New Kid on the Block
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Acquisitions
One of our latest acquisitions is this 1980 Plaxton Supreme IV bodied Ford R114, kindly donated by one our sponsor Bartons of Maynooth. And coincidentally it started its life with Wallace Arnold - like every other Supreme we have in the yard, all of this is coincidental we swear!
We were notified of the vehicles existence by Pat Barton in April 2008, whom as we mentioned is a long time sponsor of the MVPSI, since our establishment. Pat ensures us that this bus is the best which he operated, and he should know as he is one of the top coach operators and dealers in the country! It resided in a shed at the back of Pats house since 2001, and prior to it being handed over to us it was given a once over including a full service, new brakes, and underside steam clean. It was officially handed over to our chairman Stephen Payne on the morning 5th May 2008 at the premises of Bartons Coaches, Maynooth.
The restoration of this vehicle is being spearheaded by one of our youngest members David Payne, whom at the age of 13 could possibly be the youngest bus preservationalist in Ireland! It is intended to return it to one of it’s previous liveries - and as we are still tracking its history the livery is still undecided.
Interior of 80 MO 151
Cab of 80 MO 151
More Twins
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Acquisitions
We have recently become the proud new owners of the ‘Glendalough Twins’ aptly named ‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath’, which were purchased from the Doyle family during the week for continued use. ‘Samson’ (88 CN 1251) was taken off the road in 2007 when their 1999 Premier was cascaded onto school work, whereas ‘Goliath’ (88 KE 3184) remained in service until three weeks ago when the arrival of a brand new Scania Irizar for the Glendalough saw it parked up.
It was the quick actions of Stephen Payne which saw us with the acquisition of these pair, although with other offers on the table, the Doyle family decided to part with them after seeing our job on ‘Lucy’ a former Glendalough bus acquired by us back in January 2008.
Both originated with Shearings in 1988, ‘Samson’ originally being 673 (E673 UNE), and ‘Goliath’ being 674 (E674 UNE). 88 CN 1251 was brought in by Sillan in 1992, and 88 KE 3184 being brought in by Barton around the same time.
They will go well alongside our Wallace Arnold trio!
Website Improvements
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Development
I’ve spent the past two days working on the background of the website, I’ve optimized it to improve all loading and navigation aspects. We noticed that the loading times were lagging ever so slightly, so some careful coding quickly resolved this issue.
We have also opened up our Galleries, and our Donations page. While we were on ‘a roll’ we also put up our updated fleetlist and the blog has been upgraded to the latest version of Wordpress.
These changes, haven’t changed the look and function of the website or blog, but have improved the usability, loading and administration of them dramatically!
Not Another One!
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Acquisitions
Yes, it appears that we have a new acquisition in the form of another Supreme! We acquired 83 D 4174, from Malahide Coaches, Dublin who have operated it on schools since 1999. This bus has an unusual history, like our 79 MN 522, this was delivered new to Wallace Arnold in C49F layout (Plaxton recliners), delivered 4/1981, as PNW 310W. (Chassis No: 8031151 PSU3F/4R).
Following delivery, it appears this vehicle was involved in an accident, rendering the body a write-off (Body No: 8111LC3010 . It was returned to Plaxton, Scarborough, where it was rebuilt, and delivered in 1983 to Wallace Arnold as GWY 165Y. Hence the unsual reg for a Leopard! We are unsure of when it was withdrawn from Wallace Arnold, and what it did between then and it’s acquisition by Malahide Coaches. If anyone could help with this gap it would be greatly appreciated!
As acquired, pictured beside ‘Lucy’ on Saturday 3rd May 2008. Somewhat of a before and after photo!
Pictured after a good wash and cleanup. Note the addition of a new grill (79 MN 522’s old one) and the removal of all Dublin Bus ‘SchoolLink’ decals.
Standard Leopard cab. Including the Lucas indicator stalk (often removed by operators).
Interior after initial cleanup, all seats intact and perfect!
After a roadrun, we parked up in Wicklow harbour to go for lunch!
Finishing Touches!
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Events, Restorations
The finishing touches are presently being applied to ‘Lucy’ in preparation for her pilgrimage up North to the Annual Irish Transport Trust Bus & Coach Show, Cultrá, Co. Down. The team has been busy making sure every last detail has been tendered to, all that is required now is a good soapy wash and wax and the interior cleaned out.
For those attending, you will be receiving an email shortly containing all corresponding information about the upcoming show this Saturday, including revised meeting points, times and the agenda. Anyone who wishes to book last minute seats should contact us immediately at: info@motorpreservationireland.org. We regret to inform, that we will not be able to facilitate any passengers who have not notified us prior.
What a Contrast!
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Restorations
Interior restoration on Suzie has now been completed! New seats, carpet and lots of elbow grease has turned her back into an A1 executive coach once more.
Below is a photo of here fully complete, with original style moquette, centre isle carpet, and a spotless interior!
Whereas below is a contrasting photo taken 31st December 2007, when we had just removed all of the seating and had yet to clean the sidepanels, lino or lay carpet.
Watch out for us during Summer 2008!
‘Lucy Repainted’
Posted by Aaron Donohoe | Filed under Restorations
Above: For a good finish, the bodywork must be 100% perfect/smooth. This means filling in inevitable dents, scratches, stone chips, and other damage with such fillers like Isopon. Luckily, very little work was required, a quick skim over rough patches, and the filling in of small panel damage was all that was required - Luckily!
Above: The webmaster can be seen getting his hands dirty from time to time, seen here sanding imperfections from the rear nearside wheelarch - when sanding use coarse pads to begin with and gradually increase the grain to a finer texture.
Above: Looking worse for wear, Lucy was backed into one of our workshops (featured in her Head Gasket replacement), and the more intense bodywork was attended to - following this, the entire body was wiped down using a surface cleanser before being ‘masked up’ for painting to begin the following morning.
Above: All allies were called in to aid in ‘masking up’, pictured (L-R) Karl Roche (Vehicle Manager), Aaron Donohoe (Operations Manager) and Patrick Donohoe (Transport Consultant).
Above: Alan Donohoe, who kindly donated his time and expertise to paint ‘Lucy’ is pictured applying a ‘Tack Coat’ to the nearside. Alan has been professionally respraying coaches, buses, cars and trucks for over 20 years, and it was an honor to have him work on our vehicle and to donate his time to the cause. The finish Alan applied exceeded our expectations!
Above: Waiting for the second coat (of four) to dry, you can see that at this point the roof hasn’t yet been painted. The roof is generally given a more liberal coat of paint, which was given shortly before the commencement of coat three. Pictured is our vehicle manager Karl Roche inspecting the paint finish!
Above: Once the paint had cured, we couldn’t resist removing the ‘masking’, and pulling her out of the workshop, to check the paintwork in the sun - the photo doesn’t do it justice, but she was has a mirror finish - a credit to Alan who did a superb job of her.
Above: Frontal view, with all auxillary parts (grill, dest. glass, head light surrounds etc…) removed. The rubber trim had been refitted by the time of this photo, but the rock guards located below the lockers haven’t been painted, due to the fact they have to be straightened and will be painted black!
We’d like to take the opportunity to thank the following people who without their input the project wouldn’t have been able to progress to this stage:
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Mick & Johnny Fortune
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Alan & Paddy Donohoe
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Willie & Paddy Doyle
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Stephen Lynch
Weekend of Activities 8-9th March 2008
Posted by Stephen Payne | Filed under Events, General, Restorations
Another great weekend was had at the Wicklow depot with restorations on both 355SZB & 79MN522 well advanced. ‘Lucy’ went for a well deserved spin across Wicklow and ‘Suzi’ Enjoyed the sunshine on a short trip.
Two vehicles - our Park Royal decker 78D1065 as well as the Mosley Bedford 87MH3474 both were involved in Birthday celebrations of Johnnie Fortune, who rolled over the 50 mark on Sunday!
Our VW transporter pickup was also in attendance, having been featured on the MTV ‘Pimp my Ride’ programme.
We were joined by Stephen Lynch from Cork, who took control of a number of vehicles for road testing, as well as organising for our CIE collection to be mobilised within the next two weeks, as well as having our KR receive a new gearbox shortly.
Another visitor was Stephen Kearney, who came along with Jennifer Bergin and Karl Roche, and participated in a road test in 355SZB.
Thanks to everyone who helped out over the weekend, photos and restoration reports will be online on the main website shortly.
New Legislation Coming soon!
Posted by Stephen Payne | Filed under Development, General
Not sure if anybody has been made aware, but just wanted to inform any readers or members not aware of the new legislation that will be coming in to effect later this year regarding DOE’s for Commercial vehicles. Up to now, any bus or coach or truck which has been withdrawn from active service has not required a Department of Environment Certificate of Road-worthiness. Motor homes and Vehicles of Contrivance have also been included in this.
Unfortunate for some, it now seems as if all vintage vehicles, or end of life vehicles will need to pass a DOE in order for the vehicle to be driven legally on the road within the state. The exemption for which a Trade Licence (trade plates) comes under will also be clarified so as to involve this new piece of legislation. Its not all bad news though, as vehicles registered before 1980 can undergo a visual smoke(emissions) test which enables the authorised tester to evaluate the vehicles emissions rather than the electronic machine generally used.
This is all part of the clampdown of illegal vehicles being driven on our roads, and matches a similar MOT that is in current use in the UK & Northern Ireland for Vintage vehicles.
Until now there has been no legislation for Vintage or decommissioned coaches/buses which meant that passengers could be carried without the vehicle having to be taxed or DOE’d. Vehicles which will be used for carriage of passengers for reward or not, may be required to be inspected the Carriage office wing of An Garda Siochana although this remains to be seen.
Thankfully the majority of our vehicles are already compliant with the new legislation, but if anyone would like further information or would like to make arrangements for their vehicle to be tested or inspected, you can contact me via email.
The MVPSI have a test centre which is in guidelines of the new legislation and an appointment can be made at your request.
The turn of a CIE key…
Posted by Stephen Payne | Filed under Development, Reports, Restorations
Walking through the yard of Kells Transport Museum in Cork, you see a lot of buses, coaches, trucks, minibuses, in fact just about anything could meet you around any corner, as each time you adventure into the depth of grimy, bewildering vehicles that you might find something new. Well each time we are down, two vehicles always pop up in conversation during breakfast, probably the only two truly amazing vehicles within the museum grounds at Cork. Having worked for 12 3/4hours on R913 back in Freezing December finally came to an end with the apprentice finally signaling that she had started, as the mechanic glanced into the engine in amazement. The other vehicle might not be as unique as R913, but does come from the same period and was a true veteran of the CIE fleet, having been the longest serving member of its class.
Yes, no matter where you went on your adventure anytime you were down, you always met the miserable, almost skeletal remains of a badly deteriorated vehicle that is E106. Having been purchased from Bus Eireann in 1998, she had been lying in Knockraha hidden by other vehicles for nearly six years, and another few years sitting in Capwell garage, which is where she lost a lot of her identity.
Well, eventually we got around to having a good look at her, seeing that she required a lot of parts, and being a small problem with the fact that there was really more work to do than would be normally put into a vehicle, but the decision was made to have a go anyway.
So last weekend, armed with the usual tool boxes, as well as a portable LED lamp, Stephen Payne set to work on rebuilding her from slightly modified parts off different buses across the yard. The sump, rocker assembly, injectors, lift pump, injector pump, injector piping, water pipes, rocker cover, clutch assembly, as well as reverse gear were all replaced, as well as a modified drive shaft from an LA as the original had been badly warped.
Starting work at just after 11pm, it seemed as if it were the last place on earth anyone would want to spend their Friday night, but Steve braved the damp ground and pursued the goal of waking this gentle beast from her death bed. 3am came and went, and frequent dashes up and down the yard for oil, water, batteries and forgotten parts eventually paid off, as at 7.28am the last dash was made up to the office, master switch turned on and with the turn of the oily CIE key, dashboard lights as well as the horn and buzzers broke the perfect silence that was Saturday morning. One more turn of the key and away she went, seven seconds was all it took before she was firing, and the sound was of absolute magic. Never before has an engine started with such ease and sound so perfect, a constant rev was kept until she was idling on her own, and the levels were checked. Everything okay, the buzzers eventually went out and the reverse gear was selected.
Handbrake released and a very nervous mechanic reversed her out of her grave, and moved her up towards the office. Not a puff of smoke from the engine, and sounding as a leopard purr should, she gracefully progressed up to the main gate, where she was left idling while further checks ensued.
So once again, another veteran of the Irish Transport Scene has purred to life, and will be heading towards the MVPSI workshops shortly, as E106 is to be completely refurbished to the standard required. It just goes to show that even things which seem as if they are finally fit to face the grave, can in fact turn around to once again grace the roads of Ireland, and possibly the UK, you would never know what could happen…