Ludicrous Speed

[browncrown]

"Well go on attack us, we'll givem a slap, we'll smack them right out into space, We're Jews out in space...we're sailing along, protecting the Hebrew race...
Love the end of that movie Lorna

[jkindt]

If you leave the starboard side door you will have one on each side. That could be very handy!

[atcc77]

I'm partial to Blazing saddles myself, Mel Brooks is an idiotic genius!!! Auf Wiedersehen Baby, you're making a German spectacle of yourself!!!

[lornaschinske]

Young Frankenstein.... Walk this way... (love Feldman as Igor) and "Puttin' on the Ritz" (I have always loved Cole Porter's Puttin' on the Ritz but with Wilder & Boyle.. perfection)

To Be or Not to Be... "Heil myself"

"It's Good to be the King" History of the World Pt 1 and Robin Hood

"May the Schwartz be with you" Spaceballs

"Torquemada - do not beg him for mercy. Torquemada - do not ask him for forgiveness. Let's face it - you can't Torquemada anything! " History of the World Pt 1

"Missed it by that much" Get Smart! (TV series)

"Let's end this meeting on a high Note" and they all hit a high note! History of the World Pt 1

High Anxiety... I still get that song stuck in my head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen: In the interest of clarity and sanity, the rest of this movie will not be in Polish." To Be or Not to Be

"He's world-famous in Poland!" To Be or Not To Be.

Silent Movie... words fail me.

Now I need to watch all my Mel Brooks movies!

[chev49]

Death Race 2000 ... now that's how to pattern your bus driving after... esp when going by nuns...

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Finally had a break in the weather!
Took the window skinning steel out of the bus and washed the oil and dirt off of it.

Unfortunately, by the time I finished this task, I had lost the light, and had to pack up for the night. Placed the cleaned metal back in the bus, stacked in a way to get air to it, and put some box fans in to dry them out before they rust (I hope.)

Today is supposed to be cold and wet again (go figure). Hope to prime the skin tomorrow.

[yankeflyer]

One thing we all have in common, is the day all the seats are out and its ready to build. It's been fun the last few years watching so many other people get their buses to that point. So many great projects on here.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Ahhh the wonderful feeling of accomplishment! Our RV door is now installed and the bus is no longer open to the elements!

The assembled door prior to installation.


One thing I was impressed with when we tore my parents' camper apart was the rope caulk that was used to install the windows. I figured if, after all the time the old camper sat, the rope caulk was still pliable and sealing well, it would work fine for my door and windows.


I used half the width of the rope caulk all the way around the door frame.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

The window frame that was in the RV door was not in the greatest of shape, as the raised parts that the screws go into to hold the frames together were all brittle and split. My solution was to install some inserts from the outside.

The inserts I used.


I had to drill holes through the plastic, and the inserts just press into the holes.


I ran the screws in from the inside and used a cutoff wheel to cut them flush with the inserts.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

The fun part of the door install was cutting and mounting the catch into the frame.

I laid out the placement with my trusty sharpie.


Using an angle grinder with cutoff wheel, I cut the opening. I then installed the catch.


The door actually closes!!!


I have proof!

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

[Stretch]

[flash=420,315:1y2zzx3h]http://www.youtube.com/v/fRYbOiaMsUI?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0[/flash:1y2zzx3h]

Holy crap it's tricky to embed youtube videos!

Link to how it's done.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11620&p=82432&hilit=embed+yout ube#p82432

[TygerCub]

Originally Posted by spencerforhire

I have a suggestion for the flooring. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would use either a sticky vinyle floor planks from Home Depot they cost a little more than 1.50 per square foot depending on your selection of "wood" Its called Allure.

I have that stuff installed in my hallway upstairs in the house. It is super easy to install, looks great, is easy to clean, and you don't have to worry about splinters when sliding down it in stocking-feet

HOWEVER... there are several drawbacks:

1) It is only water resistant, not water proof. Don't install it where you expect to have a lot of standing water (by a sink, shower, or tub).

2) It does not take heavy traffic well. If you expect to wear your shoes inside your bus after tromping all over the muddy campground, expect the finish of the floor to wear pretty quickly. This can be easily avoided by just taking your shoes off when you come into the bus. Otherwise, I would suggest putting down a runner rug at the entry points so most of the dirt is trapped in it, and not allowed to scuff up the floor.

3) It's next to impossible to replace just a small section of floor. Unlike regular wood flooring that snaps into place and can be taken apart piece-by-piece, the Allure product literally glues itself into one large piece. That is both its brilliance (it's super easy to install and forms a nearly seamless cover when it's finished) and its downfall (its monolithic structure makes it impossible to spot repair).

4) It must be installed over a very solid foundation. The vinyl panels are a little more than 1/8" thick, so there is no structure to them at all. Every little bump, every screw head and piece of debris left in the underlying flooring will eventually be visible and felt. I installed the Allure over an old hardwood floor that was badly stained and gouged. There were a few nail heads that just refused to be pounded flush (or maybe the wood kept floating down around the head?) and as I type, I can see where one nail is under the new floor. It's not a bad thing, per-say. Just something to be aware of when thinking about using this.

Overall, if you can work around these minor problems, I would consider the Allure as a good choice for the bus. The few drawbacks are well worth the ease of installation.

[Stuff]

that rope caulk that you call it, my father calls it, pardon my french, bear ****. and yes that 70's donor rig i tore apart still have very good pliable rope caulking. very good stuff!

[dirtygoat]

Very nice work on the door...

[TheRainbowBoxer]

A couple weeks ago I had started painting the steel panels. Friday I finished priming all of them.

The panels had picked up a little rust between painting days. A little steel wool cleaned them right up.


I used a low pressure paint gun. Took some screwing around with the adjustments, but eventually the paint was flowing good.


I was going glare blind after a while. On the second day I thought to bring sunglasses.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Now that we have our steel all painted, its time to start the window skinning process!

After some thought / debate, we decided that the top rub rail would have to come all the way off to get the steel behind both the roof edge and the rub rail.


Pulled down the wiring chase, since it covers the tops of the windows.


Windows came out without a fight.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Since the windows around the dinette are going to be 5 foot long, we needed to take out a couple supports. We decided it would be a good idea to put a frame around the window since we took out 2 consecutive pillars. Unfortunately, we are short on the square tube steel, so this section is getting tarped for the time being.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Not one to be so easily thwarted, I went ahead and skinned the section that comes before the window opening, then stripped the section to the back of the door so I could begin skinning that.

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Skinning details:
Before we put the steel in, we ran a bead of liquid nails along all of the points where the steel will touch. We then forced the steel up under the roof edge. The air chisel (I am in LOVE with this tool) came in handy to force the panels apart so the steel would fit. After bracing the steel with a board to keep it from dropping back down, I went inside the bus and drilled through the holes left by the factory rivets in the top row.

Once the top row of rivets was in, I had my oldest son brace the steel from the other side while I was drilling. He looks so productive.



I used a larger drill bit to clean up any burrs on the outside, then popped a rivet in. The rivets I am using are steel 3/16" rivets with a wide flange. I chose those because they look the most like the original rivets and are steel (to avoid dissimilar metal corrosion).

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Once the panels were all in on the section I was working on, we remounted the rub rail. The rub rail was not exactly straight, so it was fun getting the holes to line up again. I had my oldest hold up one end of the rail while I put the screws into the holes furthest back (not sure why they used screws there in the first place ).
Once the back end was supported, we used a board to hold the front end. My son then was tasked with taking a punch, and using it to align the hole next to the one I was riveting. Once the bottom row of rivets was in place, I used some self tapping screws, about every 4th hole, to draw the top of the rail tight against the bus. I drilled and riveted until I exhausted my rivet supply. Oh well, ordered another 10 boxes of them, and will start again.


We are starting to look a little better every day!