After sitting in the open and exposed to the coastal weather for over 20 years that wonderful chain reaction of oxidizing oxygen on steel or more commonly known as rust had certainly gone to town. This was going to be one damm hard car to bring back to Ipswich. Luckily both Michael & Paul were prepared and had brought a spare set of matching wheels, as well as tools, jack and a tow rope. Michael had also thrown in a whipper snippier which came in handy in chopping down some of the native vegetation that had engulfed the Royal. In reality we should have brought an oxy set, cut it up and taken the unwanted bits to the dump, however with time and distance against us this was the most practical way.
Once the vegetation was out of the way we proceeded to remove what remained of the front guards and bonnet (which had literately fallen off due to rust ) in order to drag the Royal to higher ground. With the filament of two front wheels we tried to move the old bus from its resting place. However due to the passage of time, rust had done its job on the brake drums and subsequently locked the wheels solid. In the end all four brake drums and brake shoes had to be removed in order to have the wheels move freely. Finally after considerable sweat and effort the rusty Royal could finally be moved. Our only concern now was whether or not Paul’s’ Ute would be able to pull it from it resting place. After several attempts with the Ute (narrowly missing becoming bogged itself in the wet sand and mud) the old Royal shifted. We were in business! After loading the recovery gear and other remaining pieces of the Royal in the back of Paul’s Ute, Eric took up position behind the steering wheel and with me following with a block of wood (to chock the front tyre) we proceeded to move it to an open space in order to load it onto the car trailer.
The old Royal was loaded on to the car trailer without a hitch and after fare welling the owner we set off for home bewildering motorists down the highway as we went. Upon reaching Paul’s it was only then that we discovered how bad a shape the rusty Royal really was. As well as the extensive body rust, the big heavy duty chassis these cars are famous for had also suffered major structural rust. One consolation however was the fact the owner had fitted an overdrive gearbox - but one wonders whether or not it will be any good? One can only hope!
