Rich, maybe you could get a lamp in a French car park
breaker's yard for this rare UK survivor? 
Vulgalour's Vehicles - 10/03 Ignition Switch Woe
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
The headlamps appear to be the same as R16TX inner ones. If that's what they are, then you may find some decent used ones over the channel. To adjust to LH traffic, the base of the bulb itself is rotated within the backshell and can fit in either LH traffic or RH traffic position, which may prove to be a useful design feature for anyone here in LH traffic territory who needs a new lamp unit.
Rich, maybe you could get a lamp in a French car park breaker's yard for this rare UK survivor?
Rich, maybe you could get a lamp in a French car park
breaker's yard for this rare UK survivor? J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
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Grumpy Northener
- Posts: 1637
- Joined: Sun Apr 03, 2011 8:26 am
- Location: Hampshire UK
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
I have to agree with you John but they also look a very close match for the Peugeot 604 inner headlamps (but then again the Pug 604 is possibly less in numbers surviving than the Renault 6)The headlamps appear to be the same as R16TX inner ones
1937 Jowett 8 - Project - in less pieces than the Jupiter
1943 Jowett Stationary Engine
1952 Jowett Jupiter - In lots of peices http://Jowett.org/
1952 Jowett Javelin - Largely original
1973 Rover P6 V8 - Original / 22,000 miles
1943 Jowett Stationary Engine
1952 Jowett Jupiter - In lots of peices http://Jowett.org/
1952 Jowett Javelin - Largely original
1973 Rover P6 V8 - Original / 22,000 miles
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
That depends how you look at it. It's still cheaper than one LED headlamp for a modern.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
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SirTainleyBarking
- Posts: 413
- Joined: Mon Feb 14, 2011 12:41 am
- Location: Solihull, where Landrovers come from
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
I'd also ask how they measure up size wise compared to what Ford were chucking on the front of MK2 transits and Escorts
That said, not that much cheaper
That said, not that much cheaper
Landrovers and Welding go together like Bread and Butter. And in the wet they are about as structurally sound
Biting. It's like kissing except there's a winner
Biting. It's like kissing except there's a winner
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
Sadly, the Renault ones are about 1 & 1/4" smaller in length/width than the Ford ones. 
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
You are such a defeatist John. All you need is an angle grinder and some gripfill. That's how most French cars are customised
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
Loving all the links to R6 stuff and R6s, would seem there are some affordable headlights out there.
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Today I have learned that there is left-right and up-down adjustment on the headlights. For left-right there's a plastic nubbin that makes the bulb sit to one side or the other, suitable for continental travelling but may not be suitable for switching a LHD lamp for a UK MoT. The up-down is a little plastic lever on the back of both bowls and both work, that's for when I'm towing or heavily laden.
With that learned it was time to remove the wings, to do that I needed to remove the headlight trims and since I was doing that I might as well remove the grille. One tab for the grille screws had turned to powder, another screw had a rounded head and when I tried to drill it out I accidentally melted the plastic grille screw hole to the size of the screw head. One of the top locater tabs for the grille also snapped, I put the piece aside safe but then it disappeared, I hope it reappears again so I can repair it. These things happen, no matter how careful you are.
With the wings off I could get a look behind them. First thing I was faced with was a fat lazy wasp under one wing and three large not-so-lazy wasps under the other. FRIKKIN WASPS! I was also faced with a surprisingly large amount of metal, a very small amount of surface rust and enough dirt to build a second Isle of Anglesey.
There wasn't any water ingress apparent from behind the wings except for one tiny pinhole on the passenger side which will no doubt grow once I try and fix it. The wings are both replacements, one originally a pattern wing the other originally metallic green which matches the front door on the same side. They're in very good salvagable condition but feel flimsier than the NOS ones I was given, I'll probably refit the ones I removed today and get the NOS ones repainted for that day I might get the whole car shiny.
More chuffin wasps! There was another one sticking it's bum out of a trim hole in the sill on this side but I didn't photograph that.
Mike helped me set up the pushrods so we could give turning the engine a go. There's some movement but not enough to crank the engine over more than a fraction of a turn. Rather than fighting with the engine in situ we decided to remove it from the car. When we jacked up the passenger side to help with that a whole load of fresh water came out from this point, I'm not entirely sure how it had got in but I was glad it came out.
Then water started coming out of the rear end, I can't figure out how the water has even got in here, it seems to be coming out through a pinhole in the rear floor that doesn't correlate to the inside of the car, and nothing above it inside the cabin was wet or even damp. Quite a bit came out too.
To get the engine out it seemed that everything needed to come off. The wings and 'face' had already been removed, the bonnet was next, then the radiator (and I managed to snap off a plastic pipe that had fused with the rubber pipe connected to it), then the headlight panel... before we knew what was happening there was very little front end left.
Didn't get any further. Next stage is a two-man job and Mike didn't want to help any more so I went home. We're pretty much at the stage where it's a case of getting the engine crane in, unbolting the mounts, disconnecting the drive shafts and lifting it out. The whole engine and gearbox combo can fit in a wheelbarrow so it's easy peasy to do. Looks like I'm going to be doing a full engine rebuild on this one, thankfully parts are cheap and plentiful for this engine.
-----
Today I have learned that there is left-right and up-down adjustment on the headlights. For left-right there's a plastic nubbin that makes the bulb sit to one side or the other, suitable for continental travelling but may not be suitable for switching a LHD lamp for a UK MoT. The up-down is a little plastic lever on the back of both bowls and both work, that's for when I'm towing or heavily laden.
With that learned it was time to remove the wings, to do that I needed to remove the headlight trims and since I was doing that I might as well remove the grille. One tab for the grille screws had turned to powder, another screw had a rounded head and when I tried to drill it out I accidentally melted the plastic grille screw hole to the size of the screw head. One of the top locater tabs for the grille also snapped, I put the piece aside safe but then it disappeared, I hope it reappears again so I can repair it. These things happen, no matter how careful you are.
With the wings off I could get a look behind them. First thing I was faced with was a fat lazy wasp under one wing and three large not-so-lazy wasps under the other. FRIKKIN WASPS! I was also faced with a surprisingly large amount of metal, a very small amount of surface rust and enough dirt to build a second Isle of Anglesey.
There wasn't any water ingress apparent from behind the wings except for one tiny pinhole on the passenger side which will no doubt grow once I try and fix it. The wings are both replacements, one originally a pattern wing the other originally metallic green which matches the front door on the same side. They're in very good salvagable condition but feel flimsier than the NOS ones I was given, I'll probably refit the ones I removed today and get the NOS ones repainted for that day I might get the whole car shiny.
More chuffin wasps! There was another one sticking it's bum out of a trim hole in the sill on this side but I didn't photograph that.
Mike helped me set up the pushrods so we could give turning the engine a go. There's some movement but not enough to crank the engine over more than a fraction of a turn. Rather than fighting with the engine in situ we decided to remove it from the car. When we jacked up the passenger side to help with that a whole load of fresh water came out from this point, I'm not entirely sure how it had got in but I was glad it came out.
Then water started coming out of the rear end, I can't figure out how the water has even got in here, it seems to be coming out through a pinhole in the rear floor that doesn't correlate to the inside of the car, and nothing above it inside the cabin was wet or even damp. Quite a bit came out too.
To get the engine out it seemed that everything needed to come off. The wings and 'face' had already been removed, the bonnet was next, then the radiator (and I managed to snap off a plastic pipe that had fused with the rubber pipe connected to it), then the headlight panel... before we knew what was happening there was very little front end left.
Didn't get any further. Next stage is a two-man job and Mike didn't want to help any more so I went home. We're pretty much at the stage where it's a case of getting the engine crane in, unbolting the mounts, disconnecting the drive shafts and lifting it out. The whole engine and gearbox combo can fit in a wheelbarrow so it's easy peasy to do. Looks like I'm going to be doing a full engine rebuild on this one, thankfully parts are cheap and plentiful for this engine.
Re: '80 & '81 Austin Morris Princess and a '75 Renault 6TL
Update time! Burning through the jobs on this one, it's a joyous thing to work on for the most part. I've never worked on a car where every nut and bolt I encounter comes undone with minimal effort and no need for WD40 or Plusgas or similar.
The weather today has been stunning, an ideal opportunity to sort out the floors if everything is dry. The cabin was dry inside for the first time since I've known the car and given that it rained last night that means something I've done has stopped the water getting into the front.
One small section of the front wing rail needs a small patch letting in.
On examining the car today I found most of it was completely dry apart from the top of the passenger side wing rail to A-pillar juncture. This was still really wet. It was only when I hit it with the wire wheel revealing some perforations and saw water spurt out that I realised what was going on. Water must have been getting in through the gutters before they were taped, running down the A pillars and pooling in this pocket, some overflowing and going down the A pillar into the footwell on the passenger side and, given the amount of water that came out, the rest reaching a point where it overflowed and came through the dashboard. After 8 hours it was still weeping water, there must be a lot hiding in there.
One thing I did want to do was paint the hidden bits and some of the more serious rusty bits. To stay true to the car's appearance I wanted to get a close match to the faded green off the shelf but not go to the trouble of getting it mixed specially to match. I want my repairs to be visible. I chose a satin paint so it wouldn't look too new against the rest of the car and took a chance that this exterior metal paint would be suitable. No spray paint, this has to be brush painted.
After the corner had been extensively cleaned up and all perforations found I had to wait a while for it to stop leaking enough water for me to paint it. Even then, any movement of the car made more water emerge so this will need a small retouch. Still surprisingly solid here, I'm going to have to let some fresh metal in to stabilise things properly.
The other side is much better, only one perforation. The rust here is mostly caused by the accumulation of acidic conifer sheddings which was absolutely packed into this area on both sides, without that and the gutter holes this would likely need no work beyond waterproof paint.
Cleaned back the bottom of the sill too. Quite pitted but solid metal, I couldn't blow any holes through it so was happy enough to give it a top coat.
Then the floors, I wanted to get it done the first dry day I had and this was that. Cleaning all the surface rust off was easy enough but not ideal a job to do inside the car, made a lot of dust. Really surprisingly solid, there were a total of three pin holes which need a small blob of weld. For now it's all painted to keep it solid.
Next was time to get the engine out, I hoped. Really easy access for everything. I removed the front valance/undertray which is also in superb condition but does need a fresh coat of paint and underseal to keep it that way. Steering rack came out, just 5 bolts none of which put up much of a fight.
Mike put some sealant on the leaking rear window seal, that should stop all the water ingress into the cabin.
Got both front calipers off, and the dust shields which are still intact. The calipers look to be in need of a refurb but don't appear to have any glaring issues. Still a good amount of material on the discs and pads surprisingly and again all this came apart very easily.
That is, until it came to doing the ball joints so I could free the hub and remove the driveshafts from the gearbox. I want to remove all the mechanical components anyway to get them cleaned and painted and any worn out parts replaced. In the process of trying to remove the balljoints the CV boot became dislodged and leaked grease everywhere, including all over my leg and straight through my work trousers, which was nice.
Thing is, those ball joints would not budge. I've known stubborn ball joints before but these are something else. They broke the splitter!
Sod it. I was quickly running out of daylight and patience by this point so I tidied up and called it a day. Not bad though, a week of work on a car that's been untouched for 20 years and it's only just thrown a difficult job at me.
Shoved the bonnet on to protect the engine bay a bit before we shut up shop. The inner arches smell of cow poo, an unpleasant side effect of a farm car.
The weather today has been stunning, an ideal opportunity to sort out the floors if everything is dry. The cabin was dry inside for the first time since I've known the car and given that it rained last night that means something I've done has stopped the water getting into the front.
One small section of the front wing rail needs a small patch letting in.
On examining the car today I found most of it was completely dry apart from the top of the passenger side wing rail to A-pillar juncture. This was still really wet. It was only when I hit it with the wire wheel revealing some perforations and saw water spurt out that I realised what was going on. Water must have been getting in through the gutters before they were taped, running down the A pillars and pooling in this pocket, some overflowing and going down the A pillar into the footwell on the passenger side and, given the amount of water that came out, the rest reaching a point where it overflowed and came through the dashboard. After 8 hours it was still weeping water, there must be a lot hiding in there.
One thing I did want to do was paint the hidden bits and some of the more serious rusty bits. To stay true to the car's appearance I wanted to get a close match to the faded green off the shelf but not go to the trouble of getting it mixed specially to match. I want my repairs to be visible. I chose a satin paint so it wouldn't look too new against the rest of the car and took a chance that this exterior metal paint would be suitable. No spray paint, this has to be brush painted.
After the corner had been extensively cleaned up and all perforations found I had to wait a while for it to stop leaking enough water for me to paint it. Even then, any movement of the car made more water emerge so this will need a small retouch. Still surprisingly solid here, I'm going to have to let some fresh metal in to stabilise things properly.
The other side is much better, only one perforation. The rust here is mostly caused by the accumulation of acidic conifer sheddings which was absolutely packed into this area on both sides, without that and the gutter holes this would likely need no work beyond waterproof paint.
Cleaned back the bottom of the sill too. Quite pitted but solid metal, I couldn't blow any holes through it so was happy enough to give it a top coat.
Then the floors, I wanted to get it done the first dry day I had and this was that. Cleaning all the surface rust off was easy enough but not ideal a job to do inside the car, made a lot of dust. Really surprisingly solid, there were a total of three pin holes which need a small blob of weld. For now it's all painted to keep it solid.
Next was time to get the engine out, I hoped. Really easy access for everything. I removed the front valance/undertray which is also in superb condition but does need a fresh coat of paint and underseal to keep it that way. Steering rack came out, just 5 bolts none of which put up much of a fight.
Mike put some sealant on the leaking rear window seal, that should stop all the water ingress into the cabin.
Got both front calipers off, and the dust shields which are still intact. The calipers look to be in need of a refurb but don't appear to have any glaring issues. Still a good amount of material on the discs and pads surprisingly and again all this came apart very easily.
That is, until it came to doing the ball joints so I could free the hub and remove the driveshafts from the gearbox. I want to remove all the mechanical components anyway to get them cleaned and painted and any worn out parts replaced. In the process of trying to remove the balljoints the CV boot became dislodged and leaked grease everywhere, including all over my leg and straight through my work trousers, which was nice.
Thing is, those ball joints would not budge. I've known stubborn ball joints before but these are something else. They broke the splitter!
Sod it. I was quickly running out of daylight and patience by this point so I tidied up and called it a day. Not bad though, a week of work on a car that's been untouched for 20 years and it's only just thrown a difficult job at me.
Shoved the bonnet on to protect the engine bay a bit before we shut up shop. The inner arches smell of cow poo, an unpleasant side effect of a farm car.