2012 – Issue 2 of 4

DEREK’S LOG;
Pontypridd No.8, UTG 313G;
Work continued on No.8 during 2011 alongside the restoration of Caerphilly 32
described in the last issue.
A board was made to replace the rotted lower deck rear seat backrest and then the
backrest of the upper deck rear seat was removed: an upholsterer would recover them.
The drivers cab next, the small size is a problem, we could do with a small apprentice,
(those were the days, oops, I am showing my age).
Removing the seat and frame helped us to fit three patches. A section of the rubber
floor covering has also been replaced. Two coats of paint followed, which makes it sound
so easy, but I assure you it was not as this took us weeks to complete. The seat frame
was then cleaned, repainted, refitted.
Eventually the backrests arrived back from the upholsterers, complete with a spare piece
of material large enough to recover the back of the side seat backrest. This entailed
removal of same to the bench, taking off the top aluminium trim, stripping off damaged
material, and then glue and staple on the new material. When in place it looked good.
The upstairs back rest was refitted, and the seat swabs put back into place. However
the lower deck was held up as the back support strip, which was sent away with the
backrests, had not arrived back; a chase up is being done, to no avail.
A back rest support strip was rescued from our stock, modified and the seat support
refitted. The body job completed, a general check over took place and it was ready for
the road.
Its first outing with us was the Merthyr Tydfil Rally, to be used as a road run vehicle. It
did a trip to the Brecon Mountain Railway and just made it back!! A clutch fluid leak
from a chafed hose put it on stop. After a temporary repair it managed a trip to a
photo-shoot for the November 2011 “Bus & Coach Preservation” magazine, where it
appeared in all its glory. Back at the depot, a new hose was fitted, but shortly after the
clutch cylinder failed and had to be replaced.
Caerphilly 32, GNY 432C;
Our team during 2011 included myself, Derek Perry; together with Paul Gilbertson, Alan
Poole, Richard Evans, Richard Fitzjohn, Peter Smith, Bob Sparks, Brian Williams, and Alan
Jones. Fridays and Saturdays are our preferred days with the members working as/or
when available. Restoration on the Leyland progressed well, though some of the window
frames had various thickness of paint which was not to our liking, so more time was
spent scraping some of them down to bare metal, coating with primer, undercoat and
then the first coat of gloss. Richard Fitzjohn and Peter Smith were more than satisfied
with their efforts and the improvement is very noticeable.
The upper deck ceiling was rubbed down and painted white. Alan Jones turned up with
an air compressor and paint spray gun. The first coat of mid Brunswick green was applied
to some areas and in no time it looked good. The nearside upper panels were given two
coats of undercoat and with the gloss paint they looked a lot better. When you get
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