The wheelarch mudwing is now painted (first coat of madder red) and Abigail and I installed the flexible black piping that seals the joint between the wing and the body at the wheel arch. This enabled me to refit the curved beading.
Nearside rear mudwing replaced.
view looking towards the rear.
Whilst this work was in progress I refurbished the entrance step light. This involved making a new base (complete with lampholder bracket) for the light unit as the original cast alloy one had corroded to the point of being unusable. This is now finished in red undercoat and awaiting the final paint, white inside and DG red outside. I also drilled and tapped the mounting holes for the assembly in the step bay. I’m also waiting for a replacement for the small piece of glass through which the bulb shines.
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.
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
