Thursday 29 August 2013

August Update

I mentioned in my last post that I was "holding back on recent developments".....

Well 335 has once again been fixed [following the power steering failure] and so I've been taking it out on a few 'proving runs', which gradually get longer and increase the varying road conditions each time. The first half hour run went well and we actually made it back home without breaking down!

We then did a 45 minute run - again no issues and we got home without breaking down. Thinking we might have finally turned the corner and seen the back of the constant breakdowns, I'd planned to do a 1 hour 30 minute run.........this didn't go down well with 335 and it decided, after about 10 minutes of trouble free driving, that once top speed is reached it'll change down to second gear by itself. Arrrggghhhhh!!

I'm currently awaiting a diagnostics specialist to have a look and see what's going on......

Meanwhile, I thought I'd crack on with sorting the offside body and framework on 302 and it I wasn't expecting it to be too bad - should be easily done in a month right? Wrong!!

As the images below show, one of the windows exploded whilst we were taking them out - literally. Whilst we had it partially out, nobody was actually touching it when it went; as I was outside the vehicle getting ready to receive it, I got covered in broken glass and gained a few cuts - lesson learned - in future I'll make sure as much skin as possible is covered when fitting or removing windows! This does however present a serious problem - there's only six of this type of bodywork still in existence, and a couple of bus & coach suppliers have already said they can't help with a replacement........

To make matters worse, it turns out the framework on the offside is actually far worse than the nearside was - in particular there's a structural piece of box section over the rear wheel arch that is completely missing! This may explain why the window exploded.

Sorry about the angle of the two lower images - 302 was blocked in on the day I took them.





Thursday 15 August 2013

Buses Magazine

I'm a bit out of date with this blog but I'm gonna hold back on recent developments for now....

I had a phone call yesterday giving me the 'heads up' that 335 is in September's Buses Magazine, photographed during its visit to the North Weald rally.

Now I was expecting to find it in some sort of panoramic view, or perhaps lurking in the background behind another vehicle that was being featured - so to say I was surprised to see it was the 'main event' was something of an understatement!

Despite all the breakdowns and trouble its given me (and ignoring the fact she actually came back from North Weald on the back of a tow truck), I have to say I'm rather proud to see P335ROO chosen by Buses magazine to appear in their 'Preservation Update' section. It is equally pleasing to read their positive comments and makes all the hard work, time and money that I've invested worthwhile. I wonder if 302 will manage the same feat when its finished????

In the mean time, here's the article in question: