Build Thread For Haulin' Oats (and goats)

[nat_ster]

Waste gate is controlled by pressure from the turbo boost, not vacuum.

Your diesel engine has no vacuum.

Nat

[onenationundergoat]

Got the parts in today, and the gasket kit actually came with o-rings anyway so we have double o-rings. Anybody need a set? Ha.

Today we started prep on reassembly. Tomorrow everything will get a deep clean with warm water and detergent as recommended in the manual, and then reinstallation begins!

[nat_ster]

Great news.

Looking forward to pics.

Nat

[USMCRockinRV]

You'll be very confident going down the road now... Yahoo!!!!!!

[Dragonpop]

Remember to stagger the end gaps on the piston rings. I
generally use a mixture of 50% STP and 50% motor oil for
an assembly lube on the bearings and motor oil on the
pistons. This prevents damage from a dry start. The rings
I assemble on the pistons with the top gap as far away
from the exhaust valve where most of the heat from
combustion occurs and 45 degrees from the wrist pin and
the next gap 180 degrees from that then the oil ring on
the opposite side of the piston skirt from the top ring.

[onenationundergoat]

Last Sunday we put everything back together. Went to torque down the connecting rod bolts as per manual specs. Manual says 130 ft. lbs. That sounded wrong, but we tried it anyway. On the first rod the bolts started to stretch, so we checked online and found out it's supposed to be 80 ft. lbs! So Monday we called ten thousand diesel parts places trying to locate bolts. Turns out they've been discontinued. Ended up paying $75 and waiting three days on shipping. For two bolts. Ugh.

So we got the bolts in Friday at lunch. It was a PITA putting them in, took about two hours. But after we got the oil pan on, it ran!! How exciting!

My dad built an angle aluminum frame for the window AC, which we'll be adding additional sheet metal to this week to replace the original wood frame on the inside. Pics later.

We also bolted down D-ring anchors under the tub. Now we can strap it down for safety while driving. It absolutely does not move anymore!

Just got back today for our first trip. Saturday morning we drove up to Asheville with the cats and dogs to meet a friend and hope for an open camp site. Lake Powhatan was full, but we went on up the parkway to Mount Pisgah Campground that had three sites left and filled up as soon as we got settled in. Last year we also opened the first night of our big trip at the same campground!

The tanks aren't in yet and the water pump isn't plumbed so we weren't self-contained, but the sink is plumbed to the outside of the bus at the moment so we just stuck a bucket under it outside. It was nice to be able to do dishes inside. I asked Dan to pack "anything we'd need to cook meals" to which he replied "like what?" and I said "pots and pans and such." So he grabbed one pan and one spoon. No food, no plates, no utensils, no napkins, no dish soap. So we had to use the "Country Store" down the road from the campground and buy $4/dozen regular (not fancy organic free range) eggs. With the closest grocery store all the way back down the parkway there was no way we were driving there. Luckily my friend thought ahead and packed some pasta and sauce and canned chicken. So we had that but with no salt or seasonings, and the expensive eggs, hotdogs, and vienna sausages from the country store.

Surprisingly the booze wasn't too expensive. $8-$12 for a six pack or a bottle of wine. I don't usually drink. A bottle of wine was a lot for me.

The animals were really well behaved. Rosie didn't come this time partly because we haven't built her bedroom yet and partly because the Blue Ridge Parkway is full of poisonous rhododendron and ferns. Last year we had a puking dying goat. Not trying to repeat that disgusting and stressful situation.

This week we have a list of things to do and try to get out of here and on our way to ND to work the Sugar Beet Harvest for the month of October. Install passenger seat, build small back deck and generator box, add sheet metal to AC mount, plumb water system and add holding tanks, add better latches to cabinet doors for secure storage while driving, and figure out what's up the the dash lights and funky gauges. We only have one battery at the moment and discovered quickly that we need to increase that number. Watching a movie we all fell asleep and woke up to no more power. Ruh-Roh! The bus' steering is very wishy-washy, so we'll try to tighten up the steering box. It wasn't hard to get used to driving it, and I had fun driving on the parkway. Forgot to gear down on the way up the hill on the interstate and got a lil too hot, but after I remembered that everything was peachy. The break-in for the rebuild (100-150 miles on full load at rated RPM) is past now.

Oh, and I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post on here of on my travel blog because my laptop screen is kaput. So unless it's an easy/cheap fix I'll be without computer once I leave my parents' house.

[Dragonpop]

On the steering you might look into a Safe-T-Plus steering unit
to add to your steering linkage. If you can order from a business
name they give a discount and the cheapest unit comes from the
manufacturer. They have some interesting videos that show how
the unit safely handles a front blowout and even a broken tie rod
at high speed.

[onenationundergoat]

Hah, we ain't made of money. I think I'll save the $300 I don't have and just deal with the wiggly.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Our top speed after changing the rear gears is 60 mph at 2600 rpm. Generally 59. According to GPS.

When the bus starts to go down a hill, the gas pedal kicks my foot back and refuses to allow me to press it. This happens at 2600 rpm, but only downhill. It will not allow me to depress the pedal again until the rpms go down to 2000, which takes at least thirty seconds or so. I guess it's the governor spring? It seems dangerous because if for whatever reason I needed to accelerate or raise the rpms, I wouldn't be able to.

The speed gauge isn't right anymore, of course, because of the gear change, but sometimes it just flat out won't do anything and sits at zero. The alternator gauge turns on and off the same way, and the dash backlights don't work. The tachometer and temp gauge work just fine.

The fuel gauge was working fine until we filled up the tank for the first time. The bus came with a full tank when we got it, and had been sitting since last Spetember at the bus garage. It should be a 60 gallon tank and we refueled when the gauge was close to empty. The fill neck is kinda far in there, so I wasn't surprised when the nozzle cut off after 30 gallons. I clicked it on again, and it cut off again. Turned on the bus and the fuel gauge said half full. Rearranged the nozzle, but it still kept happening. Hung up the nozzle, swiped the card again, tried again. Put in eight more gallons then wouldn't do anymore. Did it again, six more gallons and then refused to do any more. Turned on the bus and the needle began wavering between 3/4 and full. We gave up trying to fill it (I wanted to because I want to get a mpg calculation next fill up) and started driving. It continued to waver the whole way home. Based on how far we drove and how much the gauge went down as we drove, I'd estimate we're getting about 10mpg which is what I expected.

[onenationundergoat]

For everyone waiting on the screens... We finally painted them even though they didn't really turn out to be a lighter color. Then we cut pieces of screen (plastic, not metal, but I suppose either would work) and used generous amounts of outdoor Liquid Nails to glue them to the back sides of the frames. This worked way better than expected. They haven't been permanently installed yet. We're going to out two screws on each vertical side. For the weekend trip we just brought along the pile of screens and put them up when we got there. They fit pretty snugly, but we still cordoned off the cats so that they wouldn't try to push them out. The dogs don't mess with things so they were trusted in the room with the screens. While we were driving the cats kept sitting on the pile of screens, but the Liquid Nails held up so well it wasn't a problem.

I don't think any bugs would be able to get through, but this wasn't a really good test since we didn't see any bugs the whole weekend!

I still haven't made the window cage thing. Everything else has become priority since we have to be able to leave here for good in the next weekish. We have to be in North Dakota by Sept. 25th for the beet harvest!

[onenationundergoat]

Ladies, don't be afraid to overhaul an engine. If I can do it, you can do it!

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by onenationundergoat

Ladies, don't be afraid to overhaul an engine. If I can do it, you can do it!

Just be careful about low-hanging hair......

Seriously, hair can muck up an engine.....

Just sayin' hair nets are a good idea in working on an engine. Saves the owner of the hair a *pun intended* headache in more ways than one.....

But don't be afraid! Good job!

M1031.....

[EastCoastCB]

Awesome job on the overhaul.

[REDD]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

Just be careful about low-hanging hair......

Seriously, hair can muck up an engine.....

Just sayin' hair nets are a good idea in working on an engine. Saves the owner of the hair a *pun intended* headache in more ways than one.....

But don't be afraid! Good job!

M1031.....

The long can be a b!tch when it gets tangle in the wheels of your creeper and you're pinned to it, been there.
My wife wouldn't even open the hood let alone crawl under it, lol.
Best of luck.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by REDD

My wife wouldn't even open the hood let alone crawl under it, lol.

My ex wife was like that.

My new one is right in there even being prego.

Nat

[somewhereinusa]

The long can be a b!tch when it gets tangle in the wheels of your creeper and you're pinned to it, been there

Back in my long hair days, that's how I knew I really needed a haircut

Good job on the engine, I'm not doubting you did the work, I think the pictures are posed. Clean hands, clean clothes, long hair, clean legs, bare feet,clean face, clean arms, long hair on the floor. I've been working on engines all my life, only time I could stay that clean was on race engines and new rebuilds on an engine stand. Believe me even race cars get really dirty on a 24 hour endurance race.

Dick

[onenationundergoat]

Ha! Those were taken as soon as we started that day. All we did in that stretch was put in the cylinders and pistons, which we had cleaned meticulously. My dad kept telling me to smile and I am not good at posing when I'm actively trying to do something! I braided my hair so it wouldn't keep going under the creeper. Definitely had that problem, but mine's long enough that when braided I can just throw it over my shoulder and it stays put. Kinda.

[onenationundergoat]

All right, folks, I've been workin' my ash off for the past few days trying to get out of here on time. Still have to pack all my junk, finish to goat pen, and strap the generator on the back.

We have a 3-foot long back deck with wired tail lights, specially engineered stow away passenger seat, two back up cameras, two 30 gallon grey hooked up to the sink and tub, and one 30 gallon black water tank, and enough storage space for about twelve large totes plus more room to stack shorter totes on top of those. I've been putting zippers in all the cushion covers and I was getting really good at it until the sewing machine started fighting me. So I have to do the last three by hand. I'll have plenty of time to do that on the 27 hour drive to ND, though!

The fresh water system isn't hooked up yet, neither is the washer/dryer, but we'll get along with makeshift setup until we have time to finish it on the road.

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll try to post some before we leave but I honestly shouldn't take the time to do that, and we don't keep mobile internet plus my laptop screen died and it takes too much power to run the tv as the screen for long. Luckily I picked up a small portable typewriter from Salvation Army for five bucks! So I can type blog posts and use OCR at a library to shoot it into a post.

Thank you all for your help so far!!!! Everyone is so lovely. =]

[Tango]

Best of luck and please do try and stay in touch.

And remember...keep the shiny side up!

[Stoltz]

Hey!!!

My buddy Rob at Rush International Dealership in Statesville talked to you a few weeks ago.

He said he told you that his friend (Me!) was going to get a bus and do something very similar to what you are undertaking.


oh and I Just Purchase this girl yesterday!!
after checking out your forum and seeing what you guys do it really motivated me so I went for it!! My wife is all for it too!
Thanks guys!!!




Good Luck with everything and if you are in the area again or Mooresville drop me a PM there is plenty to do in this area!!!

[onenationundergoat]

Hi Stoltz! Welcome to the bus life! Looks great! What make/model/year/mileage/fuel?