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Old 03-23-2016, 07:40 PM   #741
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Today the Main Ticket Sale for Burning Man took place, and that means another step up the ladder of preparations.

To bring you up to speed.... I run a Theme Camp at that annual event, and our main gig is bicycle repair. Last year there were 24 of us. We repaired 494 bicycles. There will be more than 30 of us this year.
Also, we are adding more features, such as Reiki, Shiatsu, massage, and other Healing Arts stuff, so we can tune up our customers while we tune up their bikes.

This means bringing more Stuff to the event. And Millicent was severely overloaded last year.

So I'm brainstorming. I could use a second vehicle. Maybe a big box truck. Or another bus.

So.... I'm inviting suggestions and leads.
It would have to be one of those "fantastic deals" that sometimes crop up -- low mileage, big engine, new transmission, 40 feet long, turn-the-key-and-drive-it-home-for-$1,500.- sort'a thing.

It could be a conventional or a pusher. But NOT a forward control like Millicent.

I'm in Northern California, 100 miles north of Sacramento.

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Old 03-24-2016, 03:52 AM   #742
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Elliot,

Since my wife and I can't afford two buses, my daily driver is going up for auction in either June or July. She's a beautiful bus in need of a good home. The engine was rebuilt 21K miles ago. She runs beautifully. If you're interested, just PM me and I'll give you all the details. I'd really like for her to get a good home.

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Old 03-26-2016, 01:58 AM   #743
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Thanks, M1031!
Katy, Texas, is a bit far from me, but who knows... and a friend of mine very near Katy is looking for a bus.

Another thing I'm looking for is a Blue Bird parts bus to cut some body parts off. I want the rear roof-cap and a few roof bows. So if you know of a Blue Bird in a scrap yard in Northern California....

In other news.... I'm now asking a local mechanic what it would cost to replace Millicent's king pins, and also her springs. Anybody here had king pins done?
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Old 03-31-2016, 10:37 AM   #744
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Crazycal did last year or so he is somewhere in cali...and welcome back
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Old 03-31-2016, 12:31 PM   #745
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Yes, CrazyCal is about three hours from me. I'll check with him. Thanks.
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Old 06-01-2016, 06:19 PM   #746
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Trip report.

Actually... a repair report.
The first trip of the season began late last week with the first starting of Millicent. We were going to leave by Noon Friday, so I turned the ignition key late Thursday to bring her out of the back yard.

Nothing.

My trusty test lamp showed me there was no juice coming from the ignition switch. She cranked when I jumped the terminals on the starter.

Opened the dash and wiggled the connector. Started right up.
And ran for ten seconds.

Secondary fuel filter not full.
Changed primary fuel filter, which caused this problem once before. Still no fuel.

Removed secondary filter and cranked her over. A decidedly non-impressive trickle of fuel.

Local NAPA Auto Parts had it in stock! Thank you Dodge, for putting millions of these engines (Cummins 5.9) in your pickup-trucks. The receipt reads 1995 Dodge 1-ton.

The pump lives on the left side of the engine block. One hose, one steel line and two bolts. Two hours. There is no room in there! Never buying a Forward Control bus again.

That done, she ran like a rocket.

A "teaching moment":
There are four spare components that ought to be carried in a bus, with all the needed tools -- unless they have been replaced recently: Starter, alternator, fuel pump and water pump. Of course, I have not followed my own advice.

Replaced the starter in Black Rock City in 2007.
Just barely made it home from a Kinetic Race when the rear bearing in the alternator disintegrated a couple years later.

Millicent is now down to the water pump. I ought to buy one real soon!

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Old 06-01-2016, 06:30 PM   #747
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add a 5th.. an air governor if you have air brakes.. they are notorious for going out and not allowing the unloaders to trip back into service till your spring brakes start to apply..

glad its back on the road again!! and that you didnt bust down in the middle of nowhere like I did

-Christopher
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Old 06-01-2016, 09:24 PM   #748
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I drove 18-wheelers for 27 years, and the only time I had an air governor fail was when it froze. Pennsylvania, December 1983 -- the year Christmas was largely cancelled in much of the country because of the ferocious cold-snap.

I did have an air compressor fail -- with a bang -- rod thru the block.

But your point about the air governor is well taken. Let's add it to the list.

And fan belt.
On Millicent, I found it unrealistic to change the fan belt without removing the radiator. And the radiator was a bugger. So with this type bus, I am tempted to recommend that owners remove the radiator once, at home, for practice. I wound up cutting clearance for tools in the frame-extensions (radiator support, bumper support) to make it much easier next time.

We could continue the list in descending order of priority.

Oh... come to think of it.... I didn't even consider it, because I count it as absolutely obligatory: Fuel filters! Both. Most Diesels have a primary fuel filter and a secondary fuel filter. I'd make those 1 and 2, so now we have seven.

A few years ago on this forum, somebody mentioned Neutral Safety Switch. That's the switch that keeps us from starting the engine with the transmission in gear. But it can be bypassed.

Hose clamps. From the tiniest up to huge. Heck with duct tape. Hose clamps! Fabulously useful. "Steel zip ties".

Many truckers carry a tire. Just a tire, no rim. Any truck stop or road service can change it out, but you'll pay dearly for a tire at 2 a.m. -- if they even have your size back at the store. But storage space is at a premium in most skoolies.
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Old 06-24-2016, 08:53 PM   #749
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Fuel filter head repair

Last year, Millicent's secondary fuel filter came lose on a couple occasions, and it was then tightened quite severely.

When I later unscrewed it to change it, the nipple -- the threaded hollow tube that the filter screws onto -- came out with the filter.

Today I finally went to town on it.

A bit of quality time online established that the nipple is readily available for reasonable money. So I drove an old-fashioned extractor into it. Guess what! The filter suddenly dropped about 1/4 inch into the filter, and then unscrewed normally.

The threads in the filter were badly stripped.
Best I can analyze this.... When the filter was over-tightened, the threads stripped, but we had the amazing luck that the metal also seized. Sort'a friction-welded itself in place. Whacking it with the hammer on the extractor broke it free.

Guess what, again! The nipple has nasty marks from a previous re-installation with Vice Grips. Some frustrated school bus mechanic in Oregon had fought this demon before. The nipple has a "screwdriver slot" from the factory. Clearly, that does not get the job done. And I have confirmed this on at least one Cummins-related forum.

When the filter kept loosening last year, it was not the filter that was unscrewing from the nipple, but the nipple unscrewing from the filter head (also called filter base of filter mount, or whatnot. Cummins calls it the filter head).

This time it will get fixed to stay. In the next episode of... MILLICENT, THE MECHANICAL MYSTERY BUS! ...on most of these stations.



This time it
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Old 06-25-2016, 12:19 AM   #750
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Dirty little bugger!
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Old 06-25-2016, 12:55 AM   #751
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Yes, an annoyingly well-hidden troublemaker. We were apparently very close to being stranded on the highway, and we had no clue the problem was in progress.
(I was not on the trip when Peter tightened the filter so ferociously. I was at home when he telephoned me. I told him to tighten the filter. Note to self: Never tell Peter to tighten anything. The man is a beast! LOL )

I'm surprised that this nipple is not pinned or staked in place from the factory, or was installed with the "bomb proof" Loctite.

But... I suppose, if they did that, and all the other little things they ought to do, the bus would cost $200,000 instead of $100,000.
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Old 06-29-2016, 08:49 PM   #752
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It would be nice to install the nipple with Loctite, but that means removing the filter-head from the engine in order to clean it properly. And... the next time I take the steel lines off that filter-head, I would like to install new gaskets (copper, I think), which I don't have handy.

So I'm simply screwing the nipple back in, at least for now. To do this, I made a tool; a 5/32 roll pin thru a 5/8 spark plug socket. (The 5/8 hex doesn't matter, of course. It was just a piece of pipe that fit over the nipple, with a 3/8 square in the end of it.) And I cut a correspondingly wider and deeper "screwdriver slot" in the nipple. Now I can use a ratchet to crank the nipple into place, and I can easily check it each time I change the filter.

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Old 09-19-2016, 06:44 PM   #753
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Millicent keeps serving us well.
Just returned from Burning Man. Grossed 38,180 pounds going out there -- with the trailer, of course. 20 MPH on steepest climb.

But two issues now need attention.

On the way back from Nevada, she cranked slower each time she started, and had to be jump-started at the very last stop before home.
Charging voltage is fine. The batteries simply died of old age.

But we got almost ten years out of them! Not too shabby. Next time I will (try to remember to) replace them at nine years flat.
NAPA Auto Parts battery number 7236. Sure hope they have the exact same kind now.

The power steering is failing. This began a while ago, and is not getting better. Works normally with engine wound up, but no assist at idle. Investigation about to begin. (Yes, the reservoir is full. No belt to slip -- gear driven pump.)
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Old 09-19-2016, 07:32 PM   #754
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way cool!!! I need to learn more about what burning man REALLY is.. all i get to read is the online hype about it.. I'd love to know the real deal and how it really is and what people really do there...

gear driven PS pump... its somerthing i always thought was rare... my bus has a belt driven air-bnrakes pump and a gear driven PS pump...

most of our busses use a TRw style steering gear that has pressure relief poppets which will release the pressure if you lock the steering wheel against the lock, if one of those sticks partially and doesnt go back to normal operating position you can end up with very little power steering.. esp at idle... there is a procedure for adjusting them online... mioght be something to try as its pretty easy to do and cheap...

-Christopher
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Old 09-19-2016, 07:52 PM   #755
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Burn!!

Good Burn this year? Im a 9 yr vet, but have missed the last 3. 38K behind a 5.9?? wow!! I love the Cummins more than anyone, but what did that little guy do to you to deserve that flavor of a beating?!?!?!?... Seriously, welcome back to default....
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Old 09-19-2016, 10:16 PM   #756
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CadillacKid... That's of interest. I'm not prone to deadheading the steering like that, but my buddy might be, since he does not have my automobile technician training.

As for Burning Man... let me get back to that.
For now.... Burning Man is not for everyone.
As for what I do there.... I repair bicycles. I have a "theme Camp" of 30 people, and this year we repaired 629 bicycles.
What is it about? It is about participating and contributing.

Yes, great Burn (as always)! And the Playa surface was the best I have seen in my ten years. Pretty much the entire Playa was like paved.
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Old 09-19-2016, 10:22 PM   #757
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Hey Elliot --- by any chance are you familiar with a Houston boy known as "Barter Bob". He has been a mainstay on the Playa for a decade or two or more but is closing his store (The Texas Junk Company) here at the end of this month. Great guy with a really big heart.
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Old 09-19-2016, 10:26 PM   #758
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Doesn't ring any bell. But I have a friend in Danbury who might be familiar with a junk dealer, so I will ask him.
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Old 09-19-2016, 10:49 PM   #759
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Bikes.

Awesome that you do bike repair out there. I have a tall bike that i LOVE on the playa, and a recumbent that i HATE all the time. The tall bike gets passed around through the neighborhood kids the rest of the year. I was part of getting the green bike project going with BURNERS WITHOUT BORDERS years ago.... I agree, its NOT for everyone... (but think everyone should go once)... I'm surprised about the playa condition. I assumed it would be dusty and dunes from lack of water this winter...
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Old 09-20-2016, 03:54 AM   #760
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Thread drift:

Our camp was back-to-back with Elliots Bike Repair, Wine Bistro & Piano Bar this year, which is really quite the coincidence when you consider there are 12k camps and 72,000 people there. Awesome folks!

CK: Burningman is not for everyone, but those who like it, LOVE IT!. And no, its not the free sex/free drugs/anything-goes event the media thinks it is. Yes those elements are there in a very small quantity, but this is no different from any city. If you love art, love people, and are not afraid of camping in some truly harsh conditions and being COMPLETELY self-reliant for a week, you really should try it. PM myself or any of the other Burners on the board and we'll get you pointed in the right direction.

PS: Elliot is largely to blame for my bus. Guess where I met him?
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