Various car problems and unwellness have prevented much progress since the last entry. Having prepared the rain deflector ready for fitting, a number of other jobs needed to be done before it could be attached to the bus. Mounting the short piece of specially-shaped rain deflector above the rearmost nearside window (see previous entry) necessitated the prior painting of this window frame with final body colour as it would be inaccessible after. The remaining nearside window frames also needed this treatment so I took the opportunity to address the cosmetic filling over the welded corners and other small finishing details of these, then gave them two coats of red undercoat before painting the top horizontals in body colour. The non-opening window (second from the rear) needed some filling to the top horizontal so as I write this is awaiting its final coat of body colour.
The S-shaped moulding which trims the corner panel to the rearmost nearside window was fitted yesterday and had some cosmetic filling applied today.
The window itself needed some cosmetic filling to improve its appearance and alignment, which I did today and finished with a thin coat of red oxide.
In between filling jobs on the windows, I have gradually been attending to the cosmetic appearance of the nearside rear lower corner which is now almost ready for sanding.
Absence and illness are the reason for the gap between this and the previous entry. Last week I made the steel striker plate for the boot door catch and made and painted the steel cover plates for the body mount openings in the boot. Last weekend Rebecca helped me fit these as I was unable to get my head into the boot due to a bout of Labrynthitis. Over the last few days I have stripped, straightened and painted the two sections of rain deflector for the nearside. The small shaped piece that fits above the last window towards the rear has been fitted along with all the wooden triangular supports at each window dividing pillar. The long piece, at over 15ft is very unwieldy so I have only painted the inside in the ochre colour, ready for fitting.
Whilst I was painting the rain deflector I also painted over the sealant applied around the edge of the boot floor lino.
Having laid the lino, which still requires some internal finishing around the edges, I was able to fit the steel sill (manufactured some time ago) and finish hanging the boot doors and getting them lined up nicely with good gaps all around. This necessitated shimming the top and bottom hinges and sanding yet more wood off the bottom of the doors where they were striking the sill. I also had to make some modification to the door locking mechanism in order for it to fasten correctly at both the top and the bottom. The top edges of the doors were very uneven and the gaps equally bad, so I built up the top surfaces with filler and sanded it back to a good shape. Not the best of solutions but should be ok.
Boot doors aligned and gaps made good
I also completed assembly of the step light, with the exception of the brass hinge pins which still haven’t arrived.
Step light as found
View showing damaged base
New and old base compared
Completed step light from the front
View from above
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
