Bulb grease to the rescue!

After struggling and failing to remove the old light unit that I was struggling with last time, I left it in place and refurbished it. The problem was the bottom screw was seized rock solid and without undoing the paneling inside to whack the back of the screw with a hammer (or indeed a G clamp that suffices for a hammer until I can find my hammer) which was just a lot more work, refurbishing seemed easier.

The first thing done (demonstrated on the spare) was after removing the lens to pop the spring, plastic insulator and wire out of the bulb holder. Then it was a case of rolling up some zinc oxide type sandpaper to fit inside the lamp holder and work it in all directions to sand the rust out of the holder. Needless to say I sanded the little brass end on the connector wire too.

Having now cleaned the old bulb holder it was time to put bulb grease inside and to coat all surfaces included the freshly scraped brass contact. With that slathered on liberally it was a simple case of inserting the bulb.

Before putting the lens back in place it was time for a quick test. With the battery connected and the light flashing, it was a case of tapping the bulb while wiggling it until it got to such a point that no matter how much it was tapped, the light stayed operating.

Having now got an operating light - which I do assure you was much quicker than dismantling the paneling - it was a case of putting the lens back on. Thus, that unexpected two day operation was drawn to a conclusion.

Next will be the operation to replace one or both of the mid bus amber, roof level marker lights. After that it's probably time to do the roof vent. That, I'm worrying about because I don't know how much corrosion there is up there and whether the rivet holes will line up etc. It's probably more worry than actual problem.

Having replaced the vent it will be time to work on the last three roof level marker lights. The four lower side marker lights will be interesting. As I want to put baffling over the unused windows and I'm not sure whether I'll drill into the wires powering the side markers, I'll leave those until I know exactly where the wires run as I might have to re-route those wires. I could be worrying about nothing but it's always best to be sure rather than have an accident.

So, the next thing will be the top side marker lights which I believe might be the cause of some dampness inside the bus.