vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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The problem with it riding this low is that the tyres interfere with the arches at the front, you're much closer to being on the bumpstops than I'd like and the sump is perilously close to the ground. Given that the sump contains the gearbox and is made of cast aluminium I don't want to be accidentally smashing that into things. Ride height is always something of a compromise with these cars. varelse: They did that on the special edition Club 100 which was also two toned. An odd special edition in that it wasn't available to the public. It had a black vinyl and pink velour interior with silver and purple two tone paint.  |
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,421
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Cut the bump stops down and space the engine mounts!
Tom
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Cutting bump stops is easy, mostly the rubber bits fall of anyway. Lifting the engine though, that's harder, the fuel pump housing already touches the bonnet insulation so if I lift the engine any further I'll have to cut an axle-wise hole in it and that's just not going to look cool at all. --- Today, before work, I had some time to do a bit more on the Princess. Annoyingly, it had sunk a bit on the passenger side again, fortunately it turned out to be the displacer nut needing an extra quarter turn. We got it reinflated and had just enough fluid to do that, I'm going to have to get some more in just in case I need to fiddle about with the suspension some more, it could be that displacer union needs a bit of ptfe tape or similar to be fully fluid tight. The new repair doesn't leak at all. I tried to fit the original air filter box and found it was about 1/8" too deep to go in past the new hydraulic pipe. I can cut the box down to make it fit, or I can get an aftermarket pancake filter to fit my SU carb, they were used on other British cars so there's some choice there and none of it is too expensive. To get to the bottom of the fuelling issue, I had the carb apart today to see if anything was blocking it. Everything was spotless inside, nothing was stuck, so I put it all back together and plonked it back on the car. First of all I made a new heat shield out of some aluminium that was donated to the cause to replace the soggy, tattery fibre/asbestos original.   Yesterday, when we got the car briefly running, the throttle cable stopped working properly. I hesitate to say it snapped because it's still connected at both ends, but it now sticks and doesn't release properly. We reckon it's frayed inside the sheath. I've not had much luck finding replacement cables but had a look on eBay anyway and found there's a good half a dozen out there so ordered one from my favourite NOS supplier, Jolly Good Car Spares which should fit better than the Peugeot one we made fit a few years ago. After reconnecting the battery and the carb another start was attempted and this time fuel was getting through to the engine and it started. Idle was incredibly rough and the car was behaving badly. After much running and fettling and checking we got the car to idle almost normally and then noticed the fuel filter isn't getting a lot of fuel through and is very dirty so we suspect a mostly-blocked fuel filter was starving the engine. A squirt of propellant in the carb intake made the car idle properly and after a few more checks it looks like we've found our suspect. It's possible the mechanical pump isn't pumping enough but as unlikely as there not being enough fuel in the car to run as it has about three cans of fuel in the tank (about 18 litres). Fuel sender isn't currently connected so the gauge can't tell me what's in there. I didn't get any further with the lights or anything else, I had to get to work, and I'm now on break to update here before going back to work again. Now that it starts and runs somewhat reliably (if badly) it's easier to focus on the niggles and eliminate them. Have a video for your trouble (click the picture).  |
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I'd debadge it but then find a little tiara badge to hat tip towards it being a princess.  Maybe on the rear pillars.  Ahem ... borrowed from Maserati .....?? |
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If you can do this much awesomeness to the Princess, I cannot wait until it's finished and you crack on with the Renault.
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74 Mk1 Escort 1360, 1971 Vauxhall Victor SL2000 Estate.
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It's good to see the progress  Fuel tips learned from many years bringing "barn finds" back from the dead...  * Fit a glass fuel filter just before the carb. You can then see any air bubbles or lack of fuel. * remove petrol cap - then use an airline to blow back from the fuel pump to reverse flush any blockages (especially if any air bubble in test above^). Investigate any blockages - I had problems for months due to a flake of crud blocking the tank outlet. * Run a new fuel line from a jerry can to the pump and try that - it rules out a lot of potential problems. * fit an electic fuel pump - even just as a short term. If the problem remains the problem isn't the original pump (I resurrected a *lot* of Volvo 340s by just replacing the pump) * stale fuel? (apologies for the obvious but just in case... ) Other alternatives? look around for a 4-leaf clover, lucky charm, or just try again on a full moon (I find facing North helps  )  |
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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Can't lift engine due to the fuel pump getting in the way, and the fuel pump suspect?
Go electric pump, then raise the engine?
I'll agree though - it now looks a lot better than BL ever managed. I keep getting visions of the Triplex 10-20 Glassback Princess when I see yours from certain angles..
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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We're not lifting the engine Might be fitting a decent sump guard instead. I'll have to get a snapshot to demonstrate how perilously low the sump is at the moment. Besides, the mechanical pump is working just fine, certainly more reliably than the electric I did have on there, if only I could stop the spacer block leaking oil... --- Another little bit of time spent on the Princess today. First job was acquiring a fistful of bulbs and a couple of fuel filters. The rear end now has the full compliment of bulbs with the exception of the fog lights which I didn't have time to fit today. When I took the old fuel filter off the flow through it was quite poor and it was quite dirty, fitting the new one absolutely transformed how the car ran.  The car is now back to idling normally and even ran off the choke. The timing still needs fiddling a little bit to be perfect, or at least as good as it used to be, but it's much closer now. I've ordered throttle cable which should be here by Monday next week which will then allow me to drive the car and the suspension didn't sink overnight so I feel confident that the hydragas leak is cured. Now I'm really down to niggles on the car. Our neighbouring mechanic had a look at the strange telescopic type play in the steering column. He suspects a worn bearing in the column so I can at least focus a bit better on where the problem might be now. I've got to resolve that for the MoT as it was one of the items it did fail on despite never having been advised previously nor having changed. The other item to attend to are the oil leaks. The first means an oil change, which is okay as it's ready for one, and is coming from this crusty looking blanking plate on the gearbox/sump side. I'm going to get all of this area cleaned up first to check it is this plate that's leaking and not something else making it look like it's this plate. I suspect it has a rubber bonded back that has failed, there's a similar blanking plate usually fitted where my mechanical pump lives.  Speaking of the mechanical fuel pump, that's leaking again. The leak is the bottom edge where the rubber spacer meets the engine which then fills up the little well underneath and oil soaks into the manifold creating a lot of unpleasant smoke.  To cure the known top end oil leaks - distributor O ring, rocker cover filler cap, fuel pump - I'm going to change the rocker cover. All the elements that are leaking go into the rocker cover and at the moment I'm using the early one from the spare head I had rather than the later one on my original head, this is mainly because I couldn't undo the bolts on the old head at the time so couldn't swap it over. Since everything that's leaking needs to be disturbed to swap the rocker cover it makes sense to do both at the same time and hopefully eliminate it all in one go. I'm not fiddling about with the headlights until my new halogens arrive, there's no point making the connectors for the sealed beams work if I'm going to end up chopping them off for new connectors for the halogens. Since I'm not sure what wiring and plugs are in the halogen kit I've decided to hold fire. The clutch has shut up completely, and the flasher relay now works without clicking furiously. Horns are still deader than dead. Overall, it's coming together nicely right now and I'm down to just having to do niggles and cosmetic work which makes me feel far more comfortable with the car as a whole. When the new throttle cable arrives life gets easier still as I can move the car about again and even get it transported home for the last few jobs if I want to. That said, I'm that close to MoT status I reckon I'm just going to book an MoT when I'm at the point I feel confident it stands a chance of passing and drive it home whatever the result. |
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,361
Club RR Member Number: 64
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That fuel pump leak is/was a common thing with the "O" series engines. It used to tickle me no end as a youngster in the 80s if you provoked someone in a Marina/Ambassador/Sherpa/whatever and they gunned it hard - after a while at high revs nearly all of them would leak there onto the manifold and when you pulled up next to them at the next set of lights there'd be panicked looks at the amount of smoke coming out of the bonnet!
My old Ital used to do it, so I fitted an electric pump instead.
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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So possibly a live-with-it kind of leak then. S'funny, I removed an electric to fit this mechanical because the electric wasn't reliable at motorway speeds. I'll likely eventually got back to a (good this time) electric if for no other reason than to tidy up the engine bay. With mine, when the engine gets nice and toasty it stops leaking so high revs aren't really a bother. Low revs and a cold engine and the oil just pours out of the bottom of the bloomin thing.
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Remove pump.
Clean all mating faces with thinners.
Get spacer block and on a flat surface (sheet of glass or similar) with a sheet of fine sandpaper rub both sides till you get a flat surface.
Two options now,
Option 1, smear all 4 mating surfaces with Hylomar and let dry - then assemble.
Option 2, same as option 1 but add a gasket made from a sheet of thick gasket paper on both sides of the spacer.
This should ensure a leak free pump.
Do a similar job on the gearbox blanking plate.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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I have done that, discovering the block is properly flat. I managed to get it to seal for the better part of 60-80 miles before it started leaking again. There's a fundamental flaw in the design, I suspect, which is probably why they did away with the mechanical in favour of an electric for the Princess and likely why I'll go back to a good electric in the future, much as I otherwise like the mechanical pump. Interestingly, the original blanking plate for the fuel pump location never leaked.
Gearbox blanking plate should be much easier.
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Without seeing properly it I would guess it's because the 2 bolts holding it on are nearer the top. As the lever is moved by your camshaft it will flex the pump housing lifting it slightly off the bottom edge.
If there is a convenient bolt nearby you could try a support plate that presses on the base of the pump to hold it tight.
EDIT;
Looking at the photo it looks like the footprint of the pump is to shallow top to bottom, this will cause it to 'rock' as it pumps. If it had a taller mating area it would be fine.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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I have much the same theory with it. If it was designed to take a bolt in the bottom or had enough material to modify it to do that I bet it wouldn't leak.
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gt
Part of things
Posts: 136
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what about making a fresh spacer out of something a bit softer like nylon, might allow a bit more give.
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andyf
South West
Posts: 415
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If you felt inclined I wonder if making up an alloy spacer to replace the rubber one is possible to stop any flexing, can`t think of a reason why that wouldn`t work? Although changing back to electric pump would be simpler.
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1980 Triumph TR7.
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The plastic spacers are usually there to prevent heat getting to the pump and causing vaporisation, alloy wouldn't do this function.
In my experience the best option is to junk the mechanical one and fit an electric one, the car also starts much easier if it has been left standing for a while.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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For now with the mechanical pump it's going to be removed, the surfaces cleaned and another sealant tried out which we've had success with on other troublesome leaks recently. We shall see. ---- Another short amount of fettling. Getting some niggles out of the way and making things a bit more complete now. The new halogen lights arrived and I'm quite pleased with them. They're not a far cry from the sealed beams in the way they look and the domed lenses are glass rather than plastic. There is a slight modification required for the inner light plug only to make them work fully. We at least got the outer lights working as they ought and narrowed the headlight issue down to the passenger side connectors to the bulbs themselves.  The passenger side door handles and interior trim was reinstated which tidies up a lot of the car interior and generally makes life easier.   Door handles look nice in original chrome so I'm not going to paint them.  You will have noticed another addition at the rear in that picture, that being the rear fog lights are now attached. They take a specific bulb type which I didn't have in stock and now just need wiring up. One almost touches the exhaust tail pipe which would be a problem if I weren't planning to change the tailpipe anyway so I don't need to worry about that.  In the boot, the wiring is tidying up nicely. Chompy has removed all the old chock blocks and twisted wires and bodge, replacing it with proper connectors that just need a bit of heat applying to the heatshrink to effect a fully tidy repair. The loom will be re-wrapped to make it even tidier and afterwards I'll be boarding out the boot to hide all the work.    Haven't done any of the other things, it got very cold and my back got very sore so I decided to be sensible and call it quits on the car for today. |
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Legally you only need one foglight.
Positioning can be in the middle or to the right of the vehicle centreline but not on the left.
Now you have removed the bumper the foglights don't really suit it, a recessed one in the middle similar to your new lights would look cool.
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Could you source a chrome ring for the inner rear lights, to make them all match? I think it would pull it together really nicely.
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) 
