Please do go on, its interesting!
The Ambassador was heavier than the Princess and I didn't like that 'O' series engine (although it was used in the later Princess). The 1.7 was gutless compared to the torque of the old 1.8 'B' series and although the 'O' series (allegedly) had greater power, I found it was far less economical the the 'B' series. I never experienced the 2.0 'O'series.
The 'O' series had the thermostat in a seperate housing on top of the engine that was designed so that you could pull it out with your fingers. By the time it needed replacing, you couldn't budge the damn thing, so you'd remove the complete housing and take it to the workbench. You'd knock seven shades of **** out of it, before the housing would eventually break with the t/stat still stuck inside it. BL dealers always had a good supply of t/stats and housings. I learned to wiggle the t/stat every time I checked the oil.
There was an 'O' ring inside the head gasket on the high pressure oil feed for the camshaft. It seemed designed to fail after about 10K, squirting oil all over the engine bay. The head gasket was re-designed with a copper insert replacing the 'O' ring. A head off job to replace a tuppeny-halfpenny component!
They had an HIF carb. A strange device that would put the inlet manifold depression in the top of the float chamber under certain circumstances. This meant that as you started to lift off the throttle, the engine would pink like mad.
The petrol feed to the carb was also too close to the exhaust manifold. When you parked up after a long run, the petrol on the fuel pipe could vaporise, pressurising the petrol in the carb, causing it to overflow and making the car stink of petrol.
The (16 gal?) petrol tank was in the shape of a flat triangle, with the apex forward. The filler neck was in a back corner. Fill it up on a hot day and park on a slope with the front higher than the back, then the 'bubble' at the apex of the tank could expand, forcing petrol out of the filler neck (although this was also true of Princesses).
The front suspension upper arm was pivoted on a metallastic bush (a metal/rubber/metal/rubber/metal sandwich) that transmitted suspension movement to the hydragas cylinder. This bush would gradually collapse over time, causing the car to sink. It was a right pig to change. I found a workshop that was willing to give it a try and removed both my front suspension arms for them. After week they'd got nowhere, so I retrieved them and had a go myself. I resorted to using s heat gun to melt the rubber and push out the two inner metal tubes and then hacksawing a slot in the outer tube so I could smash it out with a hammer. Took me hours and broke my thumb in the process!
The front discs on mine would distort, causing bad brake judder. They were replaced a couple of times under warranty, but the problem was never cured. I resorted to replacing them every eighteen months or so.
On cold, damp days the back brakes would snatch on their first application, causing the back of the car to drop (hydrolastics) with a bang. Tried all sorts of cure, nothing worked. Learned to live with it.
The exhaust front pipe had a ball and socket joint designed to accommodate engine movement. There were a couple of springs across this joint to stop it pulling apart - they didn't. I found the earlier Princess part was a good fit and it had this joint without the springs. I fitted an exhaust clamp either side of the joint with a couple of thin metal straps under the nuts. A much cheaper and more durable solution.
Just remembered they had an electric petrol pump that only operated if the oil light was off (unless the starter was operating), presumably to prevent petrol being fed after an accident. I used to remove the wire from the oil pressure switch as an anti-theft device if I was leaving the car for a few days. I came back to the car in a car park after a couple of days away and forgot to replace the wire. The car started and got me to the exit barrier where it promptly cut out just as the barrier was descending. There was I, bonnet up, trying to re-connect the wire whilst holding the barrier up!
Edited by bathtub tom on 17/02/2022 at 22:47
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