Most of our efforts since Christmas have concentrated on preparing the radiator compartment for the return of the radiators now they have been repaired. It's been all hands on deck to clean up years of accumulated debris, attend to lots of corrosion, especially around the blower duct on the floor and the electrical trunking that runs either side just under the rad shutters. New steel has been cut for the blower duct, new stainless steel lids have been fabricated and fitted to the trunking, and the framework that supports the flooring alongside the rads has been repaired. Much cleaning of surfaces has also been done, and most of the compartment is now in red oxide. As well as Dave, Ian, Pete, Mark and myself, we've also had new recruits who joined us last year helping; Mick Wilson, Carl Looker and his daughter Sofy, so thanks everyone!
The radiator shutters have been freed-off where they were stuck, and all the fins correctly aligned, and they all work smoothly. Both shutter actuators have been removed from the bulkhead and one has been stripped and freed off. New linkages that go under the floors to the shutters have been made to replace those that were badly worn and corroded. New stainless steel lids have been fabricated and fitted to the cable trunking that goes under the shutters, as the originals were very badly corroded. Repairs to the supporting framework that holds up the flooring alongside the rads has also been done. The comparison between the rad room in December and now really shows how busy we've been!
Another new recruit Andy Blofield very kindly collected the repaired heat exchanger a couple weeks ago, and it has now been refitted to the power unit.
