Resurrecting an old thread,
I have just had to look up some RM Records.
RML 2760 cannot have been the last dismounted RM overhaul.
It appears to have gone, presumably into the Works Float in Aldenham in January 1982 and re-appeared in November 1982.
Perhaps this was the last stock number in the Works Float?

It appears dismount overhauls continued well into 1983. RMs 1962, 1963, 1970 2001 and 2005 all left Aldenham in October 1983 with different bodies than which they arrived, so these must have been dismounted.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RML 2667 and several RTs

Dismount overhauls were still happening well into 1983. The last non-showbus RM with gold transfers (1128) was one such in that Summer but then there was an overlap of dismounts and non-dismounts with October 1983 being the last month when any quantity of dismounts were out-shopped. After that, everything that came out doesn`t appear to have involved a body lift.

However, and I don`t have dates to hand, I think there may have been a few buses that actually left Aldenham in early November having been a dismount overhaul. Try RM`s 14, 238 and 1005........

Surprisingly - on two counts - ex Mortlake Leylands 1341 and 1378 which really should have been withdrawn were both overhauled in the Summer of 1983. Probably these were the last two to be body lifted and reunited with their running units as was the case with all Mortlake RM`s that were in a special category due to the high pressure water filling system fitted. But this is particularly bizarre because both buses were taken for overhaul after Mortlake closed so there really wasn`t any need to dismount and return to the same `chassis` as the unique water filling system couldn`t be used again anyway.

I have a chronological list of all intakes from late Summer 1983 through to 1985 - and those that were intended to go in but didn`t when the Routemaster overhaul programme ceased. The list also includes the twenty RM`s that were overhauled by outside contractors.

My bus number (if any): RM 1563

I'd like to see a list of RMs overhauled away from Aldenham, Neil. Who did them?

Maybe RSE had the wrong details for those Mortlake RMs they certainly sent a few AEC engined buses to Norths which were supposed to be Leyland engined.

Research in the the James Prince body swaps book has found :-_

Last body changes involved RML 2269 and 2536 both leaving Aldenham in March 1984 with different bodies.

The last RM to be lifted was RM 198 with B155 and that was in March 1984.

There was no body change RM 198 left with B155 perhaps underfloor work on this much older body made a lift more necessary.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RML 2667 and several RTs

The list I have is of the last six hundred or so RM / RML overhauls starting from around October 1983 when it looked as if non-dismounts would be the way ahead. The bonnet numbers were taken from the overhaul intake bulletins so it`s a list of Routemasters only in chronological order - separated out from all the other types being summoned to Aldenham. It doesn`t have intake or out-shopping dates but you would have these anyway. In among the bonnet numbers around late 1983 / early 1984 are twenty that I marked with an asterisk as these went to outside contractors. I can`t find the notes relevant to which contractors but Ian`s excellent Bus Stop site does have this info in respect of most of the vehicles concerned. ECW at Lowestoft took several. Most of the buses done by outside contractors came back to LT at Turnham Green to have a pre-service inspection. I can email to you the entire listings or just those done outside London.

The two RML`s you mentioned actually swapped bodies but it seems very strange why this was done so long after dismounts seemed to have stopped. RM 2127 looks to be another dismount and body swap early in 1984.

Also odd is reference to RM 198 being lifted and re-united with the same body. Could that be for a B Frame change if, having begun the overhaul process, a defect was observed following an underside clean?

I would be interested in your opinion regarding the cover photo of the Body Swaps book. It shows two RM`s at Stratford (426 and 641) in either 1965 or 1966. Both have the `bonnet badge` type of radiator grille as would be expected pre RM 1662 but one has a chrome strip in the middle of the grille and the other one doesn`t. We went to a lot of trouble to get 1563 correct at Mortlake when it went back into `retro` livery and had an old style grille made without the centre chrome strip. It ran in service with this for a year or more. Then, and I really can`t recall on what basis, we changed it for an old style grille with a chrome strip and it ran with that until it was withdrawn - and still has it now. Something obviously influenced our thinking and though I`ve known many people say that the centre chrome strip grille never happened in conjunction with a bonnet badge, the cover picture of the Body Swaps book clearly proves that it did.

My bus number (if any): RM 1563

I believe 1563 would be correct as it entered service without the stainless centre strip. They appear to have been a short lived issue starting around RM 1600 (with bonnet badge still in place)

I have RM 1662 down as the first to have the triangular badge as RMF 1254 however, pictorial evidence suggests RM 1700 or thereabouts was the first delivered with the triangular badge and no bonnet badge. I need to check that.

On the Prince book cover, RM 426 has acquired a later condition grille.

My bus number (if any): RTL 960, RM 1585, RML 2667 and several RTs