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I used Hylomar and that didn't seal it, I had a paper gasket and the Hylomar and that didn't seal it, I've most recently used Rhinoseal (I think it's called) which almost did the job exceptionally well, but that too has now started to weep rather than to full on leak. I think the problem is a slight dip on the rocker cover casting that I noticed when cleaning it up. I've considered building up the face of the casting with chemical metal and getting smoothed off flat and then resealing it as the dip and the weep/leak are in the same place.
I don't especially want to disconnect the pump again because the threads in the the cover are a bit on the soft side and partially stripped on one side as we discovered when removing the original gummed up blanking plate. If I could get hold of a replacement rocker cover to refurbish and use that would be ideal, but the 1.7 isn't exactly a desirable lump and parts like that don't seem to come up very often.
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Last Edit: Apr 3, 2013 20:21:34 GMT by Deleted
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the threads in the the cover are a bit on the soft side and partially stripped on one side Thats the reason why it still weeps - not enough clamping force  |
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VW Passat GL5
VW Passat GL saloon
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I'm guessing I could tap it out to a larger thread and use fresh bolts, if that's the only problem I've got?
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That would be the issue.
It would be so easy for me to fix for you, Steel Rivnuts are what you need, or weld two bolts on the inside to make studs to mount the pump to.
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Having done a bit of research into rivnuts, presumably I find one that fits the whole in the alumimium rocker cover, push it in and the do up the bolt as usual? So it effectively replaces the thread that's been destroyed.
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Actually, rivnuts probably won't work because it's a blind hole. I'm looking at tap and dye or helicoil (bit pricey on the latter) as the right solution to this. I'm going to see if a local garage can do it for less than me buying a kit as I only need the one hole sorting.
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Yeah, take the cover off, walk into a local machining place (probably a better bet than a garage TBH - although a long-established independant with old hands on the shop floor would also be worth a try) and see if they'll Helicoil it for cash...
Might end up with a metric bolt in that one though - imperial helicoils are probably a little thin on the ground now.
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The Princess has a surprising amount of metric fittings going on as standard, BL were very keen on metric as they demonstrated later with the Metro, Maestro and Montego with their metric wheels.
The bolts that were holding the blanking plate in were metric, M10 1.5 if memory serves, definitely not UNF as normally found on UK stuff. Certainly made it easier to find longer bolts when the originals were removed and we found one had stripped the thread from previous 'restoration' attempts at the cover with the blanking plate having several layers of various sealant and paint that had to be cleaned off.
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Last Edit: Apr 4, 2013 3:49:30 GMT by Deleted
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marinacoupe
Part of things
Marina Coupe, Triumph Stag
Posts: 178 
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Deffo go with the helicoil, good permanent solution. Kits are available on EBay both metric and imperial.
M10 x 1.5 is a common size on modern cars. A local engineer or garage should be able to help for cash in hand.
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,650
Club RR Member Number: 1
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Buy a Helicoil or a Tap set. I can bet you will use them mutiple times in the future, see it as an investment.
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which would be my normal course of action, but I'm watching the pennies (like, really watching the pennies!) here so if I can get one done by someone else for substantially less than it would cost to buy a kit, then that's what I'll do.
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My replacement bonnet arrived for the Princess today. I'd got it into my head that it was white, but upon unwrapping the parcel I discovered it's actually more likely Oyster Metallic and it's from a late Princess due to the lack of bonnet badge. I'll salvage the badge off my old bonnet because it's one of the little details I like on the Princess. Now, I'm full of some sort of sinus infection man flu thing that's been doing the rounds, so really I should've left this job for another day, but instead I roped in a helper to be a second pair of hands so I can hoik the old bonnet off and fit the new one which is nice and straight, if a little scruffy. On the initial trial fit, I didn't bolt anything together. I wanted to see just how straight the hole for the bonnet was before I committed to bolting things on and, happily, I found that it's very close to how it was when I bought the car. Confident about that element, I got bolting things up, namely the four bolts holding the bonnet to the hinges and the two screws that hold the knackered bonnet rams on. A little bit of tweaking with bolt locations and bump stops saw the new bonnet sitting as well as could be expected for a non-crash damaged Princess, so to get it this good given the crude nature of my repairs was something of a pleasant surprise.  Of course, it didn't go entirely smoothly. The new bonnet highlighted what I already suspected from the slight cant of the radiator and the fact that the grille area isn't perfectly aligned which is that the slam panel is still about an eighth to a quarter of an inch too far back still. I don't particularly want to try and pull this forward any more, I got it about as far as it wanted to go with the Maestro and my plan was always to book in at a body shop to get the nose properly repaired when I have all the panel work. Instead, I removed the striker plates off both bonnets so I had use of the best one (which was from the new bonnet) and will slot the bolt holes so that I can adjust this accordingly. The release lever still catches and releases the bonnet without problem, but I don't think I could safely drive it like this. A job for another day in the near future, need a clearer head to make a good job of it.  So, without the striker unit holding the bonnet up I could make some fine adjustments to the panel alignment. Best thing about the colour of the replacement bonnet is that it just looks mucky, rather than a mismatched panel... I mean, it is mucky, obviously, but it's a less glaring replacement than, say, a white bonnet would be.  Wing gaps are about the same as they were when new, and they're fairly even side to side, which I'm happy about. The crashed side does need more adjustment as the wing is still slightly down at the nose and pushed out a little, but at a quick glance you'd only notice the bashed wing and forgive it that. Not perfect, but certainly a vast improvement on where we were with it.   Now that my bonnet doesn't have a V in the front of it, you can see how close to being right that wing profile is. I could probably correct this further with fine tuning of the bump stops and hinge bolts, but I'm delighted that it's turned out as well as this. I certainly feel a lot more confident about the way it will be received at the MoT garage than with the old bonnet.  Another step in the right direction at least, and my thanks go to Rovamota from the Princess forum for supplying the bonnet. Left to do are the new front seats to fit that bolt thread for the fuel pump and the Lotus alloys... which I've just remembered I didn't measure. I'll measure the bolt holes tomorrow, I cannot be doing with rummaging through the stores at the moment, I'd rather just sit here and enjoy my cup of tea. |
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Today, Sam paid me a surprise visit which was very welcome indeed. If there's one thing that can help a project along - apart from parts and funds, of course - it's the support of likeminded people and Sam is definitely that. His Montego is not only stunning, but a big motivation for me to get the Princess back into shape and a half day spent in Sam's company is enough to get me really enthused about moving things along properly. It's also a great opportunity to get more pictures of our old Austins together. It was getting on a bit so there wasn't a lot I could get up to, but after going for a spin in Sam's Montego it did encourage me to at least have a go at tackling the bonnet with my favourite cleaning product and a Scotchbrite/green scouring pad to see just how close to the beige it would go. I think the lacquer is probably shot on this bonnet and the paint is very thin in places, but that's no big deal since I'll be repainting it anyway. For now, I just wanted it to look tidier, which it does. I'll get the clay bar and other cleaning products on it now the bulk of the dirt has been removed and give it a protective coat of wax and/or polish just to seal it against the elements until I get the fresh paint applied.  I was surprised with this shot. Before, Dad's car was in the way but since he was out I could get a shot of the front properly and it actually looks really very straight. Tweaks are needed here and there, but overall I think this is pretty good.  I might have another go at pulling that slam panel forwards before adjusting the striker plate, I'd be happier if it were just a bit further forwards, it doesn't need much to correct it fully. Really though, you'd be hard pressed to see what has shifted with the new bonnet in place. Makes me feel very positive about the car's future.  Sam's Montego has had some work on the same corner as the Princess, though more involved, but clearly there must be something about these cars for us to spend so much attention on them. Either that or we're both completely mad.  I'm always surprised when I realise there's only about 7 years separating these two cars.  While Sam and I were shooting the breeze about all things car, a proper plan formulated for the Princess' eventual direction. I want it to be much more ostentatiously 70s, after all Sam keeps referring to me as Jason King when I'm behind the wheel, so an ivory interior and purple exterior with those Lotus alloys are the firmly set initial plan. Then ideas wandered off into other mods and eventually I'd like to put a FWD Lotus engine in this car and turn it into a 70s Lotus Princess (a thing that never was) and rebadge accordingly. It will push the car firmly into toy territory and it's a target that I'm aiming to achieve years down the line, but it'll be something with a good turn of speed, improved brakes and super plush interior that nobody will be able to miss. It will be the most ridiculous Princess ever conceived. |
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Last Edit: Apr 7, 2013 12:02:59 GMT by Deleted
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 Making some headlight louvres out of the damaged grille and headlight surrounds I kept hold of 'just in case', I both get rid of some rubbish and do something interesting with the front of the Princess. Should cost nothing to make since I've got files and sandpaper and knifes and glue and loads of time. It'll also be a fun little project. Rather than going for a plain straight across flat grille, I'll make use of the step built in to the grille and extent the steppiness into the louvres. They'll probably only be show/daytime use, I'm not sure how much they'd restrict light output, but since it's only a case of undoing four screws to swap out the louvres for the regular trims I see no reason why I shouldn't give it a whirl. |
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Apr 12, 2013 18:56:55 GMT
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Yesterday, my brother sprang an MoT on me and gave me five minutes to prepare. I had only managed to stop the oil leak on the fuel pump, fit the new driver's seat and start on the vacuuming of the interior. A quick slice of temporary insurance and off we went for a very impromptu test. I wasn't surprised that I failed, but I was surprised that I only failed on a single tyre (the emissions were corrected during the test) and got an advisory on weak rear brakes, though they did pass the required test. Today, I got a new tyre fitted and balanced, got my tracking sorted and tootled off to get a nice fresh clean sheet. The advisory also disappeared, but since I'll be fitting rear brake shoes in the very near future, that's okay. Not bad, I think, all things considered. I was hoping to go to Pride of Longbridge tomorrow with the Princess, but I haven't the time and funds to get insurance and tax sorted out to be legal for that so we'll save it for another year (again). In the meantime, the Princess will get some cosmetic attention as it seems that's all she needs and next month will be pressed back into service as my daily and, when the BX sells, my only car. I really couldn't have hoped for a better result, I'm thoroughly impressed with the old girl as were the MoT testers and even the paintshop chap passed a favourable comment, surprising considering how much like Elmer the Elephant the car looks at the moment.  |
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orangecords
Part of things
yawner extraordinaire
Posts: 892
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Apr 12, 2013 19:12:26 GMT
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That's great news!!! Glad the old girls been saved - many people would've stripped and cubed her if they were in your position. Big respect!!!
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I then wanted to start cleaning the interior as it stinks of wood (the material not the smell of a boner) best quote ever! |
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PHUQ
Part of things
Posts: 864
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Apr 12, 2013 19:31:20 GMT
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Nice one! Wasn't expecting it to come be back on the road so soon.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,980
Club RR Member Number: 58
Member is Online
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Apr 12, 2013 19:49:45 GMT
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Congrats on the pass! must be a nice feeling to have it back working on the road again after the low points and hard work to get it repaired and roadworthy after the accident |
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And Serendipity lives to waft another day...!!! BRILLIANT  |
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***GARAGE CURRENTLY EMPTY***
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