A Suburban Story. Part II Inside

We now move inside the coach which, when it arrived, seemed to be in fairly good condition.  However due to the body work corrosion and evidence of rot in the interior woodwork there have also been many hours invested inside the coach as well.  A real job of an inside and outside restoration. 

John has been leading the charge on the woodwork ably assisted (or is that pressganged?) by a growing band of volunteers, In the years to come they will be able to look back on hours of sanding, varnishing, sanding and varnishing.

We start our look around with one of the seat backs still in position on the end wall of the coach.  The seats will need a good deep clean before anyone uses them again.  

Generally the upper insides are not too bad, restoration of the mirrors and internal fittings is in hand and once complete will grace again the internal walls. 

As we move lower down the body sides we can see what we are up against.  The wooden panels need to be removed to allow access for the external body repairs, each panel has been restored and re-varnished with multiple coats  The doors have been overhauled and now close and lock as they should, apart from the guards section.  This view shows a compartment with all of the panels removed.

The view inside looking towards the guard's compartment shows just how much is still to be done.

Many hours of work and a fair few hundreds of pounds are needed to finish the job.

John has set up his wood working shop close to the action, he is in the guard's section and from here has remade multiple parts of rotten wood as well as preparing the internal panels.

Here John explains how the rot has penetrated in to the wood.

This piece comes from underneath the window and John shows where it was positioned and how the water has leaked in and rotted the wood.

And finally here is the builder's plate detailing the original birth of our growing project.

Thanks to Guy for the pictures and for the restoration team for explaining what has been going on.  If you fancy donating or getting involved just get in contact.  We have plenty of things left to and would welcome your assistance, the kettle is always on and although the weather might be a bit cold the welcome is anything but.  Funds for material purchases or restoration materials are particularly welcome.

It looks like there will be a Part III as extra photos have arrived, when I get chance I will post again.

Until next time