1980 Austin Princess mild custom - 1951 Lanchester LD10

If you live near I would teach you to do it but unfortunately you are too far away.
I'll burst your balloon now I'm afraid - if it's tight then something is wrong. There is no 'slackening off' to get it loose again (unless you have massively over torqued an end cap in which case the shell will be damaged - so back to square one).
I'd possibly think of looking for a replacement engine instead? probably cheap enough if you can find one.

If you want a chat about engines you can PM me for my number, happy to go through any questions you have and to advise on stuff.

Good call on the caps, got the T shirt on that one!
If it is just a mixed up cap you can get away with just a new set of shells.

It's probably the worst thing about owning obscure things - getting parts.

On a side note, you will have to probably get the engine out again (if it's the shells), so perhaps a swap to an engine more common/known runner, isn't the worst option. Quirky will only go so far and wears off when you're stuck on the side of a motorway.

Hopefully it's just a simple problem to fix when you get into it.

The bent pushrods and weird cam timing make me wonder if some bits inside were making contact when it was turning over on the starter?

Keep the mojo up!

I'm hoping on the tightness front it's something 'external' like the flywheel or something, a 'mate' of mine engine swapped his Skoda Felica from the N/A AEF to an Turbo AAZ one weekend, and left both the VW gearbox shim on and then fitted the Skoda gearbox adaptor and the engine wouldn't even turn if you towed it. I'm really hoping something like this is occurring, rather than something like the shells have slipped. I've enjoyed this thread, and you are so close! Don't loose faith now.

mmm cider.

Have a look here. Www.Renault4.co.uk

Then have a look here. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/182212989309?clk_rvr_id=1074656908606&utm_campaign=campaign28&item=182212989309&affiliate.trackingId=5336652905&lgeo=1&utm_medium=CPC&affiliate.networkId=9&utm_source=Trovit&vectorid=229508&rmvSB=true&ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F710-53481-19255-0%252F1%253Fff3%253D2%2526toolid%253D10040%2526campid%253D5336652905%2526customid%253D%2526lgeo%253D1%2526vectorid%253D229508%2526item%253D182212989309%2526affiliate.trackingId%253D5336652905%2526affiliate.networkId%253D9%2526utm_source%253DTrovit%2526utm_medium%253DCPC%2526utm_campaign%253Dcampaign28%2526srcrot%253D710-53481-19255-0%2526rvr_id%253D1074656908606&clk_rvr_id=1074656908606&utm_campaign=campaign28&item=182212989309&affiliate.trackingId=5336652905&lgeo=1&utm_medium=CPC&affiliate.networkId=9&utm_source=Trovit&vectorid=229508&rmvSB=true&ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F710-53481-19255-0%252F1%253Fff3%253D2%2526toolid%253D10040%2526campid%253D5336652905%2526customid%253D%2526lgeo%253D1%2526vectorid%253D229508%2526item%253D182212989309%2526affiliate.trackingId%253D5336652905%2526affiliate.networkId%253D9%2526utm_source%253DTrovit%2526utm_medium%253DCPC%2526utm_campaign%253Dcampaign28%2526srcrot%253D710-53481-19255-0%2526rvr_id%253D1074656908606&ul_noapp=true

If you are feeling brave the 5 turbo engine swap.....

Yes yes I know it is a Renault 6 not a 4 but they are basically the same under the skin...

This is all a little tongue in cheek - hope what ever the problem is you fix it quickly, cheaply and effectively.

But just think about making a Renault 6 Gordini....go on... Just for a minute.....mmmmmm.....

P.

Well, it IS French..
It wouldn't be in character if it all went according to plan.
Please don't follow their lead and surrender.

Also, I had a quick look for bearings in our systems here, but couldn't find anything with your 1181 motor? What year/series etc is it from?

Rover
Having a little well earned rest while I give my brother's Applause some exercise. I do not mind this at all, the Applause is a bit of a giggle.

Renault
On hold until I have access to engine moving tools in a couple of weeks.

Princess
Could it be? Is this an actual update of things that have happened with this car? Why yes, yes it is! This is posted on several forums, so I may repeat myself a little while I fill in the gaps for those forums I haven't updated.

The running problem was narrowed down to three causes, the first being the brand new condenser on it's way out (after about a mile of use), the second was that the ignition timing was way off and the third was that the plugs were in the wrong order. Forums are super for flushing out helpful people and it was one such that came along and diagnosed this and sorted it and got the car running in about half a minute if that. So big thanks yet again to Scaryoldcortina. Reason for the timing and plugs being muddled was me getting into that terrible spot where you know there's a problem and you try and fix it only to find whatever you do makes it worse and then you can't remember how it all was to start with.

In turn, that meant I could finally move the Princess under its own power which is vital for the last bit of welding. The clutch is now VERY noisy and doesn't work very well, it's been less than great for the past four years and I do have a new clutch kit to go on so I'm hardly surprised it's finally given up. The duff condenser makes running rough but works well enough to get the car in and out of the unit until the replacement component arrives. The brakes work. I pumped up all the tyres and wobbled into the unit this afternoon so I could actually do some work on the old boat.

It was actually fun, even though nothing is really as it should be, to trundle around in this car again. After using the Rover for the past year the Princess feels enormous, and very slow, and the steering feels quite heavy. Still, we got in and Mike helped me remove the doors for the job ahead.


I spent most of today just cleaning back the mess that was the old sill. It had been sort-of-welded along the bottom edge and tacked once every 3" or so (except for the 6" either side of the B pillar where there was NO welding at all) on the top edge and then SMOTHERED in filler. There was so much filler it had oozed between the old line of the original sill and the replacement. It took a very long time to get it all back to good metal. Also removed a big chunk of filler from the sill-to-arch join which was hiding, unsurprisingly enough, some holes and thin metal. This area was up for replacement anyway and will be part of the next stage of repair.


The other area is the sill end. I'd already repaired what I could inside the car but I now need to let in some smaller pieces for the sill rail, the sill closing panel and the inner arch. I also need to rebuild the outer arch where it had rotted away. None of this is particularly complicated, it's all just fiddly little patches. I'll be making it structurally good rather than pretty because most of this won't be seen when the new sill goes on.


Finally, an overview of what I achieved. The old sill had gone very thin and was much more damaged than the driver's side (which I'll need to replace in the future, but can stay put for now since I've already repaired it). Happily, the inner sill with the exception of the above is absolutely solid and cleaned up very nicely, I was actually quite surprised there wasn't any creeping rot hiding in here.


I am quite busy with work but my schedule is more manageable this week so I'm hoping to get a bit of time in every day to do a little bit of repair work this side until the weekend when I hope to fit the full outer sill and get it painted. I'll also repair the door bottoms and sort out the blistering paint - which started showing itself as micro-blisters 4 years ago and so far has always been down to excessive use of filler - before they're refitted to the car. I'm not worried about perfect paint and finish, I just want to eliminate as much rust and rot as I can while I have things in bits.