Saturday 18th. In total 8 working members attended today The aim for today was to get No 1 nose end stripped out of all internal components for renovation/replacement. After moving the sheet back towards the cab on D8233 the first job of the day was to take reference pictures inside No 1 nose end and the cooler group areas.

We then set about removing the air pipework and conduit in the nose end some of it being a bit stubborn to remove, other bits taking less effort and simply crumbling soon as any form of tool went near it! The majority of this pipework in No 1 end will need replacing. We then removed the 2 main air tanks from the frame, again these are in very poor condition so suitable replacements will need to be pecured, the frame work that used to have the ETH cubicle (we think) mounted to it was then removed by the aid of a grinder it had been welded onto the floor and the stand that the traction motor blower mounted too once this was done we were then able to unbolt and remove the Traction motor stand and the frame that the air tanks mounted too. With the rest of the conduit now being accessible a team set about removing this from the lamp units. Around a carrier bag full of rust and crud was removed from the nose end floor which just shows how badly corroded this compartment is!

In the cooler group, the radiator elements were removed for storage, these will be flushed out pressure tested, and steam cleaned at later date ready for refitting. The oil filter housing's and pipework to and from them was also removed. In the coach, the engine room doors that had been previously removed were moved out of the way to make room for all the parts coming into the coach, A bench was constructed to mount the small bench grinder onto and some more dexion racking erected.

The ex toilet compartment was also stripped of its sink and toilet and other fittings this giving us more room to store more parts off D8233. At around 5pm we decided to call it a day, get cleaned up and ready for the evenings activities, handy that the ELR nightrider event was running!

Sunday 19th. In total 5 working members attended. Today we carried on where we left off, the headcode discs, catches, and marker lamp units were removed from No 1 nose end and in the cooler group the drive shaft to the fan gearbox was removed along with the gearbox itself and the shaft to the cooling fan. We could then get access to part of the Traction motor blower ducting this was unbolted and removed.

All in all a great w/e's work we achieved more than I hoped for. Our next working w/e is on April 8th & 9th
where we will carry on stripping out the cooler group compartment and make a start in the power unit compartment disconnecting the power unit & generator set ready for lifting out and removing the internal components for overhaul.

Photos of the work are below