Rusty 87 build thread

[DrDanger]

Ah, my old rub rail, I'd recognize it anywhere! I have to say, I admire your dedication. I wouldn't have the patience to deal with all the body work you are doing. Keep up the great work!

[musigenesis]

More bondo.





More sanding.





The best stuff for getting rid of reflective tape glue, IMHO. I was going to try a whizzywheel but didn't order one last week because I thought I was going to be done prepping in just a day or two. Ha ha nope. At least the zep is also good on lanternfly poop.



Finished wire-wheeling every rusty rivet on this side - which was about 99% of them.



Not even done with all the rusty rivets on this side yet.



Just ugh. Out of all the jobs that were the worst thing I've done on this bus, this prep is the worst thing I've done on this bus.

[kidharris]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

More bondo.

Attachment 60398

Attachment 60399

More sanding.

Attachment 60400

Attachment 60401

The best stuff for getting rid of reflective tape glue, IMHO. I was going to try a whizzywheel but didn't order one last week because I thought I was going to be done prepping in just a day or two. Ha ha nope. At least the zep is also good on lanternfly poop.

Attachment 60402

Finished wire-wheeling every rusty rivet on this side - which was about 99% of them.

Attachment 60403

Not even done with all the rusty rivets on this side yet.

Attachment 60404

Just ugh. Out of all the jobs that were the worst thing I've done on this bus, this prep is the worst thing I've done on this bus.

Sounds like you have gotten over all the time and pain that the floor cost you. This was relatively quick ....A year from now this pain will be gone too. I think that you are just ready for it to be done.

[musigenesis]

The neverending cycle of applying more bondo and then sanding it off.



Some careful shaping with a chisel and a screwdriver has gotten me here. Just a little more touchup and it should be ready to prime.



Just needs a little more bondo in the center groove.





Finished prepping all the rivets and the bottom lip of the skirt on the driver's side.

[musigenesis]

Had an interesting conversation today with my neighbor who gave me the tip about the bus driver job, on the subject of how to deal with kids.

Him: You know how teenage girls dress these days, wearing basically nothing. When they come up the steps you can see everything. Just make eye contact and make sure you don't look at anything else.

Me: ...

He also told me about his various lawsuits filed against the school system, and his beef with the HR guy. I'm glad I didn't mention his name in my interview yesterday.

[dbsoundman]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Had an interesting conversation today with my neighbor who gave me the tip about the bus driver job, on the subject of how to deal with kids.

Him: You know how teenage girls dress these days, wearing basically nothing. When they come up the steps you can see everything. Just make eye contact and make sure you don't look at anything else.

Me: ...

He also told me about his various lawsuits filed against the school system, and his beef with the HR guy. I'm glad I didn't mention his name in my interview yesterday.

WOW. You really dodged a bullet by not name dropping there!

I’m curious to see what you think of the CDL process and actually driving for a school.

[peakbus]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Just ugh. Out of all the jobs that were the worst thing I've done on this bus, this prep is the worst thing I've done on this bus.

Couldn't agree more! After painting our first short bus my wife said "I'll never do that again". Shortly thereafter I found a better bus. Still building up stamina to do it again.

[musigenesis]

Finished with the bondo and sanding. Not perfect but I'm beyond caring and ready for the sweet oblivion of death.















My replacement marker LEDs are much smaller than the originals, so I needed to fill the original screw holes with bondo glass - which works extremely well for little holes.



Cleaned both sides, happy to see that very little water got through the windows despite me having the high-pressure hose on all parts of the windows. There are two windows that seem to be pushing in a bit and the Dynatron-550 seam has cracked; I'll re-do those seams before painting.

Ready now for buffing, a final trip to the 10'4" car wash, then priming and painting. Unfortunately we have scattered thunderstorms on the way starting Tuesday, so my painting schedule may get bumped back a bit. We'll see how much I can get done tomorrow.

[Mr4btTahoe]

Looks good bud!



Body work is a love/hate deal. I love to hate it. Lol. I've got some patching to do on mine here soon... not looking forward to it.


Keep up the good work!

[musigenesis]

Partway through buffing everything with 220 grit. My plan for today was to paint both sides, but I knew about 10 minutes into this that that wasn't going to happen.



Finished buffing, looks the same.



Cleaned at the car wash, looks the same.



Started priming so I could have some of it drying while I masked off the windows.



I should have completely taped the two pieces of paper together, since a bit of paint mist got between them on these. It scrapes off pretty easily with a razor blade, though, so no biggie.



I stupidly tried to caulk the fender at this point but it didn't really work since the primer wasn't set. It mostly scraped off, at least.



I was starting to get into a groove with masking the windows, only took a few minutes each.



All masked and primed. It was looking very cloudy all day and it started to drizzle as I was finishing up the masking, which would have been ... very bad. Somebody just missed out on getting an almost-finished skoolie cheap.



Halfway done with painting, photo break. A lot of runs on this lower part because I was being too impatient and trying to completely cover each spot with paint at the outset. Finally worked out my technique using four or five brief passes over each spot, which eventually covers completely without runs.



All painted. I guessed each side would take 12 rattle cans and this took 13.5, so I wasn't too far off. The tip of my index finger is still a bit numb and I finished an hour and a half ago. I might have to invest in one of those grippy things that holds the nozzle down for you.



I decided to take off the masking tape and paper right away, instead of waiting a year and a half like I usually do.



Just like everything, it started off with me thinking it was a complete disaster but in the end I like it. I'm really eager to paint the rub rails but I'm going to wait and make sure the antique white is completely cured so I don't peel it off with the masking tape.



Three days of rain and thunderstorms coming up, so I won't be able to paint the other side until Friday - which makes me pretty happy because this was brutal. A lot of days I feel like I haven't worked very hard on the bus, but not today. Tomorrow I'll start prepping the inside for painting.

[Oscar1]

Looking awesome.
That's a lot of hard work behind you now.
Time for a pat on the back and a little celebratory cocktail.
Cheers

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Oscar1

Looking awesome.
That's a lot of hard work behind you now.
Time for a pat on the back and a little celebratory cocktail.
Cheers

Thanks, mate! All I have in the house is a piece of baklava - it will have to do.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Mr4btTahoe

Looks good bud!



Body work is a love/hate deal. I love to hate it. Lol. I've got some patching to do on mine here soon... not looking forward to it.


Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I'm with you on the hate.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by peakbus

Couldn't agree more! After painting our first short bus my wife said "I'll never do that again". Shortly thereafter I found a better bus. Still building up stamina to do it again.

If I ever do something as crazy as buying a second bus, it will be something that's already painted. Or I'll just bite the bullet and pay somebody else to do it.

[Buster Junior]

Wow...that looks fabulous. Your really hard work is paying off. I love your commitment to this part of the process. And you detailing the struggles makes me appreciate that I absolutely had no business trying this myself. Thank you for that. And kudos to you on some great work. Be proud of yourself!

[Oscar1]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Thanks, mate! All I have in the house is a piece of baklava - it will have to do.

Haha make do with what ya got, the skoolie motto

[Frochevy]

Looking good!!! I hope to get mine painted over labor day weekend... I didn't say which year though... Lol I bet it feels good to get that behind you!

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Frochevy

Lol I bet it feels good to get that behind you!

It does not, since I'm only halfway done!

And my finger is still numb! Yay!

[ol trunt]

Looks like you've got the bug bomb paint job down to an art. I can remember how thrilled I was when the first rattle cans came on the market--especially after a buddy and I painted his '50 Pontiac with one of these.

The finish looked like shinny cottage cheese--no runs though.


.

Jack

[Bert06840]

Looks really good! I’m feeding my OCD by doomzooming (that should be a word) every picture down to pixel level.

I am going to attempt this too some day. Today is not that day. Keep posting, you will drag me over the hill [emoji51]