Wednesday 14th June a lovely warm sunny day.

First a repair job as somebody had broken the lid on the racing pigeon basket and sat a pigeon on top, so this time no rods but 1.5mm copper wire around the lid and front then twisted inside so it will not open.

               the damage                                                 Now wired shut

                              Now back on platform 1 and hopefully no more damage.

                        Then the completed wings need to go back on the scammel flatbed trailer.

                  The combination is now completed and just needs upkeep in the future.

We need to prepare the AA box for the move so emptied it out and were asked to put it on a pallet ready for the telehandler to move it, using a barrel sack truck and some muscle power we got 1/4 onto the pallet. The pallet needed sourcing and carrying over so off down near the narrow gauge to find a suitably strong one.

     wide enough to sit the sides on                    A 2 man job with the sack truck

We then had to wait for another 3 bodies to lift and slide it fully on the pallet.

                    A gang masters horn needed a chord loop making and soldering on  

                                          

The box body needed the dry chain lube removed from the rear shutter guides as it did not dry and being wet would thus attract and have debris build up jamming the rollers again.

                                                     

Some of the body seam screw do not go in caused by a slight misalignment of panels or broken screw remains so drill through and tighten the screw.

                                                        

The side rubbing strips have been refurbished and replaced where needed so it looks a lot better now.

An easy win on a donated pipe cutter it just needed a clean with wire wool and a coat of lanolin before putting in Foss Cross display.

                                                      

  

Another tool a spring loaded wrench needed even less cleaning but it works well with no manual adjustment required.

                                                    In action just keep the fingers clear.

It was down to line van number 2 to scrape the loose paint off the roof beams.

The Morris lorry cab repairs continue with cutting out more rust and tidying the edges to let new metal in but no photos with the grinder cutting and welding going on.

That concluded a few hours good work but we are making slow progress with the amount to do gets larger.

 

 Monday 7th May a lovely clear day with a bit of a nip in the air to start off.

The Scammell flat bed trailer wings are coming along nicely and will soon be ready for refitting on a down side note the scammell is by the gravel entrance drive and this dry weather means a coating if dust on it.

                                                

The line side wagon needed a coat of white on the roof so this time a roller job, a good job the wet paint had a sheen to it.so painted and missed areas are seen.

             

The AA box base needed stabilising and levelling up so blocks under the wooden surround achieved both parts

                                                                             

It was then time for some stakes to keep it from moving and infill it with ballast, after finding the gravel had loads of sand in it at Winchcombe last week the old garden center pile that has had the sand washed out of the top layer by the rain so wheelbarrow trips time.

                              

The hard core is just below frame height so that any damp does not travel up to the wooden floor and 2 stakes have gone in at the rear for the box to sit against.

Whilst sorting the base out I kicked one of the bead rollers by the workshop that have been there for years so time to get one done, a shot blast, swap a few parts and a paint in matt black and we have another display item.

the two one rusty and one cleaned  

Ready for display

Whilst putting the roller on display the plants are narrowing the footpath and it looks less inviting so a quick trim was required.

The pathway to the top end was being taken over by nature even after all the regrouting earlier in the year so chop off and sweep up time.

A quick look at the tree showed the ivy was slowly dying off after having the stems severed around the tree, another trim around the trunk has ensured there are no small feeds left so when it is all dead it can be pulled off and burnt.

                                                    

Finally a pair of old scissors for right handed folks which will need some TLC in the future

 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