08/08/25 & 09/08/25 – Back on the Vans

Unfortunately our planned freight driving course on Friday 8th August was postponed, so it was decided that the time would be well spent getting back to work towards our Paul Foxwell Express Freight Project.

With Van B780952 being not far off returning to traffic, it was the obvious candidate to get on with. The first job was to complete replacement of side planking. The inside planks had already been removed a few weeks before by Jason, Matt, and Tim, so all that remained was to remove the exterior planking. Mark, Paul, and Tim got on with this job, which required the coach bolts to be knocked out.

Meanwhile, Alan and Jon got on with sanding down and painting the original planking on the other end of the same side, above the previously replaced bottom planks.

By close of play, the west end had new planks fitted and the east end had been sanded back, primed, and undercoated.

Up bright and early the next day, with a keen attitude to achieve, the target was new doors on B780952. The first job was to finish the previous days work, so Tim and Annika got inside to refit the original internal boards.

Meanwhile, Matt trimmed off the excess thread on the coach bolts outside the van from the previous days planking. Mark, Jason, and Jon, then made a start cleaning back the chassis ready for painting. Matt also did some patch metal repairs and Jon a bit of wood filling.

After a spot of lunch and as everyone was feeling like getting the job done, Tim, Annika, and Matt made a start on the new plywood doors.

Once a bit of primer had been added to the new doors, Matt began to take the old doors off. Then it was time to get the new doors fitted, with Jason cleaning the hinges.