The 116 units were one of the classes selected for refurbishment and this began in the mid 1970s with the South Wales sets. This involved a complete renovation of the internal fittings with tungsten lighting being replaced by fluorescent tubes, reupholstered seating and a modified heating system.

The two character train describer boxes which by this time were out of use were removed and a steel plate was flush welded in it’s place, (on unrefurbished cars the plate, where fitted, just covered the redundant box). The earlier four lamp fronted cars had the lower central lamp removed and the top roof dome mounted lamp was disconnected or was fitted with a blanking plate. The exhaust pipes  were each fitted with exhaust silencers as they rose either side of the gangways to supplement the original underframe mounted silencers, this dramatically reduced but thankfully didn’t completely eliminate the typical DMU rasping engine note, which was most noticeable when pulling away from station stops etc, the trade mark of all unrefurbished units.

It’s interesting to note that refurbishment did not include the fitting of gangway connections, this work being undertaken separately. Those allocated to the LMR, SCR, and ER, were treated later, though some refurbished and gangwayed sets were transferred to Tyseley from Cardiff, in the late 70's.

Not all of the class 116 vehicles were refurbished, and a small number remained rail blue well into the 1980s, though by this date most cars whether refurbished or not were at least repainted blue and grey.

The following table shows the refurbishment date for each set, indexed by the DMBS, their depot, set no. and partners at the time, and the livery (WB - refurbished white with blue stripe, BG - Blue/Grey) they appeared in.

DMBS	TS/TC	DMS	Set No. / Depot / Region	Date	Livery
50050	59015	51143	TS 515	3/79	WB
50051	59012	50113	TS 512	3/77	WB
50052	59341	50914	TS 531	4/77	WB
50053	59342	50886	TS 534	6/82	BG
50054	-	50106	TS	5/83	BG
50055		50116	TS	9/83	BG
50056	59018	50098	TS 518	1/81	BG
50057	59001	50097	TS 501	10/77	WB
50058	59006	50112	TS 506	10/78	WB
50059	59004	50104	TS 504	1/80	BG
50060				2/84	BG
50061	59000	50092	TS 500	5/76	WB
50062	59028	50117	TS 528	10/77	WB
50063	LMR, not refurbished by mid-'84
50064	59019	50115	TS 519	8/77	WB
50065	59005	50094	TS 505	6/76	WB
50066
50067	59010	50093	TS 510	7/78	WB
50068	LMR, not refurbished by mid-'84
50069	59007	50099	TS 507	early '79	WB
50070	59026	50095	TS 526	6/77	WB
50071	-		TS	7/83	BG
50072	59009	50105	TS 509	5/76	WB
50073	-	50891	TS 559	1/83	BG
50074	59016	50110	TS 516	11/77	WB
50075	LMR, not refurbished by mid-'84
50076	59003	50118	TS 503	9/77	WB
50077	59013	50120	TS 513	11/76	WB
50078	59022	50109	TS 522	1979	WB
50079	59351	50121	TS 532	4/78	WB
50080	59030	50122	C 300	2/77	WB
50081		50123	TS 552	10/80	BG
50082		50124	TS 550	8/80	BG
50083				11/77	WB
50084	59373	50126	C 301	11/77	WB
50085	withdrawn 1975
50086	59036	50128	C 302	11/77	WB
50087	59037	50129	C 303	8/76	WB
50088	59362	50130	C 304	6/78	WB
50089	59039	50131	C 305	2/77	WB
50090	59344	50132	ScR	8/83	BG
50091	59041	50133	C 306	6/78	WB

Batch Two 50818-70          Batch Three 51128-40          Other TS/TCs and DMSs