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Old 09-23-2008, 11:43 AM   #1
Hex
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The Land Barge ...

... okay, so maybe that won't be the name. We've considered calling it 'The Flyer' after the Thomas Flyer that won the 1908 New York to Paris race and considered some Erie Canal and Great Lakes vessel names ... We've not settled yet, but here's what we've got to work with ...

She's a 1995 Blue-bird body sitting on a T444E-powered frame with a 5-speed Spicer manual transmission. Diver's seat back is about 26'8" and with the flooring still intact she's about 6'2" inside. Two roof hatches, one side and one rear door.

Here she is in our driveway as of last Friday ...
(BTW: If anyone has hints for how to remove that yellow plexi-glass 'School Bus' sign in the dome, I'd love to know. I want to put some good auto glass up there and want to use the sign as a template ... I guess I need a window removal/installation tutorial!)

Here's what we'd like her to look like with paint ...

I've got about a third of the seats out now from a single morning's work ... (When I upload the pics, I'll post some ...)

So ... I've finally started ... Where do I get my complimentary straight-jacket?

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Old 09-23-2008, 12:18 PM   #2
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Re: The Land Barge ...

congradulations on taking the first step, you are now normal on this site no strait jacket necessary.
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Old 09-23-2008, 12:48 PM   #3
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Re: The Land Barge ...

however, when away from this sight, be wary of those that approach you with their hands behind them.
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Old 09-23-2008, 03:09 PM   #4
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Demonknight
however, when away from this sight, be wary of those that approach you with their hands behind them.


Gotcha ... I knew that paranoia was founded!

Okay ... I now have an afternoon of dismantling ahead of me!


Anybody want some seats? <j/k>
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Old 09-29-2008, 11:40 AM   #5
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Okay ... So despite some bad weather and a whole lot more time taping than I expected, here's where we are so far ...

Painting the roof with Rustoleum and Hy-Tech insulation additive:

By the next day I noticed it being cooler in the bus! But then it was supposed to rain, and we're on a time-schedule, soo ... A wonderful blue-roof tent went up, tinting the pictures a bit blue as well ...

Here she is, taped on the port side, and my getting bored with taping and breaking out the brass spray ...
I like the big brass air-scoop ...

And here's some of the 'Hammered Brown' on the hood and eyebrow ...

And, I would have got a bunch of the green done in what's left of the yellow, but I clonked my head on the door support and ended up spending an hour and a half getting three staples in my skull ... At any rate, she's now drawn blood and is thus a perfectly legitimate project!

Oh ... And I did play with removing some seats ... And re-arranging them to see how they work at spacing since we've got nearly a foot less floor-space than we'd estimated ...
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Old 09-29-2008, 08:00 PM   #6
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Re: The Land Barge ...

what? no pictures of the staples?
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Old 09-29-2008, 09:49 PM   #7
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Re: The Land Barge ...

the staples would look good with the roof rated rubber boots and yes blood is a true cristening
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Old 09-30-2008, 11:17 PM   #8
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Re: The Land Barge ...

My first thought to timbuk's post was that first blood wasn't a necessary sacrifice to a bus, but then I remembered that I sliced my hand open moments after I paid for my bus and dripped blood all over the danged thing. I seem to do something similar on a regular basis.
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Old 10-01-2008, 07:50 AM   #9
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Every one of my projects, from woodworking to plumbing to the automotive all seem to get some of my blood in there, so it just seemed appropriate.

Pics of the staples (and some more of the bus) will be up as soon as I get them uploaded ...
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Old 10-01-2008, 03:25 PM   #10
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Okay ... So here are the staples. I know it's hard to see the stainless steel (or whatever they're made of) in the grey, but they're there ...



Here's what the 'Hammered Brown' and 'Almond' looked like after the wind took the blue roof down ...

The brown really looks like it has a lot of texture in the sun ...

And here's a night-shot after I got the first coat of green on. Seems flash only goes so far when taking pictures of buses ...


Tonight I might get more green on, or I may just move to seat removal. I think the paint I've got on complies with the NYS 'can't be national school bus yellow' registration requirement.
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Old 10-01-2008, 11:02 PM   #11
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Re: The Land Barge ...

She's looking real nice. I love the choice of colors (not the staples, the bus) .
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Old 10-08-2008, 11:19 AM   #12
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Okay ... I've been doing some work on the Barge, but it's slow going ...

It took me two days or so to tape it up and with the 'plasticity' of the green Rustoleum, I'm having to be really careful taking the tape down, so I'm only about half done with that ...

But, here's what the front look like with the mirrors all painted up and re-attached ...

I've got some pics with the 'brass' rub-rails un-taped, but it was so dark by then that they didn't really come out.

I'll try to get some more tonight before it rains. (I want to get all the a paper off the windows before it becomes pulp!)

And, I got all the seats broken loose. I'm still storing them in the bus for now, as we have some scavengers around who'll probably be more than happy to take the scrap for sale.

BTW - Anyone have a really simple and fast way to get those seat backs to come off the frames? Blue Bird seems to have used four million staples on just the base of the one I poked at ...
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Old 10-13-2008, 10:35 AM   #13
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Okay, update time!

I had once again called the DMV answer line/call center in order to clarify what sort of insurance coverage to get. Had a nice guy who walked me through filling out/altering the form to set up for a H/WH (House on Wheels). I had to list that the bus had been painted, seats removed, and 'school bus' markings and lights had been removed.

With the bus painted and seats out (and pictures taken and developed to show it just in case - thanks to whoever on the board suggested it someplace!), I was off to the DMV. 30 minutes and two supervisors later, I had nice, plain plates for a H/WH.

The first supervisor said that it had to be registered as a bus because the original titles had 'bus' on them. But, the computers wouldn't let the transaction go through because my passenger seating (currently 0) made it not 'qualify' for bus plates. Seems you have to have seating for 15 in NY to get bus plates. So the second (and apparently more important) supervisor came in and said basically what the guy on the phone had - with the exception of having me re-write the alterations to the bus in yet another place on the form.

I -am- however in violation, she warned me, because the weight of the bus is now -less- than what's stated on the title, although I can fix this by running the bus down to the scales and getting a reading, then returning to the DMV for an amendment. That said, she handed me the plates!

Anyhow, here's what I've got so far. I'll be ripping up the floor and covering the light holes on the top as my next projects ...




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Old 10-13-2008, 11:19 AM   #14
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Congrats on the tags and kudos on the paint! She looks VERY nice!
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Old 10-13-2008, 10:06 PM   #15
Hex
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Thanks ...

The paint needs a bunch of touching up (if you look close), but we're happy.

And, once I got going with the seats, it went pretty quick. I was able to get the rail-side bolts off with a rachet, but the aisle-side ones took a grinder.

Now to pull up the flooring and those heating lines ...
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Old 11-05-2008, 05:41 AM   #16
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Re: The Land Barge ...

I noticed the gold/brass paint right off in the pictures of your rig. Where did you find the gold paint and is it an outdoor paint? I would sure like to paint my Vanderbus gold with black rub rails. Nice looking bus and looks like a good paint job.

Will
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Old 11-05-2008, 04:10 PM   #17
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Re: The Land Barge ...

It's actually Rustoleum brass spray-paint. It says it's not recommended for outdoor use, and since painting, it has lost some of the shine, but for brass it just looks like it has a mild patina to it.

I don't know that I'd want to do a whole bus in spray-bombs, but it might work out, and they do make a 'gold' ...

I didn't have a lot of time to research, since we had to get it registered ASAP due to local regs. But I expect that a body/paint shop should be able to point you to a real quantity of a metallic paint ...


And thanks! I'm planning on touching up the paint in the spring, so if you get a good lead on metallics (like brass ... ) I'd love to know!
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Old 11-05-2008, 04:31 PM   #18
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Re: The Land Barge ...

That paint job is great once you realize why it is painted that way.

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Old 11-06-2008, 09:06 AM   #19
Hex
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Re: The Land Barge ...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve
That paint job is great once you realize why it is painted that way.

And that's just what we were aiming for ... (though those lights cost about $2500 to get reproductions! )

And it was cool ... Using the HyTech ceramic additives to the cream paint -really- jave it a sort of canvas texture ...


BTW: I've started to rip up the floor and found a fun hole at the seam between the rear starboard wheelwell and the floor panel behind it. Wire-wheel cleaned it up nicely, and I think I'll try out my welding skills to patch it from the inside, then, I'll get to cleaning up the underside and painting ...
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Old 11-06-2008, 10:05 PM   #20
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Re: The Land Barge ...


I just stumbled in here.... Very nice paint job! May I suggest painting the top of the cowl brown also, to eliminate that little hickup in the lines. In other words, make the hood look as long as possible.

I cannot see it well enough, but the destination sign window may be secured with a rubber molding that has a removable center strip. You would pull the center "rope" out, and then the rest of the molding would bend enough to get the glass out. However, after 13 years, the rubber may be too stiff to work with. I expect the glass shop would have a mile or two of it. Wear goggles when working with glass.

And congrats on finding a stick shift!
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