Deckers set to double life
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• A Sheffield Omnibus engineer has rebuilt a double-deck Leyland Atlantean chassis to take single-deck bodywork, in a £50,000 project which he says is attracting interest from other operators.
Tony Williamson, 28-year-old engineering director at the South Yorkshire-based independent, says that "nothing on the original chassis remains the same".
He stripped the original chassis, which had been involved in a front end crash, and lengthened it by over lm to 11m, extending the wheelbase to 6m.
He also redesigned the suspension componentr3r, believing that the EL2000 single-deck body ordered from East Lancashire Coachbuilders would not ride well on the double-deck chassis if it was left unchanged.
Experimental 10-leaf springs, designed by Jonas Woodhead for a softer ride, have been used at both the front and rear in place of conventional 12 or 14-leaf springs.
Other changes include the use of Leyland 680 coach-spec engine fitted with a Wabco air dryer; an 80amp alternator and a refurbished five-speed automatic gearbox modified to give semi-automatic gear changes. A stainless-steel Eminox exhaust is also fitted.
The front axle has been overhauled as part of a programme designed to give the 47-seater another 15 years in service. It has been fitted with Bendix Type 24 brake actuators with a bigger diaphragm and ceramic-coated brake camshafts. The rear axle
carries Clayton heavy-duty spring brakes.
The £12,000 chassis refurbishment also includes an automatic chassis lubrication system and upgraded 11R22x5 tyres.
"We've improved the product by utilising the latest technology and ironing out some of the previous shortcomings," says Williamson, Now the firm he helped to set up 18 months ago is to convert four more of its 56 Atlanteans.