Our ex Herne Bay car 1178 is slowly coming along on her return to the road. The framework is now in place in the former wheelchair doorway which will mean the panels can start going on soon.
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Work continues on former East Kent Leyland National 1178 with the former wheelchair door area being cleaned up ready for the new framework to be inserted. This work being carried out by Jake whilst Andy sanded the exterior paint ready to give her a freshen up. Once all this work is complete she will be give a service. As the sun begins to shine, it has allowed work to continue at a growing pace.
At HQ the buses continue to be prepared for Detling on the 5th April, BOO and 5137 have been run up to check that everything is still moving and working correctly. DMS550 ventured into the outdoors for the first time in over 3 years, It was a fantastic site to see and a credit to Paul, who has constantly been working on it for the past 2 years. In the West Kent base the rebuild of Q has been progressing with the front now fixed into position, and now looks like a bus again at the front, the next step is to replace the back end which was rather rotten! 5916 has been shunted around the yard a few times to keep everything running and to keep the wheels turning, she has now been parked up for the time being, while a problem with the gears is rectified. A new bus maybe on the scene within the next few months which has meant something has to go. With sadness we must part company with our Zig Zag Dart. She was rescued with the intentions of passing the project on to someone that had the time to put her back to former glory. Anyone wishing to express an interest in taking it on please get in touch! Another year gone and we're a step closer to the big 100th anniversary of East Kent Road Car in 2016. This year we're hoping to finish the work on 1178 (EFN178L) and also 7980 (TFN980T). Other buses in the collection that should be on the road at some point this year are 1145, 1255, 5137, DMS550, BOO and 40306. Work will be focusing now of getting the East Kent vehicles (7041, 7681 and 7980) back on the road and fit for service ready for 2014. Whilst this is our aim, as we saw with last year NOTHING can be guaranteed...
Work will also continue on 'store shed' 7656 which will release 5807 and 7041 for work - hopefully with a view to hitting the road in 2015/6. Nuw is going to be given a much needed break this year in that time she will be mechanically serviced and tidied up inside and out. All in all another busy year is looming. Also, in the coming months Nick Moore will be upgrading our website, making it even better and more personal to us too. More information on that later. Apologies for this update being a little later than planned. We've finally moved East Kent Leyland National EFN178L in to secure undercover cover storage in the east of the county. Here she will be returned to the road and work on her windscreen and wheelchair lift door can continue in the dry. The fuel starvation issues with WKO137S seem to have been resolved. Her fuel tank was given a clean out and her filters changed. All the fuel system is now being put back together again and then we can give her a local test run to check she works.. Paul has been very busy with his two buses. The door area on DMS550 is now complete and he is currently re-fitting the indicator units to the side of the old girl. He has also serviced a faulty leveling valve on B124BOO, his ex Hedingham Leyland Tiger. Paul still has a few minor jobs to do on her but she is proving to be a very fine addition to the collection. Meanwhile, in our other unit in the west of Kent, Nick has been on somewhat of a buying spree. He's saved former Maidstone & District / Arriva Volvo Olympian M916MKM (5916). She is bodied with a Northern Counties bodywork and currently carries and all-over advertisement for 'The People's Trust'. She requires some work to be undertaken on her chassis but Nick is hoping to get that sorted out quickly. We're currently working on our 'works runabout', a 1999 Metrocab taxi. Although only on loan to the collection following our FX4 Fairway popping a gearbox seal, we're hoping that TOL the taxi will join the collection full time from early next year. Here she will attend the longer distance rallies and shows and help promote Southern Counties even further afield as well as being used as a daily runabout and works motor. Wow, we've all been really rather busy this week. Work has continued on 7041 and the police bus interior is slowly receding on the lower deck. Meanwhile, 5807's staff room area is now all but done and proved to be very handy yesterday when the rain came down. We're now of the opinion that maybe it's a bit too comfy...! Andy, Paul, Jake and Matt helped with 5807 also tidying her upper deck which is now home to some RF seats that Paul acquired. Jake has been busy with the de-greaser and has cleaned the engines in 5807, 5137, Nuw and 1178. they now all look a lot better and we're thinking of maybe painting them up to keep them tidy. Paul and Nick were also busy working on 1178's front end and have removed most of the rotten lip that held the wind screen in place. It looks like we may have to remove the other screen too if we're to do the job properly but once it's done it's done. Last month 5137 passed her MOT and is now on the road again. A small problem with fuel starvation has reared it's head but the team know what's causing this and will be getting it resolved once the poor weather has passed. Jake and Paul have been busy working on our Leyland National 1178 (EFN178L). The screen was damaged by the previous owners in a minor shunt with an East Kent AEC Reliance, this was removed to see how much rot was in the metal lip that holds the screen rubber in. We're glad to say it's not too bad and some can be repaired whilst some will have to be replaced. Once this is done the new screen can go in. Paul has managed to sort out the niggly electrical issues that have plagued her with the horn and main beam flasher unit and now they work well too. |
Current NewsHere you will find out the latest news about our buses and future events we hope to attend. In addition we will add any interesting bus and coach related news we come across.
SOUTHERN COUNTIES OMNIBUS.A collection of retired buses living in southeast England owned by a group of friends. Archives
February 2020
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