Mule Bus Toy Hauler

[nat_ster]

Sweet shift knob.

Nat

[REDD]

Thanks Tango & Nat, I needed something a little out there.

On a different note, what do you with the rear heater/fans/heater hoses? Is there a use for them....anyone need them....or do I just chuck 'em with everything else?

[REDD]

Heater today, maybe a little more wire wheelin' and some paint.

Tomorrow an oil pan, seems Ont. winters have takin' this one out. $600. lighter in the wallet....oh well.

[EastCoastCB]

I'm about to buy two new tires and a rear air bag.

Buses are like boats- bust out another thousand!

[REDD]

The dates on all 6 tires are 2014, were replaced in Dec. '15....another bonus!

[REDD]

Sooo, I finished wire wheelin'/sanding the insides of the bus and put on two coats of white rust paint. Going to patch a couple of holes by the wheel wells and lay some half in plywood over the existing floor. The back half I'm leaving for now, just want to get it mobile. This is more of a "lipstick on a pig build". Hoping to get 4-5 years outta this thing and I'd be happy.

Being the Mule Bus, would like to have said lipstick on an ass build, but we'll save that for another forum.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by REDD

The dates on all 6 tires are 2014, were replaced in Dec. '15....another bonus!

Redd,

Did you go "Back To The Future" on us?.....

It's July 2015......

Sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself....

[crazycal]

It costs extra but you can buy tires with date codes in the future.

[REDD]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

Redd,

Did you go "Back To The Future" on us?.....

It's July 2015......

Sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself....

LOL, At least someone's paying attention Dec 14...man I've got to get some sleep!

[REDD]

Well work seems to getting in the way of my project...got a few thing clean up, sanded, disassembled.

Don't buy a skoolie from Ontario if your lookin' to keep it more than a few years....waaaaay to much rust. It'll be fine for what I'm doin'

wood not as bad as I thought it wood be

remove anti skid tape from floor, wow that was fun...



relocating washer bottle to side, bent the shifter a bit...up and to the left. Shifter is in first, just misses edge of hole.



Installed some 1/2" ply, glued and screwed with PL Premium and #12x 2" wafer head self tapping screws

Barn board linoleum...not glued yet

windows tinted limo on left only....outta sight outta mind, still need day light for now.

[REDD]

This is where the washer bottle was, tryin' to clean things up a little.


There's a screen, well there was a screen behind and below the seat, about 4"x 18". Assuming it has something to do with the heater and air intake, looks like its been destroyed for a while. Vacuumed out about 1/2 " of dirt from under the seat.....my question is, do I really need this screen?

[EastCoastCB]

That's gona be one SUPREME bus man.

[REDD]

Thanks for the kind words CB, but this project will be far from SUPREME!
You, Tango, Vlad, Nat, BC and tons of others are the real builders. Complete tare down for the long term living, removing everything and rebuilding.....I'm doin' a face lift at best. Something to by me some time for a few years, for camping and transporting my toys.

[EastCoastCB]

Will be a fine mule.

[Mschoonmaker]

I painted mine with 2 gallons of tan rutoleum GLOSS and one gallon of brown GLOSS after a good scotch brite rubdown. I only did one coat just to hide the yellow. People come up and praise it all the time. It looks great. I started to remove my floor but it was pristine. I used the felt type carpet pad and carpet and the thing is so quite now it took some getting used to (it was very beer can loud without the seats and carpet). I now can carry on a conversation with the radio on and plan to glue felt to the ceiling like a boat.

[HolyBus]

Originally Posted by Mschoonmaker

I painted mine with 2 gallons of tan rutoleum GLOSS and one gallon of brown GLOSS after a good scotch brite rubdown. I only did one coat just to hide the yellow. People come up and praise it all the time...

How did you apply it? Spray, roll, brush?

[The Nebuchadnezzar]

Mschoonmaker I'm interested in hearing the details of how you applied your paint as well planning to paint week after next, thx

[Mschoonmaker]

I think I used about 10 rolls of the blue tape and about 2 or 3 rolls of 24" paper and 1or 2 rolls of the 6" paper. 6 rolls of the cheap plastic drop cloth stuff. 2 gallons of acetone (maybe more I have been painting alot of stuff so I have a bunch laying around) for cleaning and thinning.
A bus bus is very large so me being all alone I was unable to get the whole bus done on one day. I spent the first day scrubbing the bus with the brown scotchbright and the water hose (6 or8 of them) all day and into the evening, all those rivets and screws are a pain but it must be done. I was very sore for a couple days so I concentrated on patching the holes for the red and yellow lights and stop sign things. don't try to bondo these up you will just make a mess screw sheet metal to it. I used a can of spray primer to cover anything that was bare metal (old paint that is good makes great primer) so I goofed off a few days and then got up at the crack of dawn and washed the front of the bus and the left side with acetone and a bunch of rags (many, many). Then I began taping out all the glass. "a wrinkle is a leak". I premade my paper squares for windows about 2" wider than window. no fumbling with the roll on a ladder. It took me all day to do the left side so I had to cover all that work with plastic overnight to prevent the dew from getting to it. the next morning I flipped the plastic over to the right side of the bus to keep the overspray from getting on the glass on right side of bus. I wiped the bus down again with acetone, fixed any tape issues that I missed. I was painting out in the yard so I didn't bother with a tack rag wipe down and it was time to paint. I had bought the best sprayer they had at Home depot and it was junk so I used my Sata that was my primer gun for when I painted racecars. YOU NEED A GOOD COMPRESSOR !!!! or you will be waiting for air (I had to wait, it works but slow). I mixed the paint for spraying just like it says on the can in a new 5 gallon bucket with a top so that all that was done at one time and would have same mix all the way around, yup no big secret here. So I started painting top to bottom about a 6' section at a time, that's all I could reach from the ladder and still be pointing sprayer at the work. Watch some videos on youtube to see how to do this, that's how I learned before I started painting Winston cup cars (that is a secret, lol). The paint dries fast so if you want you can pull the paper, i left mine and went strait to taping the back and right side of the bus, same thing I taped into the evening covered it in plastic and just did right side next day. If I had 1 or 2 helpers I could have done the whole bus in one day. The next couple of days I worked on the dark brown stripes with a good quality brush, yup a brush and it is fabulous. I painted the vw emblem with some mettalic spraycan stuff I saw at Walmart it looks just like chrome if you lay it on thick and let it drip off. (another secret). 75 degrees was a good temp to paint in so think about that too. I only have found 1 bug that got on the paint so I am happy, he is entombed.
If you have any questions I will try to help, but dont be ferfraid, practice a little with your sprayer on a 55 gallon drum or something when you fell good, GO FOR IT ! If you get a run it is personality. Most people wont even notice. Wait for the air pressure to build up, don't rush. I know a guy who used a Wagner power painter He used the sprayer to lay down the paint and his wife flattened it with a brush and It looks great too. Thats about it man.

Almost forgot to get the gloss paint in gallon cans I had to order it from Home depot online, If you go into the store you cant get gallons of gloss except for some goofy colors.

[Mschoonmaker]

almost forgot the air compressor is in my shop, then a 50' hose to the water and oil separators (home depot) then a 50' hose to the gun (25' would be better but after you tape the bus up you cant drive it around to reach the air hose. You want to try to get the water and oil filters as close to the gun as you can, and drain them often or you will be spraying water.

[nat_ster]

Great to see progress continuing.

Thx for sharing the pics.

Nat