Rusty 87 build thread

[musigenesis]

One other thing I've been very fortunate with: no bugs landing in the paint. I have no idea why not because I'm right next to a creek and a big chunk of woods and there are plenty of insects flying around.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

@Mountain Gnome: yeah, I've found standard Rusto takes at least a month to cure and harden fully (and probably longer). These are really the only spots that the tape has pulled off so far, which is cool. I also hit a lot of tree branches where I live - I have one good scrape on the back part which I painted two weeks ago and it's doing fine, didn't expose the yellow underneath.

I did a test patch with the rattle can on the side of my bus about two years ago and before repainting I went at it with a screwdriver to see how it was holding up. It was just as difficult to dig through it down to the yellow as it was to dig through the original yellow to get to the primer base and then to bare metal. So I feel sort of confident in the paint although less so in the thoroughness of my prep job (despite the insane amount of work that I did put into it). If I were to do it again, I would try to find some gadget like an oscillating tool or something that would let me power sand all the little spots I couldn't get to with my orbital sander.

My pics here are pretty well representative of how the paint colors look in real life.

Did you use a hardener in the Rusto.? I understand it reduces the curing time.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Did you use a hardener in the Rusto.? I understand it reduces the curing time.

I used rattle cans, so no possibility of adding a hardener.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I used rattle cans, so no possibility of adding a hardener.

Doh, pay attention Marc.

[Mountain Gnome]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I also hit a lot of tree branches where I live - I have one good scrape on the back part which I painted two weeks ago and it's doing fine, didn't expose the yellow underneath.

I did a test patch with the rattle can on the side of my bus about two years ago and before repainting I went at it with a screwdriver to see how it was holding up. It was just as difficult to dig through it down to the yellow as it was to dig through the original yellow to get to the primer base and then to bare metal.

It's funny. tree branches have done nothing to my paint. I've rubbed a bunch of them. Some weak-ass painter's tape, though, made the paint peel like a vinyl window-cling. Huge patches of exposed yellow, more than just where the tape was. I, too, tested my rattle-can paint years before, in the desert, when I got the bus. No prep, just dry-wiped off the dust. Couldn't scrape it off without gouging the yellow underneath. Did the real, final job in the humidity, with rain in the following days, and ..... it's sh*t.


So I'm worried for you with that hurricane your way this weekend.


Hope you stay well!


Aloha!

[musigenesis]

I'm replacing all the clearance lights with the little 2-LED lamps I used on the back, so I filled in the screw holes for the old lights with bondo glass.







I assume there was originally some sort of cap on top of this bit of conduit. Previous owner had covered this with some sort of rubbery goop but that's long gone, too. I'm thinking gorilla tape is going to do the job here since it's not visible.



I hand-cleaned the whole front end and then went to the car wash for a good rinsing. For the second time in a row there, a fellow bus owner came up to try and chat with me right after I'd fed a ton of quarters into the machine. They both seemed to get huffy that I wouldn't talk to them, but you can't pause the damn thing and I'm not made of quarters.



Got sick of my battery access door flying open every time I drive, so it's time to put in my new latches. They're keyed which is nice - given that my bus has been broken into four times, I was always surprised to find my $400 worth of new batteries still in the box each time. I guess undoing three nuts is too much work for your typical bus thief.



Got to paint the edges first, though.







Closeup of my left rear corner. This had been dented pretty badly by a previous owner but it's ended up looking pretty nice. Probably my least-detectable body repair on the bus.

[Mr4btTahoe]

Looking great bud! Coming along really nicely.

[Phatman]

I’ve always fancied myself as a pro using rattle cans to paint with, but your work may be forcing me into a close second. OUTSTANDING work MG. Can’t wait to finish mine.

[musigenesis]

Scuffed.



Rinsed.



Decided to go ahead and remove the grille for painting. Actually pretty easy and it let me get the International emblem off, too.



It was pretty awkward to lean over and undo the screws from behind while my dad held the grille up. For putting it back, I think I'll be able to lay a pillow or something over the radiator and get my upper body close enough to put the screws back in place.



Still a bunch of masking/papering to do before I can start painting. Fortunately no rain in the forecast until Friday so I can leave this up overnight.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Phatman

I’ve always fancied myself as a pro using rattle cans to paint with, but your work may be forcing me into a close second. OUTSTANDING work MG. Can’t wait to finish mine.

Thanks, high praise! My fingertip is still slightly numb from last week's effort, though. I really hope I haven't done permanent nerve damage to myself - from freakin' Rustoleum!

[musigenesis]

Got the word today that I'm hired as a school bus driver, pending completion of the CDL course (they can't actually formally hire me without the CDL).

[Bus'n it]

Congratulations! I was watching on the news about the shortage of drivers and how many jurisdictions are paying upwards of 4k sign on bonus. Make sure you get that!

[Oldyeller]

You can always touch up stuff that happens. You have to focus on what you got done and not what went wrong. My bus is painted and when I look at it with my eyes closed it looks really good. Just whistle past the grave yard.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Bus'n it

Congratulations! I was watching on the news about the shortage of drivers and how many jurisdictions are paying upwards of 4k sign on bonus. Make sure you get that!

No bonus here, but they pay $6 more per hour than any of the other school systems in the area and have health insurance and a 401k match - and I can walk to work. Plus the kids around here seem marginally less obnoxious than most.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

My bus is painted and when I look at it with my eyes closed it looks really good.

This works for significant others, too.

[kidharris]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

This works for significant others, too.

LOL

[Buster Junior]

Huge congrats on the job. Good for you!

[musigenesis]

Painted the grille.



Painted the front cap. Lots of runs on this part but they're not too visible up there. It was hot and the sun was blinding me and I was in a hurry to get this done.







Started to mask off my front mud flaps but realized that was a waste of time and I pulled them instead. Interestingly, one of them had a lot of specs of yellow paint on it, which I think confirms my theory that the bus was repainted at least once before.





This grille was about 30' from the bus but still got a lot of flecks of antique white on it from my painting the front cap, so I did another quick coat of navy to cover those up.



Painted the hood.





Because of the angle of the sun, it was hard for me to tell if I got complete coverage. I think there are some spotty bits I'll have to touch up tomorrow.



Masking so I can paint the rest of the front antique white. I am getting heartily sick of masking tape and brown paper, but I'm almost done with it all.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Buster Junior

Huge congrats on the job. Good for you!

Thank you!

[Mountain Gnome]

I may actually salute that bus if it drives by.



The owner for sure.