EastCoastCB's Shorty Thread

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Yeah, I wish I'd covered mine. We makes our choices and pays the price.

Well it can always be done later if need be.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Yeah, I wish I'd covered mine. We makes our choices and pays the price.

So are you having leaks you didn't have before??

[Robin97396]

No, still no leaks. I was broken into twice through the top hatch. I'm still working on a way to secure the hatch when I'm not here.

[EastCoastCB]

Got my steel cut, ospho'd, and tomorrow I'll prime it.
Got a 30" piece of 16ga for the hatch, and two 15" squares for the factory passive vent and "power vent". Shouldn't have any more leaks after this, and as a bonus I'll have a powered roof vent I can use even in the rain!
Got some 3m 550 seam sealer at Autozone for cheaper than even amazon!

After this its on to the body work, and probably some cooling system mods and maintenance.

I'm still feeling good about changing the oil. I've got some HotShots oil additive on order at Tractor Supply. Should be in next week.
After changing it and driving it around 400 miles its still pretty clean looking and the level is right where I filled it to.

Can't wait to paint it, get a hood ornament, and some new mudflaps!

[cadillackid]

I should maybe cover mine.. I thought I might open it for ventilation.. but then today, here it was nice outside and I ended up opening a few side windows and the driver window and once again forgot about opening the hatch..

I could probably cover the top and then still use the interior bezel ring so the ceiling doesnt look like crap..

are you going to weld it in or just rivet it and use the seam sealer like crazy?
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I should maybe cover mine.. I thought I might open it for ventilation.. but then today, here it was nice outside and I ended up opening a few side windows and the driver window and once again forgot about opening the hatch..

I could probably cover the top and then still use the interior bezel ring so the ceiling doesnt look like crap..

are you going to weld it in or just rivet it and use the seam sealer like crazy?
-Christopher

gonna re-use my trim ring like you're saying. Planned on that since it would look stupid without something there.
No welds on this, it'll be riveted and yeah, seam sealer will be used. I'm also probably gonna reseal all the roof seams and go ahead and paint the roof since I have a new pint of flat white Rustoleum ready to go. That will help keep it a little cooler when its sitting in the sun.

[cadillackid]

that white roof makes a Huge difference.. at least on Red the white roof is a huge improvement even over the tan / beige roof of DEV

ill be watching how you do your hatch so I can do mine.. I dont need the ventilation (if its real hot like yesterday I just use the air) and can definitely do without the leaks

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

that white roof makes a Huge difference.. at least on Red the white roof is a huge improvement even over the tan / beige roof of DEV

ill be watching how you do your hatch so I can do mine.. I dont need the ventilation (if its real hot like yesterday I just use the air) and can definitely do without the leaks

-Christopher

Depending on what kind of ceilings you have, we may be able to find some material to make a "ceiling" panel to go in the trim ring and totally hide the patch other than the trim ring being there. Could even throw a bit of foam board up there for a lil insulation!
I'll gladly help you do it, and I've got the rivets and steel. LMK, man. Can also do that undercoating.

Yeah the white roof should help a lot and will look nice too. Dave did his roof in flat white and the temp difference was TOTALLY noticeable. Even verified it with IR.
I may even go all out and look for a satin clear to go over the white, but IDK probably overkill.

[cadillackid]

or even go with a reflective type paint if you can find some decent deal.. I should BUS-KOTE or similar the DEV ceiling .. flat white with clear is probably just as effective and alot cheaper. my ceilings in Red are the perf ceiling... but really i could put a piece of foamboard on the metal and any kind of plastic or such then put the trim ring on.

could even do something cool with it like use a translucent plastic panel and put strips of LED lights above it.. have some kind of funky limo-style color changiung light panel.. LOL

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

or even go with a reflective type paint if you can find some decent deal.. I should BUS-KOTE or similar the DEV ceiling .. flat white with clear is probably just as effective and alot cheaper. my ceilings in Red are the perf ceiling... but really i could put a piece of foamboard on the metal and any kind of plastic or such then put the trim ring on.

could even do something cool with it like use a translucent plastic panel and put strips of LED lights above it.. have some kind of funky limo-style color changiung light panel.. LOL

-Christopher

I think BusKote is 99% marketing. Its not really any different than any of the 5 gallon buckets of white elastomeric roof paint at Lowes/HD. turns yellow after a little while unless you clearcoat it.
Flat white is the most reflective paint you can buy. Pot growers know all about it!

I love the idea of lights in the hole left from the hatch! I may HAVE to do that now! THANKS!!!

[EastCoastCB]

Started with a fairly rusty 30x30 square of 16ga I had lying around in my yard.



Then I cut a couple 15x15 pieces of the 18ga I have from the two 4x10's I got to do the roof cap. It wasn't as rusty as the 16ga since its much newer and has been under a roof . Still sat outside, but with a roof, in sort of a gazebo. This is all just surface rust, nothing to worry about. Even on the 16 ga.


then once I'd gotten most of the rust off with the wire, I doused it in Ospho a couple times using a paint roller.
You can see the difference immediately!


I went over the 30" piece a few times to make sure it was good and soaked.
Came out NICE.

[Hvbuzz]

Looking good!

My old hatches leaked, but you couldn't see anything leaking around the hatch itself. It would follow the ribs over to the wall, then leak out on the floor. For the longest time, I thought it was the rv window I put in. Nope, window was fine, it was the escape hatches the entire time.

I was going to tell you that when I was having overheating problems, I was told the caterpillar brand radiator flush was about the best thing out there. Of course it was kinda of expensive. I'd have to look back a ways to remember the price. I was just going to try that first, but then I went ahead and bought a new clutch too. The clutch was bad, but the bus did run cooler then it ever had though.

[EastCoastCB]

Yeah I definitely need to try adjusting the fan clutch.

I didn't get pics, but I did get out to the "shop" and got one side of each steel square primed. I used a rattle can of Rustoleum primer I had in the garage that needed to be used. Tomorrow I'll hit the other side and then roll on some of the flat white mixed with a hardener.

[Elfie]

I love my hatch. I would not have bought a bus withoutvs hatch. It vents heat great when you are stationary just like a natural chimney. It is hard to sleep in warm weather without a hatch.
Mine does not leak. If it rains you need to close it because the overhang is to small. Use it all the time to get on the roof. It let's a lot of light in .

In my old vanhool we had two large hatches. They were translucent and allowed great light in side.

If you remove the hatches in one piece then save them for me. Would like one in my normal van.

Later j

[Robin97396]

How do you secure you hatches, or have you never been broken into through the hatch?

[Kubla]

guess I got lucky, my shorty has no roof hatches

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Elfie

I love my hatch. I would not have bought a bus withoutvs hatch. It vents heat great when you are stationary just like a natural chimney. It is hard to sleep in warm weather without a hatch.
Mine does not leak. If it rains you need to close it because the overhang is to small. Use it all the time to get on the roof. It let's a lot of light in .

In my old vanhool we had two large hatches. They were translucent and allowed great light in side.

If you remove the hatches in one piece then save them for me. Would like one in my normal van.

Later j

Mine are total junk man, they're cracked apart at the corners like the two that were on my other AmTran.
The RV roof VENT will do a much better job of ventilating. Rain or shine.

[Elfie]

Ok , thanks, no loss , I will pick one up from the junkyard. May be there are different brands, some better some worse?

Can hardly see how an RV one would vent better. This one is a straight hole to the outside. With the windows on the wind side open a nice breeze is coming thru. Reduces the complications of AC and super insulation.

During trips the kids love to see rain falling on the skylight I made in the hatch panel. And you cannot beat the natural light coming thru.


Did not get broken in yet. Nothing for thieves anyhow. Just remove the handle from the top I would think.
If people want to get in, they will get in. Locking it to well causes just more damage.

Later J

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Elfie

Ok , thanks, no loss , I will pick one up from the junkyard. May be there are different brands, some better some worse?

Can hardly see how an RV one would vent better. This one is a straight hole to the outside. With the windows on the wind side open a nice breeze is coming thru. Reduces the complications of AC and super insulation.

During trips the kids love to see rain falling on the skylight I made in the hatch panel. And you cannot beat the natural light coming thru.


Did not get broken in yet. Nothing for thieves anyhow. Just remove the handle from the top I would think.
If people want to get in, they will get in. Locking it to well causes just more damage.

Later J

Well the RV one has a reversible fan, can be used in the rain, and isn't the factory leaky one.
I'll take pics of this one before I pull it off, but All three of mine were made by the same place and all three were broken and brittle and generally JUNK.
The two on my big bus simply blew off and into pieces during a powerful rainstorm.
Edit- this is a pic of the one in my shorty. Same model that was in my big bus.
I'd definitely avoid these, but honestly I think anyone who takes a good look at em would avoid using these.They're utter shite man.

[EastCoastCB]

well I'm off to finish priming and painting the patch panels for the roof. If the day goes well I may even have them mounted. If so it will be my first time using the HF riveter.
I'm gonna do one coat of the flat white on each side of the panels and once they're riveted on, I'll slap another coat on them.