Starting Mobile Vet Unit 1 of 3

[Tango]

Also be aware that hot metal sparks will pit glass very badly. Be sure to tape some thing over any you are working next to. I have seen windows & windshields pretty much ruined by said sparks.

[HealthyPetsBus]

After two day of very hard work deconstructing two buses, we are absolutely exhausted, and muscles we did not know we even had are sore, we took a well needed break to celebrate Cinco de Mayo east Texas style, with margaritas and crawfish!!!!!! Don't be too jealous y'all!!!!!

[cadillackid]

hey ya gotta take time to ENJOY the life you are building!! I dont drink tequila nor eat crawfish.. but I'll sure tip a shot of crown royal and down a slice of Pizza for ya!!

-Christopher

[Tango]

Bienvenidos y felize Cinco de Mayo! --- Great parties this weekend including the 25th anniversary of a musician friend and his beautiful bride.

Life is bueno for us Tejanos! Enjoy!

[bansil]

Originally Posted by HealthyPetsBus

So I'm trying to multi task and still attempting to get the seats out of bus 3 of 3. Thank God I'm only taking the seats out of one. A have chunks missing from all of my fingers. With or without gloves. Surgeon hands are NOT supposed to look like that.


I'm sanding bus 1 of 1 and I have some questions. Why did they make these buses so bumpy? I'm trying to sand in the grooves and I got a wire attachment for the this job. But, I it seems too sharp and just gouges. This is what I have:

make sure to wear safety glasses with those types of wire wheels(any really) it is bad enough digging out wires stuck in your belly....you do not want to google eyes plus wire wheels


also did you answer this?

What kind of vet? basic cat and dog OR ruminants?

Thanks

[HealthyPetsBus]

Ok we are ready to go to the next step with the interior of the bus while we are getting the outside sanded and otherwise prepped for painting. I am conflicted between getting things right the first time and not making extra work for myself. I am going to get those big rectangular tie down cleats on the ceiling. I am thinking I will leave the ceiling alone, and just paint it white. I am going to use the slightly upgraded version of Henry's SolarFlex on the roof for additional insulation.

I have two questions:
First question: I have holes in the floor where rust has eaten away the steel. I also have large circular holes where the tie down cleats were riveted directly into the floor. I have been advised to put down some sheet metal after Ospho treating and then rusty metal priming. I have been thinking of laying wooden support strips with insulation foam board between, then a layer of plywood and then vinyl (needs to be easy to clean a sanitize). Do I need to do something more to seal the two layers of steel? Im concerned that moisture is going to get between the two layers and make a nice rust pocket.

Second question: I am trying to decide to leave the skin and put foam board insulation between furring strips to attach the new walls which will be FRP panels (lazy, easy way). Or pulling down the skin to put two new layers of foam board insulation, otherwise the same way. HEAT insulation is the big concern here in Houston.

[Robin97396]

That's the nice part about this kind of build. You can use anything that you think will last for the next 20 years. Some weld the holes closed, others rivet plates in place. You're just trying to seal out water and rodents/bugs from underneath, and given your location water shouldn't be a problem. You can use just about any small scraps of thin plate metal you have to cover the holes as long as it's rust resistant

For your second question; most people are struggling for inches in these builds. If you can get enough R value between furring strips to satisfy you then it should be ok. I hope you're going big on the air conditioner.

Generally ceiling height is the concern with insulation. Floors are cold during cold weather and ceilings are hot during warm weather. How much more ceiling height are you willing to give up in order for your AC to be effective?

A lot of people in the warmer climates do as you're thinking. It may be overkill to do the full blown strip and build with insulation.

[Docsgsxr]

Use something like this on the outside. It will etch the paint to be able to spray a primer and paint.I use something similar on my motorcycle parts.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006ZJ...WCL&ref=plSrch

[dan-fox]

Hey how many of those tiedown rings did you scrap out? I see a bunch of holes there. I'd give you a buck apiece plus shipping for them. If you could post a closeup of the rectangular ceiling tiedown thingies to see if they are worthy, I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[HealthyPetsBus]

Sorry I had not answered the previous question about what kind of vet. These buses are for small animals, in particular dogs and cats.

In regards to the D ring tie downs, we have already repurposed most of them, but I can send the extras from the second band bus as soon as I grind them out. I have to go to the warehouse to take a pic tomorrow of the the larger tie down brackets. There are some smaller ones on the floor as well as the double sized ones on the ceiling. I can definitely give those away.

I tried the suggestion of the step down bit on an air drill. I could get a couple of the pop rivets out with that, but it did not seem to work well in my hands. Angle grinder definitely seems the best. I just got some sore arms from angle grinding above my head! I think I might be BUFF after working on these buses. OK, well... probably not, but a girl can dream!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Sorry, I don't know why you'd wash that with mineral spirits. Are you sure it wasn't supposed to be spirits to drink? That would make it look better.

There is literally a bit of blood in each of these conversions.

After sanding, its good to wipe everything down with mineral spirits or acetone.

[Robin97396]

Are you sure there isn't some kind of spirits we're supposed to drink while sanding and painting?

[Tango]

Cheap Tequila. And...it also comes in handy for removing paint!

[HealthyPetsBus]

I'm going to use some of the Klean Strip Easy Sand de glosser on parts of the bus. You think I will need to wipe that with mineral spirits? That's s lot of real estate to wipe down. I'm so anxious to get this thing painted. Too impatient and not enough time to work in the buses.

[Docsgsxr]

Go to home depot and pick up a 1 gallon sprayer (garden center), a box of trisodiumphosphate or TSP (paint dept), and you will need of course, water. Use ppe (personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, gloves, mask) when applying tsp to the surface, wait 15 minutes or so, then rinse clean. You may need to use a rag on harder areas with thicker oils. This will clean the surface and allow primers or paints to adhere much better.

[bansil]

Originally Posted by HealthyPetsBus

Sorry I had not answered the previous question about what kind of vet. These buses are for small animals, in particular dogs and cats.

Andrious is upset about this, he is height challenged also

Who is Andrious you ask?? Andrious as pet of the day

[HealthyPetsBus]

Awe!!!!! I love your little goat! I have worked on small ruminants before. Not fond of the big ones. Most of my large animal work in the past was focused with equine and small ruminants. I worked for the Houston SPCA for a while after I first graduated and did some stuff on animal planet with the large animals. Now I'm focused on small animal emergency, although these buses are for small animal wellness.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by HealthyPetsBus

I'm going to use some of the Klean Strip Easy Sand de glosser on parts of the bus. You think I will need to wipe that with mineral spirits? That's s lot of real estate to wipe down. I'm so anxious to get this thing painted. Too impatient and not enough time to work in the buses.

Hell, I'm sanding the whole bus, that's way worse.
Wiping it down with acetone or mineral spirits is just a minor part of prep.
I've not used the product you're asking about, so idk.

[HealthyPetsBus]

Well after a long delay I'm finally back to working on the buses. I have been back and forth about what to do with the walls and floor. At first I was going to take the metal skin off the wall. Then I decided to leave it and cut the chair rail lip off with my angle grinder. Well my wall is made of two halves with the upper have much thinner than the lower half. Grinding off the hair was a definite no go. Back to square one. Getting the upper half off was some work with screws and grinding off the upper layer of pop rivets.

This is what I have now. SUPER nasty insulation.





I'm nervous about taking this layer off first because it's to thick I wonder if it is structural and second because the rivets on this layer are huge!

[cadillackid]

in most busses the chair-rail is considered structural strenghtening... others can comment on whether its required, or was mainly accident protection for the occupants of the bus being hit in the side by say another bus or a truck...

-Christopher