Harrington Grenadier Restoration
I posted a couple of photos earlier that were rather cryptic and did not fully explain that work has been underway with restoration of ex Abbotts of Blackpool AEC Reliance / Harrington Grenadier 487 GFR. Perhaps it is time to catch up with what is going on. The coach was restored for preservation in 1989 and last repainted in 1995 when it re-entered commercial service with Prestige Tours' Scottish Heritage operations and then on to MCT Travel in Motherwell, before retiring again in 2000. In short, it has easily had its design life time again and has now become a bit down at heel. I was pursuaded by my two colleagues who were invaluable help in the restoration of Dennis Lancet UF YYB 118 that since mechanically and electrically it was sound (hmmm...) a modest amount of attention could see it back on the road and prevent furthur deterioration. The jury is still out on what constitutes a modest amount of work.
It is suffering at least four of the aliments known to afflict Harrington Cavalier and Grenadiers. The first is that the window rubbers have detriorated and water has leaked into the gap between the inner and outer panel. Fortunately the main structural parts below the window pans are aluminium and largely unaffected, but the support sections for the exterior bright trim were for some reason made of steel. Rust hastened by disimilar metal corrosion has set in. In 1989 some of these metal sections were replaced by wood, but not all. Presumably the remaining ones were in good condition 28 years ago, but not now. There are various reasons why I don't think wood is the best solution so the whole lot are being replaced in aluminium - the material they would have been in older styles of Harrington coachwork. In this photo the wood and steel supports are both visible, plus the polystyrene blocks that prevented the panels from drumming.
Harrington Grenadier Restoration
I posted a couple of photos earlier that were rather cryptic and did not fully explain that work has been underway with restoration of ex Abbotts of Blackpool AEC Reliance / Harrington Grenadier 487 GFR. Perhaps it is time to catch up with what is going on. The coach was restored for preservation in 1989 and last repainted in 1995 when it re-entered commercial service with Prestige Tours' Scottish Heritage operations and then on to MCT Travel in Motherwell, before retiring again in 2000. In short, it has easily had its design life time again and has now become a bit down at heel. I was pursuaded by my two colleagues who were invaluable help in the restoration of Dennis Lancet UF YYB 118 that since mechanically and electrically it was sound (hmmm...) a modest amount of attention could see it back on the road and prevent furthur deterioration. The jury is still out on what constitutes a modest amount of work.
It is suffering at least four of the aliments known to afflict Harrington Cavalier and Grenadiers. The first is that the window rubbers have detriorated and water has leaked into the gap between the inner and outer panel. Fortunately the main structural parts below the window pans are aluminium and largely unaffected, but the support sections for the exterior bright trim were for some reason made of steel. Rust hastened by disimilar metal corrosion has set in. In 1989 some of these metal sections were replaced by wood, but not all. Presumably the remaining ones were in good condition 28 years ago, but not now. There are various reasons why I don't think wood is the best solution so the whole lot are being replaced in aluminium - the material they would have been in older styles of Harrington coachwork. In this photo the wood and steel supports are both visible, plus the polystyrene blocks that prevented the panels from drumming.