Blue Bird letters

[opus]

How do I pull off the front Blue Bird letters so I can paint the front?

[dirtygoat]

There should be some push on type nuts/washer on the backside of the letters... You can use needle nose pliers to pry them off and by new ones at a hardware store... Bring in a sample of the old ones...

[opus]

So just pry them off?

[dirtygoat]

That's what I did with my Genesis... If it's the same fasteners, it's pretty hard to do anything else with them...

[lornaschinske]

The panel that my "Blue Bird" lettering is attached to is held in place with screws. I plan on unscrewing the panel to see how the things are attached. At a guess, I'm figuring it is like the way the emblems were attached to older cars... pre-glue. I'm going over today so I can pull my panel off and will take pictures and post tonight... unless I end up going up to Albuquerque.

[lornaschinske]

Camera battery died! No pics but I removed the panel and the "Blue Bird" emblem was secured with the "push on" retainers. Use care when removing the emblem to prevent damage if you have to do it from the front.

edited... got pics...

[Andreb]

Originally Posted by jaredhall

Blue bird buses are cool for school service purposes because of their heavy duty bodies but it looks like your bus is a little bit rusty and the parts seem to look very old. When I was searching about helpful tips about bus repairs, I accidentally found auto repair videos that tells that buses are harder to fix than trucks like trailblazers and etc.

this bus is 25 years old...

find a 25 years old blazer from the same part of the country and I'm sure that it'll be rustier and much harder to fix ;) and it'll look like crap if you fix a hole in that blazer with a square piece of sheetmetal, metal screws, painters caulking and rustoleum paint , on the other side, if you fix a bus like that it'll look factory made

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by jaredhall

... but it looks like your bus is a little bit rusty and the parts seem to look very old...

My bus isn't rusty. What you are looking at in the pics is anti freeze (bad patch job on the radiator until we got it fixed) and clay. Ever been to the Southern Appalachian Mountains? That stuff doesn't come off too easily. Our bus used to be used to haul rafters hither and yon (Ocoee, Nantahala, Chattooga & Pigeon Rivers) by WildWater Rafting

[Tango]

Hey Opus, Welcome to the neighborhood --- Great choice for a building platform. Love them Birds! Had a 40-footer myself many years ago that I raised the roof on by 19 inches. They are built like tanks and really very easy to work on. Best of luck with the build-out, you'll find lots of help and experience here. BTW...what engine do you have in that sweetheart?

[opus]

Thanks, its an 8.3 Cummins. The build is complete for the most part.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by jaredhall

I see.. I've been in Southern Appalachian Mountains about 2 or 3 times when I was a kid and I haven't got time to return there. Anyways, If I went there can I see your Bus?

We're currently in New Mexico. Can't stay in one place for long... get's boring. We've been here (again) since June of last year. We came out west in July 2009... lesson learned, don't travel thru TX in July. The bus was our "moving van". Now we are recycling it. We'll be here until we leave.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by jaredhall

... I wish I could own a bus/moving van like you. Anyways, why would you recycle your bus? will you buy a new one?

All you need to do is find one for $1400 like we did. We are "recycling" our "moving van" into an RV to live in fulltime. This is the last bus we will buy. It will be our home as we are "houseless" by choice. We currently fulltime in a sticks-n-staples (manufactured) 1977 Class C (the RV with the cabover built on a van chassis). And no, we are NOT retired.