KHW 309E, AKA "1003" is a Series 2 Bristol RE, built in 1967 by Bristol Commercial Vehicles and bodied by Eastern Coachworks in Lowestoft.

Vehicle technical details:

• Engine:  Leyland 0.680
• Chassis:  Bristol RELL6L
• Body:  ECW B44D

Some pictures taken during the restoration process of 1003.  Click on an image for a larger picture:

Restoration details:

2011

26th November - 31st December: Attention turned to the repair and refitting of the offside wheel arch.  With the wheels removed, we were able to get under the vehicle and clean the rusty areas, before coating with Zinc Phosphate primer and then a coat of chassis paint.  The following pictures show these stages.  Hover over each picture for a description, or click each image for a larger view.

We also finished off repairing the air intakes.  New pipes were sourced and fitted, as well as a new aluminium frame built to hold it all in place.

As previously mentioned, new flooring had arrived for the vehicle.  This was cut to size and tested in place.  The following three pictures show this progress:

Finally, as 1003 will be receiving a complete new paint job, work started on rubbing down the existing paintwork, as shown here:

Sat 19th November: The replacement flooring for the rear of the vehicle has arrived.  Three sections have been cut to size and will be fitted in the coming weeks. The nearside of the rear of the vehicle also houses a ducting that contains two pipes running from the roof of the vehicle to the air filter.  While the pipes in the ducting were in good condition, the pipes that connected the air filter to them had become heavily corroded.  So it was decided to remove this section completely and fabricate a replacement.  The assembly is constructed as follows:

The connectors below take two pipes that run towards the rear of the vehicle, then up to the roof.  The Air Filter box sits behind this.

This shows the plastic tubes that run up to the vents on the roof.  These were in good condition, so have been left in place.

The connector to the air filter and the plastic pipes are connected via a the following flange.  This was heavily corroded, so will be replaced in time.

The nearside rear wheels have been removed to give better access to clean, prime and paint the chassis.  The wheel arches that were removed earlier in the year were supported by aluminium bearers.  These bearers were heavily corroded, so they have been removed and replacements made. Here is a picture of one of the replacement bearers:

Further images, showing progress to date are shown here. Click each image and a larger version will pop up:

July - November 2011: Work on 1003 has been slow over the summer months, but has once again sprung into life.  During this time, the following has happened: The water pipe from the engine has been removed and replaced; More floor has been removed and replacement wood floor supports cut to size; More of the chassis has been primed with Zinc Phosphate paint, then chassis paint; The air filter has been removed, cleaned and work started to repair rust-damaged parts; Replacement wheel arch bearers have been fabricated; The bus moved inside the shed so work can continue over the winter months; The engine has also had repairs to the exhaust manifold.

Saturday 25th June: Work continued on removing rust from the chassis and priming metal areas.  A section of wood that sits between the wheel arches and the engine was cut to size.  The remainder of the nearside rear wheel arch was also removed.

Saturday 18th June: After several weeks of inactivity on 1003, work recommenced on the interior.  The parts of the chassis that had been primed in earlier weeks were now painted in chassis paint.  The nearside section of flooring just behind the rear entrance step was also removed, along with part of the wheel arch on this side.  The luggage pen on the offside was dismantled and lino flooring taken up.

Saturday 13th March: With the previous week's work on lifting the next section of flooring, we were now able to take a look at what needs to be done next.  There are triangular-shaped aluminium pieces around the wheelarches.  All four of these have corroded and split, so new ones will need to be formed.  A split beam of wood was also removed, plus old screw heads filed down.  Work started on cleaning this next section of rust and debris.

Saturday 5th March: Attention has now turned to the next section of the vehicle.  This is the part between the rear passenger exit and where the engine is exposed. With the exception of a few tea breaks and a quick trip out on 2062, the entire day was spent hunting for corroded screws, drilling off their heads and removing this piece of flooring. The following pictures show the progress:

1003's 0.680 engine was also started for the first time in almost half a year.  The engine turned over without any problems.

Saturday 27th February: Work continued to remove rust from the rear Nearside Outrigger.  This part of the vehiclewas quite heavily corroded, but after a good few hours spent wire brushing and hacking at the rust, it was ready for a coating with the zinc primer.

Saturday 12th February: The new wooden underframe at the rear of the vehicle is now complete.  New pictures in the gallery above show the progress made with this, plus you can also see the old rotten underframe resting inside the bus before being cut up.

Saturday 5th February: Work was started on rebuilding the wooden underframe at the rear of the vehicle.  The structure is being built from mahogany.

Saturday 29th January:  The old, largely rotten wooden underframe at the rear of the vehicle was removed today.  This will be kept for the time being and used as a template for the new wood.  Most of the day was spend removing rust and painting the chassis with primer.