1980 Austin Princess mild custom - 1951 Lanchester LD10

Right so, we have the Renault back at home now rather than at the unit. This is really useful as I now have all the bits of the car in an easy to get to location next to internet access so I can tinker or do larger jobs at my leisure much easier. No more the 8 mile round trip just to do a quick five minute job! Today, Mike and I pushed the Renault out onto the drive so we could have a bit of a sort of the garage and I could get the hosepipe into the rear arches to clean them out properly, the water pressure at the unit is very low so I couldn't do a great job there. Front arches proved to be quite clean as I'd had excellent access when the wings were off to really scrub everything properly.

I wasn't really expecting quite as much mud as I found.


What was nice was discovering just how solid everything really is. The trailing arms and some of the inner wings could do with a lick of paint and some protection to keep things this way but it's all remarkably good. Check out my green rear shocks that were previously just mud coloured.








I pulled out the strips of aluminium that had been used as mud guards. I haven't binned these as they'd actually done a remarkably good job of keep the mud out of the upper reaches of the rear arches, there was barely anything above them.


Repeat the hosing and scrubbing on the other side, remove yet more mud.


Same story this side. You can see the metallic blue of the bodyshell (which I'm now fairly certain is a replacement) and just a hint of the car's original metallic green on the trailing arm mount.


Again, the inner arch is in very good shape. What's confusing is that there appears to be no repairs or rust holes in the inner arch but there are substantially sized patches rivetted to the inside of the bodyshell. I had thought this was a single-skinned piece, perhaps it isn't?




Filler neck looked quite new compared to everything else, I wonder if it was replaced or if they just last really well.


After all the gunge and sludge had been flushed out as best I could we pushed the car down the drive to clean up and I put the other screw into the driver's door arm rest so it stays in place when you use it now.


I also found out that the missing switch is for the rear screen demister. So I'll need one of those since mine appears to be wired up, there's just no switch present.


I wondered if there's supposed to be a cap or a plug for the trailing arm mount. I flushed all the mud and rust flakes I could out of the hole. Everything appears quite solid just devoid of paint. I'll get this area cleaned up and given a coat of something to keep it solid, I've been told this is one of the main weak points on these cars and I'd like to keep mine as solid as I can. They look a bit flakey in the photograph but they're really not, I gave them a good poke and it's just the remnants of underseal, mud and detritus stained with some surface corrosion.








No expense spent on the one not-Michelin tyre. How cheap must this have been in the mid-90s? Marshal 777


The tracking on the front is off, I think this is because there's no engine or gearbox in there. Lots and lots of toe in and positive camber which can make the car difficult to push to begin with. All the hubs spin quite freely though the brand new brakes on the front definitely need to bed in a bit.


Replaced the bolts fixing the ball joints to the wishbones that had got bent and installed them the correct way around. These are high tensile steel so should be fine. I was surprised the brake dust shields were still servicable as they're made from wafer thin steel.




The floor is remarkably sound, well undersealed for the most part and relatively free of mud. This is a good thing.


I have enough space in the garage to walk all the way around the car and work on the engine. I'd forgotten about my little blue trolley, it's ideal for moving the engine about. Didn't get as far as doing any measuring today, it was all about getting the Renault settled into its new house.

I've been out of action since the last update with my recurrent back problems.  Not been completely idle, that's not in my nature, but been severely limited in what I can do.

Renault - all I've found so far is that the crank has 5 thou of wear, evenly, on all the journals.  This was discovered when I got hold of a set of standard measurements.  It's likely going to need a regrind if only to match the relevant bearings.  Because of my back, I've not been able to do the next stage of measuring.

Princess - oh this has been fun.  I ordered some compression olives to get the hydragas pipe sorted.  What arrived were what I thought were all 12mm fittings.  On checking through, three are the 1/2" ones I wanted, the rest are all 12mm, so I'm talking to the company I ordered them from to find out if I need to send them back to get proper replacements or not before doing anything else.  As soon as the suspension is inflated again I'll be booking transport for the Princess so it can come home where I can steadily get through the wiring and whatnot needed for MoT.

Rover - continues to be brilliant.  The only problem really is that leaking thermostat housing, turns out the norm is to replace it when you disturb it because it's such a rubbish design.  I'm waiting on details of a metal replacement which doesn't have the same issue as the plastic version, for now I'm just keeping an eye on the coolant level and topping it up as required.  One thing I did discover is that the seats are magical.  I've mentioned before that the car suits me really well for comfort and seating position and although my back has been really bad lately, the worst in years in fact, the seats in the Rover help.  The shape of them is such that a steady drive to do errands - unfortunately, I can't escape my self-employed responsibilities - means my back is supported in such a way that it gives me considerable pain relief.  This was very unexpected and enormously welcome today, I now have a comfy seat to use when things get unbearable.  Yet another reason to keep the old thing and throw money at it, this one factor makes it a very special car for me.

Today I also spotted this immaculate 1989 Camaro.  I've never seen one as clean as this, it was stunning.  Luckily the owner appeared just after I took the snapshot and we spoke briefly enough for me to express just how nice a thing I thought it was.

Nice Camaro, just like my old one - I miss that car

Fog lamp requirements is first used on or after 1st of April 1980. So you'll probably need one..

That Renault really is the most solid I think I've ever seen. At the very minimum it wants soaking in clear Waxoyl wherever you can get it to reach.

Keep up the good work! :-)

The ones I've got will fit the requirements fine, they're a pair so fitment is a bit more lenient than a single and they sit nicely on the back of the car, just got to drill a couple of holes so I can bolt them on.

----

Chompy and I spent some more time with the Princess today. A visit to Pirtek with some measurements got us a lovely new hydraulic repair section rated to deal with higher psi than the Princess suspension is under. It cost about £60, which wasn't too bad considering it's a fully custom piece.


We turned it around so the 45 degree bend is at the schrader valve end so that it fits. You can just about get the original air box on but I'll likely swap it to a smaller air filter of some description, the original is always awkward to deal with.


After that was fitted and tightened up we got the suspension reinflated again. It's likely the suspension will be lifted a little further than this just for the sake of clearance at the front, but we want it to settle out first to make sure it's where it needs to be.








We got the car running briefly after having issues with a battery that doesn't want to hold a full charge and the throttle cable sticking fully open. We used the Picasso to provide more boost to the battery, re-gapped the points, checked the condenser was installed correctly, found we had fuel getting to the carb and spark to the plugs. However, the car wouldn't run unless we put fuel directly in the carb so it looks like the carb needs cleaning out... again. Not too surprising, the car has been sat mostly idle for two years. Bit closer to an MoT at least.

That, for me, is pretty high praise The 3/4 views on this car now are just how I wanted them to be, I'm excited about getting the paint actually finished off and matched properly post-MoT. I always knew there had to be a good design hiding in the Princess, just a case of getting rid of just the right amount of froufrou they were lumbered with from the factory.

I'm at that point where I don't want to change anything now apart from tiny little things like removing the boot lock. Overall, it looks right and balanced in a way the Princess never does in stock trim. It's a strange feeling, but a satisfying one.

Once the exhaust is gone and the paint sorted, I think that's going to be one of its best angles. Boot debadge is a given, I've got another boot lid I'm going to smooth and paint to replace the green one, I just haven't got around to doing that yet. I also need to rig up a remote release, probably cable because that's what I prefer, so I can smooth the boot out completely and tidy the rear end properly.

My to do list is very short:
clean out the carb
bleed brakes
solve oil leak from sump/gearbox blanking plate
trim arch returns so they don't catch the tyres
fit number plates
Fit and connect fog lights and number plate light and clean headlight connectors (got some halogen upgrades ordered, should be arriving in a few days)
tracking (front looks to be toeing out a bit)
fit replacement passenger side repeater
replace missing/dead bulbs
buy and/or fit air filter (not sure the original will get past the pipe repair)
fit exterior door handles and interior door trims on passenger side

Honestly, there's barely anything to do. The rust, wheel bearing, handbrake and rear brake efficiency have all been fixed to the best of my ability. The only other MoT items were an insecure CV joint and steering rack but I've been unable to find where that problem actually is or any items that are loose so I'm a bit confused on that one.

Its almost as if up until now the princess has been a waste of a good design. With all the trim removed along with the wheels it seems to look more like the original design idea, I'm sure Harris Mann would be pleased.

Looking forward to more updates