First job of the week was to apply two coats of Zinc Phosphate red oxide to the offside chassis rail inner face. The terminal box and griplock gland for the multicore cable has been mounted in the boot. The chassis rail inner face has been silvered and the the griplock conduit, complete with multicore cable run from the cab to the boot stress panel along the inner face of the O/S chassis frame rail. I am waiting on delivery of the correct size of P-clips to secure the conduit. I started to fabricate the cover for the wiring behind the front O/S wing as a fill-in job until I can secure the front-to-rear conduit. I managed to make the side piece and top pieces and mark out the final piece ready for cutting on Monday.
Terminal box mounted in the boot. Multicore tagstrip in the foreground.
Side rod brackets have been painted and fitted. The lower side rod extensions have been drilled, painted and fitted. Worked then turned to preparations for fitting the wiring conduit from the cab to the boot. This included cleaning the chassis under the cab floor and prining ready for silver. Drilling the rear bulkhead in the area of the lower electrical cubicle cover and fitting with the gland to accept the conduit. The chassis from the main brake servo back to just in front of the rear axle has been cleaned and rust beater applied, ready for a coat of red oxide in the coming week. The terminal box for the boot electrics has been sourced and work started on mounting the lid and the screw terminal strip.
This week I have been tidying up the cab ready for reinstalling the floor. I painted the pedals and the handbrake lever and touched up the silver on the chassis to hide the drips from painting the cab. I made and fitted the rubber seal for the handbrake lever, one side to the metal section and the other to the hinged wooden floor section, using the replacement clamp plates I made previously. I fitted the gear lever gaiter to the floor section as well. I need to eliminate the horrid bracket that is holding the fuel pipes and also realign the starter motor cables so they will fit in the floor rebate and not stress the motor terminals. As a change of routine I made two of the remaining three vertical side rods for the offside frame.
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
