Roll your own - Page 36

superdave · 02-20-2017, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

LOL im not raisin the roof on mine, I just need to get the interior of the carpenter gutted down and insulated and put back together..

it is all stock interior now and even 65k of A/C doesnt keep it cool on the road..

that bus is up in ohio now.

-Christopher

how far are you from Wytheville va. we could rip it out and get it insulated over a weekend

cadillackid · 02-20-2017, 08:47 AM

wytheville.. I know that place.. I see the signs for it on I-77..

i thinbk its only 5 or 6 hours from Columbus.. (nothing for me as I drive 1000 mile roadtrips just for fun).

one of the biggest issues with it is that unlike my bluebird, carpenter appears to have run the plywood out into the engine compartment instead of stopping short of the firewall.. thats a huge source of my engine heat.. heat comes up between the cracks everywhere (and cold in the winter).. the plywood was cut around the vertical supports at the front of the chassis and so all kinds of hot air comes up around those.. and from around the edges at the sides of the footwell area...

I tried to seal it up with silicone and such.. but the RIGHT way to do it is to completely tear it down... all the seats, the front Heaters and A/C, everything , the doghouse.. then yank that plywood and see if theres a good way to to put in new and not go into the engine compartment with it and still seal around the doghouse...

Ive half a notion to bid on another bus thats put together right.. like a Bluebird or an AmTran ... chalk up the carpenter to making my goals for 2016 as a success, and move on.. I could easily move all of my A/C stuff over to a new shortie.. and all my electricals.. and if I found another with 11R22.5 tires i could even swap my 6 new tires over..
-Christopher

EastCoastCB · 02-20-2017, 02:38 PM

I got some angle to make the flanges for the extensions on the ribs. 6 bucks a stick for ten footers, not bad. Then got some more discs for the angle grinders and some new wire wheels to clean everything up with.
Picking up some poster board to make templates out of for the transition area.
Superdave's washing and de-greasing his bus.
BUS BUS BUS BUS BUS!

TAOLIK · 02-20-2017, 05:28 PM

Congrats on the raise, that looks great!

I'm hella Jelly, but I'm also broke and starved for time so I can deal with a wide stance stand in the bus.

Stewzer55 · 02-21-2017, 03:51 PM

Sigh, I'd almost be interested in buying the Carpenter if you did decide to sell it sans AC and electronic and on roller tires. That being said, its been really nice in Ohio the last several days if you wanted to make the trip to swap busses, but who knows how long its going to last. Sorry for the threadjack ECCB

cadillackid · 02-21-2017, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stewzer55

Sigh, I'd almost be interested in buying the Carpenter if you did decide to sell it sans AC and electronic and on roller tires. That being said, its been really nice in Ohio the last several days if you wanted to make the trip to swap busses, but who knows how long its going to last. Sorry for the threadjack ECCB

LoL I havent even bid on another bus yet.. the carpenter is in a Coverage storage slot in Ohio.. im down in florida with RedByrd now.. I been driving that everywhere and going crazy with work at the same time..

I really like ECCB's style of bidding low on a lot of busses and seeing if one hits but being in no hurry surely helps!..

my next trip to ohio will be likely by Plane.. the lease is up in a few weeks on my car down here so i have to turn it in, and then will need to grab the new 'bu from Ohio and drive it back here..

would be cool to meet up when im up there.. I also need to get together with a gentleman from CLE who has some seats for the Redbyrd..

maybe we should set up some kind of Ohio Skoolie meet up..

i'll definitely have the carpenter out to stretch its legs while im up there..
-Christopher

Stewzer55 · 02-21-2017, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

LoL I havent even bid on another bus yet.. the carpenter is in a Coverage storage slot in Ohio.. im down in florida with RedByrd now.. I been driving that everywhere and going crazy with work at the same time..

I really like ECCB's style of bidding low on a lot of busses and seeing if one hits but being in no hurry surely helps!..

my next trip to ohio will be likely by Plane.. the lease is up in a few weeks on my car down here so i have to turn it in, and then will need to grab the new 'bu from Ohio and drive it back here..

would be cool to meet up when im up there.. I also need to get together with a gentleman from CLE who has some seats for the Redbyrd..

maybe we should set up some kind of Ohio Skoolie meet up..

i'll definitely have the carpenter out to stretch its legs while im up there..
-Christopher

I need to start saving for a bus anyway, but a meet to see other skoolies would be great.

EastCoastCB · 02-21-2017, 04:12 PM

I've met lots of folks from this site and they've all been really cool, really interesting people.

EastCoastCB · 02-21-2017, 04:52 PM

Superdave is SUCH a trooper, yall.
He's got most of the welding done on the bus. I spent a few hours today getting the rub rails off.
I've mangled them in a few places. Anyone have any experience replacing sections of it? I probably won't bother, and will just use it and do the best I can making it look ok. Gonna address that big dent in the left butt cheek of the bus one way or another. Either pull it as best I can and try and smooth it and fill it, or reskin the whole back end.
gotta come up with something for the rear and side doors. At least figure out what to order even if I don't install em right away.
There's also gona be a lot of ospho applied liberally, and lots of rustoleum to come.
And Dave's bus is gona get painted!!
So much bus excitement goin on over here I'm hardly able to think straight!

EastCoastCB · 02-22-2017, 07:11 AM

EastCoastCB · 02-22-2017, 07:14 AM

I kinda dig the og puke color under the rub rail!

EastCoastCB · 02-22-2017, 07:19 AM

Do I have the SCARIEST tires on Skoolie.net? Its very possible!
They won't be doing any traveling until I can get a tire guy out here. They're fine for rolling around the property, but man I wouldn't wanna be rolling down the highway on these!

The fronts are decent Conti's that are close to, or past, their best by date. The rears on the other side are retreads with very little wear.
I'll probably put some new generic 11R's in the rear and gain an extra half inch of outer diameter and leave the fronts another year or so.

Njsurf73 · 02-22-2017, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Looks great.

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cadillackid · 02-22-2017, 07:22 AM

Hot dang that is lookin good!! And the bus is in great shape under the rails too!!!
Christopher

cadillackid · 02-22-2017, 07:24 AM

I don't think those tires are any worse than what was on dev .. and I rolled to Ohio from Tampa.. thank god you were one of the ones vigilant about getting me to change them !
Christopher

EastCoastCB · 02-22-2017, 07:24 AM

The ten inch raise looks and feels GREAT. From floor to center of ribs I'm at 85". My flooring will be a little less than 2", and my ceilings and insulation up there will be around 3", so I should be left with around 80" or head room.
It can't be stressed enough how totally AWESOME it feels in the bus vs before.

It also can't be stressed enough how SUPER Dave really is!

EastCoastCB · 02-22-2017, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I don't think those tires are any worse than what was on dev .. and I rolled to Ohio from Tampa.. thank god you were one of the ones vigilant about getting me to change them !
Christopher

When I saw them in KY picking it up I wasn't very happy. But they didn't look quite this bad then. They still looked awful, but the sun hasn't been kind the last couple years, either.
These things are coming apart at the tread AND the bead!

BurlKing · 02-22-2017, 07:35 AM

i hear you on the raise being completely different feel. Feels like a lot more room to breathe, looking back on it now i dont think i'd be as happy if i didnt do the raise. you and dave seriously are kicking bus ass. those angle irons welded to your extensions look so damn good it looks like a hat channel piece already.

i could definitely give you a run for the money on the tires lol! i've been so embarrassed of the condition of them i haven't posted pictures or mentioned how bad they are. But just like you they are good enough for property driving until it hits the road for good.

Also, i cant tell if you're doing it or not from the pics. but it looks like it'd be easy for you to remove the top layer of rivets on that rub rail that runs the length of the bus, so that you can stick your sheet metal in from the top of it without going through the bottom, then push it up past the windows and the put the rivets back in the top of that rub rail and you've already got your bottom row of rivets in and it will look seamless and still have the shingle effect going on! hope that made sense or helps.

Njsurf73 · 02-22-2017, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

When I saw them in KY picking it up I wasn't very happy. But they didn't look quite this bad then. They still looked aweful, but the sun hasn't been kind the last couple years, either.
These things are coming apart at the tread AND the bead!

I have seen worse, but I wouldn't drive on them. They are bad. My old boat trailer were almost as bad, and I drove them a block back and forth from the marina for almost 5 years lol. The last year one of the tires went flat in about every 15 hours... And I could see bubbles when I was launching/recovering. Lol

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EastCoastCB · 02-22-2017, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BurlKing

i hear you on the raise being completely different feel. Feels like a lot more room to breathe, looking back on it now i dont think i'd be as happy if i didnt do the raise. you and dave seriously are kicking bus ass. those angle irons welded to your extensions look so damn good it looks like a hat channel piece already.

i could definitely give you a run for the money on the tires lol! i've been so embarrassed of the condition of them i haven't posted pictures or mentioned how bad they are. But just like you they are good enough for property driving until it hits the road for good.

Also, i cant tell if you're doing it or not from the pics. but it looks like it'd be easy for you to remove the top layer of rivets on that rub rail that runs the length of the bus, so that you can stick your sheet metal in from the top of it without going through the bottom, then push it up past the windows and the put the rivets back in the top of that rub rail and you've already got your bottom row of rivets in and it will look seamless and still have the shingle effect going on! hope that made sense or helps.

I went ahead and just removed the rub rails for now. I have PLENTY of rivets, and can get more if needed.
I learned the rub rail gets less mangled if you grind off the solid rivets from INSIDE the bus. I learned this after an hour or two of grinding on the outside faces of the rivets.

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