First job this week was final painting of the emergency door window frame, this is now complete and awaiting glass. Next job was to cut the steel strip for the leading edge of the door; I had to weld a short piece on to the material I had in stock to save buying more steel but this was no problem. Next, I painted the emergency door wooden frame with primer. Whilst that dried I trimmed and drilled the steel edge strip, using the rusty original as a template. I then used the new strip to drill the holes in the emergency door frame then painted the frame side and fitted the strip to the frame. Next I cut the aluminium panel to size for the lower emergency door cladding, including the edge folds. This has to be wrapped around the steel strip edge, a bit tricky. A trial fit of the panel enabled me to mark out the cut-out for the emergency door handle and bezel. I then primed and painted the steel edge strip. When that was dry, I started to fit the external cladding, with a layer of waxoyl between the steel and the aluminium. I had pinned the top and bottom edges by the end of play. The glass for the last offside window was finally ready so we were able to collect it from Dunmow glass, an experience that leads me to think we will not buy glass there again. I finished most of the aluminium work on the emergency door by the end of Saturday, the penultimate piece is cut and folded but not yet attached. That will be the first job for next week.
Tag Archives: exterior panels
6/5/2024
Started the week with more paint stripping and a coat of red primer on the aluminium face of the trapdoor. I also gave the cylinder head lifiting ring another coat of primer and found a new bolt for it, having lost the nut from the original. I collected the three remaining droplight panes of glass from K.W. Glass on Monday evening. On Tuesday I undercoated the panel just to the rear of the drivers, the rounded top of the dash and the trap door. On wednesday I assembled one of the droplight frames with a new pane of glass and had a problem with the bracket breaking away at one end of the lower horizontal, I probably wasn’t careful enough riveting the corner. At this point there was little I could do as the glazing silicone was already setting so I strapped it up in the right position and filled the hole with silicone in the hope it would all set in the right position – which it appears has worked ok. Had I glazed it using rubber as per the original method I might have been able to repair it, however that seems unlikely. I started to polish the newly-painted switch cover with a view to cutting back the gloss a little but discovered some flaws in the paint so repainted the sides. I rubbed down the trapdoor and gave it another coat of undercoat, another rub down then some cherry undercoat and its ready for top coat. I applied chrome wrap to the droplight frame I had assembled earlier in the week, with the usual difficulties. I chipped one of the otherwise-perfect long pieces, much to my annoyance. I filled the chip with chrome paint from a marker pen but I may replace the whole piece if there is any wrap left over.
28/4/2024
Removed the grab handle from the corner of the cab by the route number winders then continued stripping paint from under the canopy, a back breaking, stomach-stretching task. Started to polish the handle but it is very pitted, however after a lot of sanding it came up very well and I’m pleased with it. I also removed the main label from the spare switchbox cover and cleaned it up. It is yellower than the original but the lettering is intact. I removed the trapdoor from the canopy ceiling as it really didn’t want to close, and started to strip the paint from it. Seems in better condition than I thought but I removed a couple of mm from one edge to make sure it fits well as it was refusing to close when I took it off. The steel strips from around the edges looked rough but turned out to be saveable, which will save some time and material. The brass hinge was the likely culprit for not closing properly as it was binding and bent, so I straightened it as best I could and worked it back and forth with wd40 to free it up, then silicone lubricant. I also removed the cylinder head lifting ring from the overhead beam, stripped it and gave it a coat of red oxide. Last job of the week was to paint the grey parts of the trapdoor and its metalwork.