92 Thomas International Navistar

[Robin97396]

Nice work, and I mean lots of work. I like how you've plowed through this and made it work.

[BurlKing]

Its been a month since the roof raise started and i figured we'd be further than this...like always, but its still moving along. Got the first of the sheet metal hung today and the rest should go smooth from here. We spent a total of about $650 on all the metal to raise the roof, 26 - 24" 14ga c-channel pieces, 7 -4'X8' 20ga sheet metal(CR), and 6 - 6' of 1/8" angle iron. I don't think it was too bad of a price, and would gladly pay that for the extra headroom.

Have added angle iron to every other beam starting from the back to the front. The bus was only riveted every 3rd beam or so originally as you can see, so doing every two should be more than alright and should make up for riveting only one side of the made-up hat channel (C-channel/angle iron combo) to save money where we could.



Then got rid of those flimsy ass things the window sat in (underneath is an angle iron welded between the studs we will keep that) that was in the way of putting the sheet metal in. you can see it at the very bottom of the picture, and along with it came the thin strip of metal that was tucked under it that held the insulation in that i had cut off a year ago because i couldn't get to it. The X in tape in between the studs are where there will not be windows. The sheet metal will be tucked under the drip rail up top, over the lip of the sheet metal on the bottom and under the black trim that runs the length of the bus, and then riveted back together. I removed one black trim to inspect for rust but was spotless which kinda surprised me. although i can see the bottom ones may need to be treated. Without the black trim on though it made the sheet metal flimsy between the studs so the black trim in my opinion needs to stay to make the sheet metal more rigid and not wavy.




Now we begin the transition. without the help of this site, not really sure how i would've attempted this one. I owe a lot of this part to the build of aaronsb on broccoli bus, so thank you.




got it in there, tack welded in, certainly not done by any means and not pretty yet. gotta do some seam sealer stuff or bondo where the welds are on the seams. Then figure out if im going to weld or rivet to it the braces.

The roof will be made of 3 pieces, 2 sides and 1 middle. Sides are getting done first then the middle.



The best time lapse i can do.

[EastCoastCB]

So awesome!

[BurlKing]

Thanks eastcoast, turned out better than we imagined.


Both sides are down, not final but at least the hardest sheet metal parts are over. black was the only color i had on hand, just didn't want it to rust. will be white eventually. The best would could do, first time working with sheet metal, next time around we're going to get the proper tools so its a little easier.

[cadillackid]

I think it looks pretty darn nice!!!!!
-Christopher

[cowlitzcoach]

What would be really wild would be some Scenicruiser windows.

[BurlKing]

That's the plan for the middle piece! just trying to figure out where to get the window from, probably some plexiglass of some sort but never worked with it or bought it before. when we had both pieces up today and the sun was coming through the middle piece it was right at our living room and then slowly moved to the kitchen, so natural light from that would be great.

[BurlKing]

The transition is now in its final phase. what a relief. will now just need to make the seams look better and use bondo. Completed in 3 pieces with the middle overlapping each by about an 1". got the rivet gun working and the sides prepped for the the sheets to go up. hopefully the day of the bus getting sealed is next weekend. we'll see.


again was too cheap and didn't have all of the same color on hand. left side looks weird because of the way the sun is hitting it.



inside view.

[BurlKing]

ol' No. 19 is finally getting skinned, had to be moved because the mosquito's were so damn bad you couldn't work without having at least 20 on you.



first panel


Left side, primed before nightfall. all full sheets done on this side, now on to the other side. Couldn't have got these up myself without my brothers.

[somewhereinusa]

Transition looks good.

[cadillackid]

accolades for anyone doing re-skins and roof-raises!! much more than I have the ability or tools to do!
-Christopher

[BurlKing]

Thanks! it's looking so sweet. i can hardly recognize the bus from the original pictures anymore. Going to be going out there later today to do more work, cant wait.

[cadillackid]

at least tyou arent having the endless cold and rain summer that we seem to be having here in ohio (and have for the last 3 years!!!.. this is the 4th cold and rainy summer in a row... ..the high temp yesterday was 67... today maybe we make 70 and rain all day)..

fortunately im building my new driver heat / air conditioning system for the bus in the garage so the bus can stay in its storage unit dry till im ready to install it..
-Christopher

[BurlKing]

yeah that doesn't sound too fun. I'm in southern MN and its been great, hovering around 75 the past couple days with almost no wind. Only downside to good weather means I'm working, only days I'd get off now are rain days and weekends.

[BurlKing]

2 Months later, the raise, the transition, and the skinning is almost complete. We need to finish up with seam sealer, rivets, body filler and pick up one more sheet of metal.

More angles.

[plfking]

Originally Posted by Tango

Hey BK --- below is a link to the live edge, sculpted cement table on Flickr. Turned pretty OK to be steel and Portland cement. The live edge, big splits and butterfly tenons are part of the tribute to Master Nakashima. Since you appear to be a "wood guy", I though you might enjoy another take on it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/tango8...54547525/page1

Tango, I'm a wood guy too, and my only comment is.......wow.

Now I'm thinking of doing my entire interior in cement......just need to budget another $20K in suspension upgrades.

[Tango]

LOL! Ya...best of luck on the suspension thing but it would make for a "solid" ride.

The bench I am currently working on will wind up at about 5000 pounds.

[BurlKing]

That bench tango made really is something else, a work of art. The city im in now has a sculpture walk and if that was in the sculpture walk it''d be one of the best ones for sure.

[BurlKing]

Fuel filter is changed as well as draining the tank, and putting new fuel in the whole system. Runs perfect with new oil/fuel filters. Next are the tires.

It is finally all covered up, with the exception of the bottom piece of the back door, and the front emergency light holes.






We just now need to go over the holes and seams of the metal with body filler to give it a smoother look.

[BurlKing]

Shifted into 3rd a little early, oh well.


https://youtu.be/e6QxoMTpIzc