THE ACQUISITION AND RESTORATION OF 4002 (ANE 2T)

On the basis that in the past the SELNEC Preservation Society have restored a range of different single deckers in the form of Severn Pennine 1V, Dennis Domino and Leyland National, along with double deckers being Park Royal and Northern Counties bodied Leyland Atlanteans, Daimler and Leyland Fleetlines, MCW and Northern Counties bodied Metrobuses, Leyland Olympians and a Bristol VRT, it seemed only right that we should next turn our attention to a Leyland Titan on the basis that 15 of these were delivered to Greater Manchester Transport as fleet numbers 4001 to 4015.  We would ideally like to have secured as part of our programme of rectifying firsts and lasts, the very first of this batch, 4001 (ANE 1T) but it was scrapped as long ago as 1991.  We have the last of the batch 4015 (GNF 15V) but this vehicle is in very poor condition and would take a significant amount of mechanical and electrical work to even get it to run under its own power, let alone the work needed to restore it to its 1979 as new condition.  The batch is an interesting mix of registrations, T and V reg and engines both TL11s and Gardners and 4002 (ANE 2T) is one of the four T registrations with the more conventional Gardner engine as depicted by the table below.

Greater Manchester Transport had hoped to secure a large number of Leyland Titans and initially reserved 35 registration numbers, ANE 1T to ANE 35T, and it expected further batches to be ordered and delivered thereafter.  However, due to severe supply difficulties only four vehicles arrived before the year letter change, 4001-4002/4004-4005. 

A �V� registration was secured for 4003-FVR 3V, and then GNF 6V to 25V were reserved for the next 20 Titans due to arrive.  However, only ten of these did so in the end, 4006-4015, GNF 6V to 15V.

Registration numbers left over GNF 16V to GNF 25V were to be used for the last ten Leyland Fleetlines in the batch 8141 to 8150.  Only two secured them 8141 and 8142, GNF 16V and GNF 17V, because by the time the remaining Fleetlines were delivered the year letter had changed to W.  As it happens GMT were planning to register Atlanteans 8304 onwards with a block of registrations starting with MNC 504W which they did (up to 8350 � MNC 550W).  However, they also secured 18 earlier numbers from the same batch MNC 486W to MNC 503W which were applied to vehicles as follows:

Fleetlines 8143-8150                                                      MNC 486W-MNC 493W
Metrobuses 5018/5019/5021/5023/5025/5038                   MNC 494W-MNC 499W
Leopards 26-29                                                              MNC 500W-MNC 503W

Incidentally on the subject of registrations the first batch of sister vehicles MCW Metrobuses 5001-5030 were due to be registered ABA 1T to ABA 30T, but arrived far too late for T registrations otherwise our MCW Metrobus 5001 would be ABA 1T.  Consequently the batch of registrations GBU 1V to GBU 30V, was reserved for them but because the six listed above were late arriving they were allocated W registrations MNC 494W-MNC 499W.

4002 (ANE 2T) was first registered by GMT on 3rd April 1979 but was withdrawn, along with all other Titans, the first ten of MCW Metrobuses and other non-standard vehicles at deregulation on 26th October 1986 and sold by Kirkby Central to the Wright Company in Hexham on 17th March 1987.  Thereafter it was purchased by David Cherry at Aintree Coachlines on 12th September 1991 who ran it until we purchased it for preservation on 1st January 2005. 

The current status of the 15 ex-GMT Titans is as follows:

Since acquiring 4002 it had to be unfortunately stored outside, more recently at our premises in East Manchester and members therefore went to visit it to relocate it to the front of the line up on 6^th January 2008 after problems in accessing it earlier due to difficulties in starting Olympian 3225 (C225 CBU).  Once this vehicle was eventually moved by swapping over the starter motor on it from 3101 (B101 SJA), 4002 was brought to the front.  The starter motor taken off 3225 was sent away for rectification for eventual refitting onto the vehicle that donated its starter motor 3101 (on 18th April 2008). 

On 20th January 2008 members visited out premises in East Manchester in order to prepare 4002 for its trip on public roads with trade plates to our working premises in Leigh.  On this day we ensured that the indicators would work (albeit only on front and side), the brakes were operational as were the wipers, washers and the vehicle engaged its automatic gears.  The opportunity was also taken to give the vehicle an initial external clean up ready for its first appearance on public roads for over three years.

Thereafter, on the scheduled working day on 27th January 2008, 4002 was driven from East Manchester to Leigh on trade plates where promptly on arrival it failed with its batteries unable to restart it due to some charging problem which had no doubt drained them on the trip. However, we had in any event secured two brand new 643 and 644 batteries for the vehicle, conscious of the fact that we will need to move it round quite frequently being a new restoration so these were fitted, quickly allowing the vehicle to be restarted and backed into the premises before any drain on these new batteries could take place. 

A full assessment was then undertaken of the parts that we will need to secure either new from supplies where these currently exist, such as wing mirrors, windscreen wipers, etc., or those.  We will have to secure from other Leyland Titan from our forthcoming visit to the Barnsley Scrap Yards.  We had already swapped all the orange seat cushions and backs from 4015 onto 4002 but upon examination these appeared to be in quite poor condition and there a number missing. Therefore new orange moquette is to be ordered as it will be difficult to clean up those that we have obtained in orange moquette and source sufficient spare worn orange moquette to re-cover the non-standard seats on the vehicle. 

We then started work on generally cleaning up the vehicle and members started paint stripping the silver beading which goes all round the vehicle in three different locations.  The old windscreen wipers were removed and one new windscreen wiper was fitted to the nearside but the offside requires a narrow fitting replacement as the spindle, for some reason, on this Leyland Titan does not extend as far as on the nearside one which easily took the new wiper.

An exercise was undertaken to start greasing all the various mechanical parts in need of attention and the original number side blinds with a typeface unique to Leyland Titans were removed, so these could be sent away to be matched.  The front and side number blinds and Birchfields via blind were not too difficult to source as they were of standard GMT specification.

When new these Leyland Titans came with two spot/fog lights fitted, being Lucas CLR12s, both of which vanished from 4002 during its years in service.  Luckily there was one sample available on 4015 which we are to use to help match for an exact or very close set of new lights for the vehicle.  All the cushions and backs were taken out of the vehicle for storage whilst we order new orange moquette, leaving the upper deck complete with all its seat frames in place and allowing access for cleaning and painting.  We decided however to remove all the seat frames from the lower deck as they were in quite a bad condition.  We will also concentrate on attending to the lower deck whilst the seats are out on the basis that traditionally the lower decks of vehicles tend to exhibit more wear and tear in usage then the upper. 

As a result of identifying parts that would be needed following the working day on 27th January 2008 we placed an order and received the black filler strip that will be needed to go into the three sets of silver beading once it has all been paint stripped and the vehicle been repanelled.  This will be one of the last jobs to be undertaken as part of the snagging that comes towards the end of a restoration which according to the present timetable should be some time in the summer of 2009. 

We sent away to Norburys Blinds the original unique Titan side destination numbers and had these made.  We also identified what we had in stock in terms of the L947 lights used on the front and the rear of the vehicle and placed an order with Far East Motors in Singapore for two rear tail lamps, three indicators and three white lamps.  The remainder we have in stock including the stop and tail lights that are fitted to the rear of the vehicle. 

We still need to source the L706 licence plate rear light which was replaced on 4002 many years ago and fit better condition �National Style� side indicators. 

As the driver�s side windscreen wiper had a much thinner casting on the end it was sent away to Isla Components to obtain a new wiper arm of the right design of the twin pantograph 23� inch wiper arms.  Thereafter we went to our premises in East Manchester on 9th February 2008 to look over 4015 (GNF 15V) to satisfy ourselves as to what  original parts we will need to secure for 4002 that had been removed from it.  The very wide clip that is used on the central black bar just behind the windscreens to secure the rear view mirror is missing from 4002 and so we �borrowed� the one off 4015.  Thereafter we made considerable progress on our next working day on 17^th February 2008 in that all the vinyls and damaged transfers were removed from the inside of the bus and all the internal window hopper aluminium was cleaned. 

The driver�s seat was removed in order that the back and cushion could be sent away for re-covering by Gordon Morris at GLG Coachtrimmers from the diced carrot red moquette on the vehicle to original black PVC.  The base of the driver�s seat was dismantled, cleaned up, red oxided and painted vinyl black as was the clip that will be needed for the rear view mirror.  All four wheels were sanded down with wire brush type attachments fitted to drills to scrape off 30 years of dirt and rust and thereafter the first of them was red oxided.  Paint stripping was concluded on the silver beading on the lower deck and all the lower deck seats that had been removed were sanded down and red oxided ready for painting.  One of the legs was removed from these seats depicting the original colour of grey/green in which they were painted and this taken into HMG for colour matching so that original colour paint can be obtained.  Also a sample of the door rubber was cut off and sent to Deans Powered Doors so that new door rubber of the right size can be provided to be fitted to the vehicle.  We had already had sent from Deans Powered Doors metal plating and brushes and identified that these would fit the bottom and the top of the air door on 4002, and these will be applied in due course.

The head banger on the staircase was removed so this could be re-covered by Gordon Morris at GLG Coachtrimmers when the driver seat is attended to.  All the badges were removed so that new Leyland roundalls and Leyland and Titan badges could be sourced for the bus although these won�t be refitted until after its repaint some time around the summer of 2009.

Finally on the working day on 17th February 2008 the whole of the front area of the destination display was cleaned up and the front number blind box cleaned and sanded down and repainted in black vinyl paint.  From stock we managed to fit two of the original three Manchester number blinds, but are short of an RN3 and therefore placed an order with McKenna�s Blinds for the missing item plus some spare additional blinds for stock.  We also managed to find from our spares and appropriate Birchfields via blind which was fitted but we are short of a Birchfields destination blind which will be yet a further item to be obtained in due course.

Further progress was made over the next three working days, 9th March 2008, 30th March 2008 and 20th April 2008 in that the lower deck seats which had been removed, sanded down and red oxided, were painted in the correct green/grey paint obtained from HMG and were refitted.  Work then commenced on the upper deck seats which were sanded down and red oxided insitu in the upper deck.  The remaining three wheels were red oxided and a wiper for the driver�s side windscreen secured from Isla Components was fitted.  We also fitted brand new wing mirrors and arms both to the nearside and the offside of the bus, making sure that the unique longer arm depicted only on 4001 and 4002 was sourced and fitted to the nearside of the vehicle.

Member, Greg Taylor, attended on a number of additional days other than the standard working days and set about restoring as best as possible by paint stripping, cleaning and painting the original yellow, orange and brown interior surfaces of the bus. 

Most of the cab area was cleaned and painted in vinyl black and the cab floor and the lower deck floor were treated in the special non-slip neogene fawn deck paint we use on all our restorations.  The rear view mirror fixing device was attached to the bus and a brand new rear view mirror connected to it and the driver�s seat returned from GLG Coachtrimmers having been covered in black PVC on the back and the cushion with three 2 inch flutes was refitted.  All the �hidden surfaces� such as the heater units under the stairs and the lower deck rear facing seats and under the rear seat on the lower deck and upper deck were vacuumed and cleaned.  Progress was made with the blinds in that a destination blind had been secured from Alan McKnight at the Museum of Transport during out visit there on 16th March 2008.  The missing RN3 number blind was also fitted as were the unique side number blinds secured from Norbury Blinds Ltd and work commenced in addressing the problems in accessing the gear system for the rear number blinds.  We also obtained from our spare Leyland Titan parts at Wigan two upper deck hopper windows although this is not sufficient to return the window configuration to its correct layout.  An outside heater vent and two headlamps surrounds were also taken out of these spares for use.  We made two original ANE 2T registration plates on the press we had secured some time ago and fitted the front one of these to the vehicle during this period of time. 

During a number of working days from 11^th May 2008 right the way through to the middle of October 2008 much of our attention was on carrying out the following tasks on 4002:- 

Interior Upper Deck
We have concluded the sanding down, red oxiding and painting in the correct grey/green colour of all the upper deck seat frames and also have painted the upper deck floor in the non-slip neogene fawn paint we use on all our restoration projects.

Interior Lower Deck
Much more work is required on the lower deck of the vehicle because of the heavier usage it has seen than the upper deck and in this respect we carried out a significant amount of work.  We sanded down and attended to the area above the air door and put new rubber on the edge of the air door itself and thereafter one of our members, Greg Taylor, spent a lot of time on non-working days bringing the cab area up to specification in cleaning it and painting it in vinyl black paint and is continuing to undertake work on switch panels, etc. 

On the staircase a new vent secured from scrap yards in Barnsley has been fitted above the staircase mirror fitting and we have secured although not fitted yet, a new staircase convex mirror.  We have fitted a fire extinguisher and glass to the panelling above the heating units behind the driver�s cab and adjacent to the staircase and had the �head banger� on the staircase taken away, re-covered in black PVC and refitted.  The driver�s seat has also been sent away and been re-recovered in new black PVC and refitted.  Although the remoquetting of the vehicle is yet to take place the two rear arms at the edges of the rear lower deck seats have been re-covered and refitted and all the cracked plastic end caps on the lighting units on both the upper and lower decks have been removed in order to be swapped over for better condition items from 4015.   All the lower deck seats frames have also been sanded down, red oxided and repainted in the appropriate grey/green shade of paint and the lower deck floor coated in the fawn neogene non-slip paint, along with the drivers cab area and the luggage rack on the nearside just behind the air entrance door.

Windows
We had members of the company �Smashing Glass�, down to Leigh to attend to the vehicle and they adjusted the window configurations by use of two spare hopper windows we had in stock and three other windows hoppers we secured from 4015 by swapping them over for plain glass units in 4002 so that the whole of the vehicle is now correctly fitted out in terms of the number of windows with hoppers.  This involved the fitting of one hopper on the upper deck offside and three hoppers on the upper deck nearside along with one nearside lower deck hopper unit.  Also brand new windscreens were purchased and were fitted to the vehicle along with new windscreen surround rubber. 

Exterior
The two engine access doors on the offside and nearside rear of the vehicle were removed and replaced with the spares we obtained from our visit to the Barnsley scrap yards and we are in the process of refitting the appropriate pieces of moulding.  Also two L-Shaped clips were fitted to the front of the vehicle just below the windscreens to take various destination boards as these had been removed at some point in the past.  Two new front offside and nearside front lower corner panels have been secured from Greengate Fabrications and these are in the process of being refitted and the battery frame has been red oxided and repainted to add additional protection.

Between October 2008 and Febraury 2009, the working days were concentrating more on another restoration project, 4116 (HDV 116V) so therefore not much work was carried out.

We returned our concentration back onto 4002 in February 2009.  The new staircase mirror we had made has now been fitted and the Herzim moulding has been added to the replacement engine access doors  The replacement front nearside and offside front lower corner panels have been added to the bus and the rear number blind unit has been removed, serviced and replaced.

All interior window frames in both the upper and lower decks have been repainted in light grey paint and all seat backs and cushions have been re-covered in new GMT orange moquette by Gordon Morris of GLG Wigan Coachtrimmers and refitted.

In addition, the dented curved piece of Herzim moulding beneath the driver�s window has been removed and replaced with the same part �borrowed� from 4015 (GNF 15V).  Also taken off this long term restoration project is the �rad test� device from the rear and fitted to 4002 to replace the damaged unit on this bus.

After the last few aspects of this vehicle were attended to by ourselves on working days in late May 2009, with particular attention paid to the cab area and repainting the interior staircase surrounds in the appropriate yellow paint masterminded by member Greg Taylor, the vehicle was taken to North West Bus & Coach Repairers in Blackburn on Sunday 7th June 2009.  Initially there was some difficulty in being able to move the bus because the levelling valves on the air suspension system were playing up intermittently causing the rear nearside of the bus to not lift sufficiently above the wheels for it to be driven.  However, a few adjustments were made in order to drive it from its base in Leigh to Blackburn, but upon arrival the issue with the nearside rear air bags on the air suspension had reoccurred.  

Whilst at North West Bus & Coach Repairers the following works were carried out:
        - Front nearside door frame pulled out.
        - Panels replaced or filled and sanded.
        - Fibreglass fittings attended to.
        - L947 lights fitted to the front and rear.
        - 2 x front fog/spot lights and chrome surround to be fitted.
        - New licence plate light fitted.
        - Replacement of rear route number glass with correct size lined up with rear route number box on the bus.
        - Replacement of headlamp surrounds.
        - Straightening and repairing of bonnet and valance.
        - Emergency exit door repaired and make operational.
        - The straightening and lining up of RAD alarm panel beneath rear licence plate.
        - Once repanelling work was completed, all beading had black filler strip inserted.
        - The ends of the black filler strips had metal end caps inserted.
        - New aluminium plates and door brushes were added to the bottom of the air doors and new brush fitted to the area above the air door.

An inspection of the work carried out was undertaken on Friday 26th June 2009 and a few additional matters were attended to thereafter and the vehicle was to be moved to Whittakers Ltd in Penwortham on Saturday 4th July 2009.  However, the rear nearside air bag had deteriorated so much it could not be driven.  It was therefore back end towed to Whittakers on 13th July 2009. 

The following aspects were needed to be carried out while at Whittakers Ltd:
        - Full service (new belts and oils).
        - All mechanics, brakes and steering checked.
        - Air suspension, airbags and levelling valves checked, replaced or repaired.
        - Alternator not charging correctly attended to.
        - Class V MOT.
        - Chassis, engine and under wheel arches steam cleaned and spray painted with anti-corrisive paint.
        - Electrics checked and all panel warning lights made operational.
        - All cab switches made operational.

Also whilst the vehicle was at Whittakers Ltd it was entirely repainted into GMT metropolitan orange and white with brown skirt and brown wheels.  We hoped that 4002 returned to Leigh in time for the trip to EFE Showbus in Duxford on 27th September 2009.

However, once the vehicle had been examined more thoroughly it appeared that a considerable number of other issues had to be addressed and in this respect the totality of matters attended to are shown below.

13th August 2009
Attention required to the suspension, removal of all top plates/air bags, cleaning of corrosion and preparation of cross members for new top plates and also cleaned the pistons.

14th August 2009
Work on the rear suspension was completed and top plates fitted, air system piped and system charged.  The chassis was also inspected in preparation for MOT.

17th August 2009
Batteries were removed for recharging and with the assistance of Ribblesdale Autos the seized alternator was removed as was the steering wheel.

21st August 2009
The fuel tank was removed along with the corroded hose between the tanks.  The tanks were cleaned and prepared for the replacement hose that was made and modified to fit along with new clamps.  The tank strap was also removed and welded and made up to fit back to the chassis.  The diesel was replaced and it was then checked and run up.
4002 was also given a full service and engine oil changed. 

24th August 2009
The first fuel tank had developed a fuel leak so the tanks were drained and seized carriers removed from the tank.  The first fuel tank was removed from the chassis and sent for repair.  The brake chamber (air leaking) was removed and the seized brake chamber was cut from the sub-frame and warmed and freed up from the cam shaft.  Slack adjuster cleaned and prepared carrier.  The brake shoes were seized and an attempt to remove the hub from the offside rear wheel was made.

25th August 2009
As the brake shoes were seized and locked in the open position, the carrier and brake shoes were warmed and three attempts were made to remove and attempt to remove anchor pin was also made.  The top pin was removed and carrier warmed and the pin was removed.  Both pins were damaged and replaced with new.  The brake shoes were sent off for an overhaul and braker carrier bushes were reamed, pin and brushes greased and shoes rebuilt to carrier.  The cam shaft was removed and locking pin drilled out, greased and replaced.  The hub was cleaned and offside bearing US.  The inner and outer bearings had to be smashed out from the hub, regreased, hub seal added and hub fixed to axle and made secure.  The half shaft was replaced and the wheels replaced.

26th August 2009
On the offside rear the air piping was removed from the brake chamber and a new air chamber secured to chassis.  The slack adjuster was replaced with new units.  The brakes were also adjusted.  On the near side rear the air chamber was removed along with slack adjuster, hub and brake shoes.

27th August 2009
The axle was cleaned and prepared.  Nearside rear anchor pin bushes were reamed and brake shoes reamed and cleaned.  The pins were cleaned and locking wire drilled out, prepared and rebuilt.  Brake shoe rollers were washed and freed up, greased and rebuilt back to the hub and rear hub washed.  Inner bearing and seal were removed and hub and bearings regreased.  The hub oil seal was replaced and hub rebuilt to axle.

28th August 2009
Replaced drum to the hub and secured wheel.  Half shaft replaced and secured.  Replaced spring brake actuator unit with new one and also slack adjuster was replaced with new.  The air pipes were freed and secured to the chamber and actuator was reset to brake and brakes adjusted.  A temporary fuel tank was made up to allow vehicle to be moved.  Gears not operational - reverse only.

10th September 2009
The new gear brain unit arrived and was fitted by Ribblesdale Autos.  Motion forward and backward now okay but would not change up gears and parts awaited.  The batteries were also charged up.

11th September 2009
The new fuel tank arrived from MRS.

18th September 2009
Fuel tank repaired and fuel replaced, etc. To correct gear fault speed sensor probe fitted.  Also steam clean occurred.

23rd September 2009
The valve block unit was stripped down to check impulse units on the gearbox.

27th September 2009
Fault was checked out and run test completed at Gearbox with rear wheels lifted.  Fault still apparent when sequence checked.  The plug to main valve block also checked, re-plugged and wiring checked.  For gear signal; wiring corroded at plug, Ribblesdale Autos advised who removed the plug, rebuilt old unit and returned it.  The gearbox was plugged into valve block.  An attempt to run up to find mains shut down of full system was completed and fault traced back to the panel.  Connection and fuses repaired and main board run and checked and gears appeared to be working up and down the box.  The vehicle was therefore returned to the floor and a road test attempted.  The gears were slow to operate using �hold� position.  To combat gear change all gears present, road test in �hold� and in �auto� position.  Vehicle passed gearbox test.  Not completed valve block lid is to be reassembled.   Gaskets were awaited.

29th September 2009
Chassis sprayed including paint. 

5th October 2009
MOT preparation carried out.  Changed nearside tyre as it was split.  HiQ temporary repair undertaken to driver�s side wiper spindle.  Gearbox valve block resealed and front brakes adjusted.  Vehicle taken for MOT and passes but with advisory notes on the following:
        - Nearside rear tyre pressure low, air added to 110 PSI.
        - Offside king pin lift: removed lower cap and re-shimmed to adjust.
        - Nearside front shock absorber loose; pack out shock absorbers with washers as lower bush worn.

Consequently because of the additional work involved in order to restore this vehicle to fully operational condition and for it to pass a Class V MOT between 13th August 2009 and 5th October 2009 it was not back in time to attend the EFE Showbus Event at Duxford on 27th September 2009 which was when we intended to launch the vehicle as a new restoration.  However, it did eventually return fully repainted in GMT orange and white to our premises in Leigh in time for the working day on 11th October 2009 after which the following work was carried out. 

All black rubber window surrounds, door brushes, etc., were touched up, tyre wall black paint was applied to the tyres, appropriate badges added to the vehicle, being the Leyland Roundall and Titan on the front and similarly Leyland Roundall on the rear.  Any missing internal transfers were replaced with the appropriate vinyls and the entirety of the outside of the vehicle had all its GMT transfers applied such as Greater Manchester Transport, legal lettering, fleet numbers along with functional transfers such as fuel, water, oil, etc., and it had blue Leyland centres applied to the front wheel discs. 

The problems with the rear route number winding gear were resolved by replacing the unit on-board with an operational unit borrowed from 4015 (GNF 15V).

4002 was not launched to the public until the 40 Years of SELNEC Event organised by the SELNEC Preservation Society at Sportcity Manchester on 31st October 2009 and 1st November 2009.  Even then it did not receive its Leyland and Titan badge on the rear, until the Sunday 1st November 2009.  There was also work remaining to be carried out inside the vehicle which will be attended to in the working days early in 2010.

It was also the case that when using the vehicle upon its launch at the SELNEC �40� Event on 31st October and 1st November 2009, we were able to examine the vehicle more closely and were unhappy with some of the rectification work carried out previously by North West Bus & Coach Repairers, in that certain panels were creased or dented and had not been replaced or filled.  Hence after the event it was returned to them for some additional rectification work.   Because we were not impressed by the quality of the repaint of the vehicle the whole bus externally was completely repainted from top to bottom yet again, being collected from North West Bus & Coach Repairers and returned to our premises on the working day, Sunday 13th December 2009.  On 30th December 2009 we applied an entirely new set of vinyls to the exterior or the bus, being not only the large Greater Manchester Transport transfers, legal lettering, fleet numbers, etc., but all the other functional transfers such as fuel and unladen weight, etc.  During working days early in the year 2010 we will concentrate on the interior of the bus to complete its rectification, repainting areas in yellow and brown.

Few other minor interior tasks were carried out to complete it's restoration. On the lower deck the entrance steps have been sanded down and varnished, the metalwork on the refurbished driver�s seat was painted in black gloss and the driver�s cab floor painted in protective non-slip neogene fawn paint.  Various surfaces in the vehicle were prepared and sanded down and repainted in yellow or light brown and certain areas, particularly around the inward facing lower deck seats in a darker brown.  A double check was made to ensure that all the handles and seat backs & bars were in the appropriate black colour and all melamine surfaces were cleaned.

All window aluminium and glass was cleaned both inside and outside.  We finally managed to fit the glass to the staircase mirror and obtain a bulb to illuminate the rear route number, thereby ensuring the vehicle was finalised for its official launch on 28thMarch 2010. 

Even though 4002 was semi-launched at the SELNEC �40� Event on 31st October and 1st November 2009, it has never been formally launched and hence we undertook this on 28th March 2010 at the Museum of Transport Spring Transport Festival, at which time it was taken out around various locations by Phillip Lamb, the Editor of Bus & Coach Preservation, in order that an article could appear in a future issue. 

The article subsequently appeared in the June 2010 edition of Bus & Coach Preservation Volume 13, No. 1.  There was a colour photograph of the bus on the front cover outside the Manchester Evening News Arena.  Inside the article appears between pages 12-15, which incorporates seven photographs.

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