*Preserved* Great Yarmouth Transport AEC Swift ECW (WEX 685M)

[@gcbus2]

I loved the almost electrical sound of the engine when starting off in first gear :-)

[@jamesfrench7299]

Think you mean second. They're commonly driven off in second gear. I used to catch a Swift every day from school.

[@gcbus2]

@@jamesfrench7299 Yes you're right :-)

[@jamesfrench7299]

7:49 the best bit. Nothing brings out the second gear whine better than an AEC Swift or Reliance 505. Really appreciate the thought you put into the walk around.

[@Busesandcoachesinfocus]

Thank you, appreciate it. Also definitely

[@basiltaylor8910]

Sorry to differ on that score, because the 4-5 speed straight drive SCG semi Auto Box is a standard option on Panthers, Swifts Leopards, Reliances, Regent Mk 5,s and Routemasters. The whine on said box,s second gear is mute almost mogodonic, nothing can compete with the SCG Semi Auto Box fitted to Bristol RE,s. Due to the RE,s unique mounting of the box ahead of the rear axle ,SCG developed for Bristol a 5 speed semi auto with a single speed transfer box, giving an indirect top gear, turning the drive under the box via a quill shaft, a short propshaft to the Lodekka pattern double reduction rear axle. On 4-speed service RE,s of BOC. this combination is very vocal, with said transfer gears second gear howls, third even louder, and top gear screams. Have you driven an early ,60,s Mark One BMC Issigonis Mini Cooper, whine from the transfer gears is unbelievable, well the Bristol RE is exactly the same.

[@jamesfrench7299]

3:28 this bit's sensational also.

[@robertp.wainman4094]

​@@basiltaylor8910Very well written!

[@basiltaylor8910]

Thank you ,I stand by what I say because in ,70,s 80,s Stroud Depot of BOC had a mix of flat and BET screen 680 Leyland RE,s, each and every one a monster, combination of a roaring 680 with screaming SCG gears is to die for!!.

[@johno4521]

Strange because my eyes are telling me to expect Bristol RE sounds!!

[@petersmith4455]

hi there,i used to work at AEC ltd, some clown has put the wrong steering wheel on ! + some of the panel is missing

[@basiltaylor8910]

Very tidy motor, missing the chrome rear hub spinner caps, sounds like a rear engined 505 reliance and shares the same chassis as a Leyland Panther.

[@jamesfrench7299]

Hydrajaws make replicas, although the three BSF nuts with the crowns on top may be a challenge to get a hold of. Also, the little studs that extend out of the hub studs, that hold the hubcaps can break off. I personally don't mind them missing. There are plenty in preservation with the caps.

[@basiltaylor8910]

@@jamesfrench7299 , I do, and know it is your motor, but to me, it is like walking around in an Armani suit without the trousers,. What size are the tapped fixing holes on the rear hub drive flanges?. In view of the studs scarcity, three single bolts re cut to fit the hole on the flange should do it. Sorry to be a Jack Russell with a bone but as a kid in the early 70,s I rode 410, 470, and 505 Reliances to school, two had the front nut guard rings , rear hubcaps and they looked smart, the chrome standing out against the dark red paint.

[@jamesfrench7299]

I encountered AEC Swifts and Reliances with and without rear hubcaps and with and without dress rings on the fronts in various small operator's fleets in Sydney's suburbs. Many fitted hubodometers and due to the hub studs not diametrically opposed like most other makes, some drilled the hubcap to attach the hubbo onto but a couple I know of fitted brackets, one crudely bending steel and jamming one end between two studs, resulting in an orbiting hubodometer, whereas the other did a perfect concentric job despite bolting one side of the bracket to one of the offset studs. Three studs have an extending 5/16 BSF threaded shaft to fit the three hole hubcaps. Adelaide, the last Aussie municipal operator of AECs with around 250 ZF 2 HP 500 full auto Swift 691s delivered 1970 -1973 and a further 66 760 versions in 1977/78 always seemed to have the fronts and rears in place in that many photographs I've viewed over the years.

[@basiltaylor8910]

@@jamesfrench7299, I bet the Sydney Swift 760,s looked tidy, discreet bling makes a good motor even better, Pullham,s of Bourton On The Water, ran Leyland Leopard Plaxtons with a full set of hub caps, and they look serious cool!!! .

[@williamwatson5871]

So did Lothian