The Bus went into our local "Bus & Truck
garage on February 9th this year, and finally came out on the 14th May 2004.
It was booked in for possible Head Gasket leak, Temp gauge not working and
the fitting of a new Speedo. During the time the work had come to a stand
still, I was hunting all over the country for the Head Gasket set, Exhaust
Valves, one Cotter and a replacement set of injectors. It was left to me to get
the head skimmed in a bid to keep the job cost to a minimum.
Whilst the head
was being re-assembled, it emerged that the Exhaust Manifold had "fallen to
pieces" I felt more expense coming on. It so happened that there was a machine
shop close by that could make me a replacement, at a staggering cost of
£425.00 Plus Vat.
Eventually the bus was finished, but unfortunatly we
had now missed 4 Rallies we would normally attend and a planned visit to
Abertillery. I have had 3 new tyres and an inner tube fitted pror to the MOT
test which was now due.
Bad new followed when it failed the mot on no gasket
in the fuel filler cap and an air leak on the braking system. It was also
stated as "Too dangerous to be on the road".
It is now back in the original
garage to have these items sorted out.
Cost so far £3959. 70p and
that's without the mot work.
Suspect Head Gasket -
27th April 2004
This is how the cylinder head looked after it
was "skimmed". But I'm afraid at the moment work has stopped again on my bus.
Suspect Head Gasket -
April 2004
Our engine repair seemed to move towards the
completion stage so slowly, with each week yet another problem seems to pop up.
The cylinder head is now fitted back onto the block, but the manifold has
totally collapsed. The continual pressure that has built up over the years, of
hot gases, antifreeze and rust, has weakened the casting. It is so fragile now,
that when you touch it, the metal breaks like a hard boiled egg shell (see
photos below).
I have got an advert on the Buses website, and have been in
touch with everybody that I know, for help, so it is fingers crossed
time.
There is so much that is damaged now, I just don’t know when the
bus will be mobile again and our plans to return the bus to Abertillery look
doubtful
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Suspect Head Gasket - Feb
2004
Not a very good start to the year I'm afraid,
old girl's not well.
The bus has finally blown.
When we bought
the bus, we just filled it up with water each time we took it out. Thought no
more about it. As time went on, it took more and more water every time we went
out, or so it seemed. I thought perhaps I was over filling it, I don’t
know.
Then we became paranoid about the loss of water and started to keep a
close eye on it. I decided to get in touch with the previous owner and ask if
he had any trouble. He said that it was o.k. so I thought, well it must be me.
When I was looking through some old bills that he gave me, I noticed that he
had , on two occasions, booked the bus in for overheating, He had a new rad
fitted, and water pump overhauled. On a video he lent me, you see the bus
stopped and the water checked.
Up until last week, the engine had built up
so much pressure inside, it was blowing exhaust gases up through the valve
guides and into the water tubes.
I have enclosed a few photos showing the
suspect parts.
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When the head was removed, you can see the damage that has
built up over a long time and has now finally burst. We have now got to replace
all of the valves, seals, guide tubes, and have the cracks welded up. . |
Also, an electronic speedo has now been fitted. |
| Will update the page when we have further information |
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