The rearmost OS window frame has been repaired and is now in primer awaiting the refitting of the glass with new rubber.
Window frame now completely repaired.
The emergency door was removed to allow it’s condition to be assessed and ready for rebuilding as necessary. This entailed also removing the rain deflector above the windows along the nearside. Other work has been the reinstatement of the cover over the body mounting to the left of the entrance steps.
Cover over body mounting in the entrance.
Work continues on the offside framing with the laborious process of drilling out broken screws and filling all the holes in the frame with beech wood dowels.
Work on the nearside rear corner has been completed now and the panel has been primed and painted in undercoat, flatted and ready for top coat when the time comes.
The stainless steel corner bumper has been refitted along with the beading to the left of the boot doors.
After that, work turned to the offside with the removal of the rear most window adjacent to the emergency door. The steel frame of this was heavily corroded so I have been welding replacement sections to create a new mounting flange.
NS rear corner, finished ready for topcoat
OS rearmost window frame as found, being prepared for repair
Various car problems and unwellness have prevented much progress since the last entry. Having prepared the rain deflector ready for fitting, a number of other jobs needed to be done before it could be attached to the bus. Mounting the short piece of specially-shaped rain deflector above the rearmost nearside window (see previous entry) necessitated the prior painting of this window frame with final body colour as it would be inaccessible after. The remaining nearside window frames also needed this treatment so I took the opportunity to address the cosmetic filling over the welded corners and other small finishing details of these, then gave them two coats of red undercoat before painting the top horizontals in body colour. The non-opening window (second from the rear) needed some filling to the top horizontal so as I write this is awaiting its final coat of body colour.
The S-shaped moulding which trims the corner panel to the rearmost nearside window was fitted yesterday and had some cosmetic filling applied today.
The window itself needed some cosmetic filling to improve its appearance and alignment, which I did today and finished with a thin coat of red oxide.
In between filling jobs on the windows, I have gradually been attending to the cosmetic appearance of the nearside rear lower corner which is now almost ready for sanding.
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
