I went over to Thamesdown Transport in Swindon yesterday to take delivery of our reconditioned Gardner engine! Although I was obviously extremely excited to be seeing the new engine (and to know that it would now be on site and ready to fit), I have to admit to being more than a little concerned about seeing the bus itself, for a couple of different reasons.

First, I was a bit worried about what state the bus would be in since it had overwintered. There's been a lot of rain and frost since Bob Gillespie towed it up from Bradford-on-Avon at the beginning of October last year and, if circumstances hadn't taken us over with our ill-fated maiden journey, we had planned to do a bit more ‘window sealing' and ‘general weather proofing' before parking it up for the winter. I had no idea how the eco-paints and other natural materials we had used would stand up to being outside for such a long time and was especially concerned that the windows may have leaked and ruined the flooring and other fabrics inside the bus.

The second thing that had been preying on my mind is that I might have built up the bus, in my memory, to be a lot more beautiful than it actually was. I describe its paintwork, wooden units, willow drawers, hemp seat covers and cosy little crew quarters to people I meet, on a daily basis, and I always find myself waxing lyrical about how beautifully crafted and stunning everything is... to the extent that I'd be happy to live on it given half the chance!

Anyway, I couldn't have been more relieved. The bus was every bit as beautiful as I had remembered and there didn't seem to be any weather damage whatsoever! It helped that Bob had towed it into the workshop during December to start removing the old engine, but he told me that there had been no evidence of rainwater having leaked in before they brought it under cover, so it looks like Andy's ongoing attempts to seal the leaking windows must finally have paid off. Anyone with any knowledge of old bus windows will know that this is no mean feat...

So, having established that our Big Green Bus is, indeed, the most beautiful vehicle on the planet, I waited with Bob for David from ‘Gardner Enthusiast Ltd' to arrive with our new engine. It was odd to see the bus with most of its rear end missing and interesting to be able to have a poke around and get a close up view of the old, damaged engine. Having stripped it down, Bob was able to assure me that there was no evidence whatsoever that the damage had been caused by anything we had done (or not done) and it was just one of those very unfortunate things that sometimes happen when you own/drive a vehicle. That was good to hear! The other thing that was great to hear from Bob was how impressed he was with the standard of the whole refit and conversion of the bus. He's worked with buses for many years and was particularly impressed with the paintwork...even on the wheel hubs...and also with how well Andy had fitted the sheets of aluminium where we had decided to take out some of the upstairs windows. So, that was nice to hear!

Andy, if you're reading this ...'Well done!' And also.... 'Happy Birthday for yesterday!'

I was going to write a bit more about the new engine and the conversations I had with Bob and David about our plans to run the engine on bio-diesel and/or waste vegetable oil, but I‘ve run out of time so will have to come back and do that later. I'm pleased to say that Bob has given me a CD full of photographs of them stripping down and removing the damaged engine so I will get them posted on the site. Bob has also agreed to write a bit for our blog about the more technical side of things because I think it might be really interesting for people to read. The most important thing I hope he'll be able to explain, is why our new reconditioned engine is ‘greener' than the old damaged one.

For more information about Gardner engines have a look at David's website ... you have to register your name and email address to be able to access some parts of the website, but I've just done that and it's really quick and straightforward.

I'll be back later to write a little bit about our lovely new engine!!!

B