The bus for us

[ii_amnt]

So, I had noticed this a little while back and it keeps coming up from the back of my mind.


This is the drive shaft, about 6 feet forward of the rear diff. It seems to be separating where two pieces meet. Can someone give me their interpretation?

I believe I have decided to remove the rear heater and driver's heater. Though, I will leave in the heater by the front door. I have included two pictures that show some of the routing in the engine bay. If I remove those two, should I still need the extra water pump?

[Tango]

It appears to be the center bearing mount for a 2 piece driveshaft.

[Dragonpop]

One thing to remember is that the coldest seat in a bus is the drivers seat as
there is very little insulation on the side with the electrical and little to no
insulation in front because of the steering column and pedals taking up the
room where the insulation would go.

[ii_amnt]

Originally Posted by Tango

It appears to be the center bearing mount for a 2 piece driveshaft.

That makes sense, but I am wondering if it looks okay. To me, it seems the two pieces of driveshaft are slowly separating. I know that collar is loose, and probably just needs to be screwed back on. But, I have nothing to compare to, so I am unsure if this looks normal.

Originally Posted by Dragonpop

One thing to remember is that the coldest seat in a bus is the drivers seat as
there is very little insulation on the side with the electrical and little to no
insulation in front because of the steering column and pedals taking up the
room where the insulation would go.

This is a good point. I will likely leave it until I get further along. I will have to think on it. I know removing It would give me better access to the floor underneath it and the space in front to treat rust and paint. Maybe I will remove it to at least gain better access, then if it turns out I want to keep it, I can give it a good cleaning, too.

Last weekend I started attacking the floor with naval jelly, wire cup brush on my new angle grinder and a little flap disc for the glue residue. The more I am in that bus, the more I feel the need to do a thorough removal of all the rust. The one area that is haunting me is between the exterior panels and the chair rail. The rust is not extreme, but there is enough to worry me. I cannot get to all of it without removing exterior panels. It seems from the window sill to the bottom of the skirt is one single piece. Obviously, these are structural pieces.

My though it to take off one at a time, so that I don't experience any twisting of the structure. Once rust is treated and painted in that area, rivet it back on and move on to the next. My pop rivet gun can handle up to 3/16" rivets. I do not know what size are holding these exterior panels, but does anyone think there is a chance 3/16" would be large enough?

[somewhereinusa]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango
It appears to be the center bearing mount for a 2 piece driveshaft.

That makes sense, but I am wondering if it looks okay. To me, it seems the two pieces of driveshaft are slowly separating. I know that collar is loose, and probably just needs to be screwed back on. But, I have nothing to compare to, so I am unsure if this looks normal.

The splines are supposed to slide in and out to make up the difference when the diff goes up and down. The collar is to help keep the dust out. Looks like it has collected a lot of gritty stuff, I think I would drop the rear driveshaft, clean up the splines and regrease.

[ii_amnt]

Perfect, thank you. I will add that to the to do list. This is why I love this site.

[Tango]

Those slip-spline gears are very tough, but a clean-up and some fresh grease as Somewhere suggests would make'em last a whole lot longer.

[ii_amnt]

WE have been doing more planning than doing recently. Half the floor is wire wheeled down. Going to try and see if I can get some Ospho in town.

We are back on the thought of roof raise. I know the current headroom bounty is only an illusion. It will disappear quickly once we start building back up. I am currently trying to acquire enough scrap wood to do some ramps for the left side, so that the bus sits level. Our whole property is on an incline. I have taken measurements for hat channels and am looking for scaffolding. I don't have a truck to get the scaffolding home. The bus has no insurance. Will scaffolding break down any further so I can at least strap it to the roof of my wagon?

The wife was stressing about the layouts and how to fit two or three kids in there with us (we have a hunch she's got two in her tummy, but we will see). Our bus is not very big. Usable space once the dividing wall is up is 7 ft 4 inches by 24 ft 6 inches. But once you squeeze and inch here and an inch there and add murphy bunks, all is good.

The roof raise will make those murphy bunks possible. We are going for 18" so you can stand comfortably above the wheel well. The back will be a full raise with the cap. The front I am still debating about. It would look even sillier than the big forehead roof raise buses to do a partial raise in the front (would be right at the dividing wall behind the driver's seat). But, I am having trouble figuring out where to cut up there.

I have attached the most current layout.

[charles_m]

Does your bus really have over a million miles on it?
I did the roof raise on the whole roof, I think it's the best way to go, and I put a big ass window in my buses forehead. Maybe it looks silly outside, but it kicks ass inside!

[family wagon]

Congrats on the (potential) twins! I have one set; they'll be 4 soon....... Need I say more? They're fun, though.

Scaffolding breaks down to just the square-ish end frames and the cross bars. The end frames would be 5 or 6 feet tall and... I don't actually know... about the same width. If that doesn't fit the roof rack nicely on whatever you've got, then tie down a pair of 2x4 to the roof rack and put the scaffold frames on top of those.

Did you see the bunks aaronsb built on The Broccoli Bus? They sound similar to what you might be thinking of.

[Dragonpop]

One note on the driveshaft splines, make sure you mark the two pieces
of the drive shaft spline assembly so you reassemble them into the same
splines they came out of or you will change the phasing of the u-joints and
possibly the balance on the driveshaft. They are balanced as an assembly
by the manufacturer and will vibrate badly if not assembled correctly.

[ii_amnt]

Originally Posted by charles_m

Does your bus really have over a million miles on it?
I did the roof raise on the whole roof, I think it's the best way to go, and I put a big ass window in my buses forehead. Maybe it looks silly outside, but it kicks ass inside!

To the best of my knowledge it does have over a million. I do not know whether it's ever had it's engine swapped out. Apparently, the mechanic that sold it to the PO snatched it up when the county put it up for sale. He knew it to be one of the best body and engine of the fleet. Apparently, they contracted out the maintenance of the county school buses to him, so he knew it well. There was a few other vehicles on the guy's lot that had older international engines with over a million as well. But... I heard all of what I just typed second hand...

What I was trying to say is that doing a partial raise like the broccoli bus or journey (bailey's build) would look awfully silly on a dognose style bus. The flatnose can pull it off, though. I really don't mind the big forehead, and I think I will put a window up front, too- kind of like a third, eye, haha!

Originally Posted by family wagon

Scaffolding breaks down to just the square-ish end frames and the cross bars. The end frames would be 5 or 6 feet tall and... I don't actually know... about the same width. If that doesn't fit the roof rack nicely on whatever you've got, then tie down a pair of 2x4 to the roof rack and put the scaffold frames on top of those.

Did you see the bunks aaronsb built on The Broccoli Bus? They sound similar to what you might be thinking of.

Thank you for reminding me of his thread. I hadn't realized I didn't make it all the way through yet. I really like his, they are very slim, I would like to achieve the same profile when stowed. I am no fabricator, though. I may have a go with some wood joinery- something that interests me, but I haven't really gotten into it. Maybe this will be my opportunity.

I have settled on buying some scaffolding and threaded jacks from home depot. It will only cost me about $190 and I can get the 31" tall jacks. I don't want to pay that much, but it really will come in handy even outside the raise.

So, now that I have made a decision, it has been continuously raining for the past week. Some of you may have heard that central SC is flooding. I am in one of the counties that has been hit the worst. It has rained at least 19 inches over the last three days. Luckily, I live on a slope. Bad for roof raises, but good in this situation.

Originally Posted by Dragonpop

One note on the driveshaft splines, make sure you mark the two pieces
of the drive shaft spline assembly so you reassemble them into the same
splines they came out of or you will change the phasing of the u-joints and
possibly the balance on the driveshaft. They are balanced as an assembly
by the manufacturer and will vibrate badly if not assembled correctly.

Thanks for the reminder! I haven't done driveline work like this, but have read about the importance of that.

[nat_ster]

How about adding a taller windshield VS the big forehead?

As long as they are flat glass, any good glass shop can cut and fit taller pieces into the new opening, using a gasket that is sold by the foot, or gluing it onto the flange that used to hold the gasket.

Then you have a nice size view for looking up at the mountains while driving, or looking out the front of your bus from the standing position.

I feel the larger windshield makes the conversion look much more professional than the big forehead.

Nat

[ii_amnt]

Nat,

I totally get the appeal. I remember reading about your plans to do that in your build thread.

I intend to raise much like broccoli bus did in the rear, and done the same way in the front. This seems like the simplest way to achieve the full raise and keeps the heavy structural bits intact. I am not 100% sure on the differences between Bluebird and Carpenter's structural framework. But, it seems Carpenter used some fairly heavy members and lots of welding.

I drew up how I was originally going to raise the back, which would be cutting at the angle right below the rear windows. The amount of steel added and cutting to extend seems unnecessary.

I am not sure if I've mentioned it, but for the first five years living in my bus will be stationary 98% of the time. Though, we still have an itch to do some travelling with the bus once I finish school (going back under the grace of the federal government).

I'll go back and look where you cut in your front. Are you planning on welding in the new surface for your window seal to bond?

[ii_amnt]

I don't do well with computer renderings. Here are a few drawings of the rear bed structure and how it will sit, the front cap and how it will be raised and built up. Also, there are two interior prespectives. One of the 'living area' with the beds down and one of the kitchen, with the beds up. They are not perfect but help me think of the space as we start planning.

The water heater will be right behind the driver, in that little corner you can see, where the beds and kitchen cabinets meet. ~30 gal with two elements, one for electric, one for gas. It will sit in a ventilated compartment that is sealed off from the living space.

[nat_ster]

Wow, good job on your drawings.

I cut the windshield pillars on both sides at the half way point. Yes, I will be welding the 1/4 inch thick tubing extensions into the old pillars. Then I will add a new portion of lip for the windshield to glue to. That lip is called the pinch seam. Pinch seam will also be welded to the new metal.

Most things in a bus body should be riveted. However this is one place that needs to be welded.

Nat

[ii_amnt]

The wife found this website, floorplanner.com we found pretty useful for quickly shuffling objects around in the space.

We really didn't want to do this to the bed, but the amount of space saving that happens we found worth it. We will have 2 little girls roaming around, and they need the space.

Also, we have re-assessed the headroom. There is about 6'5" from floor to outer skin at the center. We placed some plywood on top of scrap wood to simulate the calculated headroom once flooring and insulation is done.

Based on this we have decided to not raise the roof. Time and money is the inhibiting factor. We have enough on our plate and feel confident in what the end product will be without the roof raise.

[M1031A1]

How did you copy/paste that image? I'd love to show my design wifie and I have been working on for almost five years on our thread.....

[ii_amnt]

That website has an export option but I chose to just press the "print scrn" button on my keyboard and open MS paint and paste that screen capture then crop and save.

[M1031A1]

Thanks! I was trying to do something like that last night. Between culling all the junk out of our apartment and taking care of the wifie-do list I was a bit tired.