A "Stop Press" item in the ADBIG newsletter for June 1997 caught my eye, "Isle of Man based Dennis Falcon POR 428 is for sale. A group has been formed to save it". Fond memories from a very small boy regularly being taken to grandparents at Folly Hill, (Farnham), on buses with doors that magically opened by themselves, came flooding back. Here was a project to get involved in for the pure nostalgia. Many people in the preservation movement had known of 282's existence for a number of years - previous approaches to owners had been unsuccessful. Now there was a real chance that the sole surviving example of this unique bus could be coming home. The vehicle was obtained by Tim Stubbs and Mike Stephens from Michael Barry, its last Isle of Man owner, and shipped back to the mainland. At 10.00 am on Saturday 27th September 1997, Malcolm Spalding and Bob Smith, with his trusty towing wagon, were at Glasson Dock, Lancaster, to watch 282 being craned off of a freighter and onto the dock side.
Another meeting of those who had expressed genuine interest was held on 5th December 1997 at the REC, Farnborough. As a result, the first official meeting of the Falcon 282 Group was held in Aldershot on 30th January 1998. Firm financial commitments were made by the members and a draft constitution laid out to cover ownership/shareholding stakes in 282. The Falcon was generously donated on the understanding that the group formed would restore, maintain and display her for the benefit of everyone. First we needed an engine, 282's original Gardner 4LK had failed at some point in the past, but Mike Crompton in Irlam, Manchester had a 4LK he was rebuilding. Sunday 12th February 1998 saw John Hillier and Phil Jacob meeting up with Malcolm for a long day outing to see the engine. Once at Mike's house we were taken into his workshop and there on a bench rig was our 4LK. It started up immediately and then characteristically filled the surrounding area with thick white smoke until it warmed up, but it sounded fine and ran beautifully. Mike kindly agreed to hold onto the engine until we were ready to fit it. Then it was back onto the M6 and down to the Midlands to visit 282 and my first view of a Falcon in some 35 years. That all important first impression was good. Flaking and faded Isle of Man red was easily peeled off in places to reveal glorious A & D green still below.. The vehicle was essentially complete, with parts, including the gearbox, inside. The P5 Falcons were built at Guildford as a steel chassis/wings/bulkhead/cab unit and then driven to Strachans in West Acton for the aluminium body to be fitted. Years of typical British weather had clearly demonstrated the action of moisture upon steel. The three-section front wings and the front bulkhead obviously required some new steel to replace some fairly extensive sections of ferrous oxide. The main body, on the other hand, was reasonably sound but with evidence, particularly around the lower panels, of spirited manoeuvring and robust reversing! The interior was complete, even down to the bell pushes and light fittings. Although the seats and rear dome had been recovered in Isle of Man Road Services red moquette, they were all in reasonably good condition. Mid March saw our first full committee meeting. We all agreed that to do this restoration properly, we would do everything 110% first time around, even if this meant taking a little longer. With most of the group living in the south, and the vehicle stabled in the Midlands, working parties needed to be carefully organised, and on a regular basis, if we were to achieve our goal but without alienating wives and families. We settled on a basis of a working party every 4 weeks where possible, giving us up to 13 work days per year. Two days later the first working party set off north armed with all manner of jacks, tools and lights. The first job was to jack up the front and have the road wheels and brake drums off. All of the hydraulic hoses and unions would require replacement and the wheel slave cylinders overhauling or replacing. We also found out the reason why the brake pedal went right to the floor without any resistance. There was no master cylinder! A start was made on cleaning and de-greasing the engine bay and front chassis areas prior to repainting with silver Hammerite. The April working party also concentrated on the braking system, with the wheel cylinders eventually being removed and taken away for overhaul. Malcolm found a firm which could supply us with a fair number of items we would need. The wheel slave cylinders were found to be still available "off the shelf" as was a new master cylinder. The front brake shoes were also relined and new flexible hydraulic hoses purchased. May and June work days were still primarily taken up with the braking system repairs. The handbrake system was seized up, so extensive work was needed. Eventually we had a fully working handbrake mechanism again. The radiator grille was detached from the bonnet sections and taken for rebuilding. It was badly corroded, particularly at the base, so would need serious attention as it is the most prominent feature on the vehicle.. The radiator would also need an overhaul and went back to Aldershot with the grille. The already removed offside wing was split into its three sections. Years of water and mud on the nuts and bolts made a disc cutter the only viable tool for this operation whilst preserving the holes to take new fittings later on. 282 still carried the Isle of Man registration, 29 HMN and this needed to be changed back to the original. Fortunately the number had not been re-issued, so we were soon the proud possessors of a new V5 registration document showing "POR 428, Dennis Falcon P5, 2 Axle Rigid Body Bus". John Hillier had been invited to the Dennis Families Day in May, so we took the opportunity to start to publicise 282's return and the start of restoration. Copies of original plans and letters, together with some old and some up-to-date photographs, were mounted up. These created much interest, particularly amongst some of the "older" workers at Dennis's and with John Smith the Managing Director. The display had its first "public" outing at the Guildford running day on 24th May 1998. This time the un-repaired radiator grille came too. We generated a very great deal of interest. A few ex A & D employees stopped to pass on their reminiscences of the "Conker Boxes", which yielded some very useful information. As the summer moved on the radiator went off for overhaul by the firm which had made these radiators for Dennis's. The new wheel cylinders, hydraulic hoses, pipes and brake shoes were fitted, the cleaned up hydraulic reservoir re-fitted and filled and the system bled through. Suddenly we had a completely working braking system all around. Most of the water and vacuum piping beneath the vehicle was either perished or suspect, so a decision had been taken to renew it all. Roger had made the necessary enquiries and got the pipework, and then spent a lot of time lying on his back beneath 282 fitting it. We were given the name of a good local welder and fabricator near to 282's current home. He would have to remove large sections of rotten front bulkhead and weld in new steel. The front chassis cross member was bent inwards at its offside end from some previous collision damage and would need straightening or replacing. As access was needed to the whole front bulkhead, we removed the windscreens and surrounds to prevent damage and so that they could be re-chromed and new rubber fitted.
As autumn turned towards winter, the nearside wing was detached from the vehicle; later to be separated into its three sections and taken home to join its sister for repairs. A start was made on identifying the wiring and marking it up for replacements. We also began the task of checking out the bodywork. Some panels had been previously removed on the Isle of Man and would need re-fitting. New ash supports would be needed in a couple of places but the main bodywork was sound. The rear lower panels and corner panels were removed to assess the framing behind. Most of this frame would have to be replaced and new panels made. Malcolm had been in touch with one of the two previous owners on the Isle of Man, Les Cannon. He still had a stock of parts that he was willing to let us have, so in late November Malcolm set out for a long weekend in the Isle of Man. He returned with a car and trailer full of "goodies". The largest item was a spare gearbox (!) There were also two cylinder heads, pistons, oil seals, bearings, clutch friction linings, brake shoe linings and four new wheel slave cylinders!! There were several other small boxes of parts as well. Many of these various parts still had labels attached marked, "Aldershot & District Traction Co. Ltd, Halimote Road, Aldershot". As 1998 moved into 1999, our first working days of the year were made in company with Tim Stubbs and Ray Le Mesurier-Foster, with family members, working on 488, which had moved in for a while. Our own work continued on the rear frame and panels as well as more underside and chassis cleaning and painting. Bill Wilkinson had been and cut out the offending front bulkhead sections. By subsequent visits he had re-built it and also replaced the front body mudguard sections. We were to keep him busy with a host of other jobs like fabricating a new body mounting bracket and strengthening the onside top damper mounting. Later he would also make us up a new front cross member. The clutch had been taken away for specialist inspection. The pressure plate was found to be fractured. Being a “Dennis” size, a replacement was not available “off the shelf”'. After some exhaustive enquiries failed to produce a new clutch, we had to resort to having one made.
The automat, which had been removed for overhaul and painting, was refitted. All of the missing or damaged panels were replaced, with the exception of the rear onside corner panel which was away for repair. One of the destination box glasses was cracked and was replaced, with a new rubber surround. The missing rear door number box glass was also replaced. Although the destination and “via” blinds were Isle of Man, the number blind was original A & D. Reproduction blinds have been obtained from Tim Stubbs and copy number blinds ordered. Although much scraping, brushing and cleaning had preceded the application of protective paint to the chassis and underside, we had to turn our thoughts to the removal of a lot of other paint. During its life in the Isle of Man, 282 had received a coat of Road Services red. While in “preservation” there, the main offside body panels had been stripped back. These were, by now, quite badly oxidized. With a number of new and repaired panels that needed protection, together with the pre-stripped onside, we had to decide on how we would eventually paint the vehicle. We were all agreed that the only sensible answer was to strip off all of the paint and start again. This also had the advantage of being able to check all of the panels to see if there were any more hidden problems. The disadvantage was that this added 6-10 months to the restoration. A start was made on the roof where the I of M red was flaking off the worst. It appeared that Road Services had only applied one coat of undercoat and one of topcoat, over A & D green. The red came off quite easily. A & D paint, on the other hand is sterner stuff. We estimate that we eventually removed 7 coats of paint from the roof (primer, undercoat, cream, light green, dark green, I of M red undercoat and red top coat). The topcoats were fairly easy, but when we got down to the undercoat and primer it was a case of liberal amounts of paint stripper, wire wool and lots of “elbow grease”. The cream band above the windows, retained by Road Services, proved to be particularly stubborn. It’s only then that you realise how big even a single decker really is! Paint removal, along with other jobs, occupied the next 8 working days. As we moved down the bus, it became evident that I of M Road Services had also had to replace some panels, as they were only covered in 2 coats of red paint. The previously stripped onside panels also had to be rubbed down to remove the oxidization. As the Strachans body saw the light of day again after 44 years, we could see where various dents and knocks had been filled, some in A & D service as there was green both beneath and over some of the filled areas. While the paint stripping operations were going on, various other jobs had to be tackled, A new wiring loom had to be put together to reach from front to rear and as 1999 ended we made a start or rather tried to make a start, on the kingpins. Dennis Falcon kingpins are not readily available from a motor factor, so we knew that here was something else that would have to be specially made. First thought, we had to remove them to be used as a pattern. No amount of persuasion by large hammers moved them, neither did supporting the end of the kingpin and lowering tieback, allowing the whole weight of the bus to rest on one. As the old century closed up it was interesting to reflect on how this year had seen triumph and disappointment, old removed and new added. But still with a long way to go.
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