Today was a fruitful day. This morning I completed removal of the steel flitch plates in the nearside of the boot and ground down the remains of those bolts that I could not remove in order to provide a smooth location for the new steel, when the time comes.
I then sanded all the loose paint and dirt off the underside of the boot floor and crossmembers ready for painting when the framing has been repaired in this area.
Finally I cut out the rotten lower section of the third siderod rearwards from the wheelarch and cut and shaped a repair section ready for fitting.
Today’s major task was the removal of the corroded remains of the steel flitch plates that connect the boot floor cross members to the uprights. This was not completely achieved but should be tomorrow.
The last couple of days were spent continuing the reconstruction of the wheelarch frame. First, I completed all the sections to make up the repair for the lower siderod aft of the wheelarch. The following day I fitted the side rod vertical aft of the wheelarch which required a lap joint with the good part of the original side rod. Then I was able start to build the wheelarch timbering down to the side rod, which took quite a lot of trial fitting and adjustment using the wheelarch moulding to ensure the final shape was correct. Almost all the parts have been made and assembly should be completed tomorrow.
The completed the NSR wheelarch timbering , which job included shaping the aft vertical.
New wheelarch timbers in place
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
