Miss Euphegenia: 1999 AmTran RE

[Seeria]

Glad to hear that route works. Will be doing the 50/50 and hd roller route myself due to neighbors. Darn neighbors!

[RUskoolietailgater]

Shoot, the paint looks fine from the picture provided.

[Seeria]

Have you had to wet sand yet?

[busdriver_phil]

Originally Posted by Seeria

Have you had to wet sand yet?

Nope. I could, and could probably get it even better, but I'm happy with the way it looks. It's much better than I thought a roller job would come out, so I'm leaving it alone for now.

[busdriver_phil]

A long-overdue update:

First, I have decided on a name, the bus shall henceforth be known as "Miss Euphegenia." She's a sweet older lady who's very polite and proper, but knows how to have a good time. Who can tell me what movie that name is from?

Paint: Memorial Day weekend I worked on the silver. I was hoping to get 2 coats all around below the windows, but a sudden downpour forced me to pause for a few hours, so the left side only has one coat. As mentioned above, this is Rustoleum Aluminum, applied with a high-density foam roller. I rolled one coat, let it dry while I worked on something else, used a foam brush to do all the non-flat areas (panel seams, rivets, edges, etc), then rolled a second coat. There will be more to come, some type of blue and dark gray stripes, but my goal for that day was to get enough of the yellow covered to go on the road without getting stopped.

That Sunday I had some friends over (fellow bus nuts) and we went for a nice 63 mile drive around town, ending up in the camper parking lot at the Thompson Speedway to watch the "Eve of Destruction" - car, school bus, and camper demolition derbies with lots of fun entertainment. The buses held up pretty well considering the hard hits, while the campers collapsed like cardboard boxes. A gentleman seated a few rows in front of us inspired an addition to Jeff Foxworthy's list: "If you can catch a T-shirt fired from a cannon without dropping your beer, ya might be a redneck."

The paint job:


All taped up. It's a lot easier to tape when you roll instead of spraying.


I always thought these buses looked ugly with the black grille. Apparently AmTran agreed with me, because a few years later they started painting the grille yellow (before they switched to a side radiator design). The black had a lot of rust, I spent some time on it with the wire brush. Some sections were so rusted the frame came completely off. I probably could have done more, and probably should have used a rust-converter primer instead of regular primer, but I can re-do it if the rust starts bleeding through.


Looks much better now.

And the rest of the paint job:



When I removed the warning lights, I discovered an issue in the back left corner. In addition to the body work I have to do on the lower rear corners (someone forgot to watch their tailswing a few times!), I have a nice big piece of banged-up metal covered by a thick chunk of bondo. It's already cracking (you can see a mechanic tried to silicone it at some point), and I'm sure it will get worse. I bought a small wire-feed welder that I'll be teaching myself to use soon, so my goal is to replace the entire bondo'd section (and hope that it's just the flat part, not around the curves).


Before the paint job, I washed the bus of course. I spent some time hosing off the undercarriage. It's amazingly rust-free for an 11-year-old CT bus, but there were a few crossmembers that trapped a lot of sand and salt (caked on over an inch thick in some spots). I got most of it off, and made a big mess.


Got a couple other projects done this week in the evenings. I installed a lock on the side emergency door, the same way many others here have done their rear doors. The problem is, AmTran side doors are too thin (the outside handle is recessed). I made some shims out of rubber from the first section of floor I pulled up (just a small section to see how well it was glued down). It seems to work well, but the inside part wobbles a little bit, so I may install something flush to the right side of it for support.




But the really exciting part: I have music! I installed a radio and power plug on the dash. Don't worry, the loose wires are just the 2 speakers and the antenna. The speakers are just sitting on the flat part of the dash, held in place by their magnets. The glass-mount antenna is taped in the destination sign window. All will be permanently mounted overhead, with wires properly routed. The power wires for the radio and plug are properly fused (used the circuits from the warning lights and front bumper crossing gate). The side panel where the radio is mounted has a double-wall, with two sheets of metal about 3/4 inch apart with foam between them (probably to make it easy to install things like 2-way radios without worrying about drilling into the electrical panel). I used another scrap of floor rubber to make a grommet for the 1-1/4" hole I cut (same hole saw as the side door lock).


Sorry for the long post, I should probably update more than once every 2 weeks. One other question: The water heater from the donor trailer is cracked. The seller told me he forgot to drain it last winter. Is this something that can be repaired? Replace the tank but keep the burner? Or just forget it and get a new water heater?

[yankeflyer]

Owning a bus is the coolest thing-rolling on the paint makes it an easy job.
great pics

[busdriver_phil]

Some more progress from the last few days:

Got a big roll of tint I bought on ebay. I ordered 20%, thinking it would be light enough to still see out of and dark enough for a decent amount of privacy, and I could double it up in the bedroom (triple in the bathroom). It's lighter than I thought it would be, I'm thinking about sending it back and getting 5% (after verifying that they sent me 20% and not something lighter).



I HATE BROWN UPHOLSTERY!!!!! The buses I drive at work all have brown seat covers, I hate them, I hate them, I hate them! There will be NO brown anywhere in my conversion. But I have such a nice, gently worn air ride Bostrom driver's seat. What to do? Paint it of course! Dupli-Color Vinyl & Fabric paint, available at Wal-Mart and Napa. (The cover is on snugly now, I just slid it over for that last picture.)





I got started pulling up the floor, the plywood looks a lot better than I expected.



Went for a nice long 200 mile drive this Sunday. Jason's dad works at a truck garage, and I was able to do an oil/filter change (and a new fuel filter). The bus ran perfectly of course. The only issue is that the gauges keep cutting out (typical International electronic cluster), so I had to Google my route to get accurate mileage readings. I calculated 11.4 MPG, much better than I expected. Pictured here with my good friend Dave's bus (he posts here from time to time too).



The bus is now parked, and I'm trying to focus my efforts on the donor trailer - I want it out of my yard as soon as possible. The original goal was by the end of June, but it doesn't look like that will happen at this point. The school I drive for is out now so I have a lot more free time (aside from part-time work driving coach buses). I've been making some good progress. I know I don't HAVE to completely demolish it, but it's more fun that way. Plus, I have to get the walls down to get the floor out, and it'll be a lot easier to get the tanks with the floor out.

[bus-bro]

From my experience it is easier to pry up the plywood floor with the rubber on it with a long wrecking bar. Might as well pull the plywood up too, as it takes less time (but more muscle) than peeling the rubber flooring. The corrosin is under the plywood.

Other option is to convert as is and don't pull the floor. Use it for a few years, have fun, then get rid of it.

[busdriver_phil]

Since the plywood looks like it's in good shape, I'd like to try to save it (for another project - the bus is getting all new wood). Realistically, I'll probably get 2 screws out of the wood, get frustrated at the rest, and then rip it all out with a crowbar - but at least I'm going to try.

And yes, I'm going all the way down to metal, getting rid of the rust, priming, then doing a new subfloor. I'm leaning toward 1x2 furring strips, 3/4 polystyrene, and 3/4 OSB plywood.

[busdriver_phil]

Actually, she was named after the movie Mrs. Doubtfire. Classy, older, strong, deserving respect, but she also knows how to have a good time.

When I changed the oil on Sunday, I discovered that, true to her namesake, Euphegenia pees standing up.

Thank you for confirming what I thought about the tint. I was planning on using 20% in the living room and doubling up elsewhere (20% x 20% = 4%, 20% x 20% x 20% = 0.8% for the bathroom).

[putterspitt]

I put blackout tint on the rear and 1st window from the back, 5% on the rest except the one beside the driver, 20% on that one. Some pics of the tine are in my thread in the short bus forum, Putters bus. Just in case you want to see..

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by CHEESE_WAGON

.... But keep in mind any of them you will be able to see out much better than seeing in....

True during the day. At night, with lights on inside the bus it's the opposite - you can't see who might be watching you. Remember to pull the curtains or blinds on any activity you don't want available for public viewing!

[Seeria]

Don't listen to him. Leave them curtains open. I like to watch people.

[busdriver_phil]

Originally Posted by CHEESE_WAGON

Maybe with 20% or lighter.... I had 5% on my bus and at night, certain snoopy people (the HOA's lackies) could barely make out the television monitor I use for live viewing while playing back recorded video. Kinda funny, when one of them stuck their foot in their mouth in court saying that they could see a television through the window at night, I took a camera and took pictures of just what could be seen under those circumstances, and all I got was a ball of light that was indistinguishable at 40 feet.

May I ask why you were in court over something a person outside saw on your TV at night?

There will be curtains in addition to the tint.

The seller on eBay emailed me their return address, I was worried I might get a "we don't accept returns, you're stuck with it" since they don't say anything about returns on the listing, so we'll see what happens.

[busdriver_phil]

I'm tossing some ideas around for the paint scheme. Comments/suggestions?

[busdriver_phil]

Hmm, I didn't think about that. The roof is white for keeping the heat down, and the windows will be tinted (still waiting to get the darker film than in the pic above). White roof with a black band around the windows is the standard for the coach/transit industry, and a popular "dress-up" option for school buses. For the small amount of space (2" between each window) I don't think the black would be an issue. The photoshop makes it stand out a bit, but gloss black paint won't be quite as strong in real life.

[BUSBOZO]

I like that scheme! Did you use microsoft paint for that? I tried it, but it comes out real messy.

[busdriver_phil]

Yep, it just takes some patience. Mostly it's drawing thick lines (3 or 5 pixels) and then filling in with the brush.

[BUSBOZO]

Ok. Thanks. I'm illiterate when it comes to that stuff. LOL

[browncrown]

Put me on the list that likes the paint scheme too...very sharp!