The Amaranth Conversion

[browncrown]

welcome

[zim]

Welcome aboard! Post lots of pictures!

As Smitty mentioned on the windows... lots of condensation. Having just finished the prep work, 99% of the rust damage in my ~28 year old Thomas is all below the windows. It's like someone drew a line. Nice new metal above, stains and rust below. Considering how easy the windows came out and how cheap FRP or other paneling is, I really kick myself for not pulling them on the first bus. Yours might be a lot easier to caulk up than mine, though.

Anyway, show us what you go with, whatever you chose and enjoy your skoolie!

[lornaschinske]

When raising a roof, you need to keep in mind your overall height when finished. Are you going to have AC units, Sat Dishes, etc on the roof? Take those additional things into account when figuring your roof raise. 12'6" is generally the height to be kept under. While 13' 6" is considered the max height for most places, you will still run into 12' 6" bridges (and lower) on the backroads. A lot of stores (like Wal-Mart) are installing height barriers. Usually at 12"6" or 12 ft height.

If you are raising your roof then you will want to carry a current Motor Carriers Road Atlas

[putterspitt]

how cold did it get last nite? Batteries dont like extreme cold or heat.

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by amaranth

Still can't start the bus, after the battery charged to full and it was probably 60 degrees when I tried. Just one click.
What would be in the starter circuit that would prevent it from starting?

If the battery is known to be good, then try using a screwdriver with insulated handle to bridge the starter solenoid poles directly (warning: you're dealing with some serious amperage here - don't electrocute yourself!). If that results in the engine spinning, then your problem is between the ignition and the solenoid. If it does nothing, then test to be sure you are getting 12v at the solenoid from the battery, this being true it's probably time to get the solenoid/starter tested.

[BUSBOZO]

Yeah, I would make sure your connections are clean and tight. You could have a corroded cable or terminal at the battery or the starter. Also check your grounds.

Start with the simple stuff first.

If the cables, connections and battery are all good. Then I would suspect the starter. At that point you could try what Diesel Dan said.

Good luck.

[dirtygoat]

Check around for a place that rebuilds starters if it turns out that it's bad... It could save you a bunch of money... Never dealt with a bus starter, but there's a few places up here that I've had rebuild starters for all kinds of vehicles and saved a lot of dough...

[zim]

Originally Posted by amaranth

The folks at the sheet metal shop claim you can paint galvanized if you etch it with moradic acid first.

They are probably talking about muriatic (aka Hydrochloric) acid and I suspect it's similar in action to Phosphoric acid (aka Naval Jelly) in that you'll want to make sure you wash it all off before painting... as well as limiting the time it's in contact with the metal. Muriatic acid can be picked up in various places that sell swimming pool supplies and is used to 'pickle' metal to ensure it's clean and free of oxidants BEFORE it is galvanized.

I am not sure about the whole thing, so I'm choosing the 'primer for galvanized metal' route.

[Stuff]

lots of progress!

[ramairws601]

Wow, it was a year ago my roof was at that point.........Looking good so far, keep it up. are you cutting out the roof over the driver area? I dont know how you plan on doing your transistion but I did mine like this: pulled the center panel of metal into the bend with clamps and straps, saw where it was going to lay and marked out about 1 1/2" away. then took it down, cut on the lines, put in place and attached it. then I put in my supports under it so I could get them tight to the skin, and the metal would bend smoothly instead of over a support if I judged it wrong. then I did my side panels which were the hardest to bend so far over, slipping the tops under the center panel. I reckon your 18" will make this bend even harder. an extra set of hands is helpful during this time! You are going to catch up to me and probably pass me up at this rate.

[ramairws601]

I realized I forgot to mention that process in my topic, will update my post to these steps but here is how I did the other part of the panel. once you get the center panel up there and bent over you will see how easily it lays on the front edge of the original cap, just pick your line where it lays best and thats your front. the hard part was definetly the rear edge. you/others may disagree but I let my panel hang over the raised roof about 1 1/2", fastened the front edge down with clamps so it wouldnt move and the hammer formed the metal down to match the contour of the roof. I used a MAP hand torch to heat the metal, started at the center, bent down a section and screwed it in place. moved over about 4" and did it again. the metal will buckle up inbetween the screws due the nature of the bend being done on a curve. that meatl that buckles up between is then heated and hammered down, shrinking it so it lays flat. then remove screws, lift panel, add sealer and rivet in place using old screw holes and some new ones were drilled also.
heres the pic to help explain, also note the color of that metal? It was a panel I pulled out of the ceiling of my bus. my bus had a section of longer windows so I had 2 extra wide panels that were 2 windows wide, worked well, galvanized too. I added more rivets between what you see in this pic. I took the pic while I had some daylight left. I drilled and riveted into the night. you can see where the metal is high toward the bottom of the pic and had to be riveted down more. the center of the roof laid down well, its once you get to the tight curve at the edges the metal becomes harder to manipulate. if you want to do it easy, eastwood co. sells a shrinker die you could use to get the same results without all the screwing, heating and hammering, but I was too cheap to buy it for a one time use........
http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/d/32...01-10_1638.jpg

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by amaranth

... How have others attached hitches onto their skoolies?[/b]

Welded it on. We need to drill a few holes to bolt the hitch on as well (just a little extra peace of mind since David doesn't trust his welding skills). It held up to pulling a 5500lb Jeep 1700+ miles. Just a tip... allow large enough holes with enough clearance to attach the safety chains. Use threaded links or some way to keep your safety chain from "walking" off. We lost a safety chain off our vintage popup over night in a hotel parking lot.




This was all built from scrap we had laying around before we left NC. David bought a 2" square tube receiver from Harbor Freight in Asheville that would accept one of our 2" ball hitches. We used one with a drop on it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/automot...ube-97095.html this is what we bought and welded to the bus.
this is similar to one (or more) of our ball mounts. But I think ours has a longer drop (4"?). We have two or three different drops. While the two jeeps are the same height, the Class C and the Bus are higher and required a longer drop. The pick-up truck that we sold also required a longer drop so I have a long drop and a shorter drop. I think I have one in between the two. I just can't remember what we sold off and what we kept. At one point we had 5 ball mounts.

[dirtygoat]

My frame is the same width as an '80s chevy truck... My neighbor gave me the hitch off his when he got a flat bed...

[j12784]

I am having the issue where I removed my back door alarm, and now my bus wont start. I had it sitting for a while, and tried to charge the batteries, but when I turn the key it just makes a click noise. I am pretty lost because the wires are all different colors ect for the back door alarm hook up.

Anyone have a 1990 or similar model school bus (thomas built pusher) that may be able to help?

[chev49]

When i unhooked the rear door on the driver's side alarm system i had to ground one of the wires and i believe tape off the rest. I may have had to connect two of them together.. This is on a 1991 thomas pusher. So if you have a thomas, you probably have wiring to both the latch and the safety latch mechanisms like my bus..What i did to solve the issue when mine wouldn't start, was to remove the switches from the brackets they were enclosed in, then hook the wires up just as they were originally, then remove one at a time and go try to start the bus..That is how i discovered which wire to ground, and what else to do. My bus also had wiring between the two switches going through the wall, which i discovered as i went along, and therefore i was able to remove the duplicate wiring at the same time. I believe there is a total of three main wires, with one which has to be grounded.

[j12784]

Ok I got the vandalock system bypassed. Alled a guy out to help me who knew more about electrical stuff.

Basically you have to connect the two wires and ground the third.