Continued working on the entrance today, noting that I started this particular job on the 23rd April. The fitting up of this section of work has such a lot of dependencies that I felt it was time to produce a proper project plan as I had for the MW when the time came to reassemble it. So this I did yesterday evening, though only for rebuilding the side of the bus as far as the rear wheelarch.
Accordingly, working to the plan, I drilled all the holes in the lower riser today, which included countersunk holes to attach it to the lower step frame and 4BA tapped holes for the MCW coach builders plate.
I removed all the paint from the MCW plate and polished the lettering then sprayed several coats of black onto it. I will polish the lettering when the paint has sufficiently hardened.
Marked up the hole positions for the upper step plank to be drilled and then drilled holes in the lower frame to attach the lower step. It appears that the worthy who made this did not appreciate how the tread plank would have to fit in the frame, however a bit of packing around the screws will sort this out.
Here’s the first draft of the project path diagram:
A good days work today. Floorboards for entrance were painted with the usual grey finish first thing.
The entrance bay steelwork was drilled and coach-bolted to the frame on both the forward and rearward sides. I carefully measured and marked the position of the horizontal body frame but neglected subsequently to correctly mark the correct position of the through bolts. I drilled the pilot holes one full hole then realised when I put the coach bolt through to check there was enough length for the nut. I was very annoyed but in fact the full hole can be used and the two pilot holes are covered by the step light fitting so it didn’t matter too much. Holes that remain to be drilled once the steelwork is removed for painting: a row where the upper step frame is bolted back to upper the riser, two holes in the forward side sheet at the bottom for the lower step frame to be screwed to it and one hole through the lower side rod. Once those are drilled the assembly can be painted prior to fitting.
I also cut the flat lower riser panel today and marked it up for drilling tomorrow.
Got the step frame located and the holes drilled to secure it to the other metalwork. The two remaining holes at the left hand end of the frame (see picture) will be drilled tomorrow and all that remains for fitting up will be the holes for coach-bolting the side sheets in place for extra strength. Next jobs will be the riser panel between the steps, holes in the back panel for the top step frame to be bolted back and finally painting all the parts ready for assembly.
Step frame temporarily bolted into the entrance bay
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
