Norms Restoration - 31 Seater Projects & Leyland TD 5 Project

1939 Leyland TD5 [1635 DD]

2019

Discussion July

Norman Julian 2nd Jul
Question for someone in the know.
Did the back platform consist of "Plywood" or "tongue and groove".
Obviously unless you have had first hand experience you probably wouldn't know because the floor is covered in "Malthoid"!
Andrew Blacklock
Tongue and groove from my experience
Norman Julian
Yeah!
I thought the same!
Bob Gioia
Hardwood t&g
Norman Julian
Thanks Bob and Andrew.
Looks like Cypress again.
Love that timber.
I get high on the aroma.
LOL
Marcus Allaway
toungue and grove hard wood with a tar like mat over it my old one had
Bob Gioia
Marcus Allaway malthoid covering.
Marcus Allaway
Bob Gioia yes like on some roofs of train cars etc but seemed harder
Norman Julian
Marcus Allaway
They don't seem to make that thick malthoid anymore.
Andrew Blacklock
I have used marine ply or tongue and groove as a replacement
John Clarke 2nd Jul
Hello Norman,
I don't know whether you'd be interested in this.. https://livinghistories.newcastle.edu.au/nodes/view/75514?fbclid=IwAR0k0f9W7pTiDC9RMntwm9Lw-ur9RHsHZZWLZRSxje9GqQZLyf6v47tm2nA
Norman Julian 9th July
You don't see many timber framed buses anymore, especially being restored .
‎Chris Stanley‎
to
RT type bus appreciation group
March 2008 and work on RT8. *With permission of the Newman family.
Norman Julian 9th Jul
Amazing job

Carle Gregory
on this one Norm they seem to have built the frame and then put the floor in
Norman Julian 10th Jul
One thing that I do like about the Sydney d/decker buses had over the English buses [prewars at least] is that the very back of our buses slope inwards, whereas the English types are straight up and down.

Norman Julian
More shots of this timber framed restoration

Robert Stevenson
Built when tradesmen were craftsmen.
Clynton Brown
I’m restoring a small wooden railway gang motor, that’s a task.
This is next level.
Norman Julian
These gems were basically following how all horse drawn carriages were built before them.
Skills in this area were common.
Welding steel structures was in its infancy.




Phil Mackay
RT8 was I believe a full chassis up restoration (rebuild)
If I recall correctly the body was so far deteriorated it had to be bound up with load straps just so it wouldn't collapse while being transported!
A few photos of RT8 taken 2010 working a wedding special just days after completion.
Chris Dempsey 12 Jul Try this combitnation Norm JJ Hill Leyland OPD2/1 m/o-6309 ex 2097 had its top deck replaced after a accident with the top half from AEC Regent 1671.Picture from the Andrew Potts collection
Norman Julian 20 Jul
Courtesy of John Swadling.
A short video on the beginnings of Albert the Albion right up to present day, including, wait for it . . .
The Frankenstein haircut makeover.
Albert the Albion
John Swadling
20 July at 10:08
Made a short video on ALBERT THE BUS with some great music ,footage if you enjoyed watching Alberts worldwide adventurers
Please feel free to Share .
Jason Owen have to show your Dad .
Norman Julian 23rd Jul
Here we have 2 different body styles.
The b/w photo is a prewar and the other in colour is a post war.
The b/w has a fixed rear window while the other is hinged.
The prewar has a wider opening return than the post war.
After pulling my rear floor apart I could see that the floating section had been reinforced several times.
The steel surround had given way and patches have been placed over the top.
I wonder if this is a reason for narrowing the return on the post wars.
I love speculating.


David Wilson
Hard to know the answer to this one as Comengs after 2365 (and Clyde air doors) reverted to the cutaway arrangement of the prewars.
It could have been to provide extra strength (and space) for the hinged emergency door - a feature which probably added a bit to the cost of the bus body too.
Norman Julian
Thanks David!
Marcus Allaway
seen some that had the open out side steps too
Norman Julian 24 Jul
I was thinking of doing this with the TD5 to save a lot of money with not chroming the tops, but after seeing this picture I have changed my mind.
The Scotts did a great job of restoring the Albion but have [to me anyway] made a mistake in this area.
Scott Wilson
Looks crap!
At least they coulg paint siver over the brown powder coating.
Norman Julian
Some of the silver jobs I have seen are below parr as well.
Andrew Blacklock
I don’t like that look either, some nice 2k metalic silver and clear coat would look good
John Clarke
Every decker or frog that I have travelled on, had the chromed tops.
Norman Julian
I have never seen any either
Bryce Pender
Fabricate the tops from Stainless Steel, easier to clean and no risk of the chrome chipping.
Norman Julian
Not a bad idea, Bryce.
Charles Shipway
I must agree Norm the paint doesn’t have the same finesse and I think the Crome will be easy to keep clean rather than the paint
Catherine Norman
That's the canny Scotts for you lol
Peter Phelan
Yeah, that could be made to look a lot better.
Peter Phelan
Best seat in the house, front right.
David Wilson
absolutely ghastly.
Spray the tops with micro silver and seal with floor polish
Robert Stevenson
I have seen a liquid chrome paint on a few you tube videos.
Seems like it might be a choice for some areas.
It is however expensive, and due to the nature of the product, it needs to come by sea.
Ricks Restorations even used it on something they did up. It came up brilliant.
Perhaps worth investigation for some areas?
Bryce Pender
Is this the one you are talking about Robert?

https://www.facebook.com/EurekaChrome/
Eureka Auto Sdn Bhd (Eureka Chrome)
Robert Stevenson
That one looks interesting but isnt the one I was referring to.
It was a simple brush on system.
It self levelled leaving no brush strokes visible.
They did a motor bike fuel tank in the video from memory.
The result looked really good. I know a few people who were interested in it, but cost and shipping times put them off.
David Wilson
seat tops are a high wear area unfortunately and pressure pack chrome spray tends to dull badly after awhile.
Cannot be sealed with clear estapol either.
Only floor type polish helps maintain the sheen- but at the end of the day it is not real chrome.
Last updated
July 2019
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