Tuesday 28th September 2010

The bus is structurally sound once again thanks to the new body bearer beam expertly installed by Woods Garage.  The next step is to give the whole underside a coat of silver paint for its protection against the elements.

Tuesday 21st September 2010

Ed and I paid a visit to Woods in Aylesham to check on progress with the bus.  Super Ed was feeling strong and found that he could support the weight of the bus with just one hand!

We were delighted to find the old rusty beam cut out and the new one waiting to be fitted.  Here they are side by side.

 A close up of one of the brackets reveals the extent of the rot.

The weight of the body is temporarily supported by jacks whilst the new beam is prepared for fitment.  Once in place attention will turn to the rear wheel arches before the chassis is cleaned and painted.  The next blog should reveal a very different looking underside.

Tuesday 14th September 2010 - New Website Goes Live!

I am pleased to announce that the new Home Front Bus website has now gone live.  There are still minor changes to make, but it is 90% there.  Please follow the link, take a look around and let me know what you think  http://www.homefrontbus.com/ .

Now that the site is up and running we can start to let everyone know about the bus and its availability for hire from Spring 2011.  If you are reading this and would like to book the bus or find out more, then please get in touch.

Friday 10th September 2010

Woods have measured the bus for its new body bearer beam and this is now being fabricated.  The engine began to misbehave but this was diagnosed as being no more than a loose rivet that had fallen into the throttle linkage.  That was quite a relief as adding engine work to the bill would not have been welcome.

It's about time that I showed an interior view of the bus.  Immediately above the body bearer beam is the 1940's shop.  This will be tidied up and new artifacts added before the bus goes back to work.

Friday 3rd September 2010

Prior to moving the bus to Woods Garage in Aylesham attempts were made to solve the problem of a spongy clutch.  A spongy clutch is no fun at all in such a heavy, manual beast.  A new master cylinder and pipe work was installed, but by the late afternoon the clutch was no better, in fact it was worse!  The fluid was frothy indicating stubborn air in the system and we will now have to find a slave cylinder to go with the new master.  Nevertheless the bus was driven carefully to Aylesham with the minimum of gear changes (i.e. slowly!).

Woods have been engaged to undertake the next major step to getting the bus in a fit state for service.  The photos show the rear of the underside.  The large rusty looking beam that sits on the chassis and spans the width of the bus bears the weight of the body.  It is rotten and will be removed and a new beam fabricated and installed.  Following this major surgery the whole chassis will be checked, cleaned and painted silver, a job that Woods have a good reputation for.  Hopefully this whole process will be well documented with photos so please check back for updates.

Friday 27th August 2010

Prior to the bus having its chassis cleaned and painted and a new body bearer beam installed, an oil leak on the differential needed to be repaired.  This led to the removal of the diff revealing a wonderful, heavy duty piece of bronze engineering.  At the same time a new battery cover was fabricated and more cosmetic work took place in the cab.

Thanks to Andy and Mick of Crosskeys for all their hard work and expertise.

Friday 20th August 2010

Whilst my son Ben and I spent an afternoon working on the bus in Cheriton we were treated to a fly past by a Spitfire & Hurricane.  It turned out that it wasn't for our benefit but to comenorate the 70th anniversary of the famous speach given by Winston Churchill to 'the few' who fought for 'the many' in the Battle of Britain.  We had excellent views of the aircraft performing barrel roles over Hawkinge.

Meanwhile the bus benefited by having several coolant leaks fixed and the radiator flushed and refilled with new anti-freeze.  Ben worked away in the cab getting into tight spaces to refit the freshly painted demister and to prepare and paint sections of the cab door.  The window frame in the cab door has been removed in order to change a broken piece of glass.  We now have to track down some new rubber sections to accompany the new glass.