1980 Austin Princess mild custom - 1951 Lanchester LD10

[darrenh]

this is the tool you need to make sure you are completely able to sheer rounded off brake unions

www.amazon.co.uk/Stanley-Ratcheting-Wrench-discontinued-manufacturer/dp/B0001IWCMK/ref=sr_1_sc_2?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1416940101&

[vulgalour]

Right, another update for you. I've been a busy bee working from home so Mike has been fettling in between other customer cars to get the Xantia sorted. The suspension used to take 30 seconds to rise from low, Mike believes it's now taking about 10. The nose end is still lazy, but instead of just being slow to rise it does so in a jerky motion... we're going to lubricate that height adjuster which should put paid to this issue. That means that the suspension is now rising far better than it was, which bodes well, and no LHM is coming out which bodes even more well.

The brakes are quite responsive, I am told, though there is a squish noise at the pedal. It's not as loud as it was and can be heard even with the engine off, it seems to be related to the pedal itself rather than the braking system now so we'll investigate that.

To celebrate all this good stuff, one of the gear linkages decided it didn't want to stay on the ball joint properly and has become irrepairable, so we have a replacement on order. Oh, and we found the ball joint tool... in my brother's garage 100 miles away in Derbyshire.

le sigh.

[djefk]

Et le Renault et le Princess?

[vulgalour]

Renault arrives next year, this is reliant on getting the Xantia sorted out because I need it to be the tow vehicle. That also means I need to get a tow bar fitted (£85-100 for a new one, DIY fitting) and I need to pass my trailer license because my standard license won't cover me for the weight of the Renault.

The Princess is waiting too, mainly for the welding to be done. The Xantia has taken priority because it's supposed to be my reliable daily transport, it's just been a bit French lately. Once the Xantia is sorted the Princess should be able to come into the unit again and get things like the welding - boot floor, rear sill, rear floor pans, front floor pan, rear arch - sorted and the easier jobs of replacing that front displacer and the rebuilt head. Then there's Hydragas fluid to buy, a Hydragas pump to buy or pay for the services of, a full underbody derust and Waxoyl and sorting of the rear brakes which don't work properly. the Princess needs more work than I'd like and it too likely won't be ready until next year. Ideally I'd have the money to pay the garage to perform a full restoration on the Princess, I'm at the point where I don't really want to do all the work on it myself, but I'm just not that flush and learning to do the work myself will also help the garage out as I can then be hired to do similar work on other cars.

I know the Xantia isn't the most thrilling of my cars to read about, but it does usefully illustrate why I much prefer older, simpler machines and gives me far more patience for the jobs I do have outstanding on the Renault and the Princess.

[vulgalour]

Pictures this time. First of all, a picture of the clutch plate. Changed it really as late as I could before damage happened, this is the flywheel side and while the flywheel was free of scores you can see with the single rivet that's started to go shiny that it wouldn't have taken much longer for it to start scoring.


On the pressure plate side the rivets were much more worn.



The brake pedal squelch described to me is much more of a spring-covered-in-oil sort of noise and barely audible, so I'm not worrying about that. The suspension rises seemingly properly now, it's not 'jerky' but it goes rise-pause-rise-pause-rise until it gets to the correct height. Even better, the front end sits higher now than it did without having to go past the proper setting. Tyre pressures are a bit off and I've got some positive camber on the front which is most likely just due to the car being up in the air. The car isn't filling with water even though it's sat outside in the rain, but it does feel a little damp. I noticed that the skinny outer door seal that goes around where the window frame seals has deformed on the rear driver's side and on lifting it free, on lifting it off the rail it sits on I found it was absolutely full of mud and grime so I'm pulling the whole thing off, straightening it as best I can and then reseating it anew.

Overall, I'm much happier with how the car is now. Even the front end comes up to the proper height, no longer having a saggy nose, as you can see in these rough pictures.




All feels like it's on the right path. But it seems the number pad might be dying now as a couple of the numbers are pretty stubborn. Going to have to see about replacing it I think.

[orangecords]

Number pads are reprogrammable. Just change the code to not use the sticky buttons. I did that with a 306 a few years ago-1,9 and 8 were the only ones that weren't goosed so 1981 it was lol
It's easy to find how on tinterweb

[Brigsy]

The squishing sound is pretty normal from the brake pedal from memory. You can do away with the keypad immobiliser - simply disconnect it when the engine is running and its gone until reconnected.

The best way to replace the bottom balljoint is to take the hub off fully, clamp it in a vice and use a massive set of stihlsons. Shock the end of the stilsons with a hammer and it will crack off, they are mega tight. The socket tool isnt very good at removing them, but necessary for refitting. Been there done that

[vulgalour]

orangecords: I didn't know that was possible, definitely going to look at doing that, especially since I know someone that knows what they're doing with electrical things.

Brigsy: I know I can do away with the keypad but I don't want to. It's one of the few features on the car that stops it being completely anodyne, and call me strange (many do) but I like having to put a secret code in to start my car, it appeals to my inner sci-fi loving child.

Good tip on the ball joint, let's hope it's not a complete nightmare of a job when we attempt it this weekend. That is if my parts have arrived of course.

[vulgalour]

PRINCESS NEWS

That's what you've all been waiting for, hence caps. Had a bit of a fettle tonight and found the battery hasn't got quite enough oomph to fire things up, everything else is working fine as expected. Tomorrow, we either drive or push her into the unit so the welding can continue.

Surprisingly dry inside considering the car has been sat outside in all weathers without a cover. Hopefully I won't get kicked out of the unit before the work I need to do is completed, especially as I'll have to drop the petrol tank, a job I'm not looking forward to.

[tineca]

How's the xantia clutch going? Been waiting for an update

[Deleted]

So with the keypad, disconnect with engine running, strip it down and clean the contacts and housing, rebuild, reinstall.

[grifterkid]

Nice to hear the Princess is getting some love soon, superb!

[vulgalour]

tineca: Xantia clutch is done, LHM is done, but I'm still waiting on the gear linkage rod thing arriving so that I can select gears. At the minute, the car is stuck in a gear but I don't know which one so it can't be driven until the rod arrives.

@richardkc6: That's possible, I've learned they can be dismantled. I've got a known working replacement heading my way in better condition so I'll hopefully just be able to swap it out. I'll be sure to clean up the old one off the car anyway, from what I gather it's the micro-switches that are the problem.

[vulgalour]

We are in the unit!



Just this little bit of woe to sort.



Collective brain picking time on a starting issue.

Spark - good at all relevant points, experiencing no issues electrically
Fuel - getting as far as the carburettor for definite, carb has been dismantled twice today but nothing is blocked or stuck and the internals are very clean.
Pipes - Same way around as when the car was running last, so they're in the correct order.

So why will the car only run when you blast Easy Start down its neck? Once it's burned up the Easy Start it stops running.

Could the fuel have gone so bad in a few months that it won't ignite? That seems unlikely but I can't see what else might be the issue.

[tickman]

Dec 6, 2014 19:52:27 GMT vulgalour said:

Could the fuel have gone so bad in a few months that it won't ignite?

Modern fuel goes off very quickly (months as compared to 'old fuel' which still is usuable) and could be part of your problem. Is the spark strong? possible issues with damp could be affecting things. Also realistically the car may be in a huff with you for the amount of time it has been 'neglected' or just jealous of the time spent on fixing the clutch on the Xantia!
Either way glad it is in the unit now for work.

John

[vulgalour]

It does like having a strop. Chances are I'll turn the key tomorrow and it'll fire up without me doing anything.

[baconlord]

Replace engine with V8

Love the Xantia always have been a fan of 90's French stuff, the numpad key is very James Bond.

[djefk]

I know you think I sound like a stuck record Vulg but fitting the standard issue DJEFK retro classic "step 1 kit" of Lucas Gold coil, a set of 8mm silicone ignition leads, NGK plugs and one of thos £30 accuspark electronic ignition kits off ebay would mean that times like this you'd be 98.56666666% sure it'd be down to fuelling rather than ignition ?

[vulgalour]

The more I explored upgrading the ignition components and the way I use my car the less convinced I am that it's the best route for me to take. There are enough stories of upgraded ignition failure, owners reverting to points and condenser and repeated failure of electronic ignition units become costly that I think it would be foolish for me to ditch a system that works for a system that might cost me more than I can afford to invest.

I think it's a car/owner thing. Some owners and cars get on with the upgrade and some don't, for me points and condenser works perfectly fine and I'm not at a point where I need to change that just yet. It's also FAR cheaper to put right when it does fail than the upgraded version, very important for my shoestring budget.

I'm also 99.9% certain the current malady is a fuelling issue. The more info I've received on the forums and wider internet, the more it points at a blocked jet and duff fuel. I'll run the car from a jerry can of fresh fuel first, then clear out the jet with the air line and try again to eliminate the fuelling side. If it is electronic then it's going to be harder to find as all components on that side of things check out as being healthy, and having had the car running from Easy Start - effectively a separate direct fuel feed into the air intake, bypassing the possible blocked carb jet - points at there being fuel rather than spark issues.

But hey, you know this car well enough by now to know it's always a 50/50 chance of it being something utterly bizarre and not at all what should be wrong that's causing a problem!

[Rich]

Dec 7, 2014 2:42:38 GMT vulgalour said:

The more I explored upgrading the ignition components and the way I use my car the less convinced I am that it's the best route for me to take. There are enough stories of upgraded ignition failure, owners reverting to points and condenser and repeated failure of electronic ignition units become costly that I think it would be foolish for me to ditch a system that works for a system that might cost me more than I can afford to invest.

I think it's a car/owner thing. Some owners and cars get on with the upgrade and some don't, for me points and condenser works perfectly fine and I'm not at a point where I need to change that just yet. It's also FAR cheaper to put right when it does fail than the upgraded version, very important for my shoestring budget.

I'm also 99.9% certain the current malady is a fuelling issue. The more info I've received on the forums and wider internet, the more it points at a blocked jet and duff fuel. I'll run the car from a jerry can of fresh fuel first, then clear out the jet with the air line and try again to eliminate the fuelling side. If it is electronic then it's going to be harder to find as all components on that side of things check out as being healthy, and having had the car running from Easy Start - effectively a separate direct fuel feed into the air intake, bypassing the possible blocked carb jet - points at there being fuel rather than spark issues.

But hey, you know this car well enough by now to know it's always a 50/50 chance of it being something utterly bizarre and not at all what should be wrong that's causing a problem!

I've had no problems with the 'red cube' ignition system from eBay on the MGB and they are cost effective enough that I just keep another in the car should it even fail. I've had more issues than anything with everything else, but that little red cube just keeps on working. I wouldn't take everything the Internet says as granted..