METROBUS MAKEOVER
The story so far...
6835 (WDA835T) was one of five MCW Metrobus vehicles built for WMPTE between 1977 and 1978. These five vehicles were numbered 6831-6835 in the WMPTE fleet. MCW delivered these vehicles to WMPTE for evaluation trials in the hope that large orders would result, which indeed they did.
In 1978, the Motor Show was held at the NEC, Birmingham. Amongst the vehicles displayed was 6835, proudly exhibited on the MCW stand in traditional WMPTE cream, however a lighter shade of blue was used along with matt black skirt panels and window surrounds.
6835 was almost identical to 6831-6834 externally, while the interior sported "castle trim" moquette covering the seats, along with daisy pattern Warerite.
Metrobus 6835 at an open day at Park Lane Garage, Wolverhampton, in August 1998, only a few weeks after the West Midlands Bus Preservation Society had acquired it.
After the Motor Show, 6835 was put to work at Miller Street Garage, and later moved to Perry Barr. The pre-production examples were spread far and wide across the WMPTE network, ranging from 6832 at Coventry and 6834 at Wolverhampton. Following assessment of 6831-6835, subsequent orders for both West Midlands PTE and successor West Midlands Travel resulted in the operation of a total of 1130 Metrobuses.
In 1983, it was decided to group all the pre-production Metrobuses at one location, this being the ex-Midland Red Dudley Garage. 6831-6834 saw out their service days at Dudley, during this time they worked alongside Fleetline 4613 and were looked after by Dudley engineers, including Mark Priest and John Townshend!
6835, however, survived past the closure of Dudley in August 1993 and transferred to West Bromwich Garage. It continued to operate from West Bromwich until May 1998, where, whilst operating service 451, it suffered a gearbox failure. 6835 was immediately transferred to the WMT reserve fleet for scrap disposal. The engine had been earmarked for another Metrobus requiring a replacement unit.
It was at this time that the West Midlands Bus Preservation Society acted immediately to save 6835. As a result of the group's hard work and determination during June 1998, the Chief Executive of West Midlands Travel, David Leader, donated the vehicle to the Society, thus making 6835 the first Metrobus to be preserved anywhere.
WMBPS initially stored the vehicle at Park Lane Garage, Wolverhampton. During this time a brake reline was carried out, along with a replacement exhaust system being fitted. Renewal of a rear air bag and top plate took place. The jammed gearbox was also freed up, allowing the bus to move under its own power once again.
In the winter of 1999 WMBPS, who had been rather suspicious of the condition of the rear end structure, removed the outer panels from the back end. Removal of the panels showed the framing to be in a bad way and serious work was required. Years of outside storage during downtime at Dudley Garage had taken its toll on 6835. The body had never received a mid-life overhaul like most Fleetlines had. However, the rest of the bodywork appeared to be in overall sound condition.
A decision was made by WMBPS to remove all the badly rotted steel sections from the back end and a detailed record of the process was kept. The waist rail assembly, which runs directly above the rear engine door and includes the mounting brackets for the aluminium upper pillars, was fabricated from scratch due to the state of the originals.
The structure that supports the engine mounting on the nearside of the bus had clearly rotted through. The entire area was rebuilt from scratch. Following on from this, part of the rear parcel shelf framing was replaced along with the lower saloon rear window pan assembly. Once all this was in place the task of fitting the fabricated waist rail could begin.
The waist rail is a steel "top hat" section that runs along the back of the bus just below the rear window to each end of the rear corners of the bus above the engine doors. The "top hat" acts is a support for the rear pillars and bonnet to hang from, and is a key element to the strength of the structure. The pillar sections that hang from it form the frame in which the side engine doors are attached, whilst the main rear engine door hangs from hinges bolted to the underside of the waist rail.
The original channelling has all but rotted away so a precision-made replacement had to be specially manufactured from 16G steel. The new waist rail came in sections and had to be accurately pieced together and fitted to the bus. Once in position, the rear waist rail was welded and huckbolted into place, forming a strong and rigid rear structure.
The lower rear pillars were also badly corroded and had to be replaced with new steel sections, the necessary ancillaries such as gas ram, support bracket for the rear engine cover and door lock plates for the engine side doors were welded onto the pillars to replicate the originals. Once the lower pillars were bolted into position, the newly fabricated engine side doors and single piece main engine door were carefully fitted. The rear engine door is a non-folding type and these were unique to the pre-production Metrobuses. Incredibly a new unused example was acquired and fitted to 6835 in place of the severely rotted original.
The nearside rear lower beam and rear beam, which form a chassis subframe around the engine, also had to be replaced because of the extensive corrosion. Whilst this work was undertaken, untidy ancillary pipework was P-clipped neatly out of harm's way and any dubious looking water hoses renewed. Some work to the rear wheelarches was also undertaken.
Further inspection of the underside revealed that the platform step and platform bearer had seen better days and was in need of replacement. This was duly rebuilt along with the fitment of a new checkplate around the surrounding footwell. The only other area where there was notable corrosion was in the stress panel around the electrical isolation switch, situated on the opposite side of the bus. This was stripped down and completely rebuilt using new materials to the original pattern.
The cab area and all the seat frames have been stripped out of the bus. The upper deck floor has received several heavy duty "cleans" and all the seat frames have been cleaned and painted. Prior to 6835's arrival at Wythall, all of the seating trim had been recovered with new "castle trim" moquette, providing a high quality set of seats.
During the past few years the Trust has built up a good relationship with WMBPS and they have assisted with supplying spares for many (mainly Fleetline) BaMMOT projects. In July this year, I visited the WMBPS base at Bewdley to speak with them about the possibility of acquiring 6835 for the BaMMOT collection. The group was impressed with the quality of restoration at Wythall, and after discussion the bus was offered to the Museum for a reasonable sum. As a result, BaMMOT took delivery of 6835 on 1 August 2005.
Our thanks must be expressed to the WMBPS for the quality of the restoration works that has been undertaken to date. We hope to continue this to ensure 6835 is one of the best examples of the type preserved.
Since arriving at Wythall the large amount of Metrobus spares that WMBPS supplied with the bus have been sorted and place in the Blueline store. The upper deck interior has been refitted with the seat frames and new seating trim. Work is now being concentrated around the rear wheelarches to allow the outer panels to be refitted following the necessary attention to the stress panels.
Thanks to WMBPS, namely Andy Male, Rob Smith, Alan Molineux, Steve Davis and Claire Pendrous for their efforts in relation to this project. Thanks also for the use of information contained within their "Open Platform" newsletter, which assisted in the writing of this article.
James Munro
Chapel Lane, Wythall, Worcs B47 6JX
Tel : 01564 826471 e-mail us
A registered educational charity no 507191
