Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th of April, Carriage & Wagon Works

Saturday 7th of April 2012
Attendance: 4

The day began with a general discussion about the remaining work and aims.

Chris's first job was to remove the starter motor, this had been giving problems and Alan wanted to investigate further. Adam and Jason drained down the coolant to have a look at the heat exchanger gauze and remove any fresh debris. The process revealed another smaller amount of rust flakes, the amounts have been less and less so the system is working well and the pipework has settled down nicely.

Jason then set about making missing conduit box covers for various items whilst Adam removed the A-end horn box to fit the rubbers that go between the horns and the box. Chris greased the universal joint on the cardan shafts at the transmission end.

Next up Adam set about curing an oil leak that had developed on the oil priming pump using dowty washers. Chris set about removing the fuel strainer, as it was seized, attempts were made to recover it, but was deemed scrap so Chris went on the hunt for a replacement and returned some time later with a suitable unit, albeit in need of some TLC, but complete. Solvents and lubrication were applied until it was spinning freely and ready for use.

Rob Mason was busy in the cab, making replacement rails for one of the drivers chairs as well as preparing wood, sponge and covering for the 2 armrests. Rob also fixed the spare lamp box to the cab below the handbrake wheel. Alan had been busy looking at the starter motor, removed earlier by Chris. His diagnosis being that the clutch was on the way out and wouldn't last long, so a replacement would be needed soon. Adam assisted Alan in refitting the motor, then refitted the fuel strainer to the system.

The coolant was refilled and D9531 started. Alan wanted to show us all something he felt was alarming at 1500rpm. He revved the power unit and pointed to the turbo, which was oscillating from side to side so much that it was a blur compared with the rest of the engine! Not good!

Discussions were had and the decision to replace the turbo bracket in a fortnights time with the one from the original power unit, which is a more substantial unit than that in situ. Jason then took the conduit covers he had made back to the Class 15 coach to be treated with primer. With this the day drew to a close.

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Sunday 8th of April 2012
Attendance: 3

First job for the day, Adam and Chris went on a search for the original turbo bracket as the one on the engine presently doesn't appear to be up to the job, allowing the turbo to vibrate at an alarming rate. As discussed following Alan's demonstration at 1500rpm, rather than wait to see if the bracket shows signs of distress it's been decided that it will be changed for the original which is a sturdier build. The bracket was discovered in secure storage and this was then dropped off at Castlecroft ready for fitting in a fortnight's time.

Meanwhile, Jason was painting the conduit covers that he had made the previous day. These were then hung up to dry and in the end were still wet at the end of the day so will be fitted at a later date. Jason then moved on to refitting the last of the conduit covers in the cab.

The last of the loose pipework in B-end was tightened down by Adam on his return using 'P' clips. Adam then moved on to resolve a fuel leak from the fuel filter he had been working on the previous day. The leaking joint was split then an additional washer put in place and, once put back together, this resolved the problem.

After lunch Jason and Adam spent a couple of hours sanding down the paintwork on the B-end ready for this receiving its final coat of paint. Jason left Adam to finish off sanding and moved on to creating templates to make the missing metal central desk covers.

With this complete it brought the weekend to an end, Ernest refuses to give up without a fight and so the next session will be a big one, replacing the turbo bracket!