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 08-06-2015, 06:42 PM   #81
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
so jatzy, your description was pretty dang accurate, i found out why i had thought they were angle iron and 3/16" thick which did seem kinda too much. But nope they are pretty much all really big 9 1/2" C-channel pieces like you had said. Someone had put that 3/16" angle iron against the c-channel piece on both sides of wheel well on the long ones not the inside short panels. But thank you for the information and luckily haven't bought anything for that yet. I couldn't ask for more when it comes to this site, it's great (even if I'm proved wrong.)

So as you can see here there i s the 3/16" angle iron behind that flap of the c-channel. the other part of the angle iron is underneath that, so it just seems as if they put that there to reinforce the heaviest rust area. Not the best picture, thought it would do until i got home and looked at it, but as you can see the angle iron is still pretty much largely intact it was just the piece it was attached to that was rusted out.


So here is the huge 9 1/2" c-channel pieces you mentioned, i should've examined it more and noticed there was no seam and it was all just one piece but oh well, hasnt hurt anything yet. they are still in very good shape with little rust even being that close to the wheel well.


A shot from behind the wheel well, main frame still looks great, just dirty. So figured out they were all riveted together, which was a bitch to removed but at least i know they are all pretty much still solid. So i'm thinking the square tube might be the way to go here now. seems easier too.


Here are the rubber pucks you mentioned, and since the other two by the wheel well are square and twice that size they had to have been replaced at sometime or another, you'd think so anyways.

BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-06-2015, 07:20 PM   #82
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
Some quick wire wheel progress before and after using what my dad calls "Big Bertha" it looks a lot smaller in the picture but it weighs quite a bit. does quick work of the floor though.



BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-07-2015, 04:39 AM   #83
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Excellent pics, excellent work, excellent progress!
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2015, 05:24 PM   #84
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
Thx for sharing the pics.

Nat
__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization
nat_ster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2015, 05:57 PM   #85
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
You're welcome, figured i would at least try to help this site in the future as much as it has for me right now.
More pics and update will be coming this weekend, probably sunday night.
BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-16-2015, 04:11 PM   #86
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
Good progress on restoring the floor. A lot of work put into it this weekend, might not show much progress in the pictures but trust us there was.

Removed the windows here, which took all of and hour or two. pretty damn simple. wonder if anyone would want them on Craigslist to use as a shed window or something.


Here we have laid square tube down the went in like a charm, so snug we had to tap it in with a hammer and then a very hard rubber piece below it to make it like the rest. There are then angle irons off made into a brace that the sheet metal with sit on, they are just tack welded into place in the picture but have since made a real weld in its place.


Here you can see some of the final weld, will need to be ground down a bit and maybe another pass.

Almost There! very happy to see it come this far. next the sheet metal will go on top in three sections. two outside pieces and the inside one there.

This is the opposite side of the wheel well. Trimmed up the bent metal, and prepped it for new. will have a combination of angle irons attached to square tube to make a nice brace for the sheet metal to lay on, like the ones above. Will hopefully have it done on our next weekend off. Will be soon then topped of with POR-15 recommended by an expert we know in the maintenance and metal world.
BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-21-2015, 08:38 PM   #87
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
Close up a weld. getting used to it.


Dogs must think they somehow own this seat on every bus, seemed common on this forum so i will post ours of the family dog.


This is the other part towards the front, just resting in there as of now. but we had the perfect amount of steel. We will be attaching smaller angle irons to the tubes for the sheet metal to lay on just as they are in the other picture.
BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-21-2015, 10:05 PM   #88
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 262
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtran
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 71
Nice work!
__________________
"This is my ship...the Nebuchadnezzar, it's a hovercraft."
~Morpheus
The Nebuchadnezzar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2015, 02:52 PM   #89
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
Your doing great.

Nat
__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization
nat_ster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-26-2015, 03:14 PM   #90
Bus Geek
 
bansil's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MNT CITY TN
Posts: 5,158
coming along nicely
__________________
Our build La Tortuga
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
George S. Patton
bansil is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-12-2015, 08:00 PM   #91
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
Seems like it has been awhile since the last update but there is progress.

In the first photo here you can see that there is a combination of 3 square tubes with a mixture of angle in towards the front of the wheel well section and 1 square tube with a mixture of angle iron towards the back the wheel well section. The metal patches will sit on top of the angle iron and square tube combinations. You can also see we made some more rubber pucks for each of the square tubes to sit on to match the others. towards the upper right of the picture you where the chair rail section is cut out there was the outer 2" wide section of wheel well from top top bottom that was rusted through that has caused some of the moisture to come up the wall and cause some to rust through a bit, the worst metal was taken out and patched, was tack welded in so that is why sunlight is coming through at the moment.



This picture shows it all painted with a rust-oleum brand metal paint protector. Wheel well coves were finally wire wheeled off, might get the same paint treatment tomorrow.


Here is a couple pictures of the metal patches cut in and fit on top of the square tubes and angle iron. Tomorrow should be getting it all tied together. and making it whole again.

BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2015, 12:17 AM   #92
Bus Geek
 
Tango's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
Congrats. Looks like a good job.
Tango is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2015, 12:51 AM   #93
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
That rust isn't stopping you.

Nat
__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization
nat_ster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-13-2015, 07:24 PM   #94
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
Thanks for following along Nat, and Tango.

Last day before the long work week ahead, so we took it rather easy. I started in on the battery bay box and she tack welded the panels down to the floor on the inside. This picture the sliding tray had been removed and the batteries as well. The rust is only a bad on the bottom of the bay, the worst being where the left panel meets the bottom. i will get rid of all of that rust and reinforce the bottom left side with an angle iron. will all get grinded down then painted with a rust inhibitor.



getting the batteries out wasnt too hard as i got an idea from looking at nebuchadnezzers build by using a motorcycle jack, came in really handy so if you're reading this, thank you.



Here is the sliding tray to pull the batteries out while in the bay, was in very rough shape berfore i got to it, went straight to work before i realized i didnt take a before picture. The sliding tray was so corroded and rusted on the left side that it would not slide out at all. The whole left track portion was rusted away so i fabricated my own (the shiny metal on the right) and tested it out and it works like a charm.



Here that is with a quick once over of rust inhibitor paint as well.


And finally, the panels almost completed it feels very, very solid.
BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2015, 08:26 AM   #95
Bus Geek
 
Tango's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
You seem to be going about your conversion in the way many people could learn from. Get the basics right, eliminate/arrest corrosion and get your foundation solid before jumping on the eye candy stuff. Nice work, please do keep the pix coming.
Tango is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2015, 08:33 AM   #96
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 262
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtran
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 71
Great work! Glad the jack helped that's why we take pictures and talk about what we do, to help each other
__________________
"This is my ship...the Nebuchadnezzar, it's a hovercraft."
~Morpheus
The Nebuchadnezzar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2015, 09:33 AM   #97
Bus Geek
 
EastCoastCB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
You seem to be going about your conversion in the way many people could learn from. Get the basics right, eliminate/arrest corrosion and get your foundation solid before jumping on the eye candy stuff. Nice work, please do keep the pix coming.
Yes, this is the logical approach. Many reject this outright.
EastCoastCB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2015, 01:08 PM   #98
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
Yes, this is the logical approach. Many reject this outright.
Because most people are freeking lazy.

It makes me sick how lazy most people have become.

That's why I love threads like this.

Nat
__________________
"Don't argue with stupid people. They will just drag you down to their level, and beat you up with experience."

Patently waiting for the apocalypses to level the playing field in this physiological game of life commonly known as Civilization
nat_ster is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-14-2015, 05:23 PM   #99
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
Thanks for all the compliments and encouragements it feels great! we do take pride in our work, so its awesome to hear feedback like that. I cant wait to get to the eye candy stuff though, will be really nice one it all starts coming together. Also nice to hear we are not lazy as we are only 25. we hate lazyness as well.
BurlKing is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-15-2015, 09:16 PM   #100
Bus Nut
 
BurlKing's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 502
Year: 92
Coachwork: Thomas Built
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 5.9L
Rated Cap: 77
So we took a whole bunch of measurements of the bus months ago and i applied it to sketch-up and then made it in layers over a couple of months of free time. It is not complete, such as the stairs and what not, but everything is to exact dimensions. there is over 20 layers(windows, metal ribs of the bus, chair rail, etc...) in this and is very fun to play with now as i can make each layer appear or not so its not in the way.
The first one here are just a bunch of flat 9 1/2" panels instead of C-channel they like actually are, i also built the wheel well in this layer and then built the plywood box over it without changing the layer and was too lazy to take it out.






This is the drivers area console to the left hand side. switches to the right with shelves and a cubby, CD player on top. Most of this is inspired from one of my favorite builds on here "our bus, our home." The drivers heater box is below that.




The wood-stove, chairs, and fridge i did not make, they were imported into the build.


Here is what i really liked, the glass feature on here which i could turn all the windows into which was awesome, will help with planning which to keep and remove. This helps as well for planning my wiring and which ribs to put light fixtures in and what not. There is a corner couch that i made in the model how it would be made in person, the long side of couch slides out to meet the end of the couch turning into a full size bed, it also lifts up to have storage underneath when a couch.

Here is a rear view, the bed being raised for storage underneath with enough room to sit up in.


Making this model really opened up a lot of storage ideas that i would have never thought of otherwise. I know there will more than likely be plenty of changes once i get to this stage. The toilet and bath are also not picture in here because i didn't feel like making them, i know where they're going anyways.
We have found a 12.6 cu. ft. fridge/freezer combo that uses 333KWH per year, averages $36 a year. will we be skipping a stove top oven combo and use a counter-top convection oven for those needs, and a small energy efficient 2-burner electric stove top.
BurlKing 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


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:59 AM.


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