Princess 2 - 14/12 Lotus ON

[Vulgalour]

With the rear axle components off at the other half's garage to try and get the displacers free I'm still grounded, but not without stuff to do on the car. Hopefully another Princess won't come up in a breaker's yard next month, having to fork out for parts and spend hours unbolting stuff every month could wear a bit thin, I suspect.

After a tip off from a friend about a Princess in a yard in Liverpool I managed to get a couple of other Princess owners to provide me with a shopping list and head over to get many parts.  I had this picture to go off and after speaking to the people at Robcliffe's yard in Huyton, found a bit more out about the car.  I deemed it worth the 2 hour journey over providing prices were low enough and parts plentiful.

 
I thought this was a late '81 but it turns out it was actually a '79 but with a few oddities like the early dashboard with round telltales rather than the expected later one with square telltales as per my '80 and my '81 cars.  The photographs I received in addition to the above from the yard were quite flattering and didn't highlight the rot in the floors, doors and wings.  I actually ended up putting my fist (with no effort) through the front wing to remove the bumper bolt because it was that rotten, the Russet brown hid the rot remarkably well.
 
6 hours later of non-stop spannering and I'd managed to strip out almost all of the interior almost single handedly, with assistance removing some of the screws and nuts so the job could go a bit faster.  The front door cards, door seals and C pillar trims were in good order and the colour I wanted so they came out.

 
Very carefully peeled the matching vinyl pillar trims out.  There's some minor damage to them but it's hidden by things like the seatbelt boxes so I'm not worried, I just knew it would bug me if the vinyl trims in the HL didn't match the door cards.  Wiper arms were removed for another Princess owner's shopping list.

 
The carpet looked really, really good.  Until I got it home, I thought the carpet might have been a replacement but it actually looks like it's an exceptionally good quality original.  This will be going in the HL with the tidy but worn carpet in the HL being moved over to the HLS whose carpet is completely shot.  I'm not sure what the boot mat is from, it might be an Ambassador one or from another car completely.  It's big enough to be trimmed down to fit the HLS boot so it looks a little tidier than having none at all.

 

 
The rear seat base was in good order.  Fabric is a bit sun faded but it's no worse than the current brown and it's a much firmer seat.  It did get rained on a lot and there's some surface dirt to clean off.  Unfortunately, the rear seat back couldn't be removed from the car thanks to two completely immovable screws and a lack of suitable power tools and access.  I left it, grudgingly, comforted by the knowledge that the fabric and foam on the top of the seat back had become brittle and powdery.  I always have a cover on the back seat anyway so a mismatch won't show up and I'll put the better seat back in the darker brown I have back in the car when I swap the interiors over.

 
Front seats are in exceptional condition and approaching HLS comfort levels.  The earlier HL seats are made much nicer somehow, with a tighter fit and a better quality feel to the fabric facings.  One seat is very dark because it got absolutely drenched in the downpour as I'd forgotten I'd left it out in the open while I was stripping everything down.

 

 
Boot tool tray lid for another Princess owner and really good grab handles for me.  I also snagged another pair of rear light cluster covers because I suspect they'll come in.

 
Early dash with a nice enough Panasonic radio-cassette player.  I'll be swapping the wooden section and the time clock over from this with the dash in the HL.  Another Princess owner wants the parts of this dash I don't need and they'll take the square telltale dash insert that's currently fitted to the HL.  We both end up with the dash we want this way.

 
This is my favourite thing from the entire haul.  It's dirty at the moment but it feels the right size and so much nicer than the Ambassador wheel I've currently got fitted.  Leather rimmed (probably) and in very good shape.  Really looking forward to getting this fitted.

 
Many, many spare parts.  Miraculously, this car had WORKING bonnet and boot rams so I had to have those.  I don't know why there's a single spark plug in with everything, I have no idea where it came from.  The gaiter with the metal plate is like new while the one on the HL is torn and tired.  It's to prevent exhaust gasses getting in the cabin and since I get the occasional whiff in the HL it made sense to take it and besides, when am I ever going to find another?  Only got 10 wheel nut covers as several snapped on removal, this is something they seem to like to do for fun.

 
Pair of sealed beam lights which are handy as spares, chrome bezels and another pair of plastic headlight trims I don't need but are handy to have.  Pair of side repeaters I also don't really need and some unusual square door courtesy lights which I'd at first dismissed as giffer reflectors until we saw the wiring in the doors.  Yes, I plan to fit these courtesy lights into the HL's front doors.

 
Spare wheel with a brand spanking new, still bristly, Arrowspeed tyre.  My spare is absolutely ruined and I think the rim has a serious corrosion issue causing it to regularly loose air so this was a properly great find.

 
As was this!  The chrome isn't great in places and it's had spotlights or a badge bar fitted at some point.  There's also a bit dent in the front face but most importantly the bumper is actually straight and it should make the front of my car look vastly improved.  This made me nearly as happy as the steering wheel.  I was going to take the rear bumper off the brown car, but it was getting late, I was getting in the way at the yard as it got pretty hectic with deliveries arriving and cars being squashed (it's a small yard) and I kept having to be shunted out of the way of someone or something so I left it.  The rear bumper on the brown car was straight but I reckon the one on my HL is actually slightly better.

 
For other Princess owners there was a request for a steering column shroud.

 
A complete rear view with courtesy light.

 
I ended up accidentally getting a bonus choke cable because at the yard I couldn't figure out how to get it out of the column shroud.  Was quite easy once I'd got home and had a cuppa.

 
Horns for another Princess owner.

 
Early presumably electric rear wing aerial for another Princess owner.

 
 
So there we have it, my massive haul of stuff.  This was a very worthy tip off.  I didn't get enough time to remove the displacers, the front calipers or the entire nose end of the car.  However, I may be getting a friend to collect the nose end for me as where it isn't rotten it's straight and would serve well to to more of the repairs mine needs with minimal fuss.  I got an excellent price on this lot, the seats and vinyl trims were practically free, the carpet a tenner... it was all delightfully no-nonsense.
 
Of note, the yard also currently has a Nissan Bluebird, a very rotten Austin A30/5 and a Mk3 Escort van.  They tend to keep the 20+ year old stuff in for a bit longer to give people the chance to raid them for parts.  However, they really didn't know what to do with the Princess when it came in and nearly squashed it straight away.  I'm really happy they didn't.

[Vulgalour]

I had a bit of a head scratching moment recently when I realised that the telltales on the phase one and phase two dashboards are laid out differently. Went to send an e-mail to the chap that wants some of the dash binnacle to find he'd already e-mailed me to warn me of this as he'd encountered the same issue swapping from a phase one to a phase two, the reverse of what I'm doing. The main issue is the tubes that direct the light for the telltales on the phase one are straight, but on the phase two they're wiggly to go to the new locations. I have no idea why they changed this, it makes little sense, but it should be a case of stripping down each dash and rebuilding with the appropriate clocks and pipes being careful not to damage the circuit board.

Since it's easier to get the binnacle out without the steering wheel in place I reckon I'll figure this out at that point. I've got the nut for the current wheel soaking in WD40 as it's being a bit stubborn, but the Princess wheel I got has been cleaned up and is ready to go on now. In the meantime, I removed the old bent bumper and tried out the new one.



What surprised me is that the car is actually a lot straighter than I thought it was. The front bumper bracket fixing location on the left hand side actually needs bashing back as I've pulled it too far forwards which is making the bumper sit too low and too far forwards. All the holes on this replacement bumper lined up perfectly and since the brown car had no signs of crash damage I think that probably means I did a reasonable job of straightening the front end out.


The new bumper chrome isn't very good, but then this bumper was very cheap because of the condition of it. The new bumper sits further forwards, which really highlights how bent the brackets had been on the old one, it looks like my old bumper absorbed quite a lot more impact than I gave it credit for.


I need to relocate the number plate again as the new bumper obscures it hence it being removed at the moment. I also have confirmation from the scrapyard that the nose on the brown one can be chopped off for me and they'll let me know when it's ready for collection. Reasonable slam panel, top half of the valance and headlight brackets for £40 is not to be sniffed at and when am I ever going to get the chance to get those panels again? Really couldn't pass up the opportunity to get the repair section and I've gambled on getting that instead of the calipers or spheres as it's marginally more difficult to acquire.

[Vulgalour]

The weather is really slowing me down now that I have to work out in it. Although I had a friend visiting who was willing to help, neither of us could get past the fact that it was just too cold to be able to use tools and do fiddly jobs with the temperatures we've got so it was pretty restrictive what could be done. The weather might end up putting paid to the sphere swap this weekend that's supposed to be happening, as might any issues with the fixings if the spare axle I bought was anything to go by.

We did get some things done, thankfully. The seats and carpet were brought into the house for a pre-fitting clean and so I could get measurements more easily for the new seat covers I'm making good progress on. I'm now at the point where I'm putting the multicolour squares together with the black borders and I'm really pleased with how they're looking, should look right at home in the Princess.



The other thing we achieved was swapping the bonnet rams which is sensibly a two-person job. We were going to then get the interior parts swapped around accordingly but it just wasn't happening as everything was far too cold and when the wind kicked up it was even worse, like trying to work in a freezer. It's very strange having a bonnet that goes up and stays up as it ought after nearly two years of needing a prop to do the job for me.


Finally, I lowered the car all round. I don't drive it more than just round the block to warm things through and keep things free and moving. I could probably drive it further but in all honesty I don't want to. Even sitting at this height, the exhaust scrapes on the dropped kerb entrance to the drive and on any bumps you come across. Suspension isn't hard, but neither is it comfortable and while the bump-steer is eliminated now the car is the same height both sides (really the main point of the exercise), I really wouldn't recommend keeping it this way if you had a mind to. It's no fun.


Progress continues to be painfully slow and I continue to be stranded. I miss my battered tin garage, I hate having to work outside in the winter.

[Vulgalour]

Actual honest to goodness progress this weekend, happily.  After spending yesterday trying to do the job 'properly' by removing the pivot shaft and finding out there was no way that was ever going to happen, we removed the complete arm assembly on the HL much faster today.
 

 
The big bumpstop decided to fall off, so I need to glue that back on or something.  It looks like the fixing tabs are still bolted to the car, but the rubber has dropped off.  Brand new rebound straps didn't get fitted today, but they look like a fairly easy job to do once everything else is sorted out.

 
Old suspension arm with sphere removed.  I'm pretty sure it's the diaphragm that's blown but I've not had time today to investigate further so it's sat in a bowl slowly dribbling out smelly green hydragas fluid.

 
The underside of the HLS and the HL are actually in similar healthy condition, which I'm pleased about, though the HL does need to be freshly undersealed for best results.

 
The suspension arm from the HLS was in good condition, nice and dry where it needs to be and barely any sign of corrosion.

 
Comedy jaunty Princess pictures...

 

 
Everything went back together much easier than it came apart.  Highlights of dismantling was having to take a grinder to a seized brake union and finding the back plate of the HLS drum had rotted through.  Thankfully I can get spare brake parts as required and I have a good spare drum back plate from the axle I bought.
 
Bolted the HL back together but I haven't quite finished the job as the torque wrench I need is in the boot of Dad's car which is presently in Scotland until he comes home tomorrow night.  Then I'll need to set the arm to the correct level, bleed the brakes to make sure they're no air and because it's overdue and get the garage out to pump up the hydragas.  I'll probably also fit the new rebound straps, the HL straps look a bit worn so it won't hurt to fit the new ones.

 
I have a palpable sense of relief at the progress made and am immensely thankful that Mikeknight brought tools with him as well as the ability to weild spanners, I could not have done this job on my own.

[Vulgalour]

Plans to swap the whole interior were thwarted today by a troublesome wrist and hand which I've injured again recently and the weather which while mild is decidedly wetter than it was over the weekend.  I was desperate to get the dash in and tested, I didn't want all the work of swapping bits around to be for nought.
 
Initially, the indicators wouldn't work, the switches would only work sporadically and the dash wouldn't light up but some judicious wiggling of connectors and lots of switch flicking got it all sorted.  I had exactly the same issue when I first bought the HL and use turned out to be the cure.  I am now the very happy owner of a phase 1 dash and proper Princess steering wheel, two things I've wanted in this car for quite some time.


The first breaker car I visited had a wooden radio fascia hiding in the glove box which I salvaged 'just in case' and that has actually turned out to be of use. The radio that was fitted in this binnacle wasn't done quite the way I wanted it to be so I'll be modifying the wooden fascia to fit the radio in a stronger and tidier way though none of the wood itself will be visible once this is done. One modification I hope to effect is to drill another hole to the top left of the clock on the dash so I can insert a phase one telltale and bulb tube to make use of the sidelight telltale bulb that's still attached to the wiring loom and is fully functional.

[Jonny69]

I like your cat.

[Vulgalour]

That's not my cat, it's the neighbours. But she is very likable.

[Vulgalour]

Been steadily plodding along. My camera has been troublesome too so I'm low on snaps. Anyway, had a stroke of luck finding a full set of rare contrast-piping HLS seats and 2 full carpet sets in brown for £1.98 which sorts out the interior on the red car very nicely.

The carpet I liberated from the brown breaker in Liverpool has been fitted, though I have no pictures of that yet, and is very plush and new smelling and feeling which caused some problems getting things fitted properly as the old carpet was flat and threadbare. The driver's seat from that car has been fitted too and is a vast improvement over what was in though I'm still in the process of getting it set correctly.

It was too dark to get pictures or to finish fitting the other seats, but that proved useful for aforementioned HLS interior collection as the car was pretty much a van. Speaking of, the hundred mile round trip to collect the seats went smoothly with not a complaint from the HL at all, though my headlights do need realigning as they presently seem to point at the front bumper which isn't fun driving on unlit country roads when they're only sealed beams.

Before fitting the new carpet I removed the draught excluder boot that I knew was damaged, I'd grabbed the really good one from the Liverpool car 'just in case' which paid off.


The new one fitted and I can report that a lot of the oily smell in the cabin has gone now and passengers no longer complain about exhaust gas odour. I also have less issue with fogging up so it's probably cured quite a few things in one fell swoop.


Today the wheel nuts arrived and they're the correct size happily, my only issue is that the not-locking sleeve nuts have shanks that are about twice the length they need to be. I think I'll be okay just cutting the shanks down to the right length so the nut sits flush with the wheel face. I'm hoping to have a go at this before the next Retro Rides meet on Monday as I'd love to turn up with the Lotus alloys fitted.

[Vulgalour]

Got all the seats in today, driver's seat was already in place as was the lovely new carpet.


Front seat in too. Needs a bit more of a clean, but I just wanted it in the car, I can clean it properly in situ.


Unfortunately, the back seat is made up of my original seat back and the seat base from the brown Liverpool car as I couldn't liberate the seat back from that car before it got squashed. A blanket disguises this fact well enough, but I'm on the look out for a correct seat back which should be just about impossible to find.


Fitted the boot rams also liberated from the Liverpool car and applied copious amounts of WD40 to make them work as smoothly as possible. I'm not sure what's in these rams, but they feel like they have springs instead of oil or gas in them. They work exceptionally well, at any rate, so I'm happy with them.


While I was in the boot I fitted the tatty trim taken from the car I got the axle from. It doesn't look great, but it's better than having nothing there at all.


Finally, a picture of the car up at the proper height again. Looks weird because the front arch liners are removed and there's no black underseal in there. I'm going to go around and double check everything as I put on the miles, but it seems to be okay.

[Vulgalour]

After having had them on for about 60 miles, the Lotus alloys have to come off again. I've been regularly checking them for any sign of movement and up until now there has been none, but the hub is very definitely off centre by a marginal amount now (it's less than 1mm, but it's still enough to be off centre) and I don't want to risk running these wheels until I've bought spigot rings to keep them centralised. Tyres on the steels are okay and they'll see me through the winter if need be. It's a shame to not be running the Lotus alloys yet, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.