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Sunday 13th May 2007
"Seats Out And Numbers In" |
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Today's job was to remove the non standard moquette from the lower deck and replace it with some standard moquette from upstairs, so at least visitors coming on board would see the same moquette on all seats. This had actually been on-going for some weeks, but with problems encountered with some of the screws this was abandoned each time. However - today, the seats had to come out, no matter what.
So with some brute force, decent screwdrivers and some choice words - the job was eventually done. |
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Above: Lower deck looking towards the rear - © C.Anderson |
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Above: Lower deck looking towards the front - © C.Anderson |
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| With the rear side facing bench seats out, it became apparent that years of dirt that had managed to become lodged below the seat! |
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| A through brush later on both sides, and the frames were dirt free (well, kind of). |
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Above: Offside rear bench seat, minus cushion and back - © C.Anderson |
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Above: Nearside rear bench seat, minus cushion and back - © C.Anderson |
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| What did become apparent with all the seat backs and cushions removed was the painted frames. At some point during the vehicles life, the seat frames had been painted black - although traces of the original colour (beige / cream?) could be found where the seat frames were not normally exposed. The frames will have to be stripped down and repainted at some point. The large box shapes sitting under seats in the picture below are actually the battery boxes. |
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Above: Black frames (non original colour!) - © C.Anderson |
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| With the back seat removed, the underlying electrics and frame were now exposed: |
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Above: Rear lower deck seat - offside. Showing some more vehicle electrics - © C.Anderson |
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Above: Rear lower deck seat - nearside - © C.Anderson |
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| Rather than putting proper moquette cushions and seat backs downstairs, a deep clean will be required on the lower deck first whilst all fabric is out the way. The rear window and engine enclosure in particular needing lots of attention. |
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Above: Filthy rear window and internal engine recess! - © C.Anderson |
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| Despite being brushed out the day the vehicle arrived, a futher brushing (now getting into the floor properly), generated a lot more dirt! It may be a further brushing sessions required before a good mop and clean can take place... |
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Above: Years of dirt and grime from the floor and behind the rear bench seats! - © C.Anderson |
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| The original moquette cushions were placed outside, and these will either need a good clean or re-moquetted. These cushions are the proper width for the frames fitted in D23. A few more from upstairs, and hopefully those on D3, if they can be obtained of course, will progress the interior. |
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Above: Original moquette cushions needing attention! - © C.Anderson |
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| The non-standard moquette seats are typically in much better condition than the original moquette seats! These have been stored upstairs for the moment In a worst case scenario, should no more original seats be obtained, these can hopefully be re-fitted with original moquette. |
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Above: Non standard moquette being stored upstairs - © C.Anderson |
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| Next attention was turned to fitting the number blinds to the destination equipment. While these are not the exact type used for the era that D23 is being restored to, they will certainly do just now, and bring the front of the bus alive again. |
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Above: Number blinds fitted - © C.Anderson |
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Above: And from the outside.... - © C.Anderson |
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| The destination glass was also filthy, so a quick attempt to clean it externally helped a little, but it looks like the inside of the glass is the dirtiest. Two ways to do this are to either remove the destination glass or remove the destination equipment.... |
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| One thing to show, is the original red and cream livery on the inside frame of the emergency door, so this can be used in the future to ensure the correct paint is used when D23 is ready for the final stages... |
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| And to finish off today's entry, a general shot of D23 in the work area along with some other GVVT residents |
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Left To Right, Leopard EMS 362V, Fleetline SAS 859T, Dominator FGE 423X, |
Atlantean XGA 15J and Titan PD2 SGD 65 - © C.Anderson |
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