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Jan 24, 2014 16:26:53 GMT
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dodgerover: I shan't be doing anything with the paint, new owner gets to decide that... personally, I'd put it all in the darker red which I'm told is probably Damask Red. djefk: & grifterkid: Thank you  --- Bit more progress today before it got really bitingly cold, from here on it gets fairly easy. First up got the boot bolted down and put the spare radiator I liberated from the banger car in the boot. Everything seems to line up first try, panel gaps are good and the lock works. The keys and the user manual folder thingy I forgot all arrived in the post today, usefully.  Tightened up the bolts on the rear door this side and found that it needs adjusting quite a bit to get it to sit properly. The doors are attached with six nuts and the only adjustment is in the thickness of the shim and the slotted holes in one of the top shim plates. I'll figure it out, but for now the back door sits too low at the arch edge by a smidge. There's no latch or handle fitted yet but even without them in place I can see it's wrong. Front door, on the other hand, dropped on perfectly. I decided against swapping this door with the slightly worse one on the beige car because it's a lot of work to strip them down and get the lock barrels and glass swapped over, I'll just repair the door on the beige one instead because it's easier.  Got both doors fitted the other side too which still have handles and latches fitted. The rear door bolted up lovely and works perfectly fine with no adjustment required.  Front door has the same issue as the rear door on the other side and sits slightly too low preventing the latch from fully engaging.  I bagged the window holes to finish off today. Thankfully, the previous plastic doors I'd made had kept the weather out of the car completely so these should do the trick until I get the glass back in. 
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Jan 24, 2014 16:52:21 GMT
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Fine progress, it is sad to hear you aren't keeping it though.
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Jan 24, 2014 17:26:29 GMT
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Don't worry, it's going to a very good home. A home with welding and painting skills and tools I do not possess and an owner who wants a Princess in precisely this spec and colour.
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Jan 24, 2014 22:03:08 GMT
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Nice bit of progress. I actually caught myself looking for Princesses and Ambassadors on eBay after looking at the last updates to this thread. You sir are a bad influence (in only the best way).
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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A few folk now have said that it's my fault they want to buy a big wedge. Good! --- Finally, a break in the weather! That meant I could get on with sorting out the doors. All the doors open and shut properly, the two awkward ones could probably do with some fine adjustment as you do have to slam them a bit to make them shut properly, but they go in the holes and stay there.  Panel gaps on this side are much better too, almost even all the way top to bottom. It's as good as I can get it on my own and it's good enough.  Other side sorted too, much better fit achieved here.  Fitted the two catches on the driver's side and the door handles I previously couldn't fathom just dropped on no issue this time around, weirdly. Refitted the various rods and clips as needed and actually have quite a few spare plastic plugs and clips now which I'm sure will come in handy in the future. Locks work, handles work, it's all good. Rear door quarter lights refitted which were surprisingly easy, though I did learn it's easier to fit the door top trim before fitting the quarter lights. Quarter light bars had fresh rivets put in, first time I've done that and very easy it was too, I highly recommend the Wilkinson's hand rivet gun for this job and it was £8 well spent I think. After a spot of lunch I went out again with the intention of fitting more of the doors up but the weather had changed and it was bitterly cold and threatening to rain so instead I took the opportunity of neighbour's son being available to help bolt the bonnet on and removed the carburettor so I can rebuild and clean that inside later tonight/this week. Bonnet needs a bit of fine adjustment to be perfect but it's perfectly functional as is. I'd run out of bin bags and tape so I used cling film to wrap the window holes up as a temporary measure until I can get someone to help refit the door glass.  I wanted to get a few interior jobs done but there isn't enough light to work in with the doors on the car shut so that's going to have to wait a bit. I still feel as though I'm on target for an end of February MoT attempt. |
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Just finished sorting out the carb ready to refit tomorrow. New base plate seal, float valve and float valve needle fitted, the float seems to move a bit more freely now. Hopefully this will resolve the chronic flooding issue.
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Got the rebuilt carb back on the car and had enough power in the battery to turn it over and show that it wasn't flooding petrol straight out of the air filter so I think I've resolved that issue with the new float valve needle. Binks the cat made sure to check I was doing everything correctly.  It's progress at any rate. Wheelie bin bags have kept the cabin dry and I think it's basically bolt stuff together stage now which goes fairly rapidly when the weather holds. |
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Sweet, looking forward to reading about your success.
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Feb 17, 2014 16:40:20 GMT
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The weather decided to be tolerable and I had a helper so I made use of it. Annoyingly, to get the rear window drop glass in I had to drill out the new rivets for the quarter light bars and re-rivet but other than it being a bit fiddly they went in okay. Also, the poor condition front window scraper utterly disintegrated. Happily, there were some spare channel felts in the replacement doors which, when put together with the felts from the old doors gives a full set of felts instead of a mish-mash of newspaper, draught excluder tape and tatty felts.  The bonnet CROWN had been put on with the previous bit of work but here's a picture anyway. Being an '81 it shouldn't really have one, but then it shouldn't have the front doors or seats it has either... it's still very much in the spirit of a Princess and only the most anoraky of anoraks is going to be bothered by these little details.  I didn't put the door cards and furniture back on the passenger side, I want to wait until I've put the glass in the driver's side so everything is properly weather tight first. I was going to get the driver's side glass in but it rained, started just as I got the electric drill out and pretty much put a stop to proceedings. Jobs to do: Driver's side glass Door interior furniture to reinstate Battery to refit (now charged) Replacement rear sphere and Hydragas pump up Handbrake cable to fit (in stock) Rear brake hose to fit (in stock) Rear suspension rebound straps to fit (in stock) Rear brake shoes to fit (in stock) Radiator leak to plug Hazard warning switch to wire in (in stock) Dash to fit - built up as much as it can be off the car, just needs fitting to the dash rails once the hazard switch is wired up Purchase good part-worn tyres Locate and fix exhaust blow Door mirrors to fit (in stock) The weather is the only thing stopping me making better progress and realistically it will probably prevent me from hitting the end of February MoT target./ |
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Feb 18, 2014 16:22:29 GMT
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Important progress was made today. Not only did I get the glass in on the driver's door and the door cards and furniture on three of the doors - door four was thwarted by three missing self-tapping screws and having none suitable in the Pot of Fixings - but I got the charged battery plumbed in. The dash board also doesn't need a hazard warning plug wiring in after all, for some reason I'd confused it with the fog light switch which is much easier to resolve but I didn't get as far as fitting the dashboard today though it is sat in the car patiently waiting for me to get on with it.   The important thing was this (terrible quality) video. Click on the fuzzy picture to view  The big clouds of smoke are the remnants of the oil put down the bores and whatever had got in the wrong place when the head blew, the smoke cleared steadily as the engine was run. The exhaust is blowing at the downpipe join and I think it's the cause of a very strange squeaking noise that is coming from the same general area. The engine otherwise seems very healthy with no untoward leaks or noises. To do list: fit dash board overhaul brakes - new rear shoes, handbrake cable & brake hose, bleed brake fluid fix suspension - replacement sphere & Hydragas pump up fit tyres fit glass/furniture to one door fix exhaust blow fix radiator leak Pretty satisfying what can be done when the weather behaves for a day or two. |
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Feb 18, 2014 17:05:55 GMT
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AAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lovely stuff...
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***GARAGE CURRENTLY EMPTY***
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Feb 18, 2014 19:39:36 GMT
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Congratulations! You must be grinning like a Cheshire cat. Top work.
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 745
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Feb 18, 2014 20:21:45 GMT
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So many people today take things as disposable. I am, as ever in awe when the collective of RR breath life and their Soul into a vehicle that has so many stories and adventures to tell.
Well done chap, I doth my cap to you.
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Current Fleet:
1968 Wolseley 1000
2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe
2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport
1998 318is Coupe
2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged
1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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rickyr
Part of things
Posts: 35
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Feb 19, 2014 18:25:48 GMT
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and finally she ROARS. Excellent news- you must be well chuffed.
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Feb 26, 2014 16:58:41 GMT
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I may have done a little victory pose at the top of the drive today. After clearing some work out of the way and waiting for the driveway to be clear I decided to take a brave pill and get in the red Princess and see if I could get it to move under its own power. First issue was a reluctance to start, this is probably down to the ancient fuel still in the system. Second issue I expected to be clouds of acrid smoke but that's all cleared now, the exhaust is either blowing at the front-to-downpipe join or at the middle join so I'll get the exhaust off and resealed to cure that. Idle speed is quite high too so the carb needs setting up properly since the rebuild. So....   Getting back down the drive with only one connected rear brake and front brakes that pumped fluid out the cut hose was interesting. The gear selection is lovely and smooth, the seats are absurdly comfortable and supportive, the power assisted steering is light but not overly so, the brakes surprisingly competent given their current state and the engine has bags of torque. I am delighted at this minor victory, especially since I've been a bit grumpy about my back stopping me doing the other jobs on the car at the moment. |
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Feb 27, 2014 13:11:41 GMT
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Sure your not tempted to keep this one and sell the beige one?
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Feb 27, 2014 13:30:44 GMT
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It's tempting to keep this one, certainly, but there is absolutely no temptation to sell the beige one even though this might be the better of the two cars.
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,617
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Feb 27, 2014 13:46:12 GMT
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Encouraging to have it moving again, however briefly. Congratulations!
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Feb 27, 2014 13:51:45 GMT
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Cracking stuff...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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***GARAGE CURRENTLY EMPTY***
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Feb 27, 2014 17:28:48 GMT
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Since someone appears to have turned the skytaps off for a bit I decided to make the most of it. Back is improving but still not great so I was a little restricted in what I could do; no work on brakes or exhaust today. So I stuck to some cosmetic jobs instead. I was a little over ambitious and decided to swap the wheel trims for better ones I have in stock. I only got one side done, my back did not thank me for this job. I did check the front wheel for play while I was there and found a minimal amount that could just be flex in the perished and slightly flat front tyre rather than anything wrong with the track rod ends or similar. I'll know better when I drive the car properly. Car looks better for trims that aren't so grotty at any rate.  Cleared out the boot, fitted the spare carpet and spare wheel cover and refitted the tool compartment cover. I did put a couple of boxes of spares back in but it's a lot tidier than it was with stuff just thrown in there while I was working on the car. Happier with this at any rate.  Refitted the dashboard, finally, including the top rail and the right hand ashtray which is currently keeping the telltale trims safe. Still to fit is the radio, heater control knobs and to find out if it's an earth and/or fuse issue that's preventing the telltales from lighting up correctly/at all. It'll be something obvious, it all worked before I took it apart I just need to figure out what's not working now I've put it back together again. Doesn't the dash look nice now the wood is all sorted though? I'm pleased with this. Before  After  My last job was to attempt to refit the rear view mirror into its plinth and change the sun visors for the better ones I had in stock. Didn't get both sides done, it was just a job too far for me.  |
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