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Old 02-10-2005, 12:40 PM   #61
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I took a trip down to Des Moines in the bus last night. On the way back up here I could hear the fan belt slipping and making a lot of noise which is very unusual to have in the interstate. Then when I finally got back to my parking lot I noticed the bus was smoking out of everyplace. So I backed it up into its spot and turned it off where it started to smoke even worse.

So anyways what happened was the radiator got a hole in the center of it and everything has become covered in antifreeze, I'm amazed I made it back (The bus had been running for five hours). It won't be until we get a long period of days above freezing that I will be able to really get to fixing this problem.


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Old 02-20-2005, 06:49 PM   #62
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve
All of the rust is just surface rust and comes off easily during sandblasting leaving a like new part. The only parts I have found to be pitted because of rust so far where the back of the covers of the side mirrors, but they look pretty nice now. And remember this bus is over 30 years old and has put up with many salty Iowa winters.

The KoolSeal definetly makes a difference but the coat is pretty thing, I need to paint on at least two more coats (two more gallons).
I haven't seen this yet but how do you derust the bus? Mine has serious rust behind the steering wheels (no mud flaps), on the front, several places around the back door, front door, etc etc... Its not horrific but its so unsightly. Also, can I use an regular hand sander to remove the rust? What product do must skoolies use to (mostly) repair the damage if its light to moderate? I'm thinking CD got's rust from running around light snow areas plus muddy dirt roads of S. Idaho.
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Old 04-17-2005, 01:26 AM   #63
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Since its not going to be freezing anymore I had a chance to take a look at my water leak. Good news the problem wasn't the radiator but the water pump. I already had a new one I had been carrying around in case I needed one on the road. So I replaced and now no leaks. Back on the road I go!
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Old 06-15-2005, 11:39 AM   #64
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Last night I accidentally locked my keys in the bus after I had locked it all up. This was a good test at how secure everything really is.

Luckily I was able to get into the bus without cutting off a padlock, thus proving that I do need to create a more secure (and hopefully more user friendly) way of locking up the bus.
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Old 06-15-2005, 06:47 PM   #65
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Locks...

Locks keep honest people honest.

I lock my keys in the bus regularly, but I use a combination padlock on the back door, so as long as my memory holds out, I'm okay. I highly recommend the combination locks. Mine is the brass Master lock with the four wheels at the bottom. It is resettable, so you can change it occasionally if you like.
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Old 06-15-2005, 06:55 PM   #66
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I don't even lock my skoolie. I depend on people taking one look at the bus and realizing that the person who owns this thing is obviously crazy!

The front door is secured as long as the air pressure stayes up, but no lock for the back door, no lock for the door tha surround the jacuzzi.
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Old 06-15-2005, 07:02 PM   #67
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Awful hard to steal a full sized jacuzzi from a bus, I bet!
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Old 06-15-2005, 08:40 PM   #68
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Re: Locks...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric von Kleist
I use a combination padlock on the back door, so as long as my memory holds out, I'm okay.
I've got a mind like a steel sieve, that's why I use keyed locks. I keep a spare master in my wallet just in case, since I don't have to worry about someone stealing it. There hasn't been anything else in there for so long, even the moths have died!
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Old 06-15-2005, 10:51 PM   #69
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'I haven't seen this yet but how do you derust the bus? '

I have been useing a drill and a BRASS wire brush attachment..someone somewhere once told me to use brass on steal thats rusted and it will remove most/all of it..so far its worked on pretty much everything I've tried it on..best thing is it doesn't seem to leave, or make deep gouges in the steel like a steel wire brush can. Just make sure to wear eye glasses of some sort and a dust mask in tight spaces...for some reason breathing in paint/rust/ect dust doesn't seem to be a GOOD thing.
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Old 06-16-2005, 11:34 AM   #70
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De-rusting

I started prepping my bus for paint with a steel wire brush/wire cup mounted on an electric drill. It really didn't do much. I switched to plain old 100 grit sandpaper on a 1/3 sheet pad sander, or a flapsanding attachment or a sanding disk on the drill. That worked great on removing paint and some minimal bits of rust that I had (mostly on the mirror mounts). The sand paper didn't leave much marks, although you have to be careful with the disk sander. The flap-sander worked great on rivet heads and odd shaped areas.
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Old 10-14-2005, 10:03 AM   #71
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Well back to the muffler shop she went on Wednsday. The last part of old exhaust finally blew off on the way back from Lincoln a couple weeks ago. Man a straight pipe 345 V8 sure is loud. Anyways she's already to go once I retighten some of the pannels that loosened up on the long trip.
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Old 10-14-2005, 10:35 PM   #72
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When I was in middle school I rode an IH/Bluebird to school. One day the driver was running a little late and hit some speed bumps a little hard. After the last bump we heard a thud and then the bus sounded like a Harley. When the we pulled into the school everybody was looking at us. Too bad they had to fix it. The muffler fell off after that last bump.
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Old 12-07-2005, 06:15 PM   #73
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A truck almost landed on my bus

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Old 12-07-2005, 06:28 PM   #74
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Cool. Wow, you have a lot of snow.
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Old 12-07-2005, 11:52 PM   #75
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Good that fence was there to catch that thing. Is it cold in IA yet? It is
-11 here right now.
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Old 12-08-2005, 09:27 AM   #76
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Yes it has been subzero all week.
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Old 12-08-2005, 08:27 PM   #77
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is your bus still parked in the same spot next to the pole building?

I didn't remember the x-way being that close.

that fence being there isn't just good for your skoolie, it's also good for the guy in the truck. You're skoolie isn't nearly as soft as that fence.
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Old 12-08-2005, 09:13 PM   #78
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Yes its the same place, the road you had to drive down is not near the highway but the building that I park it at is. When you were here you parked your bus in the parkinglot right along the highway.

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Old 12-08-2005, 11:55 PM   #79
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a funny story to go along with that photo....

when i left home i had eight 55 gallon drums on the roof of my skoolie...

in the above photo, five of them are missing

they blew off the roof of the bus somewhere in nebraska on the way to burningman 04.
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Old 12-09-2005, 12:41 AM   #80
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I know what you mean about Nebraska. Lots of things get blown off the highway including trucks. A few months ago when we visited some family in NE we got caught in a nice dust storm near Sterling CO.
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