making myself crazy, reading and searching

[milkmania]

I'm not a patient type person, once I have a plan in my head....

scouring internet for bus sales, reading many threads here at skoolie.net, and other places.

Even been done to the bus pen with a tape measure and note pad.
(I substitute teach for a local Technology Center and can crawl all over their buses.) and use their automotive shop, welding shop, electrical trades and their HVAC shop (perks )

A few weeks ago I did two tub/shower installs for a friend that owns several rental homes, so I learned about and used FRP... LOVE IT!!!! Extremely easy to work with, and finish out.

I'm on page 16 of The Millicent Chronicles and I started wondering why FRP can't be used in place of steel or aluminum sheets on a roof raise, for the side panels... seems like it would rivet into place the same way.

Studied all the pics and comments over at Project Eagle and several roof raise threads here... I have no problem taking on the roof raising task, just gotta get a danged ol' bus!


Has anybody (that still posts regularly) used the FRP on a roof raise? I didn't want to post to 5 year old threads where the guys weren't around much.

edit:
Added pic of front and back scrap piece of white FRP I had (cloudy light makes color off)

[crazycal]

Sorry to say this is one reason we find it difficult to find insurance.

[milkmania]

Because FRP is not proper building material? Not sure what you mean...

[milkmania]

I've learned from the Eagle website that they used a product "Kemlite" and researched a little that it's what they use on the fiberglass RV's
Crane Composites, Inc. | Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic Composite Panels
I'm still learning

[crazycal]

School buses are built with steel and rivets for a reason. They are structural. I assume when they use FRP, it is engineered for strength but I wouldn't want it around me. If I did, I would just buy a stick and staple RV. The reason I buy a school bus is mainly for safety reasons. If you remove the steel skin from the inside and outside then cut the roof bows to extend the height and cover with fiber reinforced plastic, you have just thrown all that safety out the window. I struggle with removing just the interior skin and not replacing it. I don't want to be a Debbie Downer but that is how I feel. YMMV and others may have differing opinions.

[milkmania]

Not a "Debbie Downer" at all!

I value your opinion as well as everyone else... That's why I'm in here asking.

There's so many different variables to all of this.

[taskswap]

I used that stuff in a shower rebuild in my last camper. We're moving out of our house right now and I found a few pieces in the garage literally yesterday. We have a small dumpster and a "below the top edge" rule for it so I had to break it down to fit.

It snapped very easily by hand. A 4' wide piece took I would GUESS about 20lbs of force to break in half. The fibers used to reinforce this stuff are relatively short, and the plastic is very brittle. Honestly, I bet a rock thrown by a tractor trailer or even misjudging where "that tree really was" backing into a site at night would damage the stuff.

[milkmania]

never tried bending it to it's breaking point

But I did notice it was short fibered

[crazycal]

Stick with steel for body panels.

[SassyLass]

Something to think about as far as the built-in structural integrity of RV's and skoolies...

Have you ever seen a demo derby where they drive though an RV? They never try to drive through school buses do they?