1980 Austin Princess mild custom - 1951 Lanchester LD10

Galvanising was hit-and-miss on the Princess. My theory was that by using a bonnet from the same car I'm welding it to I stood a better chance of having the metals liking each other. It's easier than welding a Citroen at any rate, though having said that just about anything is easier than welding a Citroen.

I'm being sure to take plenty of regular breaks so I'm not trying to do this all in one go inside the car, some areas have produced some really noxious smells which I'm sure would be very bad for me if I didn't take regular breaks while doing the job. Irritatingly slow work as a result.

Thought I was better today so tried out some time at the unit. I am not better, this is something I have learned the hard way. Some progress was made. First up, those door mirrors. Even though I was the most careful person in the world I still managed to crack both of the old ones on removal, it became evident straight away why the passenger one wasn't working as it was missing entirely the large adjuster bracket.





After evicting a dead wasp and partially built mud nest in the driver's mirror housing I fitted the new lenses and casing. Camera ate some photographs. Never mind. Anyway, since my HBoL arrived I could find out how to remove the gear lever gaiter, snipping through the tie wrap that holds it to the gear knob once I'd unclipped the base from the centre console.





Easy pattern piece to replicate and I've already got the materials to do it, shouldn't be too tricky. This old thing cannot be allowed to remain.




My suspicion that I'd bought the incorrect colour sunvisor clips was found to be correct, they weren't grey they were just mucky, one of the few things that were. I'll buy those pale beige ones I got on order because these grey ones look really out of place when fitted.





Sunroof winder also surprisingly grebby, but cleaned up with no bother. Sunroof still not leaking and fully operational. Gave the sunvisors a wipe over, again they weren't that bad anyway. Carpet got a quick vacuum but it was too cold and I was too ruined to do a proper job, I'll save that for another day.





Didn't get as far as fitting the proper radio or taking the aftermarket one out, but I did at least give the knobs a proper clean. Looking forward to installing this.





Finally, on the aesthetic side of things, got the brand new number plate fitted and what a massive difference it makes to the front end! I've kept the old dealer plate just in case.





My last job was to get the multimeter out. A healthy 14.1 volts at the battery with the car running, dropping to 13.9 when you turn everything on. I'm fairly certain the starting issue is down solely to the starter motor and, as chompy advised when I quizzed him, a possible sticking bendix

Today was my first tentative return to doing work after some hideous week-long illness. Didn't want to do anything too demanding so turned to Nugget to get some of the smaller jobs sorted. Can't do anything on paint due to temperature levels and can't get particularly involved on cleaning the engine bay as I'm still a bit wobbly.

What I can do is a few smaller jobs in the cabin. I'd already sewn the new gear gaitor together taking the original as a template and stapled the vinyl back to the plastic frame at the unit so it could be put in place. To fit, you have to turn the gaitor inside out and sort of fit it upside down... makes sense when you do it.


There's a channel on the bottom of the gear knob that the tie wrap sits into. Pull the tie wrap as tight as it will go and snip off the excess. This is exactly how the original was fitted and I shan't argue with that.


Then pull the whole thing down and clip it into the centre console. There's a bit of fiddling to make sure the vinyl edges are tucked away. The gaitor seems to sit very puffed up compared to the old one, probably down to it being brand new. I imagine with a bit of use it'll sag and stretch a little to look less new. I know it's the right size as I compared the finished article to the original, but the original had all the stiffness of a twenty year old tee shirt.




I did give the gear knob a scrub afterwards too, turned out it needed it but looked less dirty when it was sat next to the old gaitor. With that bit done I turned my attention to repairing the seat bolster. Used the nearest grey thread I had and stitched the tear closed as tidily as I could. Ideally, I'd like to replace the seat or cover but for now I just wanted it a bit tidier and less likely to tear further.


After comparing the beige clip I got to the originals I decided to go with the grey ones I bought as they best matched what was inside the car. I think the original trims are a sort of beige but have discoloured with age, the beige sunvisor clips looked far too bright next to the visors and headlining, the grey ones are less offensive.


Prized the remains of the tailgate badge out of the handle so I can get a proper match for it, no joy so far. The badge I had bought was from a later Vauxhall, too big and curved, I really just need the domed bit that sits in the middle. When I find the right size badge I'll buy it. Turns out only the very early Corsas have this type of tailgate handle, after a couple of years Vauxhall performed a minor facelift changing the bumpers and the tailgate handle to a very slightly different design.


That's it for now.

Princess update.

Finally got the floor corner finished today.  I've got the welder working how I want it to, I'm feeling far more comfortable with the quality and strength of the welds I'm putting down and while they're not professional-pretty they also don't look like bird droppings. Adequate for an amateur.  After going around and sorting out a few of the areas I wasn't as happy with I cleaned up the area and put the strengthening beam in and got some seam sealer on everything on the inside.  I even managed to clean up the underside as I got the car sat higher now I can actually jack it up.  Not the best picture, but it shows that there isn't a hole.  Top coat of paint still to apply.




I've marked the replacement outer sill ready to cut and tidy.  Before I fit that I have to repair the inner and outer arch and fabricate a closing panel for the sill end as the original had completely rotted away.  Since I should have repair panels that are the right shape for the arch and sill repairs it shouldn't take me as long to weld up, I'm hoping to have this corner finished and possibly even painted in a couple of days time.

good work matey, that gear gaiter came out well. the standard "leather effect" material is thin as tissue paper as standard which would explain the business at the top

p.s just twigged the allams of epsom. thats allam as in jeff allam of 1980s/1990s btcc fame

Urgh, today was no fun.  I found that the trailing edge of the sill wouldn't sit close enough to the bottom rail.  I should have checked this when I first fitted it and I'm not sure why I didn't.  The problem turned out to be part of the curve on the sill closing plate was a fraction of an inch too big.  Could I get in with tools?  No, of course I couldn't.

Off with the sill repair, a tweak and a trim of the closing plate and I offered the sill back up again, this time it fitted a bit better.  While I was at it I also took out what I could of the dent in the original sill so the two parts line up without that step.  Silver lining I suppose.  I also fabricated a repair panel for the bottom 2-3" of the arch where it meets the sill.  I haven't the means to make the repair in one piece as it's a bit complicated with the curves and whatnot and spare panels just don't exist which means two or three smaller patches cunningly snipped so I can fold and weld them into a continuous piece.  All that time reading and enjoying welding and fabrication porn has helped me understand this task a lot better.

Will all my pieces set and me on target to get the corner finished today bar top-coat paint I was feeling pretty positive about it all.  Got the welder all set up, cleared my work space and set to... zzaapstackatacktacka...  One tack, and not a very good one at that.  Now, last time I'd done the welding there was a moment when it played up a bit and just made this staccato noise as it welded badly, I'd put it down to needing a break which I took, after which the welder was fine.  Today it was down to the gas bottle being completely empty, couldn't get anything out of it at all.  I could have carried on without the gas, but the welds were going to be ugly and I suspect not as strong.  I decided to be sensible and down tools.

Rather than get too huffy I had a good tidy up of the inside of the car, everything has been a bit rushed and I've been struggling to find decent chunks of free time to really get through the work on the Princess.  Clearing out the cabin meant I could properly inspect the floor and reminded myself of the dent that had appeared in the passenger floor pan shortly after it was taken for inspection for welding after she failed her MoT last year.  Happily the metal hadn't split and judicious application of the universal adjustment tool saw it bashed out pretty well so there wasn't a big lump sticking in or out of the floor.  There is another smaller dent further forwards which has split the floor pan, no rust on show so I'll knock this back and give it a tickle with the sparklestick to make it good again before painting and undersealing.

After that I had a think about what was actually left to do.  Since the car was so recently in daily use and I hadn't gone mad taking it apart I knew I was still likely to be able to get everything done by the end of February.  There's probably a week's worth of full-time work to get it all done properly, especially if I have someone to help me with things like the brakes and suspension.  So here's the list.

Welding
Several small patches on the passenger floor pan, nothing more than about 4" square
One large patch on the driver's floor pan.  Happily I have a good section of floor liberated from the donor car for this
Reattach sill end and spot weld bottom rail
Rebuild rear arch inner and outer

Electrical
Refit rear wiring loom - I've got a good spare which has already been modified for the towbar I will fit later
Fuel pump.  I'm fed up of the mechanical one leaking and have admitted defeat, I've got a spare blanking plate for the new head and I'll get a suitable electric pump wired in somewhere tidy and as much out of sight as possible
Check fan switch, I recall this was being a bit funny

Mechanical
Strip and rebuild the rear drums again to try and get the handbrake working properly
Replace front sphere and pump up hydragas
Swap later rocker cover onto rebuilt head with good thermostat housing and fit in place of existing head with knackered stem seals and knackered thermostat housing
Fit carburettor/manifold heatshield to try and alleviate fuel vaporising issue
Bleed brakes, a job overdue by at least 12 months now

Trim
Refit carpets and seats and anything else that needs to go in
Purchase appropriate trim clips to reinstate C pillar trims
Reattach sill trims
Weld up remaining arch trim holes
Weld up door mirror mounting holes


When that's done I can get an MoT booked.  It's not that scary a list of stuff to do really.

Does the princess loom run the headlights through a relay? If not it might be worth adding a couple with supplies direct the battery for improved light output.

Haha, it won't have. It's best to build it It While you tidy the loom, that way you can add it all in with a dedicated relay box rather than loose relays and tie it all away nearly into the loom. I did it as a sub-loom on the mgb, subsequently the mg has the best headlights in any car I have ever owned, hands down. Admittedly Part to do with relays, part bulbs and part excellent PIAA headlights, but It's better than my HID projector equipped hyundai, for serious.