Today’s work continued where I finished yesterday with removal of the nearside (LH) boot door. Having drilled the heads of the fixing screws for the hinges, I was then faced with the problem of extracting the remains of the screws. In order to give something for the mole grips to grab onto, I dabbed the Mig torch on the ends of the screws and built them up a bit. This had the additional effect of introducing heat into the screw and they came out with little trouble after this treatment.
Next I removed the LH panel work surrounding the boot opening. Final part of the day was spent removing the remains of rusted screws and drilling and plugging the holes with dowels. A survey shows far more rot in the RH side of the boot opening and wall timbers.
Left-hand rear corner and boot door frame timbers
Timbers forming the top of the boot opening and base of the rear window
I completed assembly of the new steelwork for the nearside framing today and apart from the boot closing panel, this means the nearside framing is repaired.
Work now continues around the corner, in the vicinity of the boot doors. I removed the nearside boot door today, this required the heads drilling off the screws but proved that one of the hinges is seized and may have bent, causing the door to not shut properly.
The following series of photos shows the new steel (painted blue for protection) in place:
Reinforcement behind the wheelarch
Intermediate vertical, rear
Corner vertical, forward facing
Corner vertical from the rear
Intermediate vertical/bearer joint from underneath
The previous couple of days were spent in much-needed tidying of the bus shed and installation of two large cupboards at the end furthest from the big doors. This has enabled me to store all the paint safely and get a lot of other stuff off the floor.
Today I was able to assemble the steel reinforcement plates to the body frame behind the NSR wheelarch and the boot. One plate remains to be fitted, this being the one behind the boot front closing plate which will need to be drilled and fitted before this plate can be bolted up.
I ordered the floor covering for the boot and luggage racks today.
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
