Not much to report

Hi all,

Sorry for the long delay in posting, had a rather busy time of late, but a bit of good news to report!

My connection with buses is now limited to 3603, as I left Go North East in April to join FirstGroup as a trainee Train Driver with First Capital Connect, joining the many ranks of train drivers involved in Bus Preservation lol! So, with things going well, within a year I should be having a lot more disposable income to spend on 3603 which will speed the restoration up no end.

Still looking for any help anyone can give on the electrical issues, please if you are reading this blog and know a PSV electrician in the Newcastle/Durham area, please let me know!

Not really on a roll... and some sparks flying!

Well,

Headed down to the shed and the old girl last weekend, with the many aims of fitting the destination blind in the vain attempt to make the bus more presentable, give her a bit of a clean out and test out my newly acquired sander and angle grinder!

First job of all was fitting that new blind, which still needs doing as I need to find a set of 31" long rollers to fit into the destination box equipment, missing seats, missing rollers, what else will be missing when I look more closely... Well not to be put off decided that I would see if she would still turn over despite a month or two of sitting in the cold all alone, so the ageing batteries were plugged into the booster and left to charge for a couple of minutes while I fiddled on with other things such as putting a sanding sheet onto the sander! Forgot all about the kettle, could have had a nice cup of tea!

After sanding a bit more of the orange line from the paintwork, into the cab I went, switched on the mains and ignition, and was nearly blinded by the miraculously operative again warning lamps on the dashboard, a good sign of things to come I thought! Well... turned the key, which turned the engine but still not enough power to fire the engine up... but did manage to create an impressive number of sparks in the cab from the junction box beneath the handbrake lever. Wasn't as dramatic as it sounds, knocked the power off and isolated the bus, no further problem and certainly no massive fire, but another setback for the old girl, going to need to find a sparky!

SO - if anyone is experienced with electrical systems on PCV's, I really would appreciate your help in diagnosing this problem, hopefully just earthing out somewhere or a loose or corroded connection but really need an expert view!

eBay - got to love it

Hi all,

Well, I definitely have a couple of excuses to make my way down to Esh Winning to do some more jobs on 3603.

One thing the North East Bus Preservation Trust - eternally grateful to you guys - always does, is fit an appropriate destination blind to a vehicle on acquisition. This simple act always gives a visual clue as to what is to come, and now 3603 will be no different. I now am waiting for delivery of a Percy Main destination blind that is pretty appropriate for the era I am restoring 3603 to, though it is not exact... but it has all the important destinations in! I am still looking for a 100% correct blind, which would feature the yellow 'M' logos for example, and also Kibblesworth in the destination list as many photos of 3603 in its Tynemouth livery are when it is on the 301 to Kibblesworth.

That blind admittedly did cost rather a lot but of course it is worth it seeing as they are getting so hard to come by - but my second purchase did not break the bank! For £1.20 I got a set of oil air and fuel filters on a no reserve auction, so that will set it up nicely for a service and might get the engine running even more sweetly!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

OK, know that I am saying Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year rather late, but I do hope it will be a great 2010 for everyone, unfortunately the normal rotas of work are kicking in so nose back to the grindstone unfortunately!

With the inclement weather over the winter, must say I have been less motivated with work on 3603 - but my New Year's Resolution is to change all that, and really start cracking on! Wilkinson's in Gateshead stock quite a nice selection of power tools, and for the princely sum of £31.98 I have purchased a random orbital sander, and an angle grinder in order to get rivets out, panels off, and get the many layers of paintwork off! Then, I will be able to rivet the panels back onto the body frame, looking much neater, and will get rid of a huge number of bad looking rivets where the pins have been left in, well, if you are going to do something, do it right! Though I do need to find a panel for the nearside, where on a re-panelling the bus lost its intake grille for the demister/heater units, you know the little oval grille behind the repeater lights?

Also still need to figure out that engine stop solenoid, so if anyone knows much about Gardner 6LXB engines I would be delighted for any help!