Help Us Restore DCT 180

Help Us Restore DCT 180

Project 2015-02-08 13:18:06 +1300

How Can You Help?

In the coming months the team at Otago Heritage Bus Society are planning on painting DCT 180 back in it's orignal 1979 livery of peach and custard ... She has already had a total engine overhaul, a fresh COF and endured a long 1500km journey South, to get home back to Dunedin ... but she in badly need of a fresh coat of paint and a few dents patched up and the volunteers are super edgar to get started.

Pledge Me is all or nothing. Your pledge will only go through if we reach our goal of $450, which will cover partial costs of a new paint job, so you don't have to worry about giving funds to a project that only raises half of it's goal.

Feel free to make a pledge of any amount ... Every Penny Counts Towards Our Restorations.

Along with pledges as funding, we are applying to other community funders for funding to replace the perished window seal rubbers, replacement of the entire upholstry and worn internal wall coverings ... these odd jobs will be comleated once funding permits... but in the meantime if we are successful in having you make a Pledge, we will be able to commit to painting the exterior back to it's orignal 1979 livery.

From A Generous Donation...

In October 2014, a generous donation of Dunedin's protype Hess Leyland Leopard (DCT 180) was made to the Otago Heritage Bus Society by Tavener Buses of Pukekohe (South Auckland) for preservation.

A team of volunteers of the Society got together in early November and headed north to reassemble the vehicle. Eight years prior the vehicle suffered a failure of the cooling system and the engine seized. Volunteers had to take the old engine out, strip the useful conponents off and reassemble them on to a  donated secondhand engine block.

The engine replacement took several days of long hours...

A Small Road Hump...

After fitting the newly refurbished engine to the vehicle, the next best thing was to take it for a test drive... 

After spending many hours of the engine we thought we covered every inch of the vehicle, however we came across a little hiccup... the radiator and cooling systems was not functioning to the best of its abilities... So with a gush and a hiss after climbing a small hill outskirts of Pukekohe surrounded by market gardens the vehicle lay dormant whilst steam cleanng the road. DCT 180 was waited for some fresh water to limp it back to Pukekohe Bus Depot so further invesigation can take place...

Further invesigation found that the radiator had ice cream wrappers in the header tank, stopping the water flowing nicely... possibly the orignal reason why the vehicle suffered an engine failure eight years prior.  After many man-hours the radiator was repaired and it was reinstalled and a second outing was done about a few weeks later... this time more successfully.

The Road Ahead...

After successfully gaining a COF and having the newly applied stickers on the whidsheld the vehicle took to the National Highway ... State Highway One... DCT 180 was once again road legal for the mighty journey back to Dunedin after being laid up for eight years.

After leaving Pukekohe the next stop was Wellington, after running smoothly for the entire length of the North Island the vehicle came to rest in Wellington at the Wellington Tramway Museum at Queen Elizabeth Park on the Kapiti Coast.

As the vehicle once worked for Newlands Coach Services in Wellington so it made a quick stop to its old stomping groun. Shortly after it boarded the Interislander destined for the South Island.

Restoration & Future...

Today DCT #180 has arrived Dunedin safely and was pressed into work immediatly for additional community work for the Acts of Kindness Trust on Christmas Day 2014 where it provided additional important services for the Suburban Rumbler as an important link for people wanting to head to the Community Christmas Dinner at the Dunedin Town Hall.

The Otago Heritage Bus Society (inc) is wanting to restore DCT #180 to it's orignal livery to join it's counterpart DCT #194 and provide a matching pair of vehicles for Dunedin's heritage bus collection.

DCT 180 is one of New Zealand's rarest buses that posses some of the most modern design techniques of the time. Making this restoration special to the New Zealand bus preservation community. 

Learn More About DCT #180 - CLICK HERE

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