Our Sheelhouse

[Native]

Those deletion panels do the trick quite well. Great job!

[RamRod4]

Originally Posted by Native

Those deletion panels do the trick quite well. Great job!

Thanks. I designed them so they'd fit right into the existing body lines of the sheetmetal since the light mounting surface is slightly recessed. That way, if I decide to pull out the screws and use body filler to blend them in, they will blend nicely without massive amounts of filler.

I also have some window delete panels drawn up that I'll be test fitting this weekend (weather permitting).

[Native]

The window delete panels will be interesting to see in action.

[RamRod4]

Window delete test panel was a success. Need to shorten the height slightly since it was too tight for some window openings. Just need to fine a happy medium.

[RamRod4]

Side Note:

My air door hasn't been working. I'm not sure what caused it but I noticed it after I capped off the wiring and removed some of the ground wires for the front and rear flashers when I did the delete panels. Electrical diagrams show the switch is tied into the flasher circuit as you'd assume. I'll have to investigate more but if anyone has some input on further diagnosis, please feel free to post. Lot of irons in the fire with this bus right now and the door switch isn't my tope priority but its annoying nonetheless.

[cadillackid]

we broke the air door on a 2004 amtran recently.. turns out there was a Normally closed circuit on the relay thats fed after the 3 way switch on the dash.. the one I was working on is CE style but the relay was part pf the flashers in the side panel.. the tell tale was having power at the switch for the door but not up at the cylinder.. applying power to the cylibder worked the door.. we ended up finding the wire on its way to the door and feeding it directly from the switch.. this doesnt apply if you have the steering wheel door switches those are different..



the turbos.. yeah they are GTP38 (R) .. in 02.5 there was a turbo change to a wastegated turbo that from what i can tell is a ball bearing GTP38R.. the previous turbo is a GTP38 UNLESS you have the older high torque engine that uses a GT37 (these should only be in 94-97 230/250 HP variants.. they are reverse rotation so the WW2 wont work on it.. if there is an Allied-signal number on the compressor you can cross it to the turbo you have,

[RamRod4]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

we broke the air door on a 2004 amtran recently.. turns out there was a Normally closed circuit on the relay thats fed after the 3 way switch on the dash.. the one I was working on is CE style but the relay was part pf the flashers in the side panel.. the tell tale was having power at the switch for the door but not up at the cylinder.. applying power to the cylibder worked the door.. we ended up finding the wire on its way to the door and feeding it directly from the switch.. this doesnt apply if you have the steering wheel door switches those are different..



the turbos.. yeah they are GTP38 (R) .. in 02.5 there was a turbo change to a wastegated turbo that from what i can tell is a ball bearing GTP38R.. the previous turbo is a GTP38 UNLESS you have the older high torque engine that uses a GT37 (these should only be in 94-97 230/250 HP variants.. they are reverse rotation so the WW2 wont work on it.. if there is an Allied-signal number on the compressor you can cross it to the turbo you have,

Thanks as usual for the awesome info. I had read your other posts on the T444 turbo changes between years. I haven't dug into mine yet but mine is an early (February) 02 bus so I'd assume it has the GTP38 which would be good news for me but we will see.

As for the door, I need to pull the switch panel and trace the wiring as you mentioned. Worst case, I just pull a new hot wire from the fuse panel to the switch as well as from the switch to the solenoid. Weird how it just stopped working completely but likely not coincidental that I was gutting flasher wiring immediately prior to the door issues.

[Native]

Your window deletion panels are a wonderful design and a superior implementation. I am thinking you *could* market those to skoolies!

[RamRod4]

Originally Posted by Native

Your window deletion panels are a wonderful design and a superior implementation. I am thinking you *could* market those to skoolies!

I can't take all the credit. Having a a few hundred thousand dollars worth of machinery at my disposal makes it pretty easy haha.

[RamRod4]

Updates!

Air Door: I figured out my air door issue after tracing and probing wires for an hour. I punctured the main wiring harness above the windshield with a screw when installing the flasher delete panels. Luckily the power wire to the air door solenoid was the only wire that was cut.

Floors: I rust converted and acid etched the entire floor last weekend. Throughout the week I worked on patching the seat holes and some rotted areas.

Seat holes were covered with some 2" x 2" 20ga 304 stainless steel squares. I adhered them with Lexel.

3 larger rust holes were cut back to good metal and patched with 16ga 304 stainless and adhered with Lexel in a lap joint fashion with a 1-2" overlap. I opted for this instead of welding since it would seal better and was getting covered with subfloor anyway.

Today I rolled on some Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer (oil-based). Here's some pics:

[Native]

That's a tight fitin the garage. Nice to have one to work on the bus.

[milkmania]

Originally Posted by RamRod4

*snip*

The dog was not a fan of a big noisy rear engine diesel at first but we have been trying to get her more comfortable with it. Anything with a soft cushioned seat helps with that haha

Buddy LOVES anything noisy.... It means he's going somewhere! (Gotta watch him close around the lawnmower)
https://youtu.be/U-Yle6ny-2k
https://youtu.be/QqrWxAG34SQ
https://youtu.be/2ofhY-QguxU

I'm the one that regrets not buying a rear engine.... but I'm not driving anywhere now anyway.

[RamRod4]

Originally Posted by Native

That's a tight fitin the garage. Nice to have one to work on the bus.

I wish that was my garage. I do have a nice pole barn at home but it’s not quite big enough for the bus. The pic was taken at the fab shop I run. It’s only a mile down the road from my house though haha. I needed a heated space to paint the floors so it’s staying there overnight tonight to dry before I toss on another coat in the morning.

[RamRod4]

Originally Posted by milkmania

Buddy LOVES anything noisy.... It means he's going somewhere! (Gotta watch him close around the lawnmower)
https://youtu.be/U-Yle6ny-2k
https://youtu.be/QqrWxAG34SQ
https://youtu.be/2ofhY-QguxU

I'm the one that regrets not buying a rear engine.... but I'm not driving anywhere now anyway.

Haha that’s great. Our dog wasn’t socialized very well as a puppy so she’s a little skittish. She was on a farm until she was about 10mos old so tractors and mowers don’t bother her but the bus crosses the line for her haha.

[RamRod4]

Floor is painted and patched. Next on the list is window deletes. I got the 2 oddball sizes cut, bent, and installed yesterday. I also got the standard size installed as well. The first test piece I made that I posted pics of was slightly too large to fit into all the openings so I shrunk it down by 1/4" in both directions.

I plan to fabricate the rest of the deletes this week and install them over the couple days off for Xmas. Will post pics with them install. Basically, the back half of the bus will have the windows deleted (bedroom/bathroom area) and the living room area will keep the windows. I will reseal those as well.

I will also post a floorplan since we already have that drawn up and I haven't really laid that out for you guys. Ideas and critiques welcome.

[RamRod4]

Here is our floor plan as promised. It is basically to scale and may change slightly but we’re fairly set on this after quite a bit of planning and research.

[RamRod4]

Fabricated the rest of the window delete panels and installed a few of them on the passenger side of the bus. Here's a couple pics (and one of the bus shoehorned in the shop for kicks):

[juliol]

Originally Posted by RamRod4

Thanks. I designed them so they'd fit right into the existing body lines of the sheetmetal since the light mounting surface is slightly recessed. That way, if I decide to pull out the screws and use body filler to blend them in, they will blend nicely without massive amounts of filler.

I also have some window delete panels drawn up that I'll be test fitting this weekend (weather permitting).

You should fabricate and make this delete panels.

J

[RamRod4]

Originally Posted by juliol

You should fabricate and make this delete panels.

J

See above. I have made 15 panels already. They will be getting installed permanently this weekend.

[Native]

I think Juliol meant fabricate and sell the delete panels.


I do like them. They are a nice and clean solution to a typical skoolie problem.