83C's Shite-esque Fleet: Ooh, shiny.

[83C]

Almost forgot, I'll probably be acquiring one of these too:

 

 

It's going to be used as a workshop/store/office where the buses are, so I can do more repairing and bodgery than I am currently able to do, whilst also having my stuff stored securely. The plan is to fit it out with a workbench, pillar drill, bench grinder etc.

[83C]

Ordered some new parts for a contraption I'm making.

 

 

 

I'm building a fuel siphoning and filtering rig. I was going to borrow a friend's similar setup but given I'm probably going to use it a few times I might as well build my own and make it more suitable for what I want (the one I'm basing this on is made to fit a yacht).

 

The double decker needs the remains of the fuel in the tank draining before I can drop the tank and clean it, but rather than just draining dirty fuel and sticking it back in a clean tank I might as well filter it as it drains.

[83C]

14" wheels sold.

[83C]

New chainsaw turned up today. Tomorrow will be spent making lots of sawdust whilst I remove the excess foliage from around the two buses. It'll be the first time in years I'll have had to make pre-mix fuel.

[83C]

VR progress:

 

 

The organic green is slowly being removed, not just for looks reasons but also because it makes working on the exterior much nicer without loads of crap all over it.

 

 

The heart of the beast, 10,450cc of Gardner 6LX. One of the best commercial diesel engines ever built.

 

 

Air filter housing is a bit far gone. It is salvageable but for the effort that would be expended it might as well be replaced.

 

The throtfle is disconnected at the moment, but the air feed to it had been left to exhaust to atmosphere. With the valve pipe capped, this was the result:

 

 

No air leaks which is a relief!

 

Next job is remove the handbrake valve to fix or replace, and then see if she'll move...

[dollywobbler]

Amazing shenanigans. I know it doesn't help economy, but aren't I right in thinking you can legally do 70mph in a bus on the motorway? 62 is just where they set the limiter. 

[Asimo]

Top thread; I would love a reason to own a Gardner engine!

[Felly Magic]

Amazing shenanigans. I know it doesn't help economy, but aren't I right in thinking you can legally do 70mph in a bus on the motorway? 62 is just where they set the limiter. 

You'd be lucky to get 50 out of a VRT, not exactly known for speed, most service buses had the 'short diff' which maxes out at 43-45. That Tiger can legally do 70, and will easily do more, I've had 90 out of an Olympian with a TL11 245 in, and it was a hair raising experience, as the front end got very floaty

[83C]

Yep, the Tiger will quite happily exceed 70. However, as its my fuel and maintenance bill, 62 is quite adequate!

 

We had a pair of Cummins L10-engined Olympians at a company I worked for, both with ZF 5HP500 gearboxes. The extra gear (most were 4-spd, these were 5spd), meant they were capable of silly top speeds.

[Felly Magic]

Volvo Olys with the ZF 5 speed made Cummins L10 examples seem slow. Cruising up the A12 at midnight from Shenfield back to Colchester a few years back, I was cruising at silly speeds, the Mrs was following in a bus from the same batch and she couldn't keep up with me as her bus ran out of steam at 75. Those L reg ex Halifax buses were beasts

[83C]

A minor improvement for the Tiger:

 

 

I just need a proper Leyland badge to sit above it now.

[83C]

The latest addition to the fleet:

 

 

Collected it last night from Kettering.

 

This means the Astra van is for sale:

 

 

The Astra is a good machine and stupidly cheap to run but over the month I've had it I've just found it too small for what I'm using it for. The Transit is rather more suited to shifting big bits of bus. I'll do a proper Fur' Zayle advert later with up to date photos - it now has a set of alloys fitted with excellent tyres, I'll probably be after somewhere in the region of £375, mainly because the bodywork is tatty and dented.

[83C]

Next weekend I'm heading up to Weston-Super-Mud with the Tiger for a classic bus show, so today I got the cleaning gear out. Takes a bit more time than hoovering the car:

 

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Cab area:

 

 

Whilst I was cleaning I found where the old fleet number stickers were - I'm having a set made so hopefully by the end of the week they'll be fitted:

 

 

And a photo of the outside. The grey bumper corner will be painted next week.

 

 

Got the Transit home last night, drives well apart from needing a new CV joint on the driver's side.

 

[Noel Tidybeard]

i seem to remember the H plate scanias wmpty had were "nippy" lol

[dollywobbler]

Oh aye. Compared to the Metrobuses, they felt like proper performance machines, with a fantastic whooshing sound on maximum boost. Livened up my school commute no end. They did seem to break down a lot whenever it was warm though. Also, the brakes were ridiculously loud. Soundtrack of my youth.

[Felly Magic]

I always loved Scania N113's, nice driver's buses. I agree with you DW about the brakes, also prone to fade on hot days. I remember my last trip when I worked at Cherry Row, I got a full house on dashlight bingo, was a boiling hot day, and the engine and box overheated. I road called it, and walked back to the depot as it was my clocking off time, no way was I doing forced overtime on my last shift

[83C]

I've only driven a few of Scanias, a handful of N113CRLs with East Lancs MaxCi bodies at Midland Red (Shrewsbury), and an L94 with Irizar Intercentury bodywork that was nicknamed the Scud - fast, inaccurate and had a tendency to go bang.

 

They were all quick off the mark but compared to Volvo's equivalent (the B10M) they rolled far more in corners and didn't ride as well.

[jonathan_dyane]

Great thread! What's the coachbuilder for the VR? There used to be VR's with the same body on my school run

[83C]

1208 has an ECW (Eastern Coach Works) body, which was by far the most popular body for VRs. Northern Counties, MCW, East Lancs and others did build bodies for them but in small numbers.

[Inspector Morose]

1208 has an ECW (Eastern Coach Works) body, which was by far the most popular body for VRs. MCW, did build bodies for them but in small numbers.

 

My old one

 

 

[Felly Magic]

I always thought the WUMPTY VRs looked really odd, with the upper deck sticking out further than the engine bustle, and the half baked front grille treatment

[jonathan_dyane]

Eastern Coach Works of course I can picture the decal now! 

[RoadworkUK]

I reckon, more than anything else, it's the disappearance of Colchester Borough Transport Atleanteans, Hedingham ECW Bristol VRs and Eastern National Nationals and National 2s from my local roads. that makes me feel old and miss my childhood.

[Inspector Morose]

I always thought the WUMPTY VRs looked really odd, with the upper deck sticking out further than the engine bustle, and the half baked front grille treatment

It really was the standard WMPTE Fleetline body stuck on another chassis with a hole cut into the front structure for the radiator hence the odd look. On the first built a steel bulkhead was fitted to the front around the radiator hole to recover some of the structural strength lost by cutting the frame. On all the rest it was made out of Fiberglass with great* results. Windscreens moving and dropping out and staircase moving independently from the body we some of the niceties of the VRs. It was so bad that a large number were withdrawn early and stored as the cost of rebuilding them to a fit state was deemed too much. Mine was one of those - delivered '74, withdrawn at seven years old, when 25 year old buses were still in service, and sold to National Welsh. Later on a number were eventually rebuilt and lasted until '86 when there was a great culling of non standard fleet.

[Felly Magic]

Sounds like they were Kwalitee vehicles. Makes an East Leaks body seem well built LOL 

[83C]

I'll have you know the Early Learning Centre body on my Tiger only leaks in one small corner under some beading. Winter job with some guttering sealant.

 

I never realised the MCW bodied VRs were such a bodge. Mind you, it still happens today. Many of the Optares I've driven have lead me to believe the entire workforce there only works on Friday afternoons, in full 'churn it out and fuck off to the pub' mode.

[Inspector Morose]

I could bore you senseless on the bodges on the MCW VRs having had to churn my way through most of them.

 

I have to say, I've always liked east lancs bodies. And yes, I've worked on and rebuilt my fair share too. They were the last body builders of the old school. True bespoke builders and the quality wasn't ever as bad as Willowbrook..

[Felly Magic]

I remember seeing them use pry bars to shut the emergency door on the Warrior that Black Prince had, severe arse sag on it. Optare staff just seem to have that CBA attitude, even fresh out of the box the damn things are falling to bits, and they also have the 'you will have what we say' attitude when it comes to their shite products. They may as well put the 'flying arsehole' logo of the parent on them

[83C]

There's a couple of F-reg Scanias where the Tiger is stored that have severe levels of arse-sag. I'll try and get a pic later.

[Justin Case]

Here's the VR in question in action, topping and tailing this video. The Museum's slightly later VR (at about 3.55) looks better balanced, but is that the modern* livery setting it off to its best ?

BTW the VAL at 1.35 is the one I mentioned on the 'Buying a bus' thread