I often reflect about the time I owned JRA 635 and generally, my memories are extremely positive. However, anyone who has
owned an old vehicle knows that life isn’t always without its problems. Old vehicles have their moments when
things go wrong and require large amounts of time and effort to be focussed on them in order to keep the
gremlins at bay.
Few serious mechanical problems were encountered during ownership but there were a succession of niggles and re-occurring issues that
sometimes took the shine off things.
My very first public outing in June 1998 was to attend the HCVS Tyne Tees Run and as I have described
in the Preserved Bus article published recently on the website, this was truly a day to remember as JRA
was so well received. What wasn’t told about that day was that the driver of ex Darlington Fleetline
NHN 250K moved his vehicle out of the line vehicles and clipped the front nearside wing of JRA which
was parked next to it. This certainly spoilt the day – first time out and the bus was damaged, but I
quickly returned the bus to Gardiner’s who sorted the problem, but I can still point out evidence of
the repair. Thankfully she avoided any further contact with anything else during my ownership.
During the first few months I used a storage facility 45 miles from my Northumberland home, just off
junction 58 of the A1 in Co Durham which was especially handy when travelling south, but too far away to
allow me to spend much time tinkering with the vehicle. A major advantage of this farm site was that it
was about half a mile from the main road and was watched over by an eagle eyed farmer, giving me peace
of mind in terms of security. The disadvantage was that if it was dry the bus got covered in dust before
reaching the main road and if it was wet it got coated in mud, so I never arrived anywhere with the bus
in pristine condition.
Within a few months I located storage facilities about 5 miles from my home in the premises of a small
haulage company situated in Westerhope and it was a pleasure to have all the facilities I needed so close by,
with no worries about dust or mud! I was initially worried about security in this heavily populated area but
the retired founder of the haulage business still lived alongside the yard and kept a very close eye on
things, to the extent of being over protective. If ever I left the gate open for a few minutes whilst I
parked my car and got the bus out he came out and closed it!
I mentioned in my previous article that the starter motor had given cause for concern so I removed it
and sent it away for reconditioning. I then had complete peace of mind with this component – or so I
thought! The intermittent problem kept returning so I had the starter motor checked again by another
company who could find no fault and so the saga continued until I finally found that one of the wires
leading to the unit had a break in it and was being held in place by the surrounding insulation.
Sometimes the two pieces of broken wire touched and sometimes they didn’t, but finding the problem
allowed me to fix it very quickly.
The most long running and frustrating problem haunted me for almost two years, whereby the bus would
somehow take air into the diesel injection system causing it to crawl along or mostly stop. I noticed
that it always happened when the fuel tank was less than a third full. The tank was removed and sent
away for checking and refurbishment and at the same time new fuel lines were fitted. I was pretty
confident that the problem would be solved but no, it was no better than before. The old fashioned
bulkhead fuel filter unit was bypassed and a new, in line filter fitted. Still no improvement, so the
large filter unit above the fuel pump was bypassed and this had no effect either.
In desperation I yet again removed the fuel tank, took out the fuel intake pipe and examined it
closely. It had a small gauze filter which fitted loosely around the pipe and when I turned the filter I
was shocked to see that as the filter had revolved backwards and forwards around the pipe it had, over
the years, eventually worn a small slit in the pipe. This explained the intermittent nature of the
problem. As the filter revolved due to the fuel sloshing around in the tank it would expose the slit,
allowing air to be sucked into the system. It would then revolve again and close the slit allowing me
to bleed the system and get going again. This tiny fault had caused me so many problems, the bus was
even mentioned one morning on Radio Newcastle, as it crawled along the A1 western bypass before
eventually stopping completely. It had broken down in so many inconvenient places and one I remember
in particular was on a busy roundabout just outside York causing complete chaos whilst I bled the
system and got it going again. Having found the problem I visited a local engineering company and
had a new stack pipe made, complete with a new drain plug and the problem was thankfully solved.
Another problem happened on my way north from the Meadowhall Rally when, having handed over the wheel
to one of my co drivers somewhere up the A1, I noticed a clanking sound from the nearside rear wheels.
This sound stayed with us for the remainder of the journey. So a few days later I visited Henry Cooper
Coaches where my long suffering friend who owns the company was asked to come out and have a ride on the
bus to see if he could throw some light on the problem. Within a few hundred yards he was able to tell
me to turn around as I had a puncture on the inner rear wheel! The clanking noise is a sound that I now
recognise and I have since heard it on a number of occasions – on other people’s vehicles!
I have always enjoyed attending the Kirkby Stephen Easter Rally and on the first visit to this event
in 1999 I made destination blinds showing Kirkby Stephen and Brough and off we went. On the second day I
was trundling along to Brough on the free service when someone alerted me to a thumping noise from the
rear of the bus. I continued slowly whilst a group of on board “experts” assessed what might be wrong.
They were certainly a bunch of “doom & gloom” merchants and frightened me so much that I eventually
abandoned the bus outside the Black Bull for the rest of the day. I anxiously returned home with the
noise getting no worse and jacked up the rear of the bus inspecting wheels and tyres to find that one
of the rear tyres had developed a flat spot. A change of tyre easily solved the problem but my weekend
had been spoilt by the worries of what could have been wrong.
The bus returned to Brough at one point to have a new clutch and thrust bearing fitted by George
Thompson who takes care of the Cumbria Classic Coaches fleet. I was concerned that he might find it
difficult to find a new bearing but he remarkably located one immediately via a specialist who he deals
with.
It is amazing how some parts can still be bought off the shelf for such an old vehicle and this was
the case when Henry Cooper Coaches refurbished the rear brakes. A rear oil seal was required to complete
the job and Henry Coopers took one look at the old seal and identified the fact that it was the same as
fitted to a Leopard!
So, I had my fair share of trials and tribulations during ownership of JRA but looking back none of
them spoiled my enjoyment of the vehicle and we always managed to get home – eventually. I learnt a lot
about the mechanical side of vehicles but in truth I much prefer to be driving rather than fixing or
servicing but when you are an owner all these come together as a package!
D Gambles
28 February 2010
Tightly parked vehicles at the 1998 Tyne Tees Run which was JRA’s first appearance in public after being
refurbished. Later in the day the blue & cream ex Darlington Daimler turned sharp right and damaged
JRA’s front wing. © D Gambles
Outside the Henry Cooper garage where JRA has just been washed in readiness for its trip on the HCVS Tyne Tees Rally. © D. Gambles
Out of service due to a defect. JRA developed a tyre fault whilst at the 1999 Kirkby Stephen Rally and
was abandoned outside the Black Bull at Brough Sowerby. A Leyland Lion drives by whilst operating the
free service. © D. Gambles
The Westerhope garage a few miles from home offered secure storage and washing facilities and all I had
to do was to remember to close the gate and avoid hitting the lorry when I reversed into the gloom of the
interior! © D. Gambles
A visit to York in September 1999. This was the day JRA disgraced itself by stopping on a busy roundabout on the outskirts of
the city! © D. Gambles