A strange view of the cab!

As part of the rebuilding of the front end and upper deck floor, the cab ceiling panel has been removed giving this unique view of the cab from the upper deck. The ceiling panel was in poor condition and like the rest of the interior it had been painted with household emulsion paint which was badly flaking - it was decided to be faster to replace than prepare the old panels.

Rebuilding of upper deck front commences

In addition to the tasks in hand on the upper deck such as rewiring and re-flooring, this week's focus has seen the destination equipment stripped out for overhaul and a start made on replacing corroded framework around the front end. This includes the horizontal steel sections below the upper deck front windows which have been fabricated from scratch - the area was so corroded there wasn't anything to make a pattern to!

Let there be light!

The removal of the ceiling cove panels gives full access to the lamp units and wiring and the opportunity is being taken both to replace any dodgy bayonet fittings and rewire RTW335 where necessary. This view shows the work in progress with all bulbs illuminated.

Other progress has concentrated on the lower deck offside where the horizontal stress panels have now been replaced. We are also fabricating the steelwork to replace badly corroded sections at the front of the bus and around the destination box.

8th January - New Year Progress

The UK is experiencing the coldest spell of winter weather since 1963 - 47 years ago and a year when RTW335 was still in service on the streets of London!

Despite the cold weather our two guys dedicated to the restoration of the RTW continue to make good progress. This week the brackets securing the upper deck structure onto the lower deck have been cleaned up and painted if they are in good condition - or new ones made to replace those that were corroded. The upper deck floor panels have been lifted to reveal the lower deck roof structure which is in good condition, but needs a coat of protective paint before it gets hidden again. The nearside panelling has also now been stripped to the basic frame.

The floor will be replaced as part of the next phase of work and this represents a milestone in the project with the upper deck moving from dismantling to re-assembly stage - not bad progress after just 5 weeks in the workshop!

24th December - Progress Report

Good progress continues on RTW335 and prior to the Christmas holidays, a template for the lower deck horizontal stress panelling was fabricated and fitted. The existing stress panels, which are welded to the vertical steel frame, are all badly corroded and replacements will be in zintec metal sheet.

We wanted to get the offside of the vehicle stripped down as far as possible prior to christmas, allowing replacement steel and specialist timber to be ordered whilst keeping the nearside frame intact at this stage. The upper deck plywood ceiling panels have been removed for replacement and early in 2010 the upper deck floor panels will be replaced. This will give the staff dedicated to the project a clean sheet from which to start the re-assembly of the upper deck, whilst also being a visible milestone for the project.

The interior aluminium domes will be paint stripped and the offside cove panels have already been sent away for paint removal.

See Leon Daniel's own blog for the account of Leon and others saving RTW335
http://leondaniels.blogspot.com/2009/12/story-of-rtw335-tale-for-christmas.html

19th December 2009 - Progress Report

By 19 December, all exterior panels and mouldings have been stripped off and work is focusing upon the offside of the vehicle, removing rotten timbers and steelwork beyond repair. The timbers and steelwork removed have been labelled and stored for use as templates - and the most common sections are now being fabricated by a local specialist joinery company. The removal of the timbers has allowed access to the steelwork which can now be treated with red oxide paint.

The plywood ceiling panels have been removed and these will be replaced with new. Although the ceiling panels were in poor condition, the framework they concealed looks as good as new!

More stripping!

This view, taken on 12 December, shows RTW335 stripped further with all the corroded steel window pans removed. Although some specific parts removed can be re-used during the restoration the majority of panels and mouldings will be scrapped and replaced with new. With the exception of one window pan, which will be used as a template, all are others are severely corroded. It is planned to make a fibreglass mould from the good one and use this to make new units - but this is a way off yet!