1935 Chevy school bus

[bansil]

I dont see an issue,even if you where to "rub" the inner fender at a slow speed it wont do any harm,now a big ole knobby tire catching a lip...that might rip it off
I say cap it with atleast 14ga if not 11ga and welded all the way around=plenty strong

[ol trunt]

Hello All, More time spent on the unseen items. I made up a sending unit for the genny gas tank along with a gauge. The tank is now installed and awaiting the design and installation of the filler neck.

I bent up some 16 ga sheet metal for the new rear wheelwells and began installation (I hate daylight wasting time it gets dark so early nothing gets done). Oh well, the shortest day of the year is 12/15 and then the days will begin to get longer. Jack

[b] The gas cap will be cut into the body directly above the tank and above the stamped body line.[b/]

[b] The original wheels were made of 16 ga sheet metal so I decided to use the same thickness for the new wells.[b/]

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- never seen such low profile wheel wells. Are they as flat as they appear in the pix? Mine stick up almost ten inches and are a major pain to design/build around. Are you running duallies of the original size...or singles...or something smaller...all of the above??

And remind me...does your genny tank have a fuel pump or is it gravity fed?

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango, The top of the new wheel wells are flat (2" above the floor) but they still allow 4" of tire travel. Yes, I do have tandems and they measure 26.5" in diam so they are shorter than the original which were 31" tall. I'll be dealing with reducing the fender opening to make the small wheels look like they belong.

As to the fuel tank, I'm using a low pressure electric fuel pump set up to disallow siphoning. I've tested it on the genny and am fairly confident it won't start a fire---once again, ya pays ya money an ya takes ya chances! Jack

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- I figured your wheels must be a bit smaller. Mine are 37" tall and protrude well above the floor level so no chance of ever getting to a flat floor (which has definite benefits). And I'm playing with the idea of installing my genny in a similar fashion to yours...i.e., in a small slide out mostly under the floor at the rear instead of on the rear deck, but hoping to configure a gravity feed for extra fuel. Still have not torn into the generator to see just what is or is not possible but hope to examine it soon. Lots to work out since the exhaust, electrical connections & fuel line would all have to move along with the unit. And since mine would have to go behind the rear wheel, ground clearance is an even bigger issue. It will be close but at this time looks like it just might fit.

[Shadoll]

http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w43 ... es/184.jpg Sweet!!

[ol trunt]

Hello All, Killed two birds with one stone. Bird #1: I wanted the sign plackard off the front of the bus--the one that might have said SCHOOL BUS at one time. I thought it was screwed on as an afterthought but discovered that it was original equipment as it had 30 spot welds holding it on and nary a screw. I spent most of a day standing on the motor drilling out spot welds on the sign and then wiggling it back and forth until it finally gave way.

Bird #2: Directly behind the plackard was the ventilation slot we have all been talking about on another line. I really don't want the vent since the bus will be air conditioned and has other vents in more logical places. The slot was about 2" tall and 3' wide and had at one time had window screen spot welded over it to keep the kids from getting out I think. I removed an inch or more of wet mud from the vent but found no rust through--go figger? I rolled a sheet of 20 ga sheetmetal to match the curve of the roof and welded it in. Jack

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- good lookin' work as always. And spot welds can be a real bear to deal with. The metal gets hardened to the point that many drills won't even scratch it.

And I couldn't help but notice the horseshoe in a couple of pix and have to ask...did it come on the bus? I'm wondering because mine came with a really old, hand made one mounted on the wooden roof rack. The rack is history but I kept the horseshoe and will mount it somewhere. Who am I to go against such a powerful amulet? And given the buses overall condition, it appears to have helped so I'm not takin' any chances...it stays.

[ol trunt]

Hello All, I spent a pleasant day monkeying around with a windshield [b]

[Tango]

Lookin' pretty clever Jack. Funny thing is, I was just logging on to ask what you were doing for wipers!

Mine are a pair (split windshield) that are bottom mounts run off a weird single cable drive system with a small motor over to one side. Not very effective and probably not original. It appears that there must have been a pair of independent (probably vacuum) wipers at one time that were top mounted based on some holes I have found above the windshield that had been filled with old Bondo. Hope to find/rig something top mounted with more modern options...like intermittent and variable speeds. Will likely have to "configure" something along similar lines to what you are engineering so I will be watching closely!

Here is a (bad) pic of what it came with...


the motor is hanging over on the left and has a cable drive running across the bottom of the windshield operating two separate drives. I've been told it may well be an old Lucas (Brit car) system. That would at least explain why it is so crappy (with apologies to my UK friends...but not any UK automotive engineers).

[ol trunt]

Yup Tango, that is exactly what it is--a Lucas (AKA "Home By Dark") Electric. It looks exactly like the one in my Morris Minor. You can still get parts for it cheap enough. If you get a chance shoot me a pic of the motor and I can confirm the LE.

I like the split window in your bus and probably should split mine but it is just one more thing to do. I'll be sorry I didn't the first time I have to replace the windshield.

I'll get the year and model of the Caravan I took the wiper mechanism from so you'll have it for reference. The features I liked about it include the 90 degree relationship of shaft to base, the nylon like plastic housing which will be easy to seal with silicone and the fact that the whole drive mechanism (not the motor probably) will fit in the two inch space between the roof plys. I'll post a pic of the old and new Whitney wiper.

Now that I thought of it, the horse shoe just appeared propped on the windshield frame one day. No one seems to know how it got there . It is now secured by a blob of Bondo and will stay until the glass is replaced. Jack

[b][b/]

[Tango]

Nice compact looking motors. Do they have any speed or intermittent options?

[ol trunt]

Tango, the wiper motors are single speed but you could use a dimmer rheostat like in the cluster light portion of most 12 volt Chevys to control on/off and speed. I use one of those headlamp switches to control my tiny "N" guage railway layout (12V).

I have two new units and one used wiper arm if you need them. Having drilled three big holes in the roof of my bus today, I AM going to make the three wiper thing work--no matter how long it takes etc. etc. etc! The three wipers sort of give the bus the "unibrow" look, but I'll learn to like it Ha.

I just remembered, the Dodge Caravan is '95/'96.
Jack

[Tango]

Cool! I will definitely check out the Caravan sets...thanx!

[chev49]

first, my dad's 35 chevy bus that we used when i was a kid had vacuum wipers, as they would stop when he was going up a hill..(just like my 49 chevy ones now), and 2nd, festiva wiper assys can also be used and are easily mounted.

[ol trunt]

Hey '49, Thanks for the info. We always had Chevys when I was a kid and they still had vaccuum wipers ('till the new body in '55 I think). Although we didn't have it, there was an optional wiper that used both engine vaccuum and a vaccuum source as part of the fuel pump.

You did get me wondering why my bus didn't have vaccuum wipers like your dads then I remembered that my bus started out as a Ford when I bought it and I transfered its Superior body to the '35 Chevy. I'll have to research the Ford line to see what they did.

The only pic I could find of my '35 Chevy shows a single wiper over the drivers side but I don't think there was one on the right. I remember taking the wood frame cab apart because I saved the wood from the dash to use in the bus but I don't recall a wiper motor--dosen't mean there wasn't one I've forgotten though. Jack

{b][b/]

[somewhereinusa]

I think Ford was still using vacuum wipers into the 50's I know our 1950 pickup had them. My 55 car did, but I'm pretty sure my 56 was electric. It must been, the cam I had in it wouldn't have made much vacuum.

[Tango]

Like the rest of the "old guys" here, I recall living with vacuum wipers less than fondly too. My dad's '48 Chevy sedan would make a pass in one direction, then have to wait/rest there for a long count until it built up enough suck to get'em moving again. Never could see squat when rain was coming down.
And no choice but electric on my bus without adding a special suck pump...diesels don't do vacuum.

Anybody who thinks "the good old days" were all that great...likely wasn't there.

[somewhereinusa]

then have to wait/rest there for a long count until it built up enough suck to get'em moving again.

You could always let off of the throttle to get vacuum then get on it again. You couldn't have both,
you could accelerate or see where you were going.
If you had something souped up you could go fast, but not in the rain.

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- speaking of wipers...I went to a Swap Meet over the weekend and a fellow there was selling new versions of the cable drive system that someone installed in my bus. He made the mistake of having an operating set wired up that demonstrated how well they (don't) work.

Just what I need... a cheap Chinese copy of some already poor English engineering.