Sping 2013 update

Firstly I said in my last post that the Dart was sold..........well there's been a change of plan on that front.

Given the ongoing issues with the double decker (throttle cable still remains to be fixed thus still no MOT), and with the work which will be required on the Volvo's bodywork (more on that in a moment), I've decided to keep the Dart as my back up vehicle for the 2013 season.  Also, the original reason for sale was that there wasn't enough space to keep all three vehicles together........well that situation has now changed such that keeping all three is no longer an issue.

So, the Volvo bodywork. It has become apparent that the bodywork, in particular the internal framework, is suffering from rust/corrosion issues. I don't believe it is so bad that it cannot be sorted but it does mean that once I start, well it'll be off the road till its dealt with. As it is currently on the road with a years MOT and six months tax, I'm not going to make a start on stripping down the outer panels until the double decker gets on the road. So to that end I am using it for at least the first couple of bus rallies.

I took 302 to the South East Bus Festival, an add on to the Heritage Show at the Kent County showground in Detling near Maidstone at the beginning of April. Aside from the £200 fuel bill she performed very well indeed - I lost count of the cars we overtook on the M25 and M20 - going uphill too!!

There were a couple of photographers on Detling Hill (A249); I could see why they'd chosen the spot as they were able to park in a layby and capture vehicles going slowly as they struggled up the hill........I had to purposely slow down to give them a chance of a decent image as we were still doing the legal limit of 60mph!!

I came across a couple of people who worked for Harris Bus and would have driven 302 when it was new. Not only did they enjoy a trip down memory lane but they were able to share a few points of interest with myself.....all the more interesting as I joined Harris Bus just after the Volvo's left the fleet and so only experienced them as a teenage passenger.

That's all for now - the next event is the London Bus Museum "spring Gathering" (commonly referred to as "Cobham").

Winter Blues

A few updates....

My latest vehicle, Volvo B10M D302PEV successfully passed her MOT on collection day from Mullanys Coaches, Watford. It performed magnificently on the run home to North Essex, easily achieving the legal maximum on motorways of 70 mph!! I'm think I'm gonna enjoy my long distance runs!!

The same cannot be said of my double decker, P335ROO. After spending three hours getting the back lights to work correctly, I attempted to take it for MOT (on Friday 15th March); but when I first left the storage location it wouldn't go out of first gear. After turning round and going back the gears started to work - too long sat around? possibly.

So attempt 2............got 10 minutes down the road and the throttle stuck on. Between myself and a mechanic we've found that at some point in its life the throttle cable has been bodged following a failure; and on this particular occasion the bodge also failed. It was an interesting experience getting it back home again!!

So needless to say that 335 still remains to be MOT'd. Following arrival back home, the final insult was a puddle of coolant on the floor. I'm suspecting the radiator is buggered, though I'm hoping its not that serious.......

In other news, the Dart will soon have a new owner; pending some outstanding remedial work.

And I bet you thought it all goes quiet for preserved bus owners in the winter months!!

The website has now been rebuilt and is up and running at www.preservedbuses.com

Work has continued apace over the winter on my double decker..........it has been repainted into its original Harris Bus Lime Green & Blue livery - just the vinyl stickers to go!!

I'm picking up my third vehicle in a couple of days - former Harris Bus Volvo D302PEV. This vehicle is a manual and has a coach based chassis (B10M) so will suit longer distance runs to the further away rallies and events.

As a result of buying the Volvo, my first vehicle (Dennis Dart J317XVX) is going up for sale in Bus & coach Preservation's  March issue. Main reason for sale is that space at my storage location in North Essex is at a premium and so the Volvo can only be accommodated if space is created for it; the Dart has drawn the short straw.....

Welcome to my blog, which I hope will complement my website: www.preservedbuses.com

As is possibly obvious from the title of this blog and the website, I'm into preserved buses - I own a few myself - and so the idea of both the website and this blog is to not only give my vehicles a presence on the internet, but also give me a way of sharing my experiences with others.

If you've found this blog already, well please be aware that I'm currently rebuilding the website owing to a laptop failure. I am aware of issues with some thumbnails not linking to the correct images - this will only be corrected once the rebuilt website is uploaded.

That's all for now....