MidlandRed.net

There was talk some time ago of setting up an engine and transmission shop in our storage unit next door but nothing came of it. To be honest most of our rebuilds are done in the chassis so the vehicles need to be up in the air or over a pit.

She's a runner! Had a couple of nights on it and started straight away. Hopefully it'll be going back to Stoke soon. 44511 is awaiting parts so I've pulled the engine assembly out of 53042 and I'm prepping it to go into 53044.

Still waiting for a headgasket set and a crankshaft seal... plusvthe starter motor and the propshaft have been robbed off it

I fetched a replacement block and crank for it on Wednesday and its now built up with new bearings etc. Waiting for another box full of bits and I can start putting it back together this week

Shame to scrap the first new Solo that went to Worcester as it drives really well, has the urban1 paint scheme and the interior is very smart. It would be better to retest it and scrap 53044

Before I pulled the engine from 32057 I had a good look around it and it's a nice bus. The interior is lovely and mechanically looked spot on. I don't enjoy killing vehicles for parts but apparently it's the age of the vehicle that decides when it's finished with and not the condition

This is how it stands at the moment. Lots of parts needed to be swapped over to fit into a single deck.
Timing case, compressor, manifolds, wiring loom, engine mountings, bellhousing etc. are all different.

Here's the crankshaft as it was removed. Bit of a mess

Bus wash has been broken for about 3 weeks now. The guys are doing their best by hand with a pressure washer but it's not easy. Their efforts are not appreciated by some drivers....

Yep, I've been told to pull the engine out of the DD and fit it into 66963.... the fact that it's not quite the same has been ignored.