Tag Archives: wheelarch

1/1/2022 – Year summary for 2021

The last two weeks have seen the completion of repairs to the O/S frame, the last of the rusty screws and nails removed and the holes dowelled.   The last of the new flitch plated have been fitted.   The repairs to the cantrail have been sanded level and the rest of the frame sanded and prepared for painting.  The unpainted woodwork has been primed and the a start made on painting the whole of the exposed frame with grey top coat.

As it is the first day of the year, a summary of work completed in the last twelve months is appropriate.

The nearside of the bus from the entrance rearwards has been structurally completed, all windows panels are in place and beaded.  The rear corner panel has been cosmetically filled and finished in undercoat.  A new mudwing and liner was fabricated and installed and the wheelbox cover stripped, painted and refitted with new mountings.

The roof has been completely stripped of all paint and repaired where necessary to make it watertight.

The roof over the entrance and nearside front wheel has been repaired and is ready for cosmetic finishing, including a new valance over the entrance steps.

A new rear number plate box was fabricated and installed, along with new bulb holders and wiring for the stop and tail lights. The boot doors have been refitted and primed.

The destination box glass has been removed and a replacement obtained.  Some repairs have been made to the wooden frame that supports the glass.

The entrance step light was repaired and repainted ready for fitting.

The boot was finished internally with new lino.

Work has now commenced on the offside with all windows removed, frame repairs completed above the floor and the frame partially painted.

 

 

 

10/12/2021

The lack of recent posts belies the basic monotony of current work on the offside frame.  Mostly it has been the removal of rusty screws and nails from the frame above the floor line. This has progressed as far as the cab door and is virtually complete in terms or plugging screw and nail holes with dowels.  The horizontal framing above the window openings has received some new timber to replace the odd bit of wet rot but this needs further attention and screw removal before it is finished.  An emerging fact is the offside frame has been much less carefully finished than the nearside; stupidly long screws and large nails have been used to fix the panels. On the positive side, above the floor it is generally in good condition.  The rear wheelarch has been repaired with new timber exactly as it was and naturally this is quite different from the nearside.  The next job when the upper frame is complete will be removal and refurbishment of the fuel tank, which appears to be the wrong tank.

New timber in offside rear wheelarch frame.

Dowels replacing rusty screws and nail holes in offside framing.

8/11/2021

I can’t believe it’s a month since I last recorded any progress.  However, there has been progress; lots of rusty screws have been winkled out of the offside framing, several rust-eaten flitch  plates have been removed and the first three replacements manufactured.  The emergency door hinges have been freed up, de-rusted and prepared for painting. The frame around the emergency door opening has had all the rusty screw and nail remains removed and the holes dowelled.   A new steel plate for the top right corner of the door opening has been manufactured and is ready for installation.

More lower side panels have been removed and the fuel tank exposed, this will need to be dropped and cleaned ready for  treating any rust and repainting.

Most recent work (today and yesterday) has been cutting out rotten timber framing above windows 3 and 4 apertures.  I cut some Iroko this afternoon in preparation for repairing this section.

Heavily-corroded flitch plate at joint between wast rail and cab door frame vertical.

Corrosion in the cab step.