A slow start to the week. I completed the O/S waistrail beading by adding a short piece of the flat section up to the emergency door. I still can’t get a straight line across the emergency door, but it will have to do for now. Still struggling with the front mudguard too. Not sure quite what to do about that. I painted another coat of brown on the inside of the drivers door and window frame, thinking it was warm enough. It was not; the aluminium panel on the driver’s door is fine but the woodwork is decidedly patchy, so will have to be rubbed down and done again. Unexpected dry day allowed me to wirebrush two more ring sets for the wheels; these were then primed with red oxide; when that was cured, several coats of black were applied from a rattle can. Whilst that dried, attention returned to beading and I stripped the old paint from the ‘S’-shaped piece that fits aft of the last window on the O/S. I then gave the short rain deflector piece that fits above it a coat of brown on the inside. Final job of the week was to add two short, vertical pieces of beading between the waistrails just behind the emrgence door. Noted that I have only 8m of flat beading left, so will need to measure up and order more.
Monthly Archives: February 2025
23/2/2025
First job was to complete the beading for the wheel arch. In preparation for fitting it and to see what additional material was needed, I trial fitted the mudguard. This, though of the correct pattern, was a very approximate fit but I think I can make it work. It isn’t going to be perfect, but should look ok; it will require some wooden spacers, as did the incorrect one that came with the bus. It still requires some final adjustment, though, as currently it it is resting behind the rolled edge of the front dash panel which, looking at photos of other HUOs, it not correct. I corrected this by trimming the mudwing but the profile doesn’t match exactly, so I have not yet drilled all the fixing holes. I may leave that until after I have had the piece sandblasted and have primed it.
16/2/2025
A slow start to the week, wet and very cold and other tasks were diverting me but I managed to fit the new piece of half-round beading and drill and fix the remaining screws in the top waistrail beading. I then added another 1m long piece to the flat lower waistrail beading. Next job was to mark out and drill and fit the half-round beading that trims the bottom edge of the O/S panels between the front and rear wheelarches. A shrt section remains, which can’t be cut to size until the wheelarch beading is on. A first attempt at curving the beading for the O/S front wheel arch around a brake drum was promising at first, then failed dismally. Annealing the piece solved the problem and I was able to get the curve almost correct before temporary fitting, which was virtually complete before the end of play on Saturday. Just the end that wraps around the front remains to be fixed. Some damage to the edge of the beading will need attention before final intallation, but overall a useful week.