Norms Restoration - 31 Seater Projects

The Preservation of 1937 Leyland TS7 [Waddington built ex Sydney 1389]

2020

Body December

Norman Julian 8th Dec
In the new year I want to start doing jobs on this bus.
The first one is to make a back emergency door from scratch.
This doesn't have one.
I have done one once before with the TD5. [photo]
What I need though is a pair of hinges.
The TD5 didn't have any because the bottom of the frame was rusted out and the whole door was siliconed shut.
The frame of the bus only had remnants of what was once a hinge.
I took a mangled pair off the Leyland 31 seater I'm working on now which in itself needs rebuilding in that area as well.
These hinges were badly damaged by the previous owner who thought it would be fun to put a backhoe through the back emergency door.
I refurbished them and used them on the TD5.
Because the prewars have different size hinges than the post war buses I can't mix and match.
If anyone sees in their travels old abandoned buses and the hinges are there if you are able please take them off anyway you can.
They are farely rare and hard to obtain.







Norman Julian
This is all that is left of the TS7 back emergency door.
Norman Julian14th Dec
Today I in a small way I made a start on this.
I want to repair the bits that are missing off this before actually getting stuck into the main body.
I decided the rear emergency door was my first job.
Talking to different people about what the door may have looked like because I haven't seen any real photos of the rear end to speak of, just two buses around the same time held some clues.
Looking at the overall shape I think 1275 is the closest.
1275 is the sister of 1389 anyway and it and 1275 have the same sloping back.
I needed to know this before hand because as you can see in the picture of both 1275 and 1492 the rear doors are different.
Anyway, I still had the old window frame from the TD5 and will be using that as a template for the new window for this project.





Scott Wilson
Edison A Haviland
Scott Wilson that needs to be restored
Scott Wilson
Olding & Son body.
Norman Julian
1389 is Comeng
Terry Davis
Great photos, l don't wish to criticize but when you post photos could you PLEASE post a description inder each photo so we know about each photo. ������
Norman Julian 15th Dec
Talk about speedy work.
My friends that I go to for metal bending etc folded up these box sections so as to make the rear door for the TS7. Just as well I took it in yesterday because this Friday is their last day for the year.
This door will probably be the first new part its had for 60 years or more.


John Clarke
It's like me and clothes.
Norman Julian
John Clarke haven't bought clothes for 60 odd year huh!
LOL
John Clarke
Not quite 60 Norm, I'm 68, and, try as I might.
I can't fit into my school shorts, they must have shrunk.
I am not the most enthusiastic clothes buyer, no.
To the despair of my wife.
Norman Julian16th Dec
I'm going to have to strip the panelling around the back window of the TS7 like the AEC in this picture.
This frame will be very similar and it is hard to know whats going on till I strip it.
The frame needs to be square and true otherwise the new door wont fit or work properly.
I already think this bottom box section is not straight.
I need also to have the right measurements so making the new door fits as well as I can get it.
Norman Julian 17th Dec
I started the ball rolling and took off the remaining 2 leafs of these prewar hinges.
It wasn't easy to start with finding the screw heads because the corrosion had covered the surface of the hinge.
I found the slots in the screws and used a centre punch after finding the centre of each screw and then drilled them out.
These hinges are useless without the other half but I will keep them anyway.
The aluminium panel that is under these hinges comes off and exposes the box section.
The side sections come off as well so the entire frame is exposed to see the condition of the 84-year-old frame.





Norman Julian 25th Dec
Before I start on the new rear emergency exit door I need to know what hinges I will be using.
Looking through what I had I don't have a matching pair.
Looking at the first picture we have a primed hinge which was one of 3 that came off the back of the Leyland 31 seater. I needed 2 hinges for the TD5 so I did all 3 at once and they suited the job after a thorough overhaul.
Just to be clear, the prewar buses seem to use only 2 hinges whereas the post war buses use 3.
The next 3 are off a replacement rear emergency door which was donated to me some time ago.
It is off a second series 31 seater.
The only thing is that there was only one half of the hinge.
Who knows where the other half went.
The 2 remnants behind those 3 are what was left of the hinges on the TD5s rear door.
The next 2 were given to me by a friend from the museum.
Once again just one half of the leaf.
The last 2 are off the TS7.
Once again only one half.
Because these things aren't a priority when parting a bus before scrapping the rest, they aren't given much thought.
I have made a prototype replacement leaf.
It is for one of the first 3 hinges for the 31 seater.
I'm confident I can make the opposite leaf for the smaller hinges so as to use them on the TS7.


Norman Julian
This picture shows how I did it.
I used the right size steel rod and drilled a hole dead centre.
A steel pin the right size was found and cut to size.
The flat plate was cut to size and welded to the steel tube.


Norman Julian 28th Dec
Just catching up with the hinges for the door, I wanted to sort them out before I cut the frame to size so as to make the door fit as well as I can.
I showed you the other day the ones I wanted to use only had one half of the leaf, well yesterday I made the other half of each one and also made these hinge awnings (not sure what you call them).
I was wondering how I was going to make them.
I had a few ideas but I ended up doing it this way.
The 50mm x 50mm box section was an exact fit, so I cut a section off and cut it in half length ways.
The rest you can see by pictures.
They still need to be cut to fit the hinge properly length wise.
There is a picture that shows you what they look like on a bus.
I did it differently to original.
The pin was originally pressed into position but I haven't got the means to do that but because the hinge is inside the awning cover the new pin can't slide out.
I did the same thing with the d/decker.
It looks so much neater.










Norman Julian 29th Dec
I must have been delusional to think that I can just make this emergency door and not have to worry about anything else.
I'm lucky that all of my projects are Commonwealth Engineering (Comeng) design.
They tend to have the same size box sections in various places so I can use sections I had made up for other uses.
One piece of good news was these rear forks are bolted on further down the frame.
I can take these bent sections off and replace them with something else.
The poor old girl has had a few prangs in its life and it shows.
Patches everywhere that have since rusted out.
The previous owner saved this in the 90s and had it under cover.
Just as well it may well have been too far gone if he hadn't sheltered it.












Norman Julian 31st Dec
Last lot of photos for this year.
Have a good night peoples and stay safe!
Well all I can say is "how dissapointing to see this but not surprising"!
This whole back wall will have to be rebuilt.
You would like to keep something of the original frame but there isn't anything to save.
I started off just wanting to do the sections that are missing like the back door for one and the front and side destos.
Doing this whole section wasn't on the agenda.
Anyway, have a look at some of the repairs over the years.








Norman Julian
This bend is supposed to be "L" shaped steel not flat

John Clarke
Happy New Year, Norman Julian , and thank you bringing us along on your fascinating, at times frustrating, and always meticulous journey of restoration of these wonderful historic vehicles.
Norman Julian
John Clarke thankyou for your kind words of encouragement and have a good start to the new year
Ben Summers
Happy New Year Norman , and good luck with your projects!
Norman Julian
Ben Summers thanks buddy
Norman Julian
How is yours going Ben Summers?
Ben Summers
Good thanks mate.
I'm up to taking the motorhome mod cons off.
Graham Inskip
Happy New Year Norman...looks like the poor old thing has had more hits than Elvis.
Be a huge change when you are finished and look forward to your posts.
Fred Holland
All the best for the new year Norm
Keep those restoration pictures coming in 2021.
Last updated
December 2020
This web site may contain Copyright material
If you find any problems with the site, please email the Web Editor