Friends of King Alfred Buses |
The
704 story
The re-building of FoKAB's VAL
Amended and more in service pictures of 703 added 21/07/02
The 704 Story Index |
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Amended 21/07/02 |
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The future 704's original body broken up. King Alfred Bus Running Day Shakedown Weekend 704 passes her MOT First Pictures! 704 nearly passed MOT today The final push 704 breaks cover Members see first pictures of 704 She may be painted but there is much to do 704 painted & MOT booked Ready for painting OOC 704 model superb Fixtures and Fittings. Near perfect match found for 704 moquette. Restoration still goes on A sad decision. Seats to H&D Trim. Seat sorting Saturday. 704's window rubber. Progress on 704. 704 body swap accomplished. 704 body swap halfway there. Up in the Air Rear name sign for 704. 703 & 704 in service more added 21/07/02! See also 2000 news pages |
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| With any restoration project, the
work never finishes. One major decision is the fitting of
the luggage racks and the forced air vents. The supports
were ground off when the donor body was converted to a
furniture showroom. We have decided to run her for a
while without them and make a decision later. So far there has been little comment about their absence! Whatever the future holds, FoKAB has a superb coach, thanks to one member's determination. Since the King Alfred Bus Running Day at the beginning of 2002, 704 has been out and about at various events. See FoKAB News for reports and pictures of these and future events |
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| The first public appearance of 704
was at the King Alfred Bus Running Day. It was rostered
for 2 trips on the Associated Motorways services to
Sutton Scotney and 5 King Alfred coach tours. At Sutton Scotney, she met up with PD2 494 on service 11, our last restoration project, and Wilts & Dorset RE 846 on service 68. The 40 minute tours travelled along the Itchen valley through the villages of Kings Worthy, Itchen Abbas and Itchen Stoke. The return to Winchester was along the undulating A31, Morn Hill, from where the first Chisnell bus services started in WW1 and down Magdalen Hill with views across the rooftops of Winchester. Over 300 passengers had the pleasure of riding on 704 during the day. 01/01/02 |
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Just to prove everything worked OK, 704 was taken out for the weekend to Stonehenge on the Saturday and Brighton on the Sunday. Saturday was special as John Halford joined us, the last driver of the last vehicle in service with KAMS, which was of course 704. Also in our midst was Stephen Morris, Managing Editor of the Bus & Coach Preservation magazine. With many of the members who had contributed money and time to the project on board, 704 completed a tour to Salisbury and Stonehenge. Sunday morning was grey and cold and so was the coach! After a short stop in the Broadway for the Chairman to carry out a blessing of the coach, the intrepid and cold party made steady progress towards Brighton. A diversion was made into Pagham to pick up Karon's parents. After a break at Arundel, a cold and bleak Brighton was reached at lunchtime. All the passengers had to endure the biting east wind along the seafront to reach the warmth of the varied facilities for lunch. |
Pictures © Stuart Neale & John Newton |
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| A further stop was made at Arundel
and the coach behaved herself until we reached Fontwell
Park. Having negotiated the roundabout and changing up a
gear, the engine died on Chris who was driving.
Fortuitously he was able to drift the coach into the
handy lay-by. Now you have seen the adverts by Adams
Tingle for breakdown cover? Well Jim had luckily paid his
£80 pounds only a few weeks before. After convincing the
controller that we were in fact where we said we were, we
had a short wait until the breakdown wagon arrived. The mechanic inspired confidence when his first question was "Is it a Bedford or a Leyland (engine)?" It transpired the company used to own Bedfords when they were a coach company - Everyman. As fuel starvation was diagnosed, the fuel lines were checked and one or two joints could be slightly tightened. The fuel system was bled and after a few turns of the starter, the engine burst back into life. We were on our way home within the hour. 15 &16/12/01 |
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| The following week, 704 stayed at FoKAB HQ for the heaters to be plumbed in! Other jobs were fitting a new ignition switch, a battery isolator and the wheel trims. Even the clock works now after a bit of TLC. | |||||
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| 704 failed her re-test on
Wednesday, again on the second axle brakes. As soon as we
back at base the wheels were off and the shoes removed.
Local firm Kimber's relined the four brake shoes on the
Thursday morning and Bob Smith had them back on the coach
in the afternoon. First Southampton then dropped a
bombshell - they were unable to arrange a re-test as
their rolling road had broken down again (electric motor
burnt out). This is where your friends in the preservation movement come to the rescue. After a number calls, Jim came up with the name of ATMOS in Merrow, Guildford who carry out class V MOT tests. Another phone call and they were able to offer two times today! Jim O'Hara quickly booked in 704 for 1430 in the afternoon. The rest of Thursday afternoon was spent driving round FoKAB HQ testing the brakes. We left shortly after noon. After a short stop in the Broadway to take the first pictures for nearly 30 years of a KAMS VAL there and to pick up the chairman, we headed for Guildford. Arrival was in good time for our appointment after a comfortable and uneventful drive along the A31. However, the tester took one look at 704 and pronounced her too big for his ramps! After some gentle persuasion he agreed to try her out. With skilful driving by Bob, she fitted snugly and the test went ahead. After finding two advisories - a slight air leak and condition of kingpin boots - we all held our breath as 704 was manoeuvred onto the rolling road for the break test. We need not of worried. The tester proclaimed her fit for the road. In fact the second axle readings showed that the off side instead was a bit low now but within the allowed tolerances. Smiles all round, shaking of hands and broad grins on all our faces. Celebrations are on hold but our mobile phone bills will be a little steep next time as we rang round informing everyone of the fantastic news - including Adrian in Brugge! 29 & 30/11/01 Afternote - 704 performed the turn in the Broadway with ease. |
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We are now able to publish the first pictures of ex-KAMS Bedford VAL14, CCG 704C. |
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27 & 28/11/01 |
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| Unfortunately 704 failed on one
item and what might have been two advisories. Our
engineer has already worked on 704 and the result is : - Loose exhaust pipe bracket - tightened. Leak from power steering oil pipe - it already showed signs of earlier repair so pipe removed from remains of 547 chassis which is in far better condition. 2nd axle off side brake 46% efficient so seriously out of balance - Brake drum removed and a film of oil or similar contaminant found inside and on bottom shoe. Both cleaned. Shoes will have to be replaced both sides if problem persists but our engineer is confident he has solved the problem. When considering that it is 15 years since that chassis was last MOT'ed, this really is still quite a success. 326 is also being tested this week and it is hoped that 704's re-test can be carried out at the same time. 27/11/01 |
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| The last few days have been
spent fitting those last little, and some big, bits. The centre aisle red
linoleum and trim strips and the obligatory doormat
complete the flooring. 4 bonnet clips now hold down the engine cover - yet to be trimmed but promised before Christmas. The authentic period radio works but one cannot hear the light or home programmes of the era. The back row of seats arrived and was fitted completing a superb period look. The moquette is in fact a modern product produced by Holdsworth but contemporary to the period. Someone disappeared into the cavernous interior of the boot to complete its lining. Further general cleaning has taken place and 704 is all but ready for her MOT in the next few days. The actual time and date is only known by a few, but the project leader and our engineer have every confidence she should pass first time. However, it will be the first time she will have been thoroughly examined by an independent tester. FoKAB have decided to gain a class V initially. The news, good or bad will be posted here as soon as the test result is known. The first public appearance of 704 will be at the King Alfred Running Day on 1st January 2002 when enthusiasts will have the opportunity to ride on her. Before then you might just see her out and about on driver type training and a press preview out and around Winchester. 24/11/01 |
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| Today, Monday, 19th
November, our engineer, Bob Smith, took 704 for its first
test run as a nearly complete coach. All the seats retrimmed by Hants & Dorset Trim have been fitted except the back row. One more seat clip was required to secure a seat (we turned yet again to our spares department - the Shobden Leopard!). All the interior trim had been completed around the skylights; the bell push strips fitted and temporary blanking panels fitted to forced-air intakes. The luggage racks will be fitted in the new year, as they require major refurbishment at an estimated cost of £1500. (That's where the money raised from enthusiasts buying 300 running day timetables could be going…).' Bob declared himself essentially happy with her. 'Synchro' was a bit sticky but commensurate with a long period of inactivity. Batteries were flat initially but took a charge and then fired her up 3 times later. Tick-over was adjusted down and improved gear selection at rest. The throttle return spring needs adjustment but this will be done when final check over is made before the MOT. She braked in a
straight line though and felt "tight", and took
the speed humps comfortably. One lucky member (me) was on
the cushions and declared himself comfortable, and in an
environment A few electrical problems surfaced - door mechanism and indicators - that were tracked down to a trapped wire behind a panel. 19/11/01 |
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| At the FoKAB meeting tonight,
members saw the first pictures of 704, now resplendent in
Brunswick Green and Eau-de-nil. Jim O'Hara, the project leader, gave an illustrated presentation on the project from the time when Melvin Lovelock heard the words "I know where there is a KAMS coach", through the arrival of the donor body, the body swap, up to today. Pictures and story of the body swap appeared in Bus & Coach Preservation. On display was one of the first seats completed by Hants & Dorset Trim. Over £2000 has been raised by members' donations towards the re-trimming, including a single anonymous donation of £500 for 10 seats. Further donations are still welcome. Pictures of buses and coaches from the 1960's in and around Winchester, taken by Matthew Saunders, completed a very enjoyable meeting. 03/11/01 |
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| Work done during the past week has
included fitting the windscreen wipers and washers,
replacing the wheel arches and painting black and
repainting the heater boxes (yet to be plumbed in). In the chassis department, the "U" bolts have been tightened all round; our engineer, Bob Smith, has lubricated all underneath and a further coat of 'silvering' applied. The Saturday gang completed the fitting of the interior lights. Paraphrasing the words from the project leader's weekly email of instructions for the gang, the glass was attacked with glass cleaner and elbow grease, having removed the serious crud off them last week, and the floor cleaned once again. The 2 strips of lino under the seating area are gradually giving up years of engrained grime. New gangway lino has yet to be fitted. Following discussions it has been agreed that we will not fix the luggage racks in her this side of the King Alfred Bus Running Day on 1st January 2002. This is a major job as the original fixings were ground off when the donor body was converted to take a furniture display. H&DT has already supplied blanking panels, covered with the dark red roof lining, for the ceiling where the forced air blowers will be eventually fitted. She will look just fine without the racks. We will fit them in the new year when we have less pressure. 03/11/01 |
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| During the past week 704 has
been primed and painted with "two pack" into
the coach livery of Eau-de-nil and Brunswick Green. Hants& Dorset Trim have fitted the dark red roof lining. This enabled the last of the refurbished window trim to be fitted. H&DT has also commenced trimming the seats with a planned finishing date of 16 November. Our engineer, Bob Smith, has booked 704's MOT for the end of November. |
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One panic we had this
week was the lack of seat legs. A set of pictures was
taken to identify the shape and part number. These were
faxed to Martin Parry (where we got the Shobden Coach)
who was able to supply a complete set. 20/10/01 |
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| 704 can now move under her own
steam. One fault found was that the clutch would not
release when reverse was selected. The engine had to be
switched off to move into neutral before attempting to
select a forward gear. A new clutch has been fitted. The blind winding mechanism has been restored and a genuine blind fitted. The rear glass with correct numberplate and "KING ALFRED" banner fitted on the rear. Interior cleared of surplus materials. Front grille fitted and painted with twin 7" lights. All brightwork and windows masked off ready for painting. 13/10/01 |
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| At the FoKAB AGM, members had the
first sight of the superb model of the VAL that OOC has
produced - even down to the squat statue on the boot lid!
Members there could not resist the temptation to buy this
latest model of a KAMS coach. As 704 was not ready for her public launch along with the model at the Bedford Gathering the previous weekend, so we missed a bit of publicity for FoKAB. However, steady progress is being made with the interior fittings. 01/09/01 |
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| The electrician has nearly
completed the re-wiring of the exterior lights, wiper
motors etc. The interior lights all work and when
switched on, they already help create the atmosphere of a
coach from the 1960s. The replacement Formica has been fitted to the dash panel, the passenger door, driver's door and partway along the offside below the windows. While lighter in colour than the original, it is in keeping of the era. With many of the window cappings renovated, the interior is certainly starting to come together. They're even tins of paint in the above view! 04/08/01 |
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| While the seat frames have
gone to Hants & Dorset Trim, difficulties arose in
finding enough 'SCT' * pattern moquette. Jim O'Hara has
now sourced a modern moquette that is almost perfect
match to the original KAMS pattern moquette. He has
ordered it through Hants and Dorset Trim but
unfortunately it cannot be delivered to H&D Trim
until late August. This means that the weekend to the Bedford Gathering has now been cancelled and 704 will not appear at the Warminster & West Wilts Running Day (326 has now also been withdrawn from both events.) It now seems fairly certain that 704 will get its first public outing on running day but as they say watch this space! Thanks to every FoKAB member who contributed to the seat appeal, which amounts to £1500 so far (Mid July). Contributions are still most welcome however big or small. (*Southampton City Transport) 12/07/01 |
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| It was amazing that the following
Monday morning after the meeting an electrician was found
who not only could spend some time on 704's wiring but
also had a very sound knowledge of her wiring system. To
date he has sorted out most of the exterior lighting and
other ancillaries such as the wiper motor. Plywood has been shaped for the interior panelling and is waiting for the Formica to arrive. The fixings for the four skylight openers are with Fareham Electro Plating are expected to be ready in the coming week. With many FoKAB members away on holiday during the next few weeks, restoration will certainly slow down. 22/06/01 |
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| At the Members' meeting on
Saturday, 2nd June, the 704
Project Leader, Jim O'Hara made the following sad
announcement. With tremendous regret it has been decided that the planned completion of the Project to restore our VAL Coach has had to be put back for a while. This will affect planned events: - The Bedford Gathering weekend Warminster and West Wilts Running Day. The IOW tour planned in mid October will not be formally committed to, however we still hope to be able to make this. The Leyland PD2 is still rostered to attend this event. I should like to assure you all that the Project is still progressing very well.
There is however a long list of outstanding work, and as some of it is professional we are in the hands of others, and therein lies the problem. A simple task like that of securing an electrician to finish off the exterior wiring and to connect up the front end loom is proving nigh on impossible as they are all heavily booked and don’t want extra work. I have decided, reluctantly, that it would be detrimental to the end result to push the Agenda too much now. We will get the job done as soon as we can, but without compromise. I feel sure you’ll all agree that this is the best decision in the end. I will try to get CORGI to do their photo-shoot here rather than the Bedford Gathering, for the joint launch. When she is complete, and has passed her MOT, we will run her around locally to ensure all is safe and tight, at least then she will be under Bob’s safe umbrella. A long trip to East Anglia and straight into Public service was always a testing objective. Also, for those of us who have never driven a VAL before, I am reliably informed they are very different. It will be sensible then to hold driver type testing sessions for those that wish to drive her. We will try for members launch on the IOW event or if not that then on the 5-year anniversary of owning 704 in December. Public launch will be Running Day, which is probably as it should be. No decision has been finally made on whether our Bedford SB3 coach, 326, will still go on its own to the Bedford Gathering on the August Bank Holiday weekend. 02/06/01 |
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Seats to H&D trim |
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595
& 419 outside H&D Trim |
Seats
stacked ready for re-trimming. |
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| This Saturday we were able to
deliver the seats to Hants & Dorset Trim in
Southampton. While this firm has a friendly working
relationship with Hants & Dorset Paint at Eastleigh,
they are no way connected except they were born out of
the break-up of the National Bus Company. The working party soon had the seats piled up inside but space constraints at H&D Trim meant that the luggage racks would have to wait for another day and were returned to FoKAB HQ. 26/05/01 |
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New tyre and
freshly painted wheel fitted to 704. |
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Seat sorting Saturday |
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| On Saturday morning, 9 members met
at FoKAB HQ to load Panther 419 with a set seats for 704
for their transportation to Hants & Dorset Trim,
Southampton, to be re-trimmed. Renown 595 already has the
luggage racks stowed aboard for the same trip next
Saturday (26/05/01). The opportunity was also taken to move the part set of Plaxton 'stripy' recliners, complete with seat belts, from the Metro-Scania, 756, into the remains of the Shobden Coach. These seats are for sale. Contact FoKAB@lineone.net for further details. See fokabnews "Seat movers treat" which brought so many members to help! 19/05/01 |
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| The Panorama body on 704 has
unusual window rubber that is triangular in profile with
a notch for the glass. A half-day was spent hunting
non-existent rubber that someone was sure had come down
with donor body. To locate sufficient sound rubber, a whole window was removed from the Shobden coach and then from the remains of the original 704. Update on 704 - re-panelling complete. New tyres being fitted to renovated wheels, all 8 of them! 13/05/01 |
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| 704 is making good progress. Most
of the new "U" bolts has made and fitted to
secure the body to the chassis. Unlike 547 this time they
were almost all a different size and plane so had to be
made up as individual units. A start will be made shortly
on re-panelling as soon as the back end and boot area has
had remedial work carried out. Much of the body exterior
is hoped to be back on by end of April. An outside
electrician will complete the main loom at the front
leaving Pete Staples, FoKAB's own, to finish interior
wiring and lighting plus radio speakers. Bob Smith has been down several times and fitted radiator, connected throttle, checked steering gear etc. 704 can now fire up by hot wiring, so she can be moved about a bit. Heater hoses have been reclaimed ex-704 body and refitting to 704 is in progress. Bob has also found a "new" steering wheel complete with central Bedford cap, and is on the search for tyres. The seats were going shortly to be sent to Hants & Dorset Trim but we believe that they have gained part of the Routemaster refurbishing for Transport for London. While it is hoped they can do the work before the end of July, other firms are being investigated. |
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| 31/03/01 |
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| A very early start was made on
Saturday morning. Soon after 6.00am the donor body was
placed on the power jacks. Gradually it rose away from
the chassis with no sign of flexing. FoKAB had certainly
found a gem. By 7.00am the chassis was rolled away and
the donor body was ready to accept 704's chassis. Chassis 547 was hooked up to Bob Smith's trusty recovery truck and manoeuvred round to where that of 704 had rested for the past week. Bob had taken the intervening time to 'silver' the bare parts of the chassis that could not be reached while the body was attached. By 8.30am, the chassis of 704 was ready for the final push. Brute strength was used to position it under the body. 33 minutes later the power jacks had been lowered and 704 is a complete coach again, although gravity is still the only attaching fixture. Everyone just stood back and admired their efforts. 704 was pushed back into its temporary home again. Our efforts now turned to disposing of 547's chassis. Bob hooked up his tow truck to it by two hoists. The towing A-frame ring was attached to the toe hook and the legs to the rear of the chassis. This provided the stability and would stop the chassis swinging once raised. The rear wheels were removed to reduce the suspended weight. The tow back to FoKAB HQ started at 1150am with your reporter following in his car with orange flashing beacon, required to follow a slow moving vehicle. On arrival the redundant chassis was lowered into possibly its last resting-place, between a container and a Bristol L bus. Despite the doubters it has finally happened - FoKAB has a complete VAL. Now all that has to be done is bolting body to chassis, completing rewire, fixing new lower panels, adding trim strips many from 704, collecting together a complete set of seats (we still have a few from what was left in 704) for re-trimming, completing interior trim… Everyone is still confident that 704 will be at the Bedford Gathering 2001 on August Bank Holiday Weekend along with our other Bedford coach 326. See you there? (Sorry, no suitable pictures this time - we were all too busy!) See Bus & Coach Preservation for pictures. |
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| 17/03/01 |
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704 body swap half-way there |
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| The chassis and the remains of its
original body as a complete vehicle were towed away from
FoKAB HQ for the last time at 0635 on Saturday, 10 March. On joining 547, much preparation work had to be done to 704 to release the body from the chassis. The many U-bolts finally gave way to allow the body to sit free on the chassis. Some of the lower panels, wiring and ancillaries were removed, with the final part being the steering wheel. Power jacks were carefully sited at strategic points under the body so it would not bend in the middle. Much of its weight was at the front as nearly two thirds of the body structure had been removed when 704 was converted to a car transporter. It was a sight to behold as the body gracefully parted from its chassis for the first time in 35 years. Time was against us to successfully complete the swap so the remains of the body for final dismantling were returned to FoKAB HQ. The aim is to finish the swap next weekend but the break does give us some time to carry out some more renovation work on the chassis. During our labours, Stephen Morris visited to take pictures of the lift and gather some background information for the report he is writing for Bus & Coach Preservation (incorporating Preserved Bus) |
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| 10 & 11/03/01 | ||
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| The body of 547is now only
attached to the chassis 'by gravity'. It is now up in the
air on jacks and hopefully early in March it will be
parted from the chassis and fixed to 704. A comment from Pete Staples: -"If you haven't seen 704 then you will be surprised. The chassis looks new after refurbishment by Bob Smith and the "new" body is superb and has very minor clues to show its age. This will be a lovely vehicle to have on Running Day and can I book a seat on it now?" (Webmaster: - No - you are required drive a bus that day!) |
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| 17/02/01 |
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The sign-writer had
returned the rear name sign, and what a superb job he had
made of it.
©Pete Staples |
| 12/01/01 |
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© FoKAB 2001 - 2004. Minore amendments to links19/05/04
