Buscapades

[FuzzWantsABus]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Looks like it needs some Ospho.

You are correct, sir! It also needs some sanding/wire wheeling, but not too bad.

Originally Posted by Stewzer55

That floor looks really solid, maybe the boxes helped protect it?

The floor is pretty awesome, after I got it swept off. Oddly, the worst part for most of the floor is actually where the aisle was. I'm assuming it's because that was a separate strip, and it was being held down with aluminum that probably didn't seal it very well. The boxes appear to be in good shape, too. I still can't get in them, so time will tell, but from the outside, there doesn't appear to be much rust on them, either.

[FuzzWantsABus]

Originally Posted by miltruckman

The solution was the bracket bolted to the side of the cargo compartment. Look at the outside end of the cargo compArtment and you should see two bolts thAt hold the small bracket on, inside the box, that the end latches slide behind to hold the door shut. Just grind the heads of the bolts off and the bracket will fall off inside the box and the door should open right up.

Bill
Michigan

Bill,

I went out and looked last night. There isn't anything that penetrates the outside wall of my boxes, at least not on the sides. The bus is in a mud pit right now, so I didn't crawl under to look at the back of the boxes. Seems like I'm back to Rameses' suggestion. I think I'm also going to go by the shop of a locksmith I've used before and pick their brains a bit. Maybe I can weasel something out of 'em.

[FuzzWantsABus]

Okey doke, I guess I missed an important update. I was super excited on Monday when I went out and started banging around on the boxes on my bus. I ended up getting 3 out of the 5 open! I think I'll get one more, but the latch is trashed on the other one and I'm going to have to completely remove the whole thing. The only reason the other bin isn't open in this pic is that the clip on the lanyard that holds it up is rusted shut. The inside of the boxes looks great, which is awesome.



I've started taking the interior skins down. The screws are coming out pretty easily for the most part. I've got the wiring chases off, and today I worked for about an hour after work to get one ceiling panel and the endcap off. It should go more quickly from here on out. So far the ceiling looks great (and no dreaded black tar...YAY). I have a feeling there will be more problems/rust around the roof exits, though.

[FuzzWantsABus]

Sunday has turned into Buscapades Sunday. It's generally a good day for me to work a good part of the day, and lately, the weather has been cooperating for the endeavor. I've been working a bit here and there after work as well.

Today, I got all of the ceiling panels out, except the one over the driver's seat and the short one just behind it. Got all the insulation down and cleared out. Got all the side panels on the passenger side out, and the insulation out of there as well. I also got the back wall panel on the passenger side out. Using the cutting wheel just below the level of the trim beneath the windows is by FAR the easiest way to get the wall panels off.

While trying to clean insulation and gunk out of the narrow area from the chair rail to the floor, I had a brilliant moment with my shop vac. The big tube was working ok, but it can't get into the smaller areas. I had a long-necked plastic funnel for putting additives into the gas tank, and ended up sticking that on the end of the big tube. Worked amazing! Suction held the funnel on the tube, and the narrow end/neck of the funnel increased suction and could get into super narrow spaces.

I also spent some time with the grinder and went back and ground down all the stubs of screws from where I ground the heads off. Necessary? No, it'll all be covered in spray foam. But it looks nicer, and is one less thing for me to rip myself open on.

[FuzzWantsABus]

Been a while since I've updated--not because nothing has been done, but because I can only work a few hours at a time, and the pics all look the same anyway when all you do is one more section of floor or ceiling...lol

So, I've gotten all the floors un-rusted and sealed with Corroseal, all the screw holes caulked with Sikaflex221, all the seat bolt holes sealed with carriage bolts and LiquidNails, and all of the stupid adhesive gross stuff ground off of the ceiling panels. Took the rear roof strobe light off and covered the hole (my first "real" metal-working--it went really well!!) and sealed. Finally got my last cargo box open by unriveting the door from the hinge. The hinge is badly rusted and will need to be replaced anyway, so it worked out well.

The last couple of weeks I've been working on the driver's area--finally got all the heaters totally out, the hoses removed, the driver's seat removed, the doghouse out, and the last of the linoleum flooring pulled up.

I'm trying to do lots of little things while I save up my $$$ for the roof raise. I think there's plenty to keep me busy.

[FuzzWantsABus]

Since my last update?? Well, I guess that's the way it goes. It's not that nothing has been done....But I haven't updated much.

I finished clearing out the driver's area, getting rid of all the unneeded wiring and panels. It's down to just the signal lights, the electric mirrors, and the windshield wipers. I have the wiring diagram, so once I figured out how to read it, it wasn't too bad.

I put in all new LED rear lights & a trailer conversion kit so that now I have stop/turn lights & turn signals (7"), and 3" white LED backup lights. I also installed 8 7" white LED lights (four front, four back) where the old red/amber lights were. I plan to use them like cargo lights, and will wire them to switches in the driver's compartment.

Got all of the decals/reflective tape removed, using the 4" eraser wheels. I think it took about 8 to do the whole bus. They're not necessarily "easy" to use, but easier than scraping, and it doesn't harm the paint.

The bus basically sat with little progress from October until June of this year, when I FINALLY got going with the roof raise. I found a local fellow to help me initially, but through a series of circumstances, ended up using Charles Kern & his company, Chrome Yellow. We're 1-1 1/2 days from being done.

I ended up doing a full 24" raise. I installed a side door (full size residential exterior door, 30"x80")behind the rear passenger side wheels, along with two steps. An electric drill with a trigger lock is basically mandatory if you're going to do this.

Charles and his guys have been amazing. I have been able to do a lot of the grunt work myself, with some direction from them, so that I am not paying them for work I can do myself. The quality of the work is amazing, and I couldn't be happier. This isn't meant to be an advertisement, by any means, but I want to give credit where it is due. All that's left is to install the front cap piece and do some finish work.

Also, I know that questions come up regularly about the structure of the bus walls/floor. Since I cut a hole in the side of my bus and through the floor, I have good pictures of cross-sectioned walls/floor of my bus. If anyone is interested, just let me know.

Here's a couple of pics. I have tons more, but I know the forum doesn't like too many, and I am sick to death of Photobucket.

[magnakansas]

That looks pretty slick.......


william

[FuzzWantsABus]

Originally Posted by magnakansas

That looks pretty slick.......


william

Thanks William!