If you recall, we were just at the point where we needed a Leyland-sized wheel-brace, and the bench seat was in primer....

The bench-seat as Nature intended. Photo © J.Wilkins

Two wheels in my wagon..... Photo © J.Wilkins

A borrowed wheel-brace provided the necessary interface with the nuts, but not the effort. Some of the wheel nuts were total pigs to undo, requiring a bar extension and severe jumping on. The loud bang as they finally yielded sounded like gunfire, but no damage ensued. With the hard work done, it was back to the paint (Dark Chinese Green) and the bench seat. Remember that some of this area should have Rexine in a colour no longer available, so the topcoat was applied with a foam roller and left to go to a firm, tacky condition before the dry roller was run over it again. This dimpled the surface of the almost dry paint, which could not then flow flat again and thus lost its pristine gloss. The Rexine effect was simulated and the imperfect metalwork was disguised somewhat. A coat of paint on the modesty panel finished the morning, and it was the next week before the cushions were restored and the effect scrutinised. A fine effort, even if not entirely authentic, I reckon. A jack and blocks were soon in place, the bus was raised and the nearside rear wheels were very soon removed. Fortunately they were not too heavy to load into my Renault Espace, where they formed a perfect capacity load. A cobbled up power supply was then connected to the battery wiring and SM106 began to show signs of life as lights came on and a tremulous buzzing reminded me that I had indeed got the emergency exit door open! Hearing the click of the solenoid valves in the EP unit was very reassuring, as the gear selector was one of the parts attached last year. Full of enthusiasm, I was soon home and then it was off to see Len and Mick Ricketts and wrestle the tyres off the rims so that they can be sent away for exchange.

Unfortunately, the plan to perform a rims-swap at Showbus did not come to fruition, but the opportunity to do more work instead was welcomed. The slack adjusters were seized up, and to make it worse they have been made inoperable by removing the link rods and ratchet mechanisms. It doesn't prevent adjustment, but it won't be automatic until they are sorted out. There was a further struggle with the slack-adjusters to wind the shoes back as far as possible to clear the undercut drum, but eventually the nearside brake drum came off with barely a murmur. Expecting a real can of worms, it actually turned out to be much better around the shoes and drum than had been expected. Unhooking and freeing the return (dual, leaf-type) springs was less easy, as the last person to reline the brakes had ignored the extra hole for the special release tool. It's amazing how versatile a 'wrecking-bar' can be on occasion! The other job to be finished was the reconnection of the handbrake operating arm, which proved to be no great struggle as everything is now nicely lubricated. Finally, exhausted by all the lying on the floor, a spell of preparation on the front roof dome was all that I was capable of. The end is in sight there too!

One week later and I was back on-site with a jack, a grease-gun and more blocks of wood. By 9:00h the offside rear was sitting on the blocks and the wheels were having a rest while I had a cup of coffee. A pleasant surprise was the discovery that the inner one of the pair is actually a bona-fide SM rim. The other is a complete stranger as it does not even have the extra holes to clear the drum fixing bolts. This means that I have one pair of SM rims, and that some new tyres can be applied and remounted at the front! Another cup of coffee was required to free the offside drum - the brakes were partially siezed on this side and the camshaft did not want to turn back. Finally, after removing the slack-adjuster worm wheel and turning the camshaft with a Stilson wrench the shoes moved reluctantly home and the usual swift thump or two with a six-foot, wooden fencepost did the necessary. The S-cam was not a pretty sight, but on inspection it turned out to be buried under a pile of loose rust scraped off the inside of the drum. With appropriate cleaning things improved rapidly, and it dawned that one reason for the (usual) lack of lubrication was the missing grease nipple. More cleaning and a borrowed nipple soon saw a load of muck extruding from the bearing. It helps a lot that the camshaft can be rotated continuously when the adjuster worm is removed! More grease to all the camshaft lubrication points on both sides soon made a difference, and a wire brush did wonders for the cam. Sadly, the rollers on both shoes were seized and had flats worn in them, but even these were soon freed off. It is a shock that any operator would run a bus into the ground, not only ignoring routine chassis lubrication but not even concerned about the missing grease nipple! More worrying is the excess of grease escaping from the hub bearings, although contamination of the shoes is not significant. Replacing the hub-bearing seals is a job that I had hoped to avoid at this stage. Removing the shoes took longer than it should have because I forgot to support the lower shoe with a scissor-jack so that applying force to the spring does not simply result in the shoe moving down as well! The brake cylinder push rods were soon slipped out of engagement and the handbrake linkages reconnected, so now the handbrake works as intended (if you ignore the bit about no shoes or connection to the camshafts). That was all quite enough for one day, so I staggered off home for a welcome and necessary shower. Unfortunately there will be no progress for a couple of weeks as other engagements will get in the way.

Maurice fettles the brake rollers. Photo © J.Wilkins

The front dome ready for filling. Photo © J.Wilkins

New floor in the exit step-well. Photo © J.Wilkins

Mid-October saw a leap forward, when Maurice came up for a working weekend. He removed the brake shoe return springs and cleaned them up for re-fitting, then moved on to the tricky job of taking the cam-rollers off the shoes, cleaning them up and greasing lightly for reassembly. Attention to the slack-adjusters was limited to cleaning so that they could be turned more easily. By the end of the weekend, the offside brake was fully rebuilt, and we saw the shoes move out and return when the handbrake was applied and released. That was a relief, since that side had been seized in the half-on position. The nearside now just requires reassembly. While all this was going on I finished the removal of old paint from the front dome, which is now ready for a bit of filling where there is damage to the gelcoat. We also fitted a new plywood floor to the exit step well (temporary but very serviceable, and left over from making new deck panels for our boat) and removed the last of the handrails from the exit doors. This too was the subject of gruesome modification by Blue Lake, who had cut the rails and forced a larger diameter pipe over the eliptical section so that orange Diptac grips could be applied. Finally, the signal bell and water level alarm were transplanted from the panel off SMS637, so we were able to test the functioning of the bell-pushes taken from a dead DMS in Eddie Knorn's orchard. It was good to see that the wiring was intact and that the pull-switches also work, although new cords will be required. Maurice also took the MB-type wheel rims away to start their long journey to the Isle of Wight for exchange. It was also decided that some new panelling would be a huge psychological boost, as well as a leap forward in appearance, so I measured up the old panels and found that there were none large enough in stock! Never mind, David Williams (Llandudno) will help us again.

Will it fit? Er, yes. Photo © J.Wilkins

Bays 1 & 2 ready for their beading. Photo © J.Wilkins

Trying the panel in bay 1. Photo © J.Wilkins

After what can only be described as a silly period when the thickness of aluminium sheets became variable depending upon whether they had been measured, and two large panels were almost recycled as a consequence, progress on the skin of SM106 resumed in earnest in November. Using the old panels as a template, corner holes were drilled and the first new panel was hung with skin-pins (thanks for those, Ian/Steve) to check the basic dimensions. The original one-piece panel has been split at the waist and a new top inserted ("ROUTE 59 SUMMERSDALE -"), so the fit is slightly more unpredictable. A few weekday evenings in my garage saw the emergency door control flap cleaned up and fitted to the new panel. It is a complex job, as the panel is actually turned over the edge of a steel frame that carries the hinge and flap, and supports the panel where it would be floppy otherwise. A few rivets and a couple of rubber buttons that complete the job have been left off for now as they would complicate the preparation for painting later. With some trepidation the wheel-arch profile was cut with a jigsaw and the parts taken to the bus. Fortunately they fitted well, although the difficulty of making fixing holes in exactly the right place can not be underestimated. Even the old panel and beading proved a little unreliable, and the holes had to be freshened-up by drilling into the fixing holes on the steelwork of the body. Fortunately, the soft aluminium is cut in preference to the harder steel - which is how a template should work! The panel on the second bay ("St. RICHARDS HOSPITAL -") has no fiddly bits, so it was a matter of minutes before it was trimmed to size and rivetted into place at its corners ready for drilling. That was as far as it went, as I didn't want to make a mistake and I wasn't ready to put the beading on finally with an adhesive mastic. Other body jobs like the new beading on the emergency door and further attention to the woodwork of the cab frame filled the rest of the day.

Some serious stuff must now happen, after an interlude which saw the rescue of a piece of floor edge trim from the front bench-seat of a scrap DMS at Wythall Museum and its removal to safety by Maurice, now turned logistics manager. A very useful session accomplished some unpleasant tasks, notably the draining of the differential and removal of the half-shafts. Naturally, the studs have unscrewed rather than the nuts, which will complicate the refitting of the proper, chromed AEC hub covers. One brake air chamber has been removed for investigation and refurb, the other is inaccessible due to the blocks on which the axle is standing - but it is clear that the diaphragm is split. Air has been provided temporarily by a portable compressor for this purpose. The fuel tank has been removed with its chassis outriggers, so now it will be possible to clean it and paint it properly together with the otherwise inaccessible chassis in that area. Finally, and more exciting, batteries were borrowed from Dafydd's 'BIG J' (Leyland-engine, shame!) and the engine turned over properly. No, it didn't start - not least because I have removed the injectors for examination and lubrication purposes. Silver paint is on order and feelers have been put out to borrow a box spanner to undo the hub retaining nuts.....so watch this space!

A while ago I was asking where to find tyres, which led to quotes of £140 each for a 'budget' Slovakian brand. I didn't dare ask how much Michelin or GoodYear would be. Faced with finding a grand for a set of tyres, I asked Chris at Alpine Coaches if they had anything on any of their more 'challenged' Bristols. I now know that they run on 11R22.5 tyres, but he suggested asking Trevor Wigley. After a bit the answer came that they had just received a scrap Bedford on a good set of tyres and a deal was concluded that included transport to Alpine at Rhyl whenever possible. Alpine have a large fleet, mostly Olympians, with dwindling numbers of VRTs and a lot of coaches on school and college contracts. One such is ex-Green Line TD1 (YPD 101Y) which needed a replacement differential. When Trevor's trusty ERF tow-truck made a trip in early December to collect a redundant VRT and deliver a differential it also brought 6 off 10R22.5 tyres, still on their rims unfortunately. My trusty Espace swallowed three at a time, so by early afternoon the problem of tyre supply was solved, and very good they look too - four Michelin and two OHTSU. Now I can look forward to disposing of a similar number of gash tyres that came with the bus, no fewer than ten redundant rims and two reasonable 10R20.0 split-rim wheels. What a nightmare!

Finishing the lower cabside woodwork. Photo © J.Wilkins

Dragging out the fuel tank. Photo © J.Wilkins

Tyre wrestling with Brian. Photo © J.Wilkins

Family stuff brought Maurice to North Wales again in mid-December, so the opportunity was taken to deal with some technical jobs, and others that needed more than one pair of hands. At some point SM106 has suffered impact damage below the driver's cab window, which has broken the long wooden rail which carries the lower body panelling. New wood was shaped a long while back, but the groove along the top edge which acts as a drain was beyond my resources. The drain was shaped by Maurice with his router while I removed the nearside rear brake air chamber and the front wheels. The fuel tank was then separated from its outriggers and drawn out from underneath the bus - a delicate operation that took some effort to avoid damage to the new panelling of the lower bodyside. The following day we went to see Len and use his tyre levers to remove the bald tyres from the two proper SM-type rims and put two of the newly-acquired replacements on. Taking off four tyres and re-mounting two of them is quite enough for an afternoon, and special thanks have to go to Len, Stuart, and Brian for helping out. It was very noticeable that the Japanese tyres were much more difficult to remove than the scrap Michelins that we have dealt with so far. We didn't have a compressor with the urge to inflate them onto the rims, but progress is still progress.