Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 04-08-2007, 09:49 PM   #21
Bus Geek
 
the_experience03's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Saint James, MN
Posts: 2,669
Send a message via MSN to the_experience03 Send a message via Yahoo to the_experience03
Best tool I've found for bending stock car sheetmetal is another stock car.

I feel your pain...I've done the bending with brute force before and it's not fun. Atleast the nibblers held out for the most part and you had the dremel. Inevitably I can never find my cutoff wheels or the arbor for my dremel and end up using my angle grinder (most over used and misused tool in my collection) which makes a real mess of things.

__________________
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/...09f20d39_m.jpg
Skooling it...one state at a time...
the_experience03 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-09-2007, 11:43 AM   #22
Bus Geek
 
lapeer20m's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: near flint michigan
Posts: 2,657
as a side note, i cut almost all of my alluminum diamondplate with a cordless dewalt circular saw using the stock carbide tipped blade. Works wonderfully. Alluminum can be hard to cut with other tools, has a habbit of gumming up sawz-all blades.
__________________
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes (who will watch the watchmen?)
lapeer20m is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 10:31 PM   #23
Mini-Skoolie
 
jterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Ocala, Florida
Posts: 27
Year: 1975
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International Loadstar 1803
Engine: IH 392 gas V8
Quote:
Originally Posted by the_experience03
Best tool I've found for bending stock car sheetmetal is another stock car.
Ain't that the truth! As soon as the cars roll back in the drive we ask, "How bad is it? How much needs to be fixed by next weekend?" This track doubles as a demo derby!
jterry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 11:04 PM   #24
Bus Geek
 
the_experience03's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Saint James, MN
Posts: 2,669
Send a message via MSN to the_experience03 Send a message via Yahoo to the_experience03
Last year I got it out of the way early...we were changing the gears in the driveway and the car rolled forward as we were taking it off the jackstands. No need to worry about scratching and denting those quarter panels on opening night....it was already done for us.
__________________
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/...09f20d39_m.jpg
Skooling it...one state at a time...
the_experience03 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2007, 05:56 PM   #25
Mini-Skoolie
 
jterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Ocala, Florida
Posts: 27
Year: 1975
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International Loadstar 1803
Engine: IH 392 gas V8
I made pretty good progress this weekend. I finished the patches in both of the back corners. I recycled galvanized out of the scrap heater that was still running down the side wall, straightened out the edges, removed the old plywood, sprayed all exposed edges with rustoleum and riveted the new corners in place. The previous owner had patched a broken window with sheet metal but did not seal it or rivet it in so we removed both back windows and replaced the metal. By cutting the rubber seal on the outside the windows tipped in and came out easily. I applied silicone before riveting it in. I also temporarily patched the holes left from missing upper lights. I hope to replace the lights but did not want to continue any damage from the raining in. We stripped off the old wooden platform skeleton that was left on the roof and made sure there wasn't any issues hiding on the roof. Looks good and solid. Weather permitting we will be painting the roof soon. I started putting up some window tint. I am really happy with it. It is a heat resistant platinum film. Bought it at Lowe's for $46 per 4'x15' roll. We really wanted a dark tint but the heat resistant was more important. We are in the sunshine state We are beginning the framing for the bed. We are building a storage area underneath it with the platform on hinges. Our first fifth wheel had that and it helped alot with storage. It will be alot taller and will have access from the back door as well. I posted a few new pics showing the progress. http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Sk...17_3_.jpg.html
jterry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2007, 04:46 PM   #26
Mini-Skoolie
 
jterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Ocala, Florida
Posts: 27
Year: 1975
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International Loadstar 1803
Engine: IH 392 gas V8
Re: '75 INT Loadstar- our first skoolie project

Hi Everyone! Haven't posted in a while. Between the heat and the rain work has been slow. Thanks to a fellow skoolie we have new doors! I have to cut a bit off the bottom but they work great and were easy to install. The back four windows on each side are finally skinned and insulated. The rest of the vinyl floor is installed. The captains bed is built and waiting for paneling. The closet is framed in and also waiting for paneling. Walls are beginning to go up and we're nearly ready to run the wiring along the side walls. We changed the floorplan a bit. Only the bathroom area has been changed so far. We separated the toilet closet and shower area and now will enter the bed in the center instead of off to the side. Things have been going pretty well.
http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/main...avId=x7cc4fb0d
I am so thankful for this site. There is truly a wealth of knowledge here.
jterry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-23-2007, 10:24 PM   #27
Mini-Skoolie
 
jterry's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Ocala, Florida
Posts: 27
Year: 1975
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International Loadstar 1803
Engine: IH 392 gas V8
Our skoolie days are coming to an end : (

It looks as though our owning a completed skoolie will not be happening for awhile. Just when building begins we have decided to move up to Ohio to help my dad after his open heart surgery. Family comes first. We will be selling our bus before we go. We've been offered $2000 from a watermelon grower but it's gonna be hard to let it go to someone who doesn't see the potential it has as a conversion. We have a little time to sell, hope to be in Ohio by first part of November so we can beat the snow.(maybe)
It has it's quirks and needs TLC but it is very reliable. It takes just one try to start everytime no matter how long we leave it sit. It'll be a sad day to see it go. This board is great, the knowledge here is awesome. Thank you everyone. There WILL be another skoolie in the future, and I will be back when the next bus arrives.
jterry is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Canadian Skoolie Project jkindt Skoolie Conversion Projects 255 12-25-2017 08:16 PM
Project Niles Skoolie NilesSkoolie Skoolie Conversion Projects 201 08-24-2015 05:08 PM
Salty's Skoolie project thesaltydog24 Skoolie Conversion Projects 33 10-08-2010 11:41 AM
my next big non-skoolie project lapeer20m Everything Else | General Skoolie Discussions 6 10-13-2009 10:13 AM
Trade 1970 VW Karmann Ghia project for skoolie project bus? shortwaverunner Classifieds | Buy, Sell, Swap 3 02-03-2006 09:56 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.