Can anybody supply us with a water jacket bridge for the RM AEC engine or know somebody who can. We would want it sent to France at our expense of course

Thanks in advance

My bus number (if any): RTL 960

hi brian i have a spare one in resosable condition if you need it my contact number is 07881897945.regards tim

These bridges between the two cylinder heads, as well as the stubs that go at the front of no1 head and onto the front of the block suffer severely from corrosion. This is both internal and also from the steel securing bolts seizing inside their holes. There will shortly be NO useable spares left unless something is done about having new castings made. The capability is out there: among others, Gardner Engine Enthusiast website make quite clear that they can and do supply this sort of thing already. I have spoken to one of the website owners, who specialises in engine restoration to showground concours condition, and non-Gardner parts can be made if a pattern is supplied.

All that is needed is the will, on the part of Routemaster owners, to do something about it.

If a cylinder head need to be removed then this 'bridge'has to be removed and it can be a very frought and time consuming business indeed. The mild steel bolts seize in the ally of the bridge and in the head as well, even after successfully separating it, the bridge is frequently useless due to corrosion.
When refitting, use stainless steel bolts to help prevent a repetition of the problem.

I should add that 50% antifreeze mix and a corrosion inhibitor should also be used in the coolant to prevent the internal corrosion.

Other problem areas are the ally stubs that connect to the coolant pump, like the other items, you will be lucky indeed to find that yours are in good condition when you eventually have to remove them.

Thanks Tim
Can you e-mail me at camberfarm@ wanadoo.fr (remove space)with price and details etc

Thanks again

Brian

My bus number (if any): RTL 960

If you find that the bolts wont release then smash the casting with a club hammer and cold chisel. The release of strain will losen the bolts. This will leave you with healthy threads and a need for a new casting, which you have any way.
I hope this is of some help.
Regards,
Trig

My bus number (if any): RM110

Tim

Did you get the E mail I sent you?

Brian

My bus number (if any): RTL 960

I'm Sorry, but I just can't agree with the idea of smashing to bits an item which is known to be very scarce in servicable condition. How do you know, until you have got it off, whether you have a scrap casting or perhaps the only one left that is in perfect condition? too late if it's in pieces! - So the bolts have seized in the head or in the casting, neither is insurmountable given gentle perseverance.

If you are removing a bridge piece, the likelyhood is that you intend to remove the heads anyway. If you shear off the bolts in the head and haven't the confidence or means to effect a repair, then take the heads to a machine shop for them to do it.

Patience, plenty of repeated soaking in penetrating oil, carefully applied heat and gentle hammering on the bolt head and judicious use of an impact wrench on a minimum torque setting will all help to remove all but the most stubborn of seized bolts. What is important to identify, is whether it is seized in the head or in the casting, because a bolt seized in the casting is capable of bursting the casting, if excessive force is applied.

Hi Roy,
Brian was asking for a replacement water bridge, this suggested to me that the current one was unserviceable.
When my casting developed a large hole this is how I removed the casting, and four of the seized bolts, and fitted a new casting in half an hour.
Regards
Trig

My bus number (if any): RM110

Tim

Sorry to push you, but have you found that water jacket bridge yet? Its now getting urgent as the other parts needed to move the bus are en route. As its very expensive phoning a mobile number in the UK, have you got an E mail address, or can you tell me if and when I can expect this part.

Thanks Brian

PS By the way in response to the stuff elsewhere about rescuing RM 1750, I am all for helping people restoring buses but for the right reasons. Somebody is pulling somebody's leg and a joke seems to have got out of hand. There is no way that a trimmer could say that he did the seats on a particular bus. I worked at Aldenham as a craftsman and senior progress hand and then was a Work study Manager there as well, so I know the place well and how it worked. When trimmers worked on seats in the trimmers, they like us working on RM staircases, platforms, rear frames, cab doors etc etc had no idea whatsoever which bus they were going to be fitted to when finished. When the trimmers finished a seat, they just put them on a conveyor belt which took them to be inspected and then they were batched up against the production order and taken to the main stores. After that they were taken either to the finishing line for fitment on overhauled buses or sent to the main stores to sent to a garage. So there is no way that a trimmer could know which bus a particular seat went on. Even if the trimmer worked in the Highbay, as some did, on floor tiles and repairing rexine on the interior stress panels, the buses there were in limbo, nobody knew what the number of the bus would be when it went back in service so again you could not say that you worked on a particular bus. So on that basis, the only connection between Harry and his family of trimmers is them standing in front of this bus, is that worth restoring it for?

My bus number (if any): RTL 960