Practically Classics Forum

Identified two causes for the non-running of the Princess. The first was the earth wire that was temporarily fixed several years ago. This is one of those repairs where it works so well when done you forget to repair it properly until eventually it fails and you're reminded. The connectors had dropped off the ends of the earth wire in the distributor.


Mike did a beautiful job of soldering new connectors on a new wire (seen here in white) as well as fitting the new condenser.


Initially the car wouldn't start. We pulled a plug to check for spark and at the first hint of a spark the car sprang to life on three cylinders which was quite surprising and unexpected! After everything was all buttoned up properly the car was started anew and seems very willing now. Ignition timing is a little off and the exhaust is blowing as expected. These things will be resolved fairly quickly though I'm not looking forward at all to sorting the exhaust out again.

The other job was to sort out the number plate brackets. I found that if you take the original brackets that fasten between the bumper and valance and turn them 180 degrees they can be mounted to the lower valance quite easily. Only got them stripped back and painted today, we need to drill a couple of new holes to fit them to the car.


Feeling very positive about the car at the moment and I'll gradually work through the electrical stuff that needs attention like refurbishing the headlights, sorting the dashboard wiring properly (a job I've put off for four years) and getting the wiring ready for the new rear lights. It's actually quite exciting to be making progress again.

Moving along nicely, I must admit that my initial reaction to the Princesses styling changes was to wonder if it is the right thing to do given that they are getting scarce. Then I realised I'm at risk of turning into an old git

I will admit to quite liking the changes though, and even if I didn't, its your car and your choice so it'd be hard luck anyway, props for getting on with and going your own way

Plans for a paint job coming soon?

I was going to keep the Princess all standard but to be honest with you, there has been that much work she's needed and it's that ordinary a model that the only interest in her from outside parties had been as a parts car. I don't intend on selling it so I'll do a Sinatra. Colour scheme will be the original beige for roof, A pillars and top half of the body with royal purple for the lower half and black C pillars to blend with the black window frames. It is a rare beastie most definitely and yet the third I've owned, one of which was so bad it was only good for parts (and I have a garage full to prove it!) and one which is still on the road having been rescued from the crusher. I feel I've done good by the old wedges I quite fancy getting an Ambassador and some Princess panels to make a proper Princess with a tailgate some day, it's doable in theory...

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Oooo, an actual Renault update! First up, good news on the head, it's not warped at all so that can go on the block happily. I've been told various other components are tired but usable, since the car is likely to only do light duties for a long time they shouldn't cause me any issues so we're going to reuse what's there and replace them if need be in the future. Couple of things holding me back from putting the engine together, the first being the honing tool being out on loan so the liners aren't ready to go in yet. The liners appear to be in good shape, they just need the carbon and muck cleaning off so things are happy on reassembly. The second issue is my back is still giving me grief and the third is that I really wanted to make the mechanical bits and pieces look nice as I work through and sort them out.

For a refresher, this is how the engine did look.




The rocker cover got a fresh coat of black paint. It was pretty tatty all over but still nice and solid. The filler cap is in great shape so that just needed a clean.


I wanted to paint the block green and then decided against it because we had some red paint and I like red and hey, it's free so why not. After taking a wire wheel to the loose stuff I applied three coats as per the instruction on the tin and got a reasonable finish. I'll go back over important mating surfaces with some thinners to make sure everything is clean before reassembly.


Plonked the rocker cover onto the head when it was dry enough to handle to keep things tidy. I'll get the new seal fitted before bolting this all back together properly.


Not the most exciting update, I know. At least I'm progressing a bit now.

True story about red engines:
Back in 1980, when ordering what was to be the first in a long line of miniMETROs and later Metros, without the mini badging, Mother chose a 1.3 over the 1.0 that would have been entirely adequate for her needs. Her logic? The 1 litre versions of the A+ were yellow and she didn't like the less pleasing contrast between that yellow and the car's (Emberglow) paintwork!
Gotta love a red engine, everyone knows they're more powerful than the yellow, green, black or blue ones.

That red paint has given me at least 5bhp, that practically doubles the power output.

vulgalour wrote:That red paint has given me at least 5bhp, that practically doubles the power output.

To cope with that earth shattering increase in power, you need the same paint on the brake calipers

There's nothing wrong with painted brake callipers. However, this guy may have gone a bit outside the lines.

Today, I volunteered Mike to rebuild my engine. This is because I've been next to useless all day thanks to my stupid spine which hates me. Still, better than sitting at home watching daytime tellybox. To kick things off, the various mating surfaces on the block were cleaned of any overpaint on the edges and parts were got together so we could start reinstalling them and making the engine look like an engine again. This all went very smoothly thanks to Mike's ultra-methodical approach to everything and the fact I'd put everything away in specific order so we didn't have to guess at where things went.


There was a bit of an issue when we found one of the crankshaft end seals in the kit was the wrong size. Everything else in the kit looks the same as what came off the car. I did wonder if the old one had shrunk and the new one just needed compressing but the new one doesn't appear to physically fit where it's supposed to go. I'll be getting in touch with Der Franzose about that one.


Not to worry, we don't need that bit as we're not ready to put the flywheel on yet. The liners were cleaned up and found to be free of steps and scores, the pistons inspected and found to have a good set of rings on all and to likewise be free of damage. Paper liners (literally paper rings that go at the bottom of the liners) of the relevant thickness for the wet liners were fitted and the task of installing the pistons began. This went very smoothly for two which were installed in the block very quickly. Unfortunately, on the other two the ring compressor slipped which let to snapping the end off one of the compression rings and deforming the end of one of the oil scraper rings. That was quite annoying. Luckily, you can get single sets of rings from Der Franzose for about £15 plus postage. I've been unable to find an alternative supplier for these at the time of writing. Even so, we got far enough that the oil pick up could be fitted and the pile of parts to reinstate has shrunk considerably.


To avoid and catastrophies, the engine was put right way up and covered until we have the piston rings needed to finish the installation. There's still other engine jobs that can be done without the piston rings being available so we can still progress with things in the meantime.

arceye wrote: Then I realised I'm at risk of turning into an old git

welcome to the club mate...