The Journey Bus - 1999 International 3800

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by o1marc

This argument about silicone reminds me of the discussions we have with people who have negative thoughts on powder coating. It's usually based on long past experience. Everyone keeps saying to not use silicone, but highly recommends Henry's products for the roof for it's cooling and sealing benefits and it's 100% silicone. If it's good enough for the roof seams why not for other seams? Yes there are products out there that do a 200% job for 300% of the money, when only 100% is needed and there are plenty of new silicone products on the market that will do the required job.

Buses aren't built with silicone. Mine all come with SEAM SEALER.
I don't highly recommend Henry's or any elasto roof coating. I think they look bad.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

Update to the thread:

Removed and resealed all the windows (24) to prevent any water ingress. It wasn’t as hard as I expected. There was a nice helping of dead bugs and crap sandwiches between the body and the windows. It was a good idea recommending I remove the windows!

If you find you still get water, it could be the glazing at the bottom (it's actually a rubber gasket between the glass and the aluminum frame). On our Amtran, that seal had deteriorated and rotted so badly that water found its way in and then to the corners of the window frames. As a proof-of-concept kinda test, we taped over that seam with a very elastic weather-sealing tape and it stopped the water infiltration dead in its tracks.

[WARGEAR]

Well I’ve got some unfortunate news: the water ingress is back and just the same as it was before. We’ve been having heavy rains in the Fingerlakes area, and it shows. The windows have been removed and properly resealed before the weather and it made no difference. The only things I can think of would be the roof top e-exits and the smalle air circulation vent at the towards the forward area of the roof.
The entire roof was coated with Henry’s tropicool. It’d its good enough for the tropics, rvs, and steel roofs of buildings it’s good enough for a school bus. I’m planning of removed the roof exits complete and and least for the time being sealing the hatch with a piece of plexiglas until a permanent solution is used. I need to stop these leaks!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

The roof hatches on all 5 of the buses I've owned leaked. THe windows leak. The strobe light, passive vent, and anything that causes the need for a hole to be cut into the roof will be likely culprits.
Sealing up a bus isn't too hard. The proper way is to patch over stuff you don't need and use seam sealer on every seam.

As mentioned- Roof hatches are notorious for leaking.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

Well I’ve got some unfortunate news: the water ingress is back and just the same as it was before. We’ve been having heavy rains in the Fingerlakes area, and it shows. The windows have been removed and properly resealed before the weather and it made no difference. The only things I can think of would be the roof top e-exits and the smalle air circulation vent at the towards the forward area of the roof.
The entire roof was coated with Henry’s tropicool. It’d its good enough for the tropics, rvs, and steel roofs of buildings it’s good enough for a school bus. I’m planning of removed the roof exits complete and and least for the time being sealing the hatch with a piece of plexiglas until a permanent solution is used. I need to stop these leaks!

I would recommend Polycarbonate over Plexiglas. Plexi is brittle and can crack and break. Lexan polycarbonate will not crack or break, much more durable.

[WARGEAR]

Thanks for the insight! After 6 years working on large military trucks I can agree anytime a hole is cut in sheet metal, it leaks! Most every joint on my bus that I’ve messed with I’ve used seam sealer to seal any of my cuts or patches. If I can locate poly, I’ll use that over plexi, but I need to stop this leak as the weather has been steadily getting worse. Thanks again for everyone’s assistance!

[WARGEAR]

FWIW, this is where I noticed water entry in several spots. It’s like this at the first window of the bus and a couple down the line. Clearly its starting to cause damage. I’ll be replacing or at least removing and drying that insulation. Any tips anyone? Other than escape hatches or passive rooftop vents

[WARGEAR]

Found the entry point of the leaks! Very interesting. Basically, a portion of the body skin has separated in muiltple spots due to whatever reason and was allowing for water ingress. Thanks everyone for their help!

[Tango]

Congrats! Enjoy playing with the seam sealer. Get some rubber gloves.



(I am about to start making a mess on mine)

[EastCoastCB]

If you tape off around the seam being sealed, use a spreader and wear gloves its not too bad!

[WARGEAR]

It’s been a long time since I posted here on this thread but NY winters kept me from working in the bus. Too cold! I’ve gotten the rest of the floor framed out to just behind the driver area. Next step is cutting that 1” rigid foam (R6.5) into the appropriate size pieces to finish the floor and walls. Next step is plywood, then doing the ceiling.

My circumstances have changed dramatically in a short period of time. The bus won’t be completed until after I get to my next duty station. Instead it’ll be used as a moving truck to move my and my gf’s stuff and tow either a dolly or a flatbed trailer with a car on it.

I plan on adding a big**s transmission cooler, changing the fan clutch since it’s been leaking and doing a brake fluid flush. Then comes greasing every zerk fitting again and finally a shakedown trip before the big move. If all goes well I want to create a custom doghouse sound barrier to keep the interior quieter on the road.

All in all I wish I had more time to finish up the build before moving but that’s the best part of a skoolie. The whole thing is mobile haha

[WARGEAR]

Good afternoon everyone who’s still around!

Got more done with the build since my month ago update:

The subfloor has been completed. Since I am not a carpenter it’s not perfect but it sure is strong. I’ve been working on the drivers flooring area. I pulled the doghouse and layered it with sound dreading material. Same with the floor underneath the carpet and padding. It makes a hell of a difference on the road and is worth every drop of sweat.

The walls are as complete as they can be for now. Its 1/4” sanded plywood and then the ferring strips are 1”x3”s. I’m not 100% happy with them honestly but they’ll do for now.

The brown flooring material is 4.2mm vinyl t/g laminate. I like how it stays together but I honestly believe it’s heavier than it should be.

I replaced my crusty brake line, changed my power steering fluid filter and ordered a replacement fan clutch for the engine. Only things left to do are hub oil in the fronts and gear oil in the rear and then she’s ready for another 50,000 miles.

I love driving this beast but I hate the AT545 transmission. Great around town and utterly crap on hills. I’m tossing the idea of a swap around but at this point it wouldn’t be fiscally responsible.

[HazMatt]

Vast improvements since the last update! I really like what you've done with the ceiling in that last foto.
Please include the link- I have gots to git me some of that sound-dreading material! [emoji6]
Last dreading material I used wasn't sound at all...
What's the new duty station gonna be?

[WARGEAR]

Good afternoon everyone!

My new fan clutch for Journey came in today (see pics). The old one had a “dead spot” and had lost fluid over the years. I never heard it kick on when it should’ve in my opinion.

This new one is adjustable so I will dial down the temp to a lower degree. I’m hoping it last another 5 or so years at least.

Can’t wait to change it and be almost completely done with my maintenance list. Only fluids left to change are the rear axle and front hubs oils and power steering oil. Not sure what is in there but it appears to be an engine oil based on color and taste! I’m planning on using the heaviest weight gear oil I can find for the rear and front hubs. Most likely a 75/85w-140 synthetic.

[WARGEAR]

So it’s been over a year since I added to this thread, and while the interior hasn’t been modified much since then, a lot has changed! This is going to be a long post so bear with me.

Some may have seen my other posts asking for advice on what was causing my “no-start” and “lack of oil pressure”. For anyone interested here’s the back story. Some time last year my (then girlfriend and now) wife and I took the big blue bus for a shakedown test drive. She drove it for the first time ever on two lane country roads and we switched back once we got into town. All was good, I parked the bus in the driveway and shut it down. Fast forward a few months and I put the new fan clutch on, went to fire it up and she died after about 3-5 seconds of idling. Hadn’t started since! No amount of cranking brought her to life, pulled codes, changed the IPR, and gave up for a bit.

Fast forward to August of this year and a buddy of mine offered to help dismantle the engine. After lots of brainstorming and bouncing ideas and theories of multiple people, I came to the conclusion that the oil pump had either failed, lost prime, or there was an oil suction issue.

We removed the crank dampener, oil pump housing and pump assembly and inspected it for damage. Although there was wear, nothing was severely damaged. I ordered new O-ring seals, an oil pan gasket, and an oil pickup tube gasket and replaced all of them.

Fast forward to last weekend (19-20 SEP) I primed the oil pump with grease and bolted it all back together. The crankcase was filled with 15w-40 Rotella and a new prefilled oil filter installed. Batteries were recharged and wired up, and I sat in the drivers seat, said three Hail Mary’s and an Our Father and bumped the starter once. Nothing bound up so I started cranking the engine and it built oil pressure and tried to start! Shut it off, hopped out and double checked my connections and bolts and then got back in the seat to start it for real.

She fired up with a little white smoke but smoothed out after about 30 seconds. I let it idle for a bit, then held the RPMs at about 12-1300 for a few minutes to get everything flowing. The next day I changed the fuel filter and drove it to the gas station for the first time in over a year to fill it up with diesel and an additive.

Long story short, I came to the conclusion that my oil pump had lost prime for a multitude of reasons:

1. Sitting for an extended period of time.
2. Leaks around the oil pump housing coupled with loose hardware.
3. Goop in the sump

After the engine cooled on the initial shakedown the oil pump housing gaskets failed coupled with loose bolts on the housing, allowed the oil pump to suck air through the housing as well as allow the oil to slowly drip back into the pan.

If anyone has any thoughts on this or any questions, I’ll be sure to get back to you when I see them! I’m glad that the engine is running again and will be resuming the build in the near future.

[WARGEAR]

Since last time I posted I had the cooling system drained and renewed as well as new tires Lito n all four corners. Originally I had planned to replace just one steer, but it grew to both steers and then all six tires. I’ve added some pics showing the process as well as a pic of the oldest tire. These were on the vehicle when I bought it in 2018 and it had a 2015 PENNDOT sticker on the wince shield. The newest tire was 12-13 years old, both duals had already been retreaded twice with the newest being in 2010.

I went with Hercules H-702 tires (14 ply rating) in 11R22.5 for the rear, and Ironman I601 (same rating) tires for the steers. All are all position tires, but the Ironmans are a much more highway-oriented tread pattern. The ride is positively plush by comparison to before. The old tires were 10R22.5 and the increase diameter dropped 45mph cruising rpm by about 150rpm.

Edit: I have no idea how to rotate these photos

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

Edit: I have no idea how to rotate these photos

Seems to be a frequent problem for some people, so I wrote a HOWTO.
https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f12/h...tml#post409245

[WARGEAR]

Very nice How To! The pictures were taken with my phone and displayed properly when attached to the post. Once I submitted it they looked like they do now!

[kazetsukai]

Originally Posted by WARGEAR

Very nice How To! The pictures were taken with my phone and displayed properly when attached to the post. Once I submitted it they looked like they do now!

The program that resizes them after you send them (to reduce how large they are for general internet travel) doesn't understand the metadata on the image saying "I need to be displayed 90 degrees to the right". It just resizes the image as-is and ignores the metadata.

[musigenesis]

I shrink my pics and convert them to PNG format before uploading them here. PNGs don't include orientation in metadata so they always display correctly. They're generally larger than JPEGs (4X to 5X) in terms of file size, so making them a reasonable dimension is polite.