Another relatively slow start to the week. Painted another coat of silver on the underside of the new O/S wing and around the aperture for the new battery trays. I also plugged all the screw holes for mounting the trays and covers. I should have done the rear two as well but forgot about them! Made a start on the control box, blowing as much dust off as possible then removed the top panel for cleaning and painting or polishing. I took out all of the screws,and with a bit of gentle persuasion it came off, having corroded slightly to the steel switch plate. I also primed then painted the side panel for the box with engine black, two coats, and put it to one side to cure properly. I next thoroughly cleaned the top panel and removed the blanking plates and plug, and the surround for the starter switch, (theses being pressed in) and painted it with hammerite. I have ordered an ammeter, as there appears to be provision for one and space on the large cover for it. I have also ordered a voltmeter for the top panel. I stripped the paint and rust from the large cover for the control box and spent some time adjusting it so it will fit properly. A coat of “number one rust beater” primer was next, followed by a coat of green Hammerite on the inside surface. I then had to make two sliders to replace the missing ones for the control box switches, the originals were 0.8mm nickel silver, so after a failed attempt in aluminium I used 0.75mm brass which worked well. Not a bad week’s progress, considering I lost two days work for other things.
Tag Archives: front mudwing
25/5/2025
Painted the new front O/S wing, using etch primer I bought for the roof, evil smelling stuff which I don’t think I will use on the roof. Coo Var has some water-based all-metals primer, grey in colour, which seems a better choice. Next job was to paint the final coats on the battery trays, using chassis silver. While they were drying, I looked out the battery cables and measured out what I need, 4m from the nearside battery to the cab, 2m linking the batteries and 2m from offside to the cab. I also removed the remaining original battery cable from under the bus. A poor start on Thursday saw me using the wrong (water-based) primer over the etch primer on the new front O/S wing. Attempts to remove it when it was dry proved fruitless so I coated i with chassis silver in the hope that sealing it would fix the problem. Things impproved with the removal of the rotted conduit from the recovered battery cables, I found I had enough good cable to wire the new arrangement of batteries although some of it will need new insulation, which is on order. I had to make a minor adjustment to the floor aperture for the offside battery tray, as I had made the tray slightly too big. This job took pretty much all of Friday, but the result was worthwhile and neat in the end. I decided next to clean the paint and rust off the control box side panel, ready for painting. Final job of the week was to apply a coat of wood primer to the enlargded aperture for the battery tray, and the top of the chassis on the offside, which was exposed when the old tray was removed.
18/5/2025
A good start to the week with progress on the second battery tray, with the sides and base welded together and the ends cut, punched and folded then welded together. Some work on the MW saw the back axle reassembled and the brakes adjusted. After that, I finished of the battery trays by grinding all the welds, I’m pleased with the result, though one is a bit large for the hole in the floor so some work is needed to fit it. Once these were pirmed, I moved on to the new front wing. I drilled two mounting holes for reference for when it becomes time to fit it. Final job of the week was to further trim the wing to improve the fit. It is now ready for a primer coat.