Painstaking manufacture of various bits of wood have been the order of the day today, including the spacer block between the RH boot door pillar and the corner pillar and the final pieces of the corner boot floor support and perimeter rail. I should be able to trim this to final shape tomorrow, for which I have made a cardboard template from the good side.
Also today I cut the wooden piece that forms the boot door abutment on the hinge pillar. In the process of this I came to the conclusion that the pillar itself is not quite the right profile, which means I will have to add some thin lamination to build it up so I can sand it back to the right shape. More time lost!
Damage to the base of the first OS pillar, showing gusset plate and corner timbers removed,
Yesterday and today I have been manufacturing a new timber corner section for the rear RH corner. This is a slow process as it consists of a number of pieces of wood that need to be glued together initially before machining to the correct shape. Hopefully the final piece will be in place tomorrow then I can complete installation the day after. I will probably put a steel reinforcing plate underneath just to make sure it all stays together.
First job today was to make an infill piece to the left of the RH boot door hinge pillar. Next, I intended to repair the RH corner perimeter rail. This didn’t look to bad on first glance but once I started poking it I discovered extensive rot in the rail and the filler piece that supports the boot floor. This was all removed and I started to make up the first section needed to rebuild the corner. The pictures below shows what is missing, after and before.
RH rear corner with rotten timber removed
Right-hand boot door frame timbers, before removal of rotten wood, plywood boot lining and before repairs to door hinge pillar and frame pillar.
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
