Engineering Endeavours
Fleetline 6311 developed a fault last season; occasionally it would lose gears. This was temporarily repaired by Dave Parry, but now a new gear selector which was obtained by James Munro has been fitted. This seems to have cured the problem.
James has been quite busy on 6311, the rear duct vents for the heaters had corroded so James acquired some new ones painted then, and with the help of Ray Ward fitted them. The pair also acquired an air door ram because the original leaked now and again. This was also fitted by James along with a new start switch.
Metrobus 2001 has now received its original cab door with W.M logo on the screen. We have also acquired a number of spares consisting of seat cushions and backs plus some windows including an original cab window. Thanks to James and Ray for a day up in the Barnsley scrap yards collecting these parts.
The front brake reline on Guy 2976 is now complete, thanks to Tom and Mark. Tom was cleaning all the parts and Mark was fitting them. The nearside front inner bearing had worn so that also had to be replaced, Barry Ware kindly collected the new one from Bearing Services in Kings Norton. Mark has now prepared 2976 for Class 6 Test, needing not only the brakes relined but also a replacement fuel pipe at the tank end, a tyre change on the nearside rear inner, and curing some loose play in the nearside track rod end. The interior has been cleaned by Phil Hoole.
BMMO D9 5399 was prepared for a Class 6 Test by Dave Parry. The rear brake cylinders were leaking so Phil Ireland and Dave Parry took them to be re-sleeved. When they were ready Phil collected them and Dave re-fitted them. 5399 was submitted for a test but failed because the nearside and offside front brakes did not match on the rolling road. This was due to a leaking cylinder and the shoes had become contaminated. The latter was only obvious when the drum was removed. We had a new cylinder in stock along with new liners but they had to go away to be fitted. A new test was booked and 5399 passed.
BMMO S16 5545 was prepared for a Class 6 Test by Dave Parry. Unfortunately it did not pass the smoke test, so this meant that the fuel pump was sent away for calibration. All six injectors also had to come out and be checked again. One was defective, for some unknown reason. The new tip that Dave fitted last year had failed so another new one was fitted, along with the re-calibrated pump which cured the problem and 5545 passed the smoke test.
The problem the museum has with vehicle testing is that we don’t have the equipment to test for braking efficiency. We have a Tapley meter to test the braking percentages, but because we don’t have a rolling road to test braking imbalances, the first time we know of a fault like this is at the test centre. This is also the same for smoke efficiency. The only way we can test this is a visual test which is OK for Class 5 tests because that’s all they do, but Class 6 is on a meter which gives you a percentage on smoke and if this is a fraction over, as in the case of the S16, it fails. Those two points are hard to overcome.
BMMO S23 5956 is currently being prepared for a Class 6 Test for later on in the year. 5956 has already got a COIF so this makes things a little easier. 5956‘s fuel pump also had to go away to be calibrated. It’s definitely the year of the fuel pump, which is good news for Kingswinford Fuel Injections but not good news for Paul Gray. Dave Brown delivered the fuel pump to Kingswinford and collected it a week later. Then Dave Parry fitted it. The steering wheel has been re-coated. The main fault with 5956 is a severe wiring defect which Dave is tearing his hair out over. Hopefully by the next ‘Omnibus’ we should have more to report on 5956.
To take his mind off the spannering, Dave Parry has been working on the SOS ‘Q’ on Sundays. He has been very busy sanding down and putting wood preservative on the interior. Dave is also investigating getting the radiator repaired and the possibility of a set of seats being made. Watch this space for more on the Northern General SOS Queen CN2870.
I’m pleased to announce that the interior of Soudley Valley Tiger Cub WDF569, is now complete, with all the lino fitted by Alex and myself. Seats have been re-fitted and all the floor treads put down. The windows are now all re-fitted and the completed vehicle made its debut at Easter.
Kevin Hill
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
