The Roach Motel

[Tango]

Regarding the Flu...an old country doctor once told me..."If I give you a shot, you take 3 of these pills a day and you stay in bed, you could be over this in as little as 72 hours. If you do nothing, it could last as long as three days."

Nuff sed.

[roach711]

On Sunday I got Roachie jacked up and had a good look at the front brakes. The driver's side rotor had a bit of a warp but the passenger side had a *visible* wobble. Spec is no more than a 3 thousandth warp but this one was like a quarter inch! They had both been turned a time or two and were pretty thin. Calipers could probably have been reused but I decided to replace them too so now the fronts are both shiny and new with new ceramic pads. Flushed the brake fluid while I was at it but it wasn't that dirty. I hadn't done a brake job since the 70's so I had to do a bit of brushing up on my skills but they're working fine so far. Those rotors are some seriously heavy metal!

I've got torque specs for installing the E-450 Super Duty brakes if anyone's interested.



I also painted out three windows that will be built over in the fullness of time. I found some paint that's specifically made for glass at the craft store (Michaels). It's called PermEnamel and goes on in two steps. First you brush on a clear conditioner then after that dries the paint goes on. Time will tell how well it holds up but they claim it's dishwasher and microwave safe. A two ounce bottle covers one of my windows if I'm really careful. I painted the inside of the glass so I wanted something that at least had a chance of surviving in a hostile environment.

[Stuff]

brakes look good! had to replace all the brakes and stuff on my bus when i had it safetied. well worth the investment!

just wondering what you did with the inside wall stuff and if you're reusing it or what the plan is.

[roach711]

I pulled out all the decorative white fiberglass on the interior sidewalls and roof. Glad I did because otherwise I wouldn't have found several serious window leaks. Kept some of it "just in case" but I don't have any plans to re-use any of it. The ceiling panels are nice, heavy duty fiberglass but they had lots of holes from the stripper pole screws. Originally I thought I might re-use them for shower walls but the holes killed that idea. I like going cheap but I don't want it looking too "country."

The current plan is to finish gluing up the 3/4" insulation on the roof and side walls then carpet the ceiling before installing the base and wall cabinets. Between the upper and lower cabinets I'm thinking of cutting some 1/4" plywood to fit over the side windows with cutouts that cover the window frames but leave the glass part uncovered. I'll staple some thin foam on the plywood then cover it with some sort of fabric and screw the panel to the wall. This should make the window area look way better and still give me access to the windows should I have to fix a leak or something. It will also give some minimal insulation value.

I need to get going on this thing - December 2012 is coming fast.

[roach711]

Had a pretty productive weekend. I borrowed a floor jack and checked the rear brakes. Lots of pad left and the rotors are just within spec and should be good until these pads wear out. When I flushed the rear brake lines a bit of air came out of the right rear brake line. Brakes were OK before but now I've got a high, firm brake pedal. My rear mud flaps were, well, flapping because the attachment points were badly rusted. When I was working on the rear brakes one of them fell off! The other one wasn't in much better shape so I pulled that one, too.

The rear bumper looked like someone had backed it into something solid and one side was pushed in a few inches. After much grunting and swearing I got the bolts loose and, with the help of two jacks and my trusty sledge-O-matic, got the thing back into position. I think that bumper weighs more than my first car! There's something very theraputic about swinging a sledge hammer.

Got most of the wall insulation up, replaced one of the lower body braces, scraped off the rest of the adhesive left from removing the tape stripes, and painted the wheels with a light grey hammered enamel (Is hammered enamel just normal enamel thats had way too much to drink?)

The front end needs an alignment and the coolant is due to be replaced but once that's done I should be just about done with the running gear repairs. And not a second too soon.

Originally I had hoped to have the interior mostly done by Memorial day. Now the question is, Memorial Day of what year?

[roach711]

Wifey says I'm over-thinking this project. She was watching "Swamp People" and one of the guys was living in a school bus with a sofa and a card table for creature comforts.

What was I thinking??

[roach711]

I took Roachie to work today and installed my linoleum floor. My job is basicly to keep an empty building from walking away so I have a BIT of free time during the day. Most of my bus work is done at home 'cause that's where all my tools are, but this job didn't need many tools.

I had laid down tongue and groove flake board over the insulation thinking that the T&G would line up the panels but after I got it laid down there were high spots at the joints that the floor leveler stuff would have a hard time leveling out. I had to get out the belt sander and level out the edges before laying the lino. The linoleum was a freebie from the building where I work. Nice, heavy stuff. Two extra rolls were squirreled away from a previous remodeling and there was enough to do the floor with some left over for the stairwell. The insulation is done except for the wheelchair door which I'll seal up once the cabinets are in. From the outside the painted-out windows look identical to the others.



Of course I ran out of glue but Home Depot is a just short walk away. When coming back I saw a pickup parked right by the sidewalk at an Arby's and in it was this guy with his eyes closed and his head resting on the headrest and what looked like a blonde head bobbing up and down in his lap. I thought to myself "Man, these guys are really bold" but kept on walking past them. When I got even with the truck I saw that the guy was actually asleep and the blonde head was a golden retriever scarfing up his french fries while he slept.

[bansil]

Of course I ran out of glue but Home Depot is a just short walk away. When coming back I saw a pickup parked right by the sidewalk at an Arby's and in it was this guy with his eyes closed and his head resting on the headrest and what looked like a blonde head bobbing up and down in his lap. I thought to myself "Man, these guys are really bold" but kept on walking past them. When I got even with the truck I saw that the guy was actually asleep and the blonde head was a golden retriever scarfing up his french fries while he slept.

I laughed so hard at that...then I realized that you had to take a closer look to see the "rest of the story"...perv
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.
.
.of course...
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(I would of done the same thing )

[Stuff]

LOL hillarious story!!

I wish i had that kinda free time to do work on mine while at work.. sure i have lots of free time but its only in 1-2 minutes intervals... unless its a rainy day.. but then i wouldnt take my bus down the road to work if it was raining!

[roach711]

Having that much free time is only occasionally a good thing. I like being busy and having nothing to do makes for a loooooong day. I do have internet access, though, and that's how I got sucked into this schoolie maddness.

As for the "couple" in the truck, if they're willing to put it out there, I'm willing to watch. Besides, I *had* to walk past them to get back to work.

[chev49]

bus madness is probably more expensive than internet madness... well, except for my wife with all her credit cards...

[roach711]

bus madness is probably more expensive than internet madness... well, except for my wife with all her credit cards...

The internet is dangerous for me because when I have time on my hands I start looking around for a new project, and that always gets expensive. Before getting the bus bug I was building up period accurate WWII rifles from parts and before THAT I built some very light and very expensive bicycles. Retirement may be a pricy proposition for me.

[ol trunt]

Ditto to that! I'm only glad that I'm so deep into my bus project that I don't have time to play on the internet!!!

[roach711]

I finally got the new side door installed. Truth told, I kept putting it off because I was going to have to wreck the old bi-fold doors to get them out. Sort of a "crossing the rubicon" deal where once the old doors are out I'm comitted and there's no going back. If the new door didn't fit I'd be screwed. Fortunately, the new one fit with exactly zero room to spare.

It's an Anderson 4000 series security storm door with laminated glass, a 3 point latch with deadbolt and an exterior key lock. About $310 at Home Depot. I really like the 3-point latch for security while crusing down the road. The new door is about three inches shorter than the old bi-folds so I'll have to build up the steps a bit so the bottom sweep will seal. Originally I planned to use PVC boards to build up the space but the new door sits farther outboard so I'll have to extend the lower step 1 1/2" and the PVC boards don't have the stiffness that plywood does. The plywood will get a generous slathering of fiberglass resin before going in to prevent rot.

[Stuff]

wow thats a big window!! must be stable! mine seems to pull out if the wind is from the drivers side going down the road..