Removing The Rot

We are spending a lot of time on rebuilding the Morris Commercial LC4, 

making sure we cut out all the rust, and replace with thick gauge steel, rustproofing as we go, so the vehicle may have a bright life ahead.

The cab skirt at the back of the cab is badly corroded, no time for half measures or compromises, and

no clear view on how the repair will be made, the rot is cut away.

The outer, compound curve in the removed piece, is cut away to be welded on to new  metal.

After blast cleaning, a  repair section is made up for welding up.

 Monday 28th April a lovely warm spring day 20C is great

All outside in the sun the scammell box trailer was a good starting point with the body line screws to refit after counter sinking the holes first 35 went in and we need another 26 that is after one side was already done.

The flatbed trailer  had the head boards fitted during the week so it only needs the rear wings fitted and the load put on with some chains then it is complete.

The Morris cab has gone from hole repair to cutting sections off for new metal on the lower righthand rear corner

The GWSR board have agreed to have the AA box located on site so it is going on the road into the site, this meant clearing vegetation leveling the area and sourcing a base.

The area was checked for birds nest before trimming started

The partially cleared area on a guess for the size.

A trip to Winchcombe was required to source some timbers for the base frame.

After some deep counter sinking the 80mm screws were long enough to hold it together the ground was leveled and more vegetation removed as the box is 43" square.

The frame was painted with old oil as it will sit on the soil this will protect the box structure from the damp ground and we also need some pea gravel to infill the frame.

The Trusts work area from the Stanway Road bridge with the AA box roof just visible in the field, we need the assistance of the tele handler to move the box to the new site where we hope it will be photographed by the classic car community.

                                        We also had a goldfish rescue from the mouth of Ginger the resident cat luckily it swam away as soon as it was put back in the pond under the netting and after all that the time for work had run out.

 The Scammell Roller Shutter door 

The roller shutter door on the back of the box trailer has never been easy to open, lubrication can work against its smooth action.

Old oil congeals with age and becomes more like  a glue.

The door was dismantled last year and all the old grease removed.

It worked better  but still required a lot of effort to push it up and pull it down.

I decided to look closer at how the slats behaved and it was clear that they operate like a chain and follow the the running groove with  flexibility.

Standing inside the unit with a torch i could see that the bottom part of the door was rigid and that shouldn't be.

The slats at the bottom had been replaced, after taking off an original i compared the two i noticed that it had been made 2mm extra in height.

This caused the slats to bind together to become rigid

I reworked the replacement slats to size hoping this would free the door up.

They were sanded down and repainted one slat had some rot in it so a bit of slicing in was needed







 

 Wednesday 23rd March and summer has gone light rain and cooler.

running repairs as somebody has tried to get into the trusts racing pigeons whilst on the platform in their basket awaiting transportation.

The small top flap has been broken in two so brass reinforcing rods have gone in and the buckles have been wired so they cannot be undone.

After an unexpected task it was drilling and bolting down the bed boards on the scarabs flatbed trailer and also derusting and painting the wheel arch brackets ready for the repaired wings to go back on.

Then fit a headboard and we can say it is a complete running wagon and trailer. 

Thinking of a suitable load with and interest factor the GWR water system parts came to mind  so a heavy cast iron pipe was loaded and wheeled to the Trusts work area this was definitely a 2 man job

Once up right it was warmed with the oxy propane to get the remains of the bolts out that we had cut a year or so ago.

After a good heating session a large punch and lump hammer knocked the remains out on down 6 to go.

when all 7 were out the pipe was cleaned with a wire brush on the angle grinder this revealed two things one the original paint was applied with it stood as we have it and the marks from pouring the casting.

It was then loaded back on the trolley for and even longer trip to the Scammell where it will be painted with bitumen and loaded along with the water tower gate valve, a smaller gate valve and the flow gauge which have also been moved to the scammell from the museum.

The large gate valve and pipe will need the telehandler to lift them on before we chain them down if we can find some suitable chains and turnbuckles.

The Salter scales face is progressing well with Greg practising his sign writing

The Morris cab has had loads of filler repairs over holes and rust this is coming off to be replaced with good metal and welding

The good news is the railway are having the AA box up near the entrance so hopefully it will attract some classic car owners for photos.

This is how it started with us the finished box will soon be on display near the GWSR entrance

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 The Scammell box van trailer, has had roof repairs and a repaint.

Many of the steel screws holding the aluminium roof in place had rusted to nothing so all of those were replaced

with brass screws and the whole roof was painted with a good coat of Black Bitumen paint

 The Great Western Railway Tool Van

We also work on other peoples assets

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire railway has a group of young and talented volunteers that work on restoring wagons.

Overlooked, by many heritage railways, wagons can be an asset, not only for railway construction, but as an added attraction.

Freight trains are loved by photographers and public alike.

To  have wagons in good working order means they can be moved at ease to take on useful purpose.

We are starting work on the interior of this historical tool van it was the mainstay of breakdown trains and track maintenance over the at least the last hundred years.

It will become a workshop but be restored sensitively, here are the before photos of the interior.

 There  are many old  artefacts that are in store in the Scammell box trailer, that should be on public display.

This, brass, hand pressurised, garden pressure sprayer, had been in storage, but now, has had a  makeover,

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and looks all the better for it.

 Wednesday 9th April a lovely sunny day with a frost to kick start it.

The flatbed trailer for the Scammel Scarab is on the hit list today as an easy win job to complete on the scale of outstanding works..

Lets start with the wings that seem to have more filler than steel the one has rotted out at the end so new metal is the only option so measure the depth we need and cut a piece to form the shape.

filler removed and it was covering a mess.             replacement piece cut

                                with the rust cut away one wire for the edge rolling was still ok.

                                                

         Attached with welding clamps                 stich welded on and shaped

                  After dressing the welds and a light skim of filler for the rough parts it looks presentable

Wing number 2 was also filler heavy so once ground away a gentle heating and application of hammer and dolly got is straight and only needing minimal welding

both wings were then sanded down ready for a coat of primer which unfortunately reacted with the old paint in several places which needed attention before a light top coat.

The Scarab box body is looking good with more paint applied, thoughts are now convert this to a museum display area with steps up to it from the rear

The flat bed trailer wood has had a coat of preservative prior to drilling and bolting down

A crop sprayer has been saved and after a good clean it has gone into Foss Cross alongside the gardening tools display

Things are getting repaired at a good rate now so plenty of new displays to keep visitors happy and the AA box move to a permanent site should happen in the next few weeks.