Structural panels stimulate DIY bodybuilding by Alan Bunting
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3LASS-RENF0RCED plastics is a 'amiliar material to the bodybuilding itters employed by the Millbay fransport Company subsidiary of the ;pillers Group in its body shop at (atton, Somerset. When Millbay )egan building its own bakery van )(Ales five years ago, the standard lesign for all but the smallest units was >ased on grp sidewalls, front bulkhead ind domed roof, bonded to orthodox illoy framing and roofsticks.
Low cost and ease of repair were the lain benefits gained from the use of grp preference to metal sheets. Wastage f material was minimal and laid-up anels could he cured in six hours or so.
Demand for bakery vans within the .pillers-French group, which now mbraces the former CWS and J. Lyons aking interests, has risen in the last ear or so to the point where Yatton's bodybuilding capacity — something like 450 bodies a year — was fully stretched.
With the addition of a new 580sqm (6,000 sq ft) mechanical repair workshop, due to he commissioned at Yatton this autumn. Millbay will have more floorspace available for bodybuilding – another 485sqm (5,000sq ft) over and above the 1,460sqm (15,000sqft) now occupied. It is planned to introduce a semi-flowline layout with van bodies being assembled on castored trestles which can be rolled out of the shop when completed, without chassis — which in any case may not be ready — having to manoeuvre down the gangways.
Durability
With the step-up in body throughput Millbay looked at various means of streamlining the manufacturing
process. At the same time it was thought desirable to look for ways of improving durability. Although the standard metal-framed grp bodies are simple to repair, the amount of damage caused by accidental side shunts is often substantial because of the relatively low impact strength of a simple grp lamina: lion only 3mm (Vs in) thick.
For reasons of hygiene and ease of cleaning as well as simplicity of repair, Millbay favoured the use of grp panelling. And when some bodies built from Glasonit grp-faced plywood panels were "inherited" into the fleet through the Spillers-Co-op-Lyons merger, their impressive record of strength and durability prompted an appraisal of the material for Millbay's bodybuilding enterprise.
There is no initial cost advantage in using the new material. In fact, comparison of commercial bodybuilders
price lists suggests a cost penalty over a conventional ail-metal or composite construction of 15 per cent or so.
But Millbay takes a longer-term view. According to Mr Dennis Melling, south-west area engineer of Spillers Transport Services Ltd (Millbay's parent company), the Glasonit-panelled bodiesnow being produced at Yatton ought to enjoy a service life of around 15 years compared with the 10 to 12-yearlife expectancy of the grp-skinned metal-framed bodies.
Frequency and cost of repairs are expected to be much reduced, however, so that in total-cost terms, the benefits should prove proportionately higher than life alone would suggest. Mr Melling cites a recent accident with one of Millbay's grp-faced plywood bodies, in which the cab was written off and the chassis seriously twisted. But the body suffered only a gash the size of a man's hand in the front bulkhead.
Economy
Panels are delivered direct from the manufacturer, Technical Panel Industries Ltd, ready cut to size. To make the operation economic Millbay orders, where possible, in sets of 10 or more, so that wastage from TPI's standard 122m '(40 ft) by 2.43m .(8 ft) panels is minimized.
Variations in body size through the fleet are being limited as far as possible in order to rationalize the panel section sizes ordered from TPI. A diamond or tungsten-tipped saw is needed to cut the panels easily — a factor which deters Millbay from cutting its own sections, apart from detailed areas like the angled bottom edges on the fixed rear end sections of the 4.2m (l4ft) wholesale delivery van bodies being produced to go on 3.7m (12ft I in) wheelbase Leyland 550F0 chassis.
Over 40 of the FG-tailored bodies have now been built at Yatton using the new form of construction. They are assembled side by side .(on fixed trestles or supports at the present time) with the metal-framed units. The method of assembly is surprisingly similar with the two types, the main panels being offered up as completed sub-assemblies in both cases — one type from the adjacent glass-fibre moulding shop, and the other from TPI, the outside material.
More recently the company has started building larger Glasonitpanelled boxvan bodies for SpillersFrench cake division's "confectionery' .(that is cakes, scones, etc) trunking service. Built on to Leyland Boxer 14.5tonne (14.25-ton) chassis with at extended 5.75m ‘(18 ft 10 in) wheelbase the bodies are each, 7.6 m (25 ft) long The 'one-piece sides and front-end an thicker, and therefore tougher, thar those on the lighter FGs. Total thick ness of the panel wall is 14.5 rather thal 11.5 mm.