AEC MERLIN BUILD. MB375 restored as a tribute to Eggins Comfort Coaches MB365.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- For my first video, whilst waiting for my new project, I thought I’d show the transformation of MB 375 from paddock queen to beauty queen. A tribute to MB365, now lost forever.
I must explain that the yard I work in and store the buses prohibited me from pressure washing and spray painting, so I had to remove all the lychen and moss by hand, and roller the paint. Also all of the signwriting was done by me- I learned as I went along. The sides were traced off another bus, and the front and rear were recreated by using photos.
It’s great to see some of the Aussie Merlins in preservation, my earliest bus memories are of MBSs on LT route W8 and I loved being at the back as these behemoths snaked their way around the side streets at the Chase Farm Hospital terminus!
Thanks. They are a great looking bus! Sadly mine is one of only two that we know of in preservation.
@@stevestufffThe other one is MB306 isn’t it?
@@philhambling6628 that’s right yes owned by a mate. He is taking it back to LT livery.
I used to regularly drive merlin mb308 . Loved it to drive .
Nice restoration Steve. I have a few dinky toys Red Arrow Merlin's I'll be working on soon. My toy buses have the centre doors. Some years ago I painted a couple in Oliveri colours. My little fleet has grown. I'll be doing my little merlin's soon. I've already done a Sydney atlantean in private livery. I've done a Mercedes 0302 bus from Tekno KiRK . Another 2 ARE IN THE pipeline. Have a tram frog to work on as well. All the best cheers Michael
Thankyou Michael I appreciate your support!
Finally caught up with the first vid. Would you say the Tubey way is a way of sharing the obsession? Probably a ball ache putting them together. But we all obviously enjoy the passion if someone else is doing the graft instead! ;) Merlins were popular in London, you don't that gig easy. So must've been a good bus!
Hi Steve i loved how the mint resto on Merlin turned out what a magic job & my Dad & Myself checked inside & out the Eggins machine wow like new good to catch up with you mate cheers Wayne.
we like the Vids too cannot wait for the next one.
Thanks guys, keep watching!
Great restoration. Dont see restorations as good as this from Private owners. Hope to see more of these videos.
thanks! A new project coming arriving shortly, and some more work to do on the Merlin, so plenty of videos coming soon!
Great quality work wonderful to see so much time invested in restoring this bus well . Amazed to see how solid it was at the start - in the mid 1980s in the UK Merlins had serious wood rot & loose screws , corrosion in wheel arches from road salt and the air pipes and tank underneath rotted needing renewal if bus was stored on damp land for just a few years. This whole batch of 50 seat Merlins 304-397 were built with grey rexine below the windows inside and blue celestra moquette seats so did Eggins fit red vinyl seat covers and paint the rexine on MB365 like this back in 1976 ? Neat to see an original offside 1968 MCW Merlin indicator lens still survives while the nearside 2 part divided lens is the 1970s SMS/DMS spec replacement
Hi Mick, believe me this bus had its share of wood rot. Kirklands had replaced some with metal fillets, I replaced all the rotten wood. The bus came to me with red vinyl seats, not sure how it was from factory. I decided to go with the red theme and did the rexine in red as well. The Eggins unit was grey and blue as you say.
Amazing work Steve , u have the passion for research and restoration of old buses , that bring back memories...well done ...thanks for the updates...
appreciate your support :)
Where do I get an autograph. Glad you're doing this buddy.
I will get you some merch and sign it haha
What a beauty! Saw her at Busfest last year in White Bay, blew my mind at how fresh it all looked. Fantastic work Steve!
thankyou! She was playing up that day, I hope to be at busfest again this year with two buses :)
A nice style in your pieces-to-camera as well, Steve. But maybe it’s always more interesting to see people from different lands show/tell you stuff. A lady professor on Sunday was presenting on a fatigue/apnoea study among drivers, and she’d done 5 years under, so had an appealing acoustic :)
Thanks Tim, appreciate the feedback :)
Superb restoration. Fabulous looking interior.
thankyou, it was a tough job, and a real slog in our hot weather. I still have a little work to do inside, I will cover it in future videos
Were these Merlins imported as a bare chassis and Ozzie bodied or were they brought in from the UK to Ozzie spec?
Hi John. They were imported as is in LT spec. Most remained that way, some had heavy duty radiators fitted.
Cheers
Cheers, mate. I have subscribed for the first time.
My TH-cam channel:Bill's Channel - sta
I do have quite a few videos up on my channel at the moment so far.
Regards from William.
Mount Gambier, South Australia.
Thanks Bill I will check it out!