a few non-factory connectors I don't like the look of and some wiring from the old electric fuel pump that needs sorting out and labelling correctly ready for the new one going in at some point. I'll also give the halogen headlight set I've got a whirl, they're quite old and could even be worse than the sealed beams currently fitted.

[dodgerover]

Does the princess loom run the headlights through a relay? If not it might be worth adding a couple with supplies direct the battery for improved light output.

[vulgalour]

I think it does, but I can't remember off the top of my head. I will check. The headlight wiring needs looking at anyway, there's some snap connectors that don't look original that I want to get rid of.

[Rich]

Feb 2, 2015 21:54:06 GMT vulgalour said:

I think it does, but I can't remember off the top of my head. I will check. The headlight wiring needs looking at anyway, there's some snap connectors that don't look original that I want to get rid of.

Haha, it won't have. It's best to build it It While you tidy the loom, that way you can add it all in with a dedicated relay box rather than loose relays and tie it all away nearly into the loom. I did it as a sub-loom on the mgb, subsequently the mg has the best headlights in any car I have ever owned, hands down. Admittedly Part to do with relays, part bulbs and part excellent PIAA headlights, but It's better than my HID projector equipped hyundai, for serious.

[vulgalour]

Relays are basically magic.

[grifterkid]

Feb 2, 2015 20:57:50 GMT vulgalour said:

I brought the expansion bottle home, it's disgustingly mucky.

DISHWASHER...!!!

Good work with the metal wizardry Vulg', that Princess will be a solid old Wedge very soon indeed...

Keep on keeping on, we're all rooting for you and then some!