PITT24423

Really pleased with the seats but a huge amount of work in each one.I for one really glad we’ve had Dave onboard but between us I think he’s enjoying himself as I caught him smiling.

Engine gearbox and part of the chassis survived as it had been modified for powering a saw bench on a farm.The gearbox was needed by another guy restoring a Leyland and didn’t need the engine plus it was with a pile of Daimler parts which initially were offered to me to help my bus project along which I’m grateful for. It was always the intention to fit an engine temporarily in the bus before starting on the Daimler Knight engine due to the amount of work it requires and also the need for a period engine for the Palladium to which ends we have seemed to of now got all options covered.

Thanks for the info spot on, so working off the Haydon lorry possibly 1925 - 26 as long as it’s the original engine. My thoughts are starting to steer towards using it in the Palladium as dimension wise fits quite nicely, my only concern is if it has enough torque to power it and dies on the slightest hill as the bore is pretty much the same at 41/2 “ but the stroke on the Leyland is 5” 126mm compared with the Continental engines 140mm rated at 40hp equally the Palladium will never get fully laden and how comparable are the difference in how ratings between the manufacturer’s? Open to input,and thanks again for digging out the info as I have nothing on Leyland and it’s all very much appreciated. Duncan

Not 100% what year this engine is so all comments gratefully received my thoughts are 2 ton lorry as the chassis remains had the typical Leyland holey front cross member. At this stage not sure we are going to use this in the bus as it is a touch too long

Sorry guys just realised the first guess came through as a private message. As far as I know no 32.2 go Leyland so here’s another set of pics to help you on your way.

Leyland good, carry on 😁 one guess 3 possible answers …… feeling lucky

One guess soo close wrong hp Second crate jammed full of loveliness

Thank you and yes in short , under negotiation at the moment with various interested parties who were all genuine advertisers in the time period late teens early twenties and still trading today.Hopefully it will all come together with their blessing and a good wind . Need more guesses as to "what`s in the box " before I reveal .😁

Dave has worked his magic for the seats with the first one successfully assembled. Bit of excitement yesterday as a couple of long awaited crates turned up after a long voyage .Had to have a move around as the body had outgrown what Dave describes as his shed (so possessive) so a chance to photograph in the sunshine before being shoehorned into the other shed for painting to start in earnest.

At this time of gloom something to brighten our day up as we have had the final event and tally up to this project we made just over £50,000 profit from the sale of the soldiers with the majority being bought by the descendants and home owners who have re erected on public space near their homes or at the homes of the war dead . The money has been divided up between the local charities and Trusts that financially supported the project at the beginning including our local branch of the Legion who get about £5k. One of event organisers for the soldiers contacted the IWM for the use of the image which was agreed and the end result I was presented with a framed copy for my efforts which I was deeply moved by . The photo was taken by the Australian Frank Hurley of Australian troops at Passchendaele who was also the photographer for the Shackleton polar expedition as a point of interest. I know several people on this forum made the journey last year to Mersea to see the soldiers in position and contacted me hence the reason for this final post to let you know the outcome.

Dave is getting into self isolation and preforming his magic on the seats

After several coats of undercoat we tried a top coat to see what imperfections show up.

All the vehicles appear right hand drive ?

Simon Webb s Locomobile has its original chains and fit in the same way with the hooks .

First coat of red primer plus some white,starting to come together but still a way to go

Due to the fact that all the CB chassis’s we have including the lorry have suffered from cracking with three out of the four breaking in two,we made the decision to fit Pullman bars to give some added strength this detail is featured in a couple of early photos including one posted here and have been lucky to get a set from a vast store in the West Country.Due to this detail we are holding back fitting the body to the chassis but hope to start painting in earnest asap.Waldorf and Statan successfully fitted the top deck side panels and now give a true feeling of what it’s going to look like.Just starting to think about the top handrail detail as no two photos are identical so as with the rest of the project we are using one works photo as the blue print with small and unknown details being incorporated from other photos .An original name plate appeared on a popular sales website but with the wrong chassis number this image along with another scanned repro plate think the engravers managed quite a close copy which we are really pleased with end result .

Chassis all sorted which I cleaned down with a rotary wire brush in preference to sandblasting due to the ash between the steel . Top deck taking shape with Compo and Clegg testing out the seating plan

Craftmaster paint have a huge colour library and have found their paint to be very good with a specific engine paint in their range. Always helpful to deal with.

Chassis just about ready for paint now all the cracks welded and rotting ash replaced with new ash.Lower deck seat bases finished ready for painting ,we have added a tool box which fits under the seat as the bus lacks storage which will get fitted once painted. Dave has started on the upper deck which we are replicating from photos..

R P & Co probably Ruston Proctor Lincoln

To keep up with team “Gosling “ swapped the rear cross member with one from the dwindling spares dept.All bolts swapped with not to much effort ,managed to scrounge a nice piece of ash which is being machined to repair the chassis where it has rotted through.

Glass fitted along with the upper deck treads.Started the process to get some period moquette for the lower deck bench seats which looks promising. Dug out all of my broken ,cut and knackered CB chassis’s .Idea being to make the correct wheelbase to suit the bus body and use up the best chassis components . Dave made up the rear step just before Christmas which will get temporarily covered with ply whilst I make the stair. Screws replaced 🥳 😉

Ummmmmmm that what I said ,but indoor credit control has a different perspective with "sell something" ! Got to be careful what you wish for .

Second layer of roof timber fitted, laid out the upper deck tread bars.Daves nearly finished the gingerbread beading which looks effective The upper deck steel support post is temporary to enable us to set out sides the sides as per the original Birch body as we only have a few key photos to work from.Some of the dimensions we have taken from some General bus drawings as the dimensions we have are very close between the two bodies.

Roof taking shape with the first Layer of 1/2” boards being fitted followed by canvas being held down on a bed of canvas adhesive (baby poo ) which is best described as a sticky semi runny putty .The canvas is painted which seals it and makes it shrink pulling it tight.Hopefully next week the second layer of 5/8” boards get layed forming the floor for the upper deck.