The Journey Visvi 1999 Thomas MVP ER

[wmkbailey]

Next I cut the angle iron that will be welding on both the supports and rams. I will feed the threaded rod through the angle iron and that will be used to raise the roof.

The angle iron I got is 2" x 1/8", they will be cut to 1 1/2" wide.



Measured and scribe, wish I had a band saw to cut these, instead I used my angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. Not the most accurate, but quick.



Then I drilled a 3/4" hole for the threaded rod.

The rams that will lift the roof are 1 1/4" x 14 ga square tubing, cut to 42".

Here are all the pieces ready for assembly.



The reason my supports are rectangle tubing is to allow for the heads of the support bolts. That gives my 1/2" clearance for them. They are shorter than that so I added a nut to make up the difference.



The nut gets me just under .5". Here you can kinda see how it fits together.

[wmkbailey]

Now to assemble and weld. I have not welded in six years and my farm welder is an arc welder. I picked up a wire feed welder to use in the bus because all my farm welding was 1/4" or bigger, with lots of crud to weld through, it worked good for that. So some practice welds first.



First attempt, I did not get good penetration on the top piece.



This went a little better. It was hard getting use to the wire being pushed out into the steel, instead of me feeding the rod myself.

So here we go.



Here are all the pieces.



Assembled and ready to be welded. I think I stared at this for about 15 mins before I got the courage to start welding. Once started, it did not take long to get them all done.



One support and ram ready to go.



Here they all are. I checked each one to make sure they did not bind on the threaded rod. After I moved the ram up to where it needs to be to attach to the roof, I still had 12" of lift. I only need 10"

Once I attach these to the window pillars. I still have to measure and weld the piece that will bolt to the roof.

This is similar to what Gumpydog did to raise the roof on his MC9 bus. He welded the angle iron to the window pillars, I did not want to do that, so I stole the support and ram idea from "The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate"

You can see how Gumpydog did his roof raise here http://www.gumpydog.com/Bus/MC9_WIP/...g_the_roof.htm

Here is a close up of my weld, I hope it will be good enough.

[wmkbailey]

whew!!!

[Accordion]

Very cool. You're a genius.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Accordion

Very cool. You're a genius.

I'm a copy cat

[wmkbailey]

Here is a visual of what I want to do. Crude, but it works.

[Accordion]

That looks great. I must say that you might consider one or two windows behind the door. It will make it a lot easier for you to see when you intend to go through an intersection.
I once had a van with no windows on the right hand side except the passenger door. It was often difficult to see traffic, especially if the intersection was not 90 degrees.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Accordion

That looks great. I must say that you might consider one or two windows behind the door. It will make it a lot easier for you to see when you intend to go through an intersection.
I once had a van with no windows on the right hand side except the passenger door. It was often difficult to see traffic, especially if the intersection was not 90 degrees.

I will be putting Dual pane RV windows in, Just could not figure how to draw them in Microsoft Paint.

I wanted to show that I'm only raising a section of the roof not the whole thing.

[wmkbailey]

Nice weather today was able to remove all the windows and the outside covers for the window U channel. I re-mounted the one that are located where I will attach the roof raising mechanism. I like that word "mechanism"



After try many different ways to pry the outside covers off, I found that getting the prybar between the cover and the pillar and using your weight to pry out from inside work the best.



Then I bolted the Ram and supports to the window pillars. I moved the bus around and found a spot where the bus sits level. I'm going to mark this spot so I can find it to park when I move the bus next time.

I used a magnetic level I have and found out the bottom of the support needs to come out about .825" to be vertical with the bus. I had some 3/4" nuts and fender washers, 1 nut and 3 washers = .830, close enough.



See level to the bus. I then put the Ram and supports together to measure the piece that attaches to the roof.



I bought a metal cutting abrasive blade and put it on my compound miter saw. This cut through the steel like butter.



I drilled 1/4" holes 1 1/4" from the end of the piece to bolt to the roof support. I drilled them at 1 1/4" because if I put them at the halfway mark, I would not be able to get my hand drill in to drill the roof support.





Everything mounted, lined up and marked so I came weld it in place. I have to take it all down and cut the pillar, them put it all back together before I can weld.



Here is a close up of the bottom section.

[wmkbailey]

I need to drill the roof supports on the other three window pillars, cut and weld. I hope to get that done this week after work. Then I just need to finish cutting the roof apart and up she goes. I hope the weather behaves next weekend to do this.



Here she is all covered up and ready for the rain this week.



Anyone need any windows, I have some nice tinted ones.

[ThePimentals]

Have you seen the welds holding the walls and roof together on the buses we got? Yours look amazing compared to them. I'm almost thinking of going over a bunch of the bus welds they are so bad.

[ThePimentals]

I do need more windows, but not gunna drive 500 miles for them. Also that rear seat of the bus, that steel hump is just for show. Nothing under it. Just an FYI incase you didn't know.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by ThePimentals

Also that rear seat of the bus, that steel hump is just for show. Nothing under it. Just an FYI incase you didn't know.

I wonder why it was there?

[Diesel Dan]

I like your plan for the roof raise, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it comes out. It seems much easier to not include the front and rear end caps in the raise, and just raise the "middle" section that has no irregularities, as you are doing. If I ever did one, I would be thinking along the same lines. Speaking of lines, the rear part of the roof raise looks a bit odd to me in the way it abruptly drops to the standard roof. That may just be a limitation of your artistic rendering, but maybe a slope like you have on the front would make it look nicer? Or even if you had a small rack or solar panel or something like that which would be functional and also give the perception that the roof line continues on the same plane. I dunno, just some thoughts for you to consider. Whatever you end up doing, I have a feeling it's gonna come out awesome!

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Diesel Dan

Speaking of lines, the rear part of the roof raise looks a bit odd to me in the way it abruptly drops to the standard roof. That may just be a limitation of your artistic rendering, but maybe a slope like you have on the front would make it look nicer? Or even if you had a small rack or solar panel or something like that which would be functional and also give the perception that the roof line continues on the same plane. I dunno, just some thoughts for you to consider. Whatever you end up doing, I have a feeling it's gonna come out awesome!

Actually the slope scares me, I'm not a sheet metal fabricator. Going straight up would be easier. I got the idea from the old Wonderlodges, they went straight up.



Or use a higher slope and put a window in it like the old Greyhound Scenicurisers

[JakeC]

Went through your blog post to see the details of the "roof raising mechanism". Mechanism is a good word, solid. I understand better now, how it is going to work. I think it should be fairly trouble free for you, as it looks well thought out. My only concern would be ( 5/16" (at least that's what I think I remember you saying they were) bolts holding the weight of the roof. I would try to calculate if that is adequate, if you haven't already. Seems like they could shear off, or at least bend/deform. Then again, since it is only the ribbing and sheet metal, and not even the end caps, it is likely lighter than I am thinking. I would still verify if it was me, though.

[wmkbailey]

Thanks Jake, a second pair of eyes is a good thing. Here are my calculations, let me know if I'm forgetting something.

Roof sheet metal is 20 ga, 1.5 lbs per ft2.

I'm raising 25 ft. Total ft2 is 25' x 9' = 225 ft2 x 1.5 lbs = about 340 lbs

U Channel support 16 ga, 2.5 lbs ft2.

U Channel is 6" total width x 9' accross = 4.5 ft2 x 11 support = 50 ft2 x 2.5 lbs = 125 lbs
So my total weight will be around 500 lbs.
There are cross members that are about and inch square and the emergency exits. So for caution I saying around 700 lbs. That would put 175 lbs or just under 200 lbs on each Ram Support.

I found the safe working loads for bolts here.

Bolt NF Thread Grade 2 Iron Bolt
Diameter Shear Shear
(inches) (at thread root) (Full Bolt)
1/4 200 370
5/16 340 575

I have two bolt on each Ram Support.
Let me know where I went wrong before the roof collapse on me when I raise it. I don't want any monday morning quarterbacking here.

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

...Actually the slope scares me, I'm not a sheet metal fabricator. Going straight up would be easier...

I hear ya man. I wonder how much it would cost to get a shop to make the sloped panels for you. If it were me, and I didn't want to spend the $$ on getting custom made panels, then I suppose I would go straight up and then try to find some way to make it look more cosmetically appealing. Small skylight type windows like the Greyhound pic you posted might actually be pretty cool. Or just put some bling up there like the air horns on that Wanderlodge, that makes it look like the space was especially carved out for that purpose. I'm getting better and better at making mistakes and/or awkward spaces, look like they were "supposed" to be that way!

[JakeC]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

Thanks Jake, a second pair of eyes is a good thing. Here are my calculations, let me know if I'm forgetting something.

Roof sheet metal is 20 ga, 1.5 lbs per ft2.

I'm raising 25 ft. Total ft2 is 25' x 9' = 225 ft2 x 1.5 lbs = about 340 lbs

U Channel support 16 ga, 2.5 lbs ft2.

U Channel is 6" total width x 9' accross = 4.5 ft2 x 11 support = 50 ft2 x 2.5 lbs = 125 lbs
So my total weight will be around 500 lbs.
There are cross members that are about and inch square and the emergency exits. So for caution I saying around 700 lbs. That would put 175 lbs or just under 200 lbs on each Ram Support.

I found the safe working loads for bolts here.

Bolt NF Thread Grade 2 Iron Bolt
Diameter Shear Shear
(inches) (at thread root) (Full Bolt)
1/4 200 370
5/16 340 575

I have two bolt on each Ram Support.
Let me know where I went wrong before the roof collapse on me when I raise it. I don't want any monday morning quarterbacking here.

Looks like you got it covered man!! I had a hunch it might be substantially lighter than a was thinking.

[wmkbailey]

I was surprised that it would be this light, but with the windows out there isn't much left.