SCOTTISH VINTAGE BUS MUSEUM

Guy commenced building the Arab’ chassis in 1933 but by the outbreak of war few had been built. In 1942 Guy were commissioned by the Ministry of Supply to build double-deck chassis for the home market to strict laid-down wartime specifications, and an improved version of the pre-war Arab resulted. In consequence many operators received their first Guy buses and the model soon gained a reputation for reliability and robustness. London Transport was the major user, taking, in all, 435 examples.

CDR679 was one of 106 wartime Guys purchased by Plymouth Corporation between 1942 and 1945, ail of which had Roe L27/28R bodies and which represented an unusually high degree of standardisation at the time. Withdrawals commenced in 1954 and CDR679 (Plymouth 249) was sold, in 1957, to Grenville Motors, Camborne, later passing to Harlohire, Epping or further service in 1962. By 1963 it had been disposed of to a dealer, and a local Essex farmer purchased it and removed the entire body leaving only the cab structure and the lower deck floor. In this form it hauled bales of hay around the farm until the late ‘seventies.

CDR679 was purchased for preservation in 1978 having spent some years with the West of England Transport Collection at Winkleigh. North Devon. For some time it was used to store spare engines for other vehicles in the Museum. Very few war-time Guys have survived to be preserved with their utility double-deck bodies in original condition, and it was hoped that a suitable body could be located and fitted, or a replica built for it. In 1991 such a body was acquired, from a dealer in Molesworth, Hunts. in reasonable condition and it was intended to fit this to CDR's chassis eventually.

Braced for lifting: Roland Williams

Meanwhile, discussions had been taking place as to how best to go about removing the Duple body from the Daimler chassis. It was recognised that additional strengthening of the body would be essential to preserve its integrity when lifted. To this end, triangular pieces of wood were screwed into the comers of the windows to provide strength at the pillars, and two steel girders were fabricated and bolted to the lower deck floor from front to rear either side. The ex-Falkirk & District Tramways tram jacks then came into their own and were placed outside the body at right angles to the steel girders. The intention was to place the jacking beams through the windows and secure these to the girders by chains, but it became immediately apparent that the jacks were too low and not enough lift could be obtained. Off down to Shed 47 where the railway boys kindly lent us enough wooden sleepers to place under the jacks to obtain the required lift. Everything was put in place and we were now ready.

On the day of the lift Bob Leys kindly brought along a camcorder and, with four of us, one on each jack, we commenced to lift.

Tam Loggie, who had practical experience of body swaps when in the employ of Glasgow Corporation, took charge, and additional support was provided at the rear of the platform with a trolley jack and packing. Up went the body, slowly, and then we realised that we would not get enough clearance for the rear wheels. So off they came and were replaced with wheel rims. Once we reckoned we had the required clearance we hitched up the tug and — hey presto! — out came the chassis intact leaving the body suspended in mid-air. The whole exercise had gone without a hitch and had been captured for posterity on Bob’s camcorder.

Almost there — the Duple body is almost united with the Guy chassis: Roland Williams

Stands were placed under the body for additional support to allow preparation work to be performed before the Guy chassis could be placed in situ. The main items to be worked on were: modification of the front bulkhead to take the larger Guy flywheel housing; fitting the new chassis backplate; cutting the floor to accommodate the neck of the fuel tank; some reworking of the rear body crossmember as the rise of the chassis over the rear axle differs in profile between the two manufacturers - although the wheelbases are identical.

The exercise has since been completed and the chassis successfully matched up with the body. We believe that this is the first time that a body swap of this type has ever been attempted, although there are several examples of utility bodies being transferred from Guys to Daimlers which is much easier. The bus was then transferred to the Bus Doctors' workshop where new front and rear domes were fabricated and fitted and the panelling was almost completely renewed.

Since September 2002, progress has included installing all the fixed glazing, making four half-drop windows (one per side per deck, in accordance with the original MoS specifications) and fixing the external rain guttering over the windows. The dynamo and electrical control unit arrived back from specialist overhaul. The lower deck has been completely repainted and the wooden cappings stripped and revarnished, and a start has been made on the top deck. A start has also been made on the cab frame for which a windscreen is being modified to fit, together with a rebuilt cab floor and door - as seen in the first view. It is hoped to commence rewiring the electrics shortly.

It has been decided to fit a set of utility wooden seats to the top deck only, and a pair of originals from a Bedford OWB have been located for templates to make a full set. The lower deck will have upholstered leathercloth, and suitable seat frames are being looked out of store for the purpose. (Jasper Pettie)

The top deck seats were made and installed in summer 2003 and the cab framing was finished off at the same time. Then the lower deck seat frames were fitted, and at the turn of the year the backs and cushions (the latter from scrap Bristol VRs!) were sent away to be reupholstered in plain brown leathercloth. Finally, the bus was painted in a simple all-over grey livery with white markings, exactly as many of these vehicles were delivered from the bodybuilders in the dark days of WWII. By March 2004 CDR679 had passed MoT class V and since then has been a lively performer at local rallies, being much sought after by the more mature bus enthusiast! It's planned to keep it in grey garb for a couple of seasons after which it will be painted in a suitable livery, possibly the green and cream of AA Motor Services which operated similar vehicles (including CDR673).

Having seen a picture of CDR767 in buses magazine and having connections to Plymouth led me to your site.

The Plymouth Guy was the subject of an article in Buses Annual in the 60's ? The G7 was kept at the beloved Hilsea garage (Portsmouth) for many years it being my privilege to drive the vehicle along with a colleague called Derek Turner. The bus was used for local rallies and charity events along the south coast, usually with a two man crew. The bus gave us many happy memories but sadly, when presented at Botley testing station (late 80's), the officials declined at further MOT's due to lack of brake efficiency, and brake lights although she does not legally require them.

However I could ramble for ages, are you aware she appeared in Noels house party from Haydock park racecourse (late 80's). We were taken by low-loader to site & return. She can be seen in the final sketch leaving Noel Edmonds behind. I may still have some photos of the bus at various shows.