1935 Chevy school bus

[Diesel Dan]

Totally rad dude! That bus is gonna be bad-ass!

[roach711]

Beautiful work there. If the rest of the bus is anywhere near as nice you'll have a show piece.

Originally Posted by ol trunt

At the last minute I decided I needed to mechanically attach the plastic to the roof as well as glue it.

Modern adhesives are great, but I like the security of old fashioned screws and bolts to back them up.

[Tango]

Hey Trunt --- Just noticed your torpedo turn signals up high on the cab...Damn I'm jealous! Very streamlined.

[chev49]

When he builds a second story steering wheel, they will be low...

[Tango]

Like the The Blastolene Decoliner?

http://www.boreme.com/posting.php?id=32323

[roach711]

I think you should take this mod a step further.

Picture this - You're at a stop light, brainstorming about future bus mods, and the light goes green. Lost in thought you don't notice, but the guy behind you lays on his horn. You grin evily and press a button on the dash. The top slowly opens and a .50 cal. machine gun pops up aimed directly at the offender's windshield.

Suddenly, the honking stops.

With the size of your pop up you could install some light artillery.

[chev49]

[ol trunt]

Ah, a guy can dream-----the button on the dash says "Open silo/arm rocket launcher". Hum, I wonder if that would cause problems with my motorhome status with DMV

Thanks all for the kind words. I love this job despite no pay, no end in sight, lotsa busted knuckles and a couple of maxed out credit cards! Jack

[roach711]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Ah, a guy can dream-----the button on the dash says "Open silo/arm rocket launcher". Hum, I wonder if that would cause problems with my motorhome status with DMV

You'd need to change the title to "urban assault vehicle." Registration per year is $10,000. Pricey, but worth it for the intimidation value alone.

[ol trunt]

Hello all, This weekend I started working on the bathroom. For the most part I will be using the bathroom from a 5th wheel I was given a couple of years ago (free is good). Originally I had planned on having the BR at the rear of the bus with its center located door facing forward. I designed and built the rear frame extension with that in mind. Like many of us do as we start building these projects I saw a better way to use my limited space (13 feet from the drivers seat to the rear door on the floor and 12 feet at the roof line).

By rotating the BR 90 degrees in one direction and the sink 90 degrees in the other direction I end up with a side entrance bathroom, space for a small hanging clothes closet and a tiny dressing area not in full view from the front of the bus. The rearrangement also makes hanging the black tank easier. So thats the good stuff. The bad stuff is that I had to cut up a perfectly good fiberglass bathroom into 4 major sections to facilitate the rearrangement and do some creative fiberglass hacking to make the BR clear bits of the frame which would not have been a problem if I had stuck to the original plan.

The BR will be dropped 7 inches below the bus floor and the roof will be raised to parallel with the pop top (when closed) to give 6'2" of standing space in the BR. I will try to maintain the rounded "Art Decco" look of the toaster as the raised area will only affect the area directly above the rear door. Try to inagine the back of the late 40's early 50's busses and you will have an idea of what I mean.

Placing the BR in the rear also means having to slope the back wall of the fiberglass BR to match the shape of the rear of the bus. I did a mock up of this using the various parts and it should work--I even sat on the throne just to be sure I took a S load of pics only to discover that my camera failed to alert me to the fact that I only had 3 pics available on the disc--so that's all I have.

[b]I will use rectanglar tubing to replace the sections of bus body frame I cut out[b/][b/]

[b]Hacking the fiberglass[b/]

[b] Trial fit using tape etc to hold everything together. Yup it leans--I'll fix it later if I remember [b/]

[ol trunt]

I had so much fun cutting the hole in the floor of my bus that I decided to cut a hole in the roof above it. With the

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- once again we seem to be on a similar path. Just today (after pulling the 350 Chevy motor out) I started laying out the rear roof section that will house my A/C. Guess what? It it looks almost identical to what you've already started on! I'm raising an area just above the rear door to fit a low profile window unit into. And like you, I hope to preserve the Art Deco lines. I Like your bent tube work. Mine will sweep a little to the rear in order to provide some cover for the A/C.

Keep up the good work my friend...it's inspiring!

[ol trunt]

I worked on the bus all day today and made a little progress. The side "wings" are welded in, the original inner roof has a hole cut in it and the replacement inner roof has been test fit. There will only be room for 1" of foam board insulation between the layers of roof in the bathroom area as I can't spare any more overhead space. Hopefully I will get the thing completed tomorrow.

[b]Hole cut in original inner roof. I may or may not use the tabs I cut to hold things together,[b/]

[b]The replacement roof panel fits good and leaves 1" inch of space for insulation[b/]

[Tango]

Lookin' Good Jack! --- I really like the rounded lines!

[skoolz out]

Trunt, it's been a while since I checked on this project. Last time I did you were planning that pop top and I'll admit that my heart sank. I thought it would be ugly and ruin the lines of that classic bus.

I am glad to admit I was wrong. The low profile design, when closed, and fabrication job are outstanding. I'm sure the bathroom will turn out great.

Christopher

[ol trunt]

Just a brief post today. I finished the structural portion of the bathroom roof raise. Now I'll get started on the finish work.

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- As always, great lookin' work! You have me ready to jump on my rear roof now. Biggest difference being that mine will house a 6K BTU mini window unit. Seen too many high dollar Colemans implode or simply fall apart to mess with them. And if it ever does go South, a quick trip to WallyWorld and a hundred-fifty bucks will put you back on the road. Besides...I have other plans for the roof anyway. A full length deck with collapsing rails and a place for an umbrella seems like the perfect place to have Margaritas during the cocktail hour...which could be just about anytime the unit isn't rolling.

[Diesel Dan]

That bump-out is awesome! I really envy you guys who weld. One of these days I'll learn!

[bansil]

Originally Posted by Tango

Besides...I have other plans for the roof anyway. A full length deck with collapsing rails and a place for an umbrella seems like the perfect place to have Margaritas during the cocktail hour...which could be just about anytime the unit isn't rolling.

Technically if YOUR not driving you could wear goggles and be cruising at the same time kinda like a pontoon boat

[Tango]

Yeah...but after a coupla' Margaritas you forget to keep an eye out for low limbs & bridges. Learned that one the hard way.