The wheelarch mudwing is now painted (first coat of madder red) and Abigail and I installed the flexible black piping that seals the joint between the wing and the body at the wheel arch. This enabled me to refit the curved beading.
Nearside rear mudwing replaced.
view looking towards the rear.
Whilst this work was in progress I refurbished the entrance step light. This involved making a new base (complete with lampholder bracket) for the light unit as the original cast alloy one had corroded to the point of being unusable. This is now finished in red undercoat and awaiting the final paint, white inside and DG red outside. I also drilled and tapped the mounting holes for the assembly in the step bay. I’m also waiting for a replacement for the small piece of glass through which the bulb shines.
This week has been spent trying to get the entrance steps finished. The floor between the door and the gearbox access has been completed, several new pyramid iron strips fitted and the remaining usable originals refurbished. The whole assembly was painted a custom mix of brown to match the floor. The middle step is complete with nosing and anti-slip treads made from cut-down nosing. The bottom step is painted to match the floor and the nosing has been cut but not yet screwed down as I am awaiting a further piece to make the second tread strip for the this step. Relief holes for the grab rails were cut into the lino before laying.
Once I had completed all that I could do with the material I had, I started to strip the filler and paint from the NSR corner panel so I could see the full extent of the dents that need removing before the panel is installed.
Yesterday and today I spent working on the entrance steps, painting the steelwork with two coats of DG red. The top step nosing has been trimmed and fitted and the pyramid iron pieces painted ready to fit. One new piece needs to be made.
I used off-cuts of aluminium to manufacture edging pieces for the new lino around the gearbox floor trap.
In between work on the entrance steps yesterday, I started to get the nearside rear corner panel ready for fitting by knocking out the worst of the dents.
Restoration diary of a 70-year old AEC single-deck bus and the trials, tribulations and adventures of our 1966 Bristol bus.
