New year same issues!

So a new season has begun and today it was my first rally of 2015, the South East Bus Festival at Detling in Kent.

Given that its always been my intention to get DAF P337ROO to this event - I can run it in service and its carrying an advert for Yeldham Transport Collection's open day on 17th May (shameless plug!) - it took priority over the winter break. In fact this is attempt number two at getting this motor to Detling as despite being booked in last year, I wasn't able to get it taxed in time.

The previous overheating issue has now been resolved thanks to a brand new radiator, thermostat and fan drive belt.......and the electronic destination equipment has been upgraded from a Bright Tech system to Hanover along with additional side and rear displays. The former work was required as the original radiator was found to be two thirds blocked and the latter now means I have full control over the displays and can update them whenever I like via my laptop.

So, we were all set for a successful start to the new rally season........

Then, whilst on my way to Detling, an all too familiar issue appeared to raise its ugly head as I negotiated a roundabout............so I pulled into the first available bus stop and had a look underneath towards the back...........sure enough, Red fluid was running out onto the road. Just like sister 335 at North Weald two seasons back, we had a failed power steering pipe.

I knew from the previous experience that this was a straight tow back to base job as driving it with no fluid can damage the power steering pump beyond repair.

I'm almost fully trained now in the art of putting a bus on the back of a suspended tow!!

RIP 335

You may recall throughout this blog the amount of grief I've experienced with DAF P335ROO.

To name a few things:

Angle drive
Throttle cable failure
Compressor pipe failure, twice!
Footbrake Valve
Gearbox
Air dryer pack
Radiator
Power Steering

It shut down the MOT station for 7 hours, broke down almost every time I took it out on the road and came back from North Weald bus rally on the back of a tow truck.

The final straw was a tank - a proper millitary one - reversing into it at my storage location damaging the nearside front corner, fibre glass panels inside and out plus both windscreens.

Well having decided that I can no longer trust the vehicle, a few enquiries were made regarding the price of scrap and the decision was taken to send it to one the bus graveyards at Barnsley. Wigley's of Barnsley came and took 335 today and that's the end of its story. RIP 335 - you certainly made a few memories for me!

The up's and downs of bus preservation

Show Bus

Showbus returned to Duxford in September and so I took advantage of the closeness to my storage location to take along both D302PEV and P337ROO.

The day itself went well with both vehicles receiving positive feedback. Having popped upstairs on 337 part way through the warm day to open the upper deck windows [to let some heat out] I noticed condensation on the rear offside window. This is right above the header tank for the engine cooling system and so as expected, it took about 2 litres of water when checked prior to departure.

Having driven 337 back home and parked her up, I became aware a few minutes later that she was leaking water from the back end. Further investigation showed water leaking from the header tank via a pressure release cap. And sure enough, the condensation was back on that upper deck window.

It was suggested that I may have overfilled it with coolant. I was always told to fill 'em to the maximum mark as a bus driver but it was explained that doing so leaves no room for expansion when the coolant heats up and so its better to fill it to just above the minimum mark. Once it cooled down I refilled it to just above the minimum mark as advised and took it out for a drive. Upon returning there was no loss of water..........so it would appear we solved the issue........

Canvey

Canvey bus rally was yesterday and I went along with P337ROO as I planned to run in service.

Given the previous water issues, I ensured we left with the coolant just above the minimum mark and stopped off for diesel after about 40 minutes. A check at the back revealed no water leaking. Another check upon arrival at Canvey also revealed no water leak and no other obvious issues (ie, condensation or overheating).

I duly completed 4, or possibly 5 (I wasn't counting!) round trips on the museum to display shuttle before parking up. It was pleasing to carry healthy loads as it means I get to drive under full load conditions and it gives the vehicle a proper work out by doing the job it was built to do. Having built some trust in the motor I thoroughly enjoyed myself going round and round in circles.

Another check after the service runs revealed a very minor water leak via the pressure release cap - probably not even half a litre. I elected to not check the water level given the advice about not over filling it. I figured that I hadn't lost much and so with no condensation on that upper deck window and no other obvious signs of overheating we ought to be fine for the return journey.

Having given a private tour of the Island to some friends at the end of the event, we duly set off for the return journey............40 minutes in I started getting a low oil level alarm when stopping at traffic lights or roundabouts. I pulled into a layby to check it out and upon getting to back of the bus I was greeted with a significant amount of steam and some water coming of the header tank pressure release valve. 337 had overheated proper and it took a good 10 minutes to cool down enough to release the filler cap. A check of the oil showed it to be bang on the maximum mark!!

Just when I thought I'd turned a corner and found a reliable DAF after all the grief with 335........arrgghhhh!!!

Having learned a lesson when a fellow preservationist had problem at the Clacton rally, I now carry 20 litres of water on board so was instantly relieved to realise that once 337 cooled down we could soon have her topped up again and be on our way (assuming the engine hadn't been cooked). 20 litres later I had it just above the minimum mark on the header tank. Yep, that's not a typo - it had lost 20 litres - and it didn't loose all 20 when I stopped as the puddle underneath was nowhere near big enough. So when did it lose those 20 litres???!!

Anyway, thinking back to the day I drove it back from Sheffield, I had found it ran better at a maximum speed of 50mph. Up until this problem occuring I had been doing around 53/54mph for about 20 minutes. Having decided that driving slower may be a good idea I drove all the way back to the storage location (another 40 minutes) without going above 45mph. Upon parking up back at base I rechecked the back end................no water leaks and the coolant still just above the minimum mark as it was after refilling at the roadside.

Hmm....

Because of the issues with 337 and the likelihood of no quick fix, I'll be taking the old faithful, D302PEV, to Transport fest instead of 337.

Bus & Coach Preservation magazine

Dart J317XVX was featured in Bus & Coach Preservation magazine's October 2014 edition. This came about through somebody else at my storage location already setting up an article for their vehicle with the magazine.

Initially though, the feature was going to be about Volvo D302PEV but upon finding out that P337ROO's repaint was imminent and spotting 317 in the shed, Nick Larkin (who'd come to do a photo shoot and interview) decided to switch the plan and hold back on the Volvo so that a full Harris feature could be done with two vehicles.

The Dart was duly posed in several locations in North Essex though the weather was unhelpful - bright sunlight made it difficult to get any decent shots of the cream coloured Dart. Its not often us Brits moan about too much sun! Although the bus was the subject of all the attention, I certainly feel I know what models go through now as they pose in various ways trying to satisfy their photographers needs!

With 337 now ready, the photoshoot and interview for 302 & 337 was completed a couple of days ago - somewhat rushed as Nick had been let down by another vehicle and had space to fill in the November 2014 issue. We posed the vehicles in a North Essex village which is normally as a quiet as a church mouse......and just as we started it became the busiest area in the UK.

Eventually though we got the shots Nick wanted and having seen a rough outline of the article, I look forward to the magazine hitting the shelves.

Going dotty

After being let down by three different graphics companies, I finally found one willing to take on the challenge of doing the dots for 337. Viscount International of Woodford, East London, came highly recommended by several other preservationists and they weren't wrong - theses guy's really are the bee's knee's.

It took several weeks to finally arrive at a design I was happy with (I was never truly happy with version carried by 335 and vowed to better replicate the Harris Bus fade on 337) - as you can see from the sneaky peak images below, I reckon we've nailed it this time.

Still busy!!

Updates for this post include 302 making Buses magazine, Colne Valley Railway and 337's repaint.......

302 in Buses

So yeah, after 335 made it into Buses magazine last year.........and me pondering whether 302 would achieve the same feat when it was finished..........I'm pleased to see that it did indeed make it into Buses magazine (August issue) on the strength of its visit to North Weald rally!

I'll have to come with something for next year now!!!

Colne Valley Railway Rally

Oh dear.

The first one I did in 2012 was relatively successful given the remote location; last year was so so with just 16 vehicles. In 2014 the event attracted just 10 vehicles.

It coincided with the much larger Alton rally, which although in Hampshire, certainly attracted many of the local vehicles that would have otherwise come to Colne Valley. As is becoming the theme with me, owners have got to support events or they won't happen in the future - no events = no point preserving buses!

Now I'm as guilty as others I suppose, because I was actually booked into Alton with 302. I have had a long term issue with 302's front suspension (piston leak) and I've been advised not do long journey's till its fixed. As I wasn't able to fix it in time, I decided to take advantage of Colne Valley's proximity to my storage location and take two vehicles.

As you'll see below, although 337 is now repainted (just awaiting vinyls), but I want to hold off on her relaunch onto the preservation scene (planned to be showbus in September). There's nothing to stop 302 doing a local trip and 317 is available with no planned events for the rest of the year (acting as spare to the others) so I decided to take those two - and with them being parked next to each other I blinded them both for route 383 reflecting the period where they ran in competition with each other.

337 repaint complete

As mentioned above, 337's repaint is now complete - just the vinyls to go:

Busy Busy Busy!!

Well its all happening this month!

We've had two rallies - North Weald and the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine show - both of which were quite dire with only around 30 buses at each. 337's repaint has started and 317 has been in a photo shoot for an article in Bus & Coach Preservation magazine.

So yeah, sadly North Weald continues to suffer a poor reputation, and wasn't helped by certain persons at TfL taking advantage of the fact to stage a rival event in central London. Whilst I appreciate the apathy towards this event, I would plead with fellow preservationists to give North Weald a go in 2015; things are changing for the better. Or perhaps look at it this way: if less vehicles attend rallies, there'll be less and less rallies.........before you know it there won't be any point preserving a bus as there'll be nowhere to take it.

I did the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine show last year at Newbury, and you may remember from this blog that I was less than impressed and vowed not to bother again. What was that I said about supporting events?!! Well they moved it near to St Albans this year and so myself and a few fellow preservationists thought the move was a sensible one - close to an area full of preserved buses, it'll be a surefire winner right?

Nah. As I mentioned above, the event saw about 30 buses; what a shame given that it was organised by the national magazine that covers bus preservation. As I've said twice already, bus preservationists have got to support these events otherwise they will disappear off the rally calender and there'll nothing left to take buses to.

On a more positive note, Bus & Coach Preservation magazine approached our group and invited us to do some articles with them - for my part they were interested in Volvo D302PEV which I'd taken along.

Well they came to our storage facility a couple of days ago, and clocking the Dart they expressed an interest in doing an article on that too. Having spent a bit more time discussing my vehicles, and with the news that DAF 337 is about to be repainted, it was decided to drop the Volvo for now and just do the Dart instead. Volvo 302 and DAF 337 will be done together at a later date as part of a large article about Harris Bus. What with DAF 335 appearing in a Buses magazine article last year, I have to admit I quite proud to see all my buses getting their 15 minutes of fame!

We posed the Dart in several locations around a village in North Essex and so I'm now looking to seeing the finished article whenever it appears in the magazine.

Finally I've mentioned that DAF 337 is about to be repainted.......well it is currently fully sanded down and is just awaiting some of my free time to get the paint on. I'm intending to have the paint completed by the end of the month and the stickers done by mid August.........