Driving "Miss Gloria" - Page 2

WoodenYouKnowIt · 03-16-2019, 04:22 PM

Been sick lately! Progress on "Miss Gloria" is going a little slow. But here is an update:

The parcel trays are completely out now. I have not banged my head on any of them all day. LOVE IT!

But I must admit that they fought me every. last. step. of. the. way! I was wondering if I would ever get them. I've decided that Prevost hides many screws behind screws. Then when you've gotten all the obvious screws out, you discover the hidden screws - one at a time - and then when you've gotten all of those out, you'll find something that is still holding things in place. So you have to twist y ourself into all sorts of weird contortions only to find more screws. And after you get those screws out, there will always be a few rivets. I'm not kidding and I'm certainly not exagerating when I say that I've never in my life seen any vehicle built with such triple redundancy.

In addition, all of the screws that Prevost uses, are aluminum. If you drop one, you have to get your fat carcass down on the floor to find it because a magnet will not pick it up. Brackets and supports are also made of aluminum. I'm going to have a field day at the salvage yard I think.

I did take two sets of seats and I saved them to make chairs for the dinette. There is SO much room on this vehicle! So here are a couple of photos showing the interior during and after decon. And the final photo is of all the trash in my driveway of stuff that's going to the recycler place.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 03-16-2019, 05:16 PM

Here is a block of Prevost's insulation that fell out of the ceiling. It's at least 2" thick. I'm so glad I don't have to insulate.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 03-16-2019, 05:20 PM

It looks like I've got a tail light farm on the back of my bus. The lenses on this bus are really faded and many of the bulbs are either burned out or missing altogether.

When I took the fixtures apart, I found that they were flaking off and most were suffering some sort of weird corrosion. So I cleaned them up as best that I could and gave them some paint with this reflective metalic in it.

I cleaned the lenses with Simple Green and then buffed them with some polishing compound.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 03-18-2019, 05:16 PM

Now I've finished cleaning out most of the stuff I don't want. I say MOST of it. There is still some stuff left but I think we've pretty much got it ready for flooring next. This first photo is of only a small portion of all the shelving. It's all carpet clad aluminum. Then there are the extrusions with vinyl clad aluminum and them some aluminum that is sacred to what Prevost wants to sell. This is because EVERYTHING they sell is aluminum.

The second photo is of the bunch of it that I'm selling for scrap. I don't give it a choice. So, this pick-up truck load came in at 400lbs which netted me $82 at the salvage place.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 04-29-2019, 10:36 PM

Well, the weather is warming up and the Prevost is feeling like a greenhouse. Gotta open up some windows. I cut some scraps of wood to block the windows open. Each of these open windows is labeled as an escape exit. I will need to figure out how to put screens in them eventually.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 04-29-2019, 10:39 PM

I'm also cutting my furring strips but I'm having a difficult time figuring just how I'm going to do it. In one photo here, you can see where I ripped a piece to fit in this channel above the window. I plan to then fasten a beveled 2x4 to it to give me a beefier attachment point for cabinets, cornices and the headliner. So the other photo is showing some test pieces.

Sleddgracer · 04-29-2019, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodenYouKnowIt

Well, the weather is warming up and the Prevost is feeling like a greenhouse. Gotta open up some windows. I cut some scraps of wood to block the windows open. Each of these open windows is labeled as an escape exit. I will need to figure out how to put screens in them eventually.

'saw another post on the forum from a member that is using velcro to hold the screens in place - no frames required, just stick one side of the velcro to the window frames, and the other to the screens themselves - when you want them off, zzzzzip and off they come - easy to store too

EastCoastCB · 04-30-2019, 05:16 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18-Ye2L3ej8

Native · 04-30-2019, 09:23 PM

Good video, love that movie series! But ... I am missing the context, ECCB!

EastCoastCB · 05-01-2019, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Native

Good video, love that movie series! But ... I am missing the context, ECCB!

"Gloria". its the name right?

WoodenYouKnowIt · 05-01-2019, 07:25 AM

I think I missed something.

I'm not aware of the movie series. I never saw it. But Gloria is the name I've given my bus. The folks I bought it from named all their buses and they had named my bus "Glory" because the red, white and blue livery reminded them of "Old Glory." When I got the bus, I knew that I was going to go with a different paint color and so, I didn't think that Glory was going to fit. But when I saw how sentimental the drivers were over that bus, I decided not to change the name too much. I just changed if from Glory to Gloria. Then my mother suggested that we call the bus "Miss Gloria" and that has been the name that is sticking. We were thinking about starting a YouTube channel entitled "Driving Miss Gloria" but we don't have cameras or any stuff like that yet.

Native · 05-01-2019, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

"Gloria". its the name right?

Duh! Can you lend me a brick to knock some sense into my head?

Oh wait, this brick wall will do!

WoodenYouKnowIt: Thank you for the etymology of the name "Driving Miss Gloria"!

The movie series if "Back to the Future" starring a very young Michael J. Fox and a "never seems to age" or "always looks old" Christopher Lloyd.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 05-04-2019, 04:02 PM

I went over to the local Habitat for Humanity to see what they might have that I could use. I found a huge, deep double bowl sink with a faucet already on it like the one that I was visualizing. $35 - good deal.

But you've gotta watch it with these guys. I really do not think that they have any clue exactly how to price things because there was some stuff that was just outrageous.

I found a pallet full of laminate flooring. I had given laminate a thought a while back and hadn't decided. Habitat wanted $85 for this entire pallet. I started searching down through it to see what sort of shape it was in. I went down several layers and it looked good. But I got so far down that I wasn't able to move any stuff out of the way to look deeper. But I bought the stuff anyway. When I got it home I realized that this stuff was not in good shape at all. Wow, they say me coming.

I have to qualify this. For years, I installed, sanded and finish hardwood floors. I knew that this laminate would have a lot of similarities but I knew there were some differences too. I figured, how hard could it be?

It didn't take long to find out. This stuff is pure garbage and I solemnly promise that I will NEVER, EVER install any laminate ever again. This stuff simply has no quality to it at all. Honetly, I do not even know where to begin to list all of the problems with it. However, I'm committed and I've got no choice but to go with it. So, I will just live with it until sometime in the future when I can replace it with something I like better.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 05-04-2019, 04:06 PM

For quite a number of years, we've had this wren build her nest and lay her eggs somewhere around our front door. We've enjoyed watching the little wrens hatch but this year, we haven't been able to find her. We were starting to get a little worried.

Anyway, I have not been able to decide just exactly what to do with all of this factory plastic above the driver's head. I figured that I will just keep meditating on it from time to time and I'll come up with something. But today, my mom was on the bus and she said to me, "Dave, you gotta see what's up here over the driver's seat."

I looked and guess what? We found our wren's nest.

plfking · 05-04-2019, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodenYouKnowIt

I looked and guess what? We found our wren's nest.

The wrens must be into networking.....last spring, my bus was somewhat open for a few months while I was closing off my old doorway and cutting a new one......I had one build in the EXACT same place.

WoodenYouKnowIt · 05-05-2019, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plfking

The wrens must be into networking.....

Well... of course, they are! I mean.. they all twitter... right?

plfking · 05-06-2019, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WoodenYouKnowIt

Well... of course, they are! I mean.. they all twitter... right?

<<<insert 'bad joke' groan here>>>

WoodenYouKnowIt · 05-14-2019, 03:56 AM

When I was first in the planning stage, I was really trying to convince myself that I could do this project without resorting to the use of OSB. For those of you who may not know what OSB stands for, it is Oriented Strand Board. It's this flaky, ugly plywood that is so cheap that builders use it wherever it isn't going to show. I had a vision in my head of doing some superb cabinet work with beautiful plywood that would make viewers ooooh and aaaaah. Then I priced the good-looking plywood that I really wanted.

YIKES! That stuff is EXPENSIVE! It's no wonder OSB is so common.

Oh well! I guess I'll just do the best that I can. On the other hand, I suppose that, if I had more money, I might not have been converting this bus in the first place. Who knows?

Anywho, I decided that the first items to install in the bus would be the beds. There are two escape windows back around the 3/4 distance down the interior. I wanted to use these windows to add light and give my bed a feeling of openness. Directly across the aisle is an identical opening window and I decided to put the other bed there.

So here I have some photos showing the bed frame and the first of the interior walls - made out of 2x4s and OSB. That second photo shows mom inspecting my work.

That last photo shows me chopping wood. LOL, my motto is:
"Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.