SanFord the Great! A 1956 Ford B-600.

[Toyman01]

The 6.0 will get a EGR delete and oil cooler while it is out. The van engines don't put out the HP the truck engines did, so they seem to hold up better. I'm still going to give it the once over. It will also be much easier to work on under the hood of SanFord. I'll probably make a tilt front end while it's apart to make it even easier to get to.

The transmission has a fresh rebuild on it and should be good to go.

[Hvbuzz]

I was just thinking about your build last week, but hadn't had time to search to see where you were at on it. It looks great. I like how the paint turned out, looks very vintage. I also like how you hid the window airs. It just wouldn't have the right look to me, with a window air hanging out the back or some side window. Great job, and thanks for the update.

[Btimmer]

What would make the bus really cool would be to install a true 1956 Ford guage cluster instead of the 53-55 version that's in it. I realize the bus came with the earlier cluster as that's how they were made.

Good job on resurrecting the 1959 bus!!

[M1031A1]

I can attest to the Bullet-proof system. LOVE the system. I have it in my '05 F350 and it is AWESOME. She breathes better and gets better mileage to boot. I've been following your build since the start and am glad to see you're back with Sanford.

Outstanding craftsmanship!

M

[Tango]

Glad to see you are back at it. Can't wait to see the tilt front clip. I would love to do the same.

[cadillackid]

the tilt front clips making working on things so nice... everything but the radiator.. but if you make your clip like the OEM navistar busses then the clip is held on by 4 springs with cotter pins and 2 hinge pins.. and its off...

with the tilt clips of my busses I can stand between the wheel and frame and the engine is just above workbench height... or I can stand on the frame / wheel..

if you can build a tilt i surely would!!

ive never been a total 6.0 Hater, but the more I learn about it, the more id be willing to use one.. the navistar version VT-365 busses can be had CHEAP because people are afraid of it.. the navistar version didnt have all the same issues as the ford.. but the EGR cooler and oil cooler from the bulletproof system can be fitted on that as well..

-Christopher

[Tango]

Jack...aka; 'Ol Trunt"...did a brilliant job of constructing a full tilt front clip on his 1935 Shorty. Some very impressive engineering and fabbing on that build (slide out, pop-up roof, tilt front clip, pneumatic door, and more). Definitely worth digging that thread up.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Tango

Jack...aka; 'Ol Trunt"...did a brilliant job of constructing a full tilt front clip on his 1935 Shorty. Some very impressive engineering and fabbing on that build (slide out, pop-up roof, tilt front clip, pneumatic door, and more). Definitely worth digging that thread up.

I thought I was good until i read Tango and ol trunts threads.. wow!! and sanford is looking to impress also!! thersde classic busses present real challenges and the skills you guys have are fantastic!!

-Christopher

[Toyman01]

SanFord is still plugging along.

Since the last installment, I've redesigned the braking system. We've gone from a 1956 system that was failing to a more modern power brake system.

This old junk is gone.

(There was a image here but apparently PB images are disallowed even if you use a paid account.) The image is HERE if you want to see it.

The new system is based on this with some modifications to make it work.





I pulled the drums to give the brakes a once over. All good so far.



Then I dug into the wiring. This is the original switch panel. Unfortunately most of it was wired with solid wire and a lot of it didn't work.



A lot of the rest of the wiring is 60 year old cloth wrapped and it disintegrates every time you touch it. That necessitated rewiring the entire bus.



Not many pictures of that process. Lets just say it was a bit of a pain. Even the headlight buckets were taped up disasters. So all the old wiring is gone or abandoned. I still need to reinstall the front clearance lights, but she's ready for the road.





New switch panel for exterior lighting.



I have the first camping trip scheduled for the last weekend in April. So with that in mind, I've installed a temporary carpet in the drivers area.



The mattress is in.



And the shift motor for the rear axle is being rebuilt. The parts for it showed up yesterday.



That brings us up to date so far. There will be more to come...

[cadillackid]

wow!! thats some serious enhancements! its lookin good too!!! cant wait to see the pics from your first road trip in it!! love your style.. get it built enough to get it out and enjoy it with the coming of spring!
-Christopher

[dowoplover]

I don't have a bus...but I do live in a 40' fifth wheel. I am crazy about old cars and trucks and have been following 46 shorties build. I am totally impressed1 I had seen your build but forgotten about it. 53-56 Ford trucks are my favorite models. I absolutely love what you have/are doing with yours1 keep up the good work.

[Toyman01]

The shift motor went back together with a new ball screw, switch plate, and motor.


It's reinstalled and working properly so I took SanFord for a drive. Only about 15 miles, but that's farther than it's been in a little over two years. I'm happy to report that everything worked perfectly.

I moved on to the RV systems. The 120V system was inspected and found to be in pretty good shape so I've powered it back up. I'll need to run a couple of circuits for the new A/C systems but other than that, not much will need to be done.

The water heater was determined to be terminal. It is a tankless system that was discontinued in the 70s so it will be replaced with a newer tankless system. The existing steel cabinet is big enough to retrofit a modern unit so that's what I will be doing in the next few days.

The existing black tank was a cobbled together mess of particle board and fiberglass. It has been removed and is ready for me to install the new tank in the next week or so.

Things are finally coming together. It's looking like most of the systems will be working before my trip in April.

More to come.

[Toyman01]

SanFord is still getting some love. This week has been electrical and heating water.

The original water heater was a tankless system that was made in the 60s. I had hopes of getting it working. The pilot light worked but without water there was no way to test it.





A couple of days ago, I rigged it up to the water hose and turned the valve. Unfortunately it lived up to its name. It had apparently frozen at some point and was spewing water everywhere.



Time for plan B.

Since I wanted to stick with the tankless system, I decided to install a Ecotemp unit my wife had given me several years ago.



As luck would have it, the cabinet for the original WH was 12" wide and the Ecotemp WH is 11.5.

That meant digging the WH cabinet out of the bus. It left me with a bit of a hole.



New WH, old cabinet.



Looks pretty good in there.



All plumbed in except for the gas connection.



In the midst of cogitating on the water heater, I also did some preliminary work on the 120V system. Everything looked perfect except for the exterior plug for incoming power. I installed a temporary plug and energized the system.

Everything looked good so I fired off the refrigerator to see if it would cool. It took a while, but it seems to be working perfectly. Cold enough to freeze water bottles and that's good enough for me.

I haven't been able to find any information about the refrigerator online. It's a Norcold unit from the 60s-70s at a guess and runs on 120V or propane. I'll use it as long as it keeps working.



Also on the list this week was the black water tank. The original was made of particle board and fiberglass. Needless to say it had seen better days. It was removed to prepare for installation of a new tank.




Tomorrows plan is to finish the plumbing for the pump and tank and then see about installing the black water tank.

More to come.

[Skunky Bus]

Love it, love it, love it!

Awesome name BTW. (Wasn't Fred Sanford's old truck a Ford too?)

That'd be great if you can save & reuse the cabinets. I think they look beautiful, based on your photos. If it were my bus I'd like the idea of keeping 'em as a part of the vehicle's history. (Of course it ain't mine; I didn't luck out like that with my rig.)

I can't tell if that's really a rat or if it's a mouse. The nearby plumbing doohickey makes the carcass look small. Need dental imprints and skull measurements. Sorry; I watch a lot of CSI.

Congrats on your acquisition. It already puts the Kool in sKoolie! Good luck!

[Toyman01]

Alright.

We now have hot and cold running water. The water heater works perfectly!






The tank plumbing is not pretty, but it works and doesn't leak anymore. Pex is easy to work with, and fast, but it sure is hard to make it look nice. I'm thinking about pulling to top off of the bed base so I can get the plumbing done right but that's not going to happen before the camping trip the end of April.

This is probably the first time water has flowed out of this faucet in 20+ years.



The backdrop of the stove has been bothering me since I bought it. It's just painted steel, and I knew it was going to be a pain in the butt to keep clean. Not exactly high on the priority list but...



While I was working on the water system today, I walked past the SS front from a dishwasher I had just put in the scrap pile. It wasn't quite big enough but it's close enough.



The bottle of Johnny Walker was sitting on the counter when I bought the bus with only a swallow left in it. Anyone want to see what that last swallow of Johnny Walker tastes like? I think it will be staying there until someone drinks it.

Part of getting the water heater fire off was getting the propane system back together. I did away with the built in tank so I have hooked up a 20# bottle for now. We have gas again.



I also lit off the refrigerator to see if it would make ice out of fire.


The rest of the day was spent doing a through cleaning. Top to bottom, stem to stern. To say it was nasty is a understatement. Every surface was covered with dust. All the cabinets were emptied, vacuumed, and wiped down with Pine-Sol. All the parts for the build are now stored in the shop. The next thing to go in these cabinets will be the supplies needed for living in it.





My lovely wife spent part of today working on the curtains for it. I just knew red was the color to go with. They look pretty good from the exterior, but this might be a little over the top. This set may stay, but we will have to do some shopping for something a little less garish.



More to come.

[Tango]

Fire AND water...big steps! Rock on!

[Skunky Bus]

Originally Posted by Toyman01

Alright.

My lovely wife spent part of today working on the curtains for it. I just knew red was the color to go with. They look pretty good from the exterior, but this might be a little over the top. This set may stay, but we will have to do some shopping for something a little less garish.

Garish? Hell, It looks sharp to me. Granted, I'm looking at it on a 2.5 x 5-inch iPhone screen.

By contrast, the new Forester (class C) by Forest River I just saw online has an interior that's as charming as a mobile crime lab. Grey everywhere!

[dbhost]

Wow, awesome progress you are making there! Really love to see these things come together. Your project is giving me LOTS of howto questions but I will post them as their own threads....

[M1031A1]

I am so LOVING this build! What an awesome conversion to update and modernize! I love Fords to begin with, but the older the better!!!

M

[dan-fox]

Man, this thing is cool! Looks like a whole lot more "neat old stuff" than "pain in the a$$ old stuff". You have to keep that bunny badge off the old water heater and work it in somewhere.

Although, I have no idea why you'd throw out that perfectly usable black water tank.