Ed's Build Thread

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

Can I just put a patch over the hole and seal it well, or should I do something special since it is in such a rust-prone spot? Experienced advice would be appreciated!

Just cut away any badly-rusted steel, square up the holes and put patches down (welding is best and easiest), no need for anything special unless the cross-members underneath are badly rusted as well, then you need to replace the structural support they were providing as well. Your cross-members look like they're OK, or at least sorta OK.

The wheel wells are only prone to rust because bus windows and light openings usually leak pretty badly (and/or school garages hose out the insides from time to time) and the water inevitably accumulates around the wells no matter which way the bus is parked (i.e. pointing down, pointing up, leaning left or right). If you've fixed all your leaks, your wheel wells won't be a problem any more. If you haven't fixed all your leaks, you're going to have big problems regardless of how you've repaired your floor.

If you hose down the inside of your skoolie from time to time, I don't know what to say.

[o1marc]

Many districts add their own PA systems, video monitoring system, GPS,and 2 way radio to the school. They pull some of that stuff when selling the bus as it can be used on the bus that replaces it. That's where your outside speaker went.

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Many districts add their own PA systems, video monitoring system, GPS,and 2 way radio to the school. They pull some of that stuff when selling the bus as it can be used on the bus that replaces it. That's where your outside speaker went.

That makes sense, but now I'm wondering where I have a hole on the outside that I haven't found yet...

[Oscar1]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

That makes sense, but now I'm wondering where I have a hole on the outside that I haven't found yet...

Hey db
We have the same bus and my outside speaker is still intact and located under the bus directly below the electrical service panel. Lots of room up inside there, air horn is there also.
Cheers

Oscar

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by Oscar1

Hey db
We have the same bus and my outside speaker is still intact and located under the bus directly below the electrical service panel. Lots of room up inside there, air horn is there also.
Cheers

Oscar

Just looked, I found the wiring that used to go to the speaker, but the speaker is definitely gone. Lots of space up there though, indeed - good to know! I still need to figure out if my stock stereo receiver is actually dead, or if I just have some other wiring issue. It lights up, but no sound. But it also spits out CDs...


While I have your attention, what did you do to silence the emergency roof and window hatches? I just removed the ground on the rear door alarm harness but I can't get a clear idea of how the roof hatches are wired so far. I know most of these things just involve shunting a 12V circuit to ground but I don't want to just cut the wires and see what happens yet.

[dbsoundman]

All but one of my shocks look like this…note the cracks on the outer sleeve.

How many pockets do you estimate I’ll have to empty to get these replaced?

[Mr4btTahoe]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

All but one of my shocks look like this…note the cracks on the outer sleeve.

How many pockets do you estimate I’ll have to empty to get these replaced?

Replace them yourself. Shocks are cheap.. even for medium duty and otr trucks.

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by Mr4btTahoe

Replace them yourself. Shocks are cheap.. even for medium duty and otr trucks.

I don't necessarily know how to replace shocks on a big vehicle. Do I need to jack up the suspension or something? My recollection of replacing shocks on a car requires compressing the shock so it will fit...?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

I don't necessarily know how to replace shocks on a big vehicle. Do I need to jack up the suspension or something? My recollection of replacing shocks on a car requires compressing the shock so it will fit...?

Pull the top bolt, pull the bottom bolt, remove shock absorber. Install top bolt on new shock, mount to bus, install lower bolt and you're done. You may have to compress the shock a bit to get it in place. Simple.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by dbsoundman

All but one of my shocks look like this…note the cracks on the outer sleeve.

How many pockets do you estimate I’ll have to empty to get these replaced?

1 pocket, they run around $200 a set.

https://www.truckid.com/2006-thomas-...shocks-struts/

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by o1marc

1 pocket, they run around $200 a set.

https://www.truckid.com/2006-thomas-...shocks-struts/

Cool, thanks! I see there's some slight variations in the length of the shocks, is there any way I can tell exactly what I need without having to remove mine first? There's little differences in the extended and compressed lengths for the Monroe Gas Magnum 65 which seems to be the cheapest Monroes I can get for both front and rear.

[dbsoundman]

Answering my own question...asked the Thomas dealer and they gave me the following Monroe shock part numbers:


MAE 65140 (front)
MAE 65108 (rear)


They actually have better pricing than TruckID as well!

[o1marc]

Use the as mounted length of the mounted shock for comparison.

[dbsoundman]

Shocks ordered (well, will be as of tomorrow), and I’ll look into getting new spin on external transmission filters and do that myself as well in the near future. Decided to leave the transmission fluid as is for now and monitor it for quality.

Found someone tossing an old bed frame today and realized it would make perfect L channel stock to reinforce the front edge of my stairs which are a little holey.

Right now I’m planning on either bolting or self-tap screwing the L channel to the outside of the stairs, and using sealant to keep it from accumulating more water. Any thoughts?

[dbsoundman]

Took Ed for a drive tonight as I needed to get my trailer out of my garage. Neighbor down the street wanted to go for a ride, he rode in the stairwell and we circled the block, then he took a turn; I forgot he’s a CDL driver and drove a bus at one point so he was a natural!

The evening drive also gave me a chance to test out the headlights, and boy do they stink! The drivers side turns on but doesn’t put any appreciable light on the road, and the passenger side is like a spotlight down the road. Brights don’t seem to work either.

[dbsoundman]

I took some better photos of the stairwell holes, hoping someone here has some helpful thoughts, I'm a little lost on how exactly to tackle this.


The stairs are basically three pieces it seems: the two sides, and the actual stairs. The stairs themselves are one piece of "folded" metal, which sits into the side pieces. It's not even really welded together, it just seems like the stairs rest on the lips formed on the side pieces, then it's all caulked together.



My holes are both in the stair bottoms, and the sides. The way I see it, I have a few potential options:

1. Cut out the bad stuff, put on patches, treat for rust, done.
2. Cut out the bad stuff, put angle iron on the outside of the bad corners, patch other spots, done.
3. Wait for my welder friend to work on them and do...I'm not sure what.

I'm thinking I should just patch them and move on, but since the stairs are...stairs, it seems like it might be prudent to put a little more thought into it.


I'm also debating how to cover the stairs once they're patched up. I could use more steel over the existing steel, basically like the original stairs, or aluminum (I have lots of road signs!), or do plywood (seems like it would get extra soggy there).


Please help me narrow down some potential options...

[musigenesis]

I don't think you need angle steel anywhere. I would just cut out the rusty bits and weld sheet metal over the squared-off holes. Your welder friend should be able to handle the welding part quickly and with no problems. If you were near Philly (and if my sheet metal shears hadn't broken on me) I could do this for you in an afternoon. Then just seal all the edges with Dynatron-550 or other polyurethane sealant.

For the floor in my cab, I welded bits of 1/4-20 all-thread to the floor and then used them to bolt down plywood. You could also just glue down plywood on the steps - that's what was done with these buses originally. If you don't have leaks inside, you won't have problems with water accumulating here, as long as you're careful not to bring in water or snow on your shoes.

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I don't think you need angle steel anywhere. I would just cut out the rusty bits and weld sheet metal over the squared-off holes. Your welder friend should be able to handle the welding part quickly and with no problems. If you were near Philly (and if my sheet metal shears hadn't broken on me) I could do this for you in an afternoon. Then just seal all the edges with Dynatron-550 or other polyurethane sealant.

For the floor in my cab, I welded bits of 1/4-20 all-thread to the floor and then used them to bolt down plywood. You could also just glue down plywood on the steps - that's what was done with these buses originally. If you don't have leaks inside, you won't have problems with water accumulating here, as long as you're careful not to bring in water or snow on your shoes.

Thanks, your insights as a fellow rust belt dweller are always valued!

I had planned to screw in my other patches for simplicity, but I may at least try to get some rivets for the stair patches since it’s a tighter space. My free time to work on this build is already limited so I’m not sure learning how to weld (again) is in the cards for me, and my welder friend is busy for the foreseeable future.

We will have to have a meet up sometime in PA, there has to be a nice state park somewhere between here and there.

[MNbusboy]

This is exactly how I expect my MN bus to look once I get the floor all up. Please document your repairs so I can follow!! I was thinking of buying the Harbor Freight Titanium 125 welder and trying to You-Tube teach myself to weld. Then I remembered that I already have exactly 0 free time, so I think I will get the floor cleaned up then get quotes from local welders and maybe a welding school. If they come in to high I will just buy the welder and give it a shot.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by MNbusboy

This is exactly how I expect my MN bus to look once I get the floor all up. Please document your repairs so I can follow!! I was thinking of buying the Harbor Freight Titanium 125 welder and trying to You-Tube teach myself to weld. Then I remembered that I already have exactly 0 free time, so I think I will get the floor cleaned up then get quotes from local welders and maybe a welding school. If they come in to high I will just buy the welder and give it a shot.

Two hours of a welder's time will pay for that Titanium 125, and you can probably find one way cheaper on Craigslist/etc. My biggest regret on my entire bus was hiring a welder when it turns out I could do everything myself.

My second biggest regret was dropping $500 on a welding class at my local CC.