Three months after we parked 7176 up as we decided how to tackle the massive rust issue that we had. This made us come across a new issue which was the front wheels wouldn’t come off so we had to make the choice to finish the rear and make 7176 roadworthy so it could be driven to sort out the wheels. However, on its first drive, we still didn’t have the exhaust sorted so edited to protect what needed to be protected and when straight pipe which sounded wicked. After an hour of heating the gearbox up we pushed our luck and went to Manchester,
When in Manchester we blow the front loop hose we had fitted, with help from the Museum of transport Manchester we got on our way. 30 minutes later we had to stop for water again Shaun had an idea and stopped outside of a Fire Station and they were very kind and let us park on the forecourt and topped our radiator up and our reserves.
We made it about halfway and the hose on the exit to the water pump blew up in massive style rendering the vehicle finished, with help from two friends they bought some water and spares, We were able to get on the road again however we pushed it a little too far with only a small amount of cooling capability the compressor gave up as it wasn’t able to get cool water so it blew its head which wasn’t good and to cover 19 miles it took us about 4 hours.
Which puts 7176 where it is now which is looking sorry for its self, arse on the floor as its finally out of air pressure and without the compressor it isn’t mobile and can’t build air, We do have a fix for this and hopefully in the next few weeks we will be back out on the road so we can take our trip to get the front wheels off at long last and then hopefully go for MOT.