Mullet's Thunder Bus Build

[Rovobay]

Johnny, I like how the painting is coming along. I am in the middle of painting too. lots of prep work. I am spraying my bus. all day yesterday was prepping a new area for paint. lots of sticker residue to remove. bondo filling of holes where mirrors, and signs use to be. I will be happy when that is behind me!

[Johnny Mullet]

Got up and started on the bus at 7:00 am. I masked off and painted all the black trim with gloss spray paint. This includes the side rub rails, the windshield area, the main entry door, and the fenders. I then went and masked off the rear and started painting the silver/gray on the back. Just as I was finishing the back a freak storm started rolling through. I actually have footage of it in the video I will upload tomorrow. The storm passed and it seems the paint survived. Guess I will finish the paint next weekend.............

[Johnny Mullet]

Here is the latest video upload. I also share a story of helping someone out........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC4hHG02Pbc

[Johnny Mullet]

This last week it was still too humid and rainy to paint and this weekend is a total washout with the rain, so I am unable to finish the paint job until we get some decent weather and hopefully on my days off of work since the days are getting shorter.

I need to roll the roof and rear section a second coat and that will be done. I gave the black it's second and last coat already. The hood and both sides now need the gray painted, but I am going to try spraying this time. I don't mind the rolled look on the roof and rear of the bus, but I don't want the hood and sides that way.

I went ahead and picked up a 300 amp battery isolater switch and will be installing this to charge my coach or house batteries while driving. It's free energy (while I am driving it) so I might as well use it. Simple high amp hot line from bus battery (+) to the switch and then from the switch to the coach battery (+) terminal. This manual switch is as simple as you can get and I am in total control of when I want to add the extra charging power to by batteries.

I'll update later.

[Johnny Mullet]

The weather is going to cooperate this weekend. My goal for today was to roll a second coat on the roof, rear, and paint the front top with 2 coats. The second coat made a HUGE difference and I am happy with how it looks. Tomorrow I have tons of making to do and then I am going to spray the hood and sides with a flat grey.

Prepping and painting a school bus is a huge job that is very time consuming and tiring. I painted a few cars in my younger years and they did not take as long as this huge bus. My hands hurt and my hip hurts from going up and down the ladder all day.

I was able to go ahead and wire in my 300 amp switch from the bus batteries to the coach batteries and tested it. Coach batteries were at 12.7v and I started the bus, let it run a few minutes, and flipped the switch. Batteries were charging at 14v and I let it run another hour while checking my cables. There is a 50 amp Maxi-fuse inline for this cable.

[david.dgeorge07]

50 amps will pop quick at 12v as soon as you see much of a load. My 200 amp breaker between house and coach batts goes if I run anything big.

[Johnny Mullet]

This is only for charging the batteries while driving to supplement my solar system. When driving the bus, we will not have much on. Even with EVERYTHING on in the bus I draw 20 amps max. If I have a problem, I can use a larger fuse. Thanks!

[Johnny Mullet]

I finished the paint job on the bus. Ran out of silver/grey and finished with smokey grey...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFEOi4floBE

[Johnny Mullet]

And a few touch ups and final misc stuff........

[Johnny Mullet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWR3sbKfTc

[Seriousracer]

Cool hope you don’t get stopped and your tank checked. It takes several tanks of fuel to get rid of that dye. It is about a $2500 fine here in Indiana. Crossing stateliness gets uglier.
Off road diesel has a higher ceiten and is a better fuel. The problem is the red dye it designates road taxes have not been paid.

Nice bus I like Amish mans work.

[Ronnie]

Nice paint job.

Ummm I think you said "on" road diesel.... of course you could edit it if you might have accidentally said otherwise.....

[Johnny Mullet]

Well since all that fuel is gone, I guess after a few tanks we will be good to go. Don't want to get fined for free fuel.

[Johnny Mullet]

I installed my backup camera yesterday and I will get some pictures up. It's nice to be able to see behind you. I also installed a separate LED backup lamp so I can see behind me at night.

[Johnny Mullet]

Here are the pics. Video coming in a few days...........

[Ronnie]

That is a really nice view it gives. I have seen some that show lines where you are going and that just messes with what I am looking at.

Having driven trucks since I was young, mirrors work well for me, but sometimes knowing what is right behind would be nice.

What brand/model is it?

[BlueFish]

JM,

Nice paint and cam!

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

That is a really nice view it gives. I have seen some that show lines where you are going and that just messes with what I am looking at.

Having driven trucks since I was young, mirrors work well for me, but sometimes knowing what is right behind would be nice.

What brand/model is it?

I got that camera on Amazon here............

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Yukon Cornelius]

Loving the way this bus has come together, outstanding work.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mullet

I got that camera on Amazon here............

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks, put it in the cart, looks like a nice system