vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
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Sept 6, 2015 18:56:48 GMT
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Once I've got all the bits needed to make the Renault engine really nice I'll get that sorted. In the meantime, it's Princess time. The unit has a strict one-in-one-out policy. Actually it doesn't, but we are very limited on space. Princess got an opportunity to come in so I could replace the front displacer with tools easier to hand. When I attempted this job I was thwarted by two bolts, today that didn't happen because I had the magical grab-a-bolt-with-sharp-bits tool and a more different combination of ratchets and extensions. The pivot shaft came undone easily and was easy to knock through, though I didn't remove it fully as it needs to hold the displacer in place for a little bit first. The job was going well! So of course I was foiled by the nut on the hydragas pipe that needs to be undone to free the displacer which is so stuck it started to twist the pipe. This is a Very Bad Thing, because new pipes aren't available and have to be custom made, if only British Leyland had used something more substantial than mild steel for them.  Never mind, I could still inspect the inner arch for any damage, knock off the loose layers of paint and whatever and find a rust hole. Yay, more rust to deal with. This needs fixing too because it's in a structural area and I have that sinking feeling that it's only going to grow much worse given the overall appearance of the metal in the vicinity. I shall try and be optimistic, even though I sacked off this part of the car for today. You can see shiny silver metal through that rust hole to the top left just above the small bolt hole. Nuisance.  I needed to inspect the passenger sill for rust so I could match it to the driver's side. When I bought the car I knew it was a bit tender where the sill meets the front wing so this bit didn't surprise me beyond it being better than anticipated. Pretty easy to fix this too.  The other end of the sill was an unknown quantity. After digging out lots of fibreglass in the wrong profile I was left with a rather accurate map of the Himayalas constructed from clumsy patches. I also found two holes that were previously hiding under filler and more fibreglass. Nothing new here on this car. Don't know what I'm doing exactly about the repair here as I don't think I have a repair panel for this bit. I have got more metal to work with so I'll likely bash it into a shape something a bit more like factory and just make it look tidier than it does now.  On the other front wing I took back the filler and paint to the arch partly for the repair work needed. I decided to do the same here and was suddenly confronted with about an eighth of an inch of filler underneath a really heavy couple of paint jobs and a rather special arch repair. It's the same method I used to repair the rear arch on the opposite side but instead of cutting out the rust and filling the pie-cuts, they've just tacked this whole thing over the frilly arch lip and smeared filler on top. This is a lot of time to sort out, time I didn't want to be investing in this part of the bodywork. It should at least be the last bit of this nonsense to find on the car, I've poked every other panel and part and dug out all the rest.  Not sure if I've made progress, gone backwards or stayed about where I was today. |
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Sept 6, 2015 21:51:46 GMT
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Yaaay Princess
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It's only bodgey if it doesn't work, otherwise it's genius
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,282
Club RR Member Number: 146
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I've been exploring suspension options on the Princess and one is air suspension. It's not easy to fit to the Princess because of the way the car is made and the odd suspension set up, you can't just swap springs for bags and there's no standard location for dampers so it needs an experienced brain on the task.
Recently a UK based company actually replied to an e-mail I fired off, the first to actually bother, and express an interest as they've had quite a few enquiries about fitting BL's Hydragas/Hydrolastic cars with air suspension. After sending them a bunch of photographs, diagrams and a handful of measurements I recently got an e-mail telling me what I already knew; it's not straightforward. However, they also said that they were going to see if they can conjure up a solution. It seems that I've got someone's imagination with this.
The big problem will come if they can actually fit the car out. I just don't have several grand lying around for a custom installation so I'd need to spend a lot of time and effort getting that together. If it's possible, and if I can get the funds together quickly enough, I'll totally do it.
Of course, if I manage to fit something as exciting as air suspension to the Princess, the next big mechanical mod I'd want to do is to fit an electric motor, then it really would be special.
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As someone that's halfway through an electric Nissan Scargo, electric engines are a pain in the bum. Half our issues are new New Zealand laws but it can still get pricey. It would indeed be very very cool to silently glide along in a Princess on air.
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It's only bodgey if it doesn't work, otherwise it's genius
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
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Electric is a definite pipe dream. It's the idea of it that appeals the most there and with the improving electric charging infrastructure in the UK it's even viable to run an electric car now. Not sure what happens when it comes to things like insurance (considered highly modified) or the road tax (different for old petrol and new electric cars) and I've not bothered investigating that further because there's not really any point. Then there's the weight you've got to shift along, most fully electric cars tend to be on the small and very light side. But hey, loads of space up front for the motor and a nice big flat boot floor for the batteries out back so in theory it's a great idea.
Does the S Cargo have a build thread anywhere? I'd be interested in that.
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Last Edit: Sept 8, 2015 9:53:51 GMT by vulgalour
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Sept 8, 2015 10:06:27 GMT
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It doesn't yet but when it does, I'll post it. Its been over a year so far lol. The Scargo is 78volts DC. It has $13,000 worth of lithium batteries and a top speed of about 45-50mph. We cut out the whole space of the boot floor and filled with batteries, under the bonnet is filled with all the electrickery. The princess would be a good candidate space wise, weight could be its only issue. In nz, electric cars pay the more expensive diesel rate for road tax which sucks.
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It's only bodgey if it doesn't work, otherwise it's genius
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vulgalour
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Sept 8, 2015 17:39:26 GMT
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Curb weight on the Princess is around 1100-1200kg, surprisingly light for its size. The engine has a heavy iron block so doing away with that is bound to free up a few more kg and not having to account for the massive fuel tank having fuel in it would also lighten things up. I wonder how much the S-Cargo weighs?
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Sept 8, 2015 18:56:19 GMT
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Ours was about 960? Kgs so a bit lighter. Also only has two seats. Princess's hav enough space for something the size of a warp 9 and with the boot size you could fit more batteries and therefore run a higher voltage. I don't think you'd need as much electrickery either as your regulations are a little more lax, the g wizz is basically a golf cart after all so it could be done relatively cheaply too.
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It's only bodgey if it doesn't work, otherwise it's genius
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vulgalour
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Sept 13, 2015 18:10:08 GMT
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We shall see what the future holds, the engine is a pretty tough old thing and not too bad on the dino juice so I'm not in a rush to replace it. Electric just seems like it would be a good fit for the car's design and general futuristic idea. That and I find electric cars pretty fascinating lately. --- Chopped off that manky sill end today, bit of an awkward thing to repair. Glad I did, underneath were a few layers that were causing problems.  With the patched sill section removed and the closing plate literally pulled off because it wasn't welded on properly I could see what I was dealing with. A little bit of frilliness to trim back but it's otherwise quite good and there's enough healthy metal to weld new pieces in properly. Really, I should have chopped this out before repairing the inner sill and floor, life would have been easier on that then.  De-fillered the front wing. There was a lot of filler hiding in the bottom corner here covering a patch I already knew about. I need to cut this out and let a larger patch back in as the metal has holed beyond the repair. Shame really, the repair wasn't too bad here originally, looks like they bothered to seam weld, cut out the rot and dress it back better than the other repairs on the car.  Found a bit that needs attention at the front too. The wing shouldn't be welded to the front valance like this, there's a return lip on both that should be spot welded together. Not entirely sure what I'm doing with this bit for now beyond repairing that little hole that's appeared in the wing just at the bottom of the headlight opening.  I'm definitely moving the side repeaters. I really don't like the stock location and since it's only a case of extending some wires and drilling a hole I might as well do it while I'm doing the rest of the wing repairs. You can also see here just how much filler was hiding in the wing, much of it for no reason at all because it wasn't covering repairs or even bad metal.  One thing I am doing is de-bumpering the car. The back end looks pretty tidy without them, the front not so much because of the sidelight-indicator units. I had a bit of a think and realised that I can relocate the side repeaters into the headlight trim. You can get clear lens versions too and they'll sit in the gap above. The old sidelight-indicator holes will get plated over to finish the front end off and the bumper mounting holes filled front and rear. You can see the two little holes where my number plate used to be fixed, it will be going back there.  |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,282
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Sept 13, 2015 20:21:52 GMT
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Front indicator placement is too near headlights and too small, on reflection, but good for sidelights if I need them. I'm considering putting MG B units in the old location instead, be nice if there was something more flush-fit that was easy to get hold of for that space. I'm only thinking of replacing the originals because they stick out too far without the bumper.
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Sept 13, 2015 21:04:27 GMT
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Curb weight on the Princess is around 1100-1200kg, surprisingly light for its size. The engine has a heavy iron block so doing away with that is bound to free up a few more kg and not having to account for the massive fuel tank having fuel in it would also lighten things up. I wonder how much the S-Cargo weighs? Nooooo don't do it buy one of the old electric Bedford CF vans when one turns up and give it your treatment. Electric vehicles are tax and mot exempted aren't they? |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,282
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Sept 13, 2015 21:30:38 GMT
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Electric Bedford CF van are four of my favourite words all together!
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Sept 13, 2015 21:38:49 GMT
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I'll take mine With slot mags and lots of 70s vannin type velvet please  |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
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Sept 13, 2015 21:49:49 GMT
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But I wanted that one! Fine, I'll have the eighties bodykit, fog machine, gullwing doors and super-wide rear tyres version. In all white outside with a scarlet interior and digi-dash, obviously.
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Sept 14, 2015 18:03:14 GMT
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That ^^^ idea led to me spending far too long looking at electric cf info on the net and wondering why nobody had done a custom one.....that's a terrible seed to have planted:)
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Sept 15, 2015 18:29:42 GMT
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You need to check the abandoned thread electric cf time!
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
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Sept 15, 2015 20:50:15 GMT
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I know I saw and  What a coincidence that was! In other news, my brand new MG B sidelight-indicator units arrived and it looks like they're going to work a treat. |
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retrolegends
Club Retro Rides Member
Winging it.....Since 1971.
Posts: 3,726
Club RR Member Number: 94
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Sept 15, 2015 20:56:06 GMT
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Your wish is my command!  |
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1974 Hillman Avenger 1500DL1992 Volvo 240SE1975 Datsun Cherry 100a flying custard1965 Hillman SuperMinx Rock N Roller1974 Austin Allegrat Mk1 1.3SDL1980 Austin Allegro Mk3 1.3L1982 Austin Allegro Mk3 on banded steels2003 Saab 9-3 Convertible 220bhp TurboNutter1966 Morris Minor 1000 (Doris) 2019 Abarth 595C Turismo (not retro but awesome fun) www.facebook.com/DatsunCherry100a |
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vulgalour
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Posts: 7,282
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Sept 16, 2015 18:24:39 GMT
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Upside-down day today so I got some hours in on the Princess before work. Someone on the club is selling a bunch of Princess parts, including some complete sills, so I'm not working on those until I've collected them. I'm hoping at least one of the sills is for the passenger side, it'd save me a lot of time and effort. Instead, turned my attention to the nose end since my new lights had arrived. Found that the few small holes in the valance I was aware of have got no worse, now I have the means these will get patched properly. There's a lot of paint on the front valance too, it must have had at least four resprays judging by the layers I went through.  Chopped out the rust on the front wing and let in a section of one of the partial sills I've got that I can't use to repair the existing sill. The profile is similar enough so it was easier to manipulate this than a flat sheet. I've got to trim and fold the return and try to get the arch flare into it before filler and primer goes on. Got about half way around on filling the pie-cuts which just takes forever and welded up the little hole in the leading edge of the wing.  Offered one of the new MG units up to the hole in the valance and found the hole was ever so slightly too big. The units are also slightly curved. They do look better than the originals without the bumper, if a little too new and shiny.  When I let the new panel in I wasn't that keen on it, mocked up it looked fine, it bows out slightly to match the profile of the new units. I may have just done things clumsily. I'll be deleting the bumper bracket nobble and I may cut out this patch and fit a flush one so I start with a smooth valance. It could be easier to modify the MG light unit to fit the valance and look better. In fact, the curve of the MG unit is so minor it can probably be taken up with an extra foam gasket. We shall see I suppose.  It's progress. Progress is good. |
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Sept 16, 2015 19:45:50 GMT
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Good work going on, looking like a lot of work to fill in the pie-cuts.
Just had a thought on the indicator/side-lights - how about Triumph Acclaim ones? Dead flat as I remember but maybe hard to source.
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What a coincidence that was!
