Bus #2... saved and with a new home - Page 3

wccawa · 05-07-2008, 07:19 AM

Well, my flooring came up pretty easily, actually. I had a few tough spots, but most of it came up by hand, or with just a bit of encouragement from a scraper or hammer/screwdriver.

Recall, though, that I pressure-washed the interior of the bus when I first got it, so that moisture had been in there for several weeks. I'm wondering if that didn't loosen up the glue under the rubber just enough to make removal easier?

Looking at it some more, it seems most of my dampness was "fresh," not the kind that had been there for a long period of time. In fact, it seems now that the rest of the plywood is pretty darn near bone dry. Regardless, the rest of the plywood is staying in- I'm just going to replace the one obvious bad piece.

Glad to see you got moving on the flooring, bus-bro! What's next?

Les Lampman · 05-07-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bus-bro

Now throughout this operation I debated the question of to remove the floor or just get on with the conversion. My conclusion is screw the floor and get to the fun stuff. How long are you going to use the bus?

Ah! That's the question, exactly.

I think the decision to attack the floor comes when:

1) you know it's bad from the start or
2) it stinks or
3) you try a test area and the rubber comes right up or
4) you're going to put considerable effort and money into the conversion and you just have to know what's under there before building on top of it

wccawa · 05-07-2008, 08:53 PM

Those are all very, very good points. I've looked at this thing from every angle, and I'm keeping all but the one piece. It's dried out nicely, there are no rotten spots, and a bit of Fix-All took care of the places that just didn't want to give up the rubber matting....

I may keep this bus two years, five, ten or twenty... I have no idea. But I'm confident the floor is sound.

And on the PLUS side, I have recouped 1% of the purchase price of my bus in loose change! Yup, those quarters under the seats, the floor, and wherever else, sure do add up!

Les Lampman · 05-08-2008, 08:00 AM

And really, to be fair, I should have added one more category to my list of reasons to do the floor.

5) You just want to.

It's just in the nature of some folks to work at high levels of detail. It may be something that you just "gotta" do or just "wanna" do...just because. And I think they should since it's ultimately their conversion project and that's supposed to be a fun and rewarding thing.

wccawa · 05-08-2008, 06:58 PM

OK, I just (finally) found the tag for my rear-end ratio. It's 4.77

I searched through the threads and used the calculator at http://www.idavette.net/tech/ratioc.htm, as others have...

So... with 42" tires, a 4.77 rear end, and a redline of 2400 rpm, I should be able to cruise at 62.9 mph. Did I do that right? And is 4.77 a "good" rear end ratio?

Thanks in advance...

Les Lampman · 05-08-2008, 07:07 PM

Yea, I'd say so. Seems like a lot of them are in the 5.something or other range and are a lot slower. You ought to be able to hold 60 pretty well and still climb hills without crawling.

wccawa · 05-08-2008, 10:25 PM

Well, that makes a lot of sense given the roads we deal with here...

In fact, I'll try and take a bit of video and show you what we deal with. There's obviously a reason they buy these buses this way. Stay tuned!

But I should be good to go on the open road, though, right?

Les Lampman · 05-09-2008, 07:51 AM

Definitely! It ought to do pretty well on the open road.

Perhaps ideally it would be nice to get in the high 60's or around 70 mph at 2400 so when cruising around 60 or so the rpm would be lower. That requires a rear in the the low to mid range 4.something (say 4.2 to 4.4). However...you might not have enough horsepower to pull that taller gearing (there should be a plate on the engine that tells you the horsepower and the DT466 can be turned up) or with taller gearing you could be ok on the flats but get really slow in the hills. I tend to keep the bus down in the 60 mph range anyway since the thing is like a barn door going down the road and more speed equals more fuel but it's a personal choice thing.

I don't think it's a change you'd want to make unitl you get the bus done and drive it quite a bit to see what you do and don't like about it. Then you can decide if messing with the rear end and/or the engine is worth the time and money. It could be that what you have now is a perfect compromise; as it is now can go anywhere in the country!

wccawa · 05-09-2008, 12:12 PM

Thanks for the info, and having driven the "twin" of this bus, I am perfectly content with the speed and power. Besides, there are no roads within 100 miles of me where you can even GO more than 60 mph. Most of them are in the 40-50 mph range.

Speaking of which, on a lark, I videotaped part of my drive out to Neah Bay this morning, and by that, I mean I laid my video camera between the defroster vents and pointed it forward... lol. Anyway, I uploaded it to YouTube, if anyone is interested. It's about eight minutes long.

I have entitled it "The twistiest school bus route in America," although I have no idea if that's actually true... let me know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDKYemKnWE4

Les Lampman · 05-09-2008, 07:05 PM

Great! Looks like quite the drive.

It reminds me of taking our first bus (the 1978 International conventional) down the narrow twisty road into Silverthorn Resort at Shasta Lake in northern California where we rented our houseboats. The speed limit on the road was 15 mph and the corners slower and it was about 1-1/2 lanes wide. I swear I got the chance to check out my rear license plate on some of the harpin turns.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

Griff · 05-09-2008, 07:19 PM

WHEE-E-E-E-E-E!

I'm gonna go ride that ride again!

Where on that road do ya stop fer the chilluns!?! (. . .or do ya just snag 'em with a net on the way by. . .)

wccawa · 05-09-2008, 10:51 PM

Stop? STOP?

I don't stop... I just kind of snag 'em with the cow catcher!

Seriously... that was on the way out to pick 'em up at Neah Bay. No kids on the bus. Just me.

But it WAS a beautiful morning. I'm glad I taped it when I did. We don't get many like that...

wccawa · 05-11-2008, 06:59 PM

Like night and day...

I bought a few pint cans of different colors and makes of paint- grey, silver, black, you name it... and did just a few parts of the bus exterior to compare the results.

Two things became VERY obvious almost immediately.

1) This bus is going to be gloss black, with hammered gray trim. The paint will be XO Rust for the body, Rustoleum for the trim. XO Rust seems to "hold" better on a body application, but Rustoleum seems perfect for trim work. Done deal. The bonus of this is that I don't have to worry about custom colors. It's all off the shelf.

2) There will be NO rolling or brushing. What a pain in the ass! We had our first nice afternoon here in I can't TELL you how many months, and the rolling looks like crap. The good thing is that it makes the brushing look even better, as THAT turned out even worse. And where did all these frickin' bugs come from? Good God, the painting looks worse than my tinting!

No... I'll find a nice day, a quite place, mask, then spray. The little daughter gave me the thumbs up on the color choice, and we have agreed this bus will be called "The Black Skunk." We'll even put a little logo on the side. T-shirts will be available in the lobby.

Heh.

wccawa · 05-11-2008, 11:50 PM

There will most CERTAINLY be a white strip. Somewhere.

What? You think I have this planned out or something?

wccawa · 05-13-2008, 08:30 PM

PS... for those of you who want to visualize your bus before actually committing yourself to a course of action, Google has a tool out there called "Sketch Up." It's free, it's amazing, and it has a ton of bus templates already there.

http://sketchup.google.com/

I meant to include this earlier, and completely forgot. Sorry about that...

wccawa · 05-27-2008, 09:16 PM

Recently I've been forced into inaction due to my schedule and workload. However, things are a changin', and the weather is slowly improving, so it looks like my "paint day" is coming up soon.

I have my plywood floor all set and fixed, and I'm picking up the (free) carpet I was offered, so it looks like full speed ahead in the next couple of weeks!

One question: In Washington state, must you remove the amber/red lenses from the eight-way system, or can you leave them intact, if they are non-functional? This topic seems to generate quite a bit of controversy from those "in the know"...

wccawa · 06-19-2008, 07:42 PM

I haven't posted much lately, but have been working on her darn near every day.

Today, I scored some free, old, casino carpeting. After staring at it a while, all my plans changed. The carpet should make everyone dizzy, but I actually like it!

I have an 8 3/4" gap on either side, but will figure something out. In the meantime, my carpenter friend is coming over soon to give me some advice and help out. My daughter and her friends have pretty much taken over... it's become a playroom for them!

This bus WILL be on the road this summer.

Abbott · 06-19-2008, 07:50 PM

Wow! I dunno, it is kind of cool. I know what you mean about working on your bus everyday, I am hitting mine about 6 days per week and I still have a long ways to go.

wccawa · 06-19-2008, 09:56 PM

When I first read this forum and website, the rule seemed to be: prepare to change your plans.

That's for sure.

I just re-drew my floor plans. It's almost like each bus has its individual personality. You just have to find out what it is and go with the flow.

wccawa · 07-19-2008, 07:50 PM

Rolling paint on a bus... on the Washington coast?

Bad idea. I quit. There's nothing like a steady westerly wind to convert the roof into an entomology collection worthy of a shrine. Plus, the humidity is killing the finish. It's a long story. But it sucks.

Time to break out the sprayer.

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