My local independent operated 2 Arabs dating from the mid 40s. They were still in service until 1972. One had a very rough sounding engine while the other was much smoother running. I’m not sure if that was the result of an upgrade to one or a retro fit of an older engine to the other. Silcox had a very mixed fleet but some talented fitters 😂
A fabulous motor well captured.... I love the now incredibly rare sound of the lower ratio second gear version of the Arab gearbox; more musical and aristocratic sounding than the more 'standard' box... I'm sorry Steve K didn't enjoy it; a good deal of transmission 'jingle' is quite normal on all Arabs... and the engine is only 8.4 litre, so drag - strip performance cannot be expected. I believe the clutch stop on this motor is very sharply set up, making it hard at times to engage a gear at slow speed, but not fully stationary ... It's a matter of knowing NOT to press the clutch fully down unless the stop is actually needed for a quick up hill gear change.... May all sound gobbledegook but trust me; I've driven many of the preserved Arabs in the NW of England and own three of them😉
Very interesting you own three: on my first forays to the NW, the LUT and Chester Guy Arab IV/Vs were favourites (with Morecambe pre-select Regent IIIs). Might I ask which you have?
@@johng.lidstone2236 Hello John... I'll happily tell you once this is confirmed as a private exchange.... I'm unfamiliar with how comments work in RU-vid. Cheers Bob A
@@johng.lidstone2236 hello again John. If you let me know your email I'll happily tell you privately what's in my Fleet.... Maybe even arrange a visit up here and some runs out sometime. Cheers. Bob
@@bobarmour597 I’ll give you my Buses Fleet News email address as I’d rather not put my private email out on RU-vid :) That’s busesfleetnews@gmail.com and then I’ll give you my private address from there if that’s ok? Thank you !
I love to hear that Guy whistle, not so prominent here, but present all the same. There were few Guys in my neck of the woods, just four Bond bodied Arab IVs and two remaining Roe rebodied Arab IIs belonging to Ashton Under Lyne Corporation. The 6LW Arab IVs were always used on the 14 Mossley route for some reason, and some local peak hour services. It was always special to ride one in a sea of boring characterless Leylands.
Poor old bus, transmission in need of overhaul and engine very tired - must have been a tad unpleasant for the passengers on a very tortuous route- all roundabouts and split cycle lanes must have been very stressful for the driver trying to navigate a very heavy steering bus amongst modern impatient traffic - next time I hope the company pick a more enjoyable route for a piece of British Motoring history - too much stress on this journey for me on what was a lovely sunny day
Engine recently overhauled, I seem to remember. Transmission sounds just as it did when I was driving it when jointly owning it many decades ago - and indeed how it sounded with Southdown themselves. What do you think was wrong with the trnsmission? Most of the modern impatient traffic is very kind to these older vehicles. Roads are roads and you will find issues everywhere. Where do you suggest as a "kind" route?
