Rusty 87 build thread

[musigenesis]

Fully welded the wall section. I was gratified to see how difficult it is to grind out one of these spot welds that connects the flatbar to the expanded sheet.





Fully bolted into the bus. I need shorter screws, but this wall isn't coming out again for a while - maybe never.





Put the window in to make sure it fits. I added an extra 1/4" to the opening when I laid it out, and the window still barely squeezes in.





View from my rearview mirror.





The outer beam of the frame bent out of line slightly when I welded this up. I might be able to bend this back a bit, but I need to pay more attention to this kind of thing.



I can just get my hand around this wall to reach the window tab on the right so I'll still be able to open and close it. Inside will be plywood so the big window won't be part of the living space; I'll have a removable block of XPS foam back here normally.



Anything I don't have to tear out of the bus and re-do is a success, but this is not 100% how I wanted it. The door post side of it is a bit floppier than I was expecting, so it may need reinforcement with a piece of angle steel (or square tube, although I don't have any right now).

[banman]

The window makes it look much more inviting than the usual industrial cage...

As a weld cools it shrinks the metal. this is what caused your bend to change and the window to almost not fit.

With the 1/8" strap perimeter if you can lay a bead on the opposite side it will balance the shrinking forces and maintain your desired shape.


RE: the e-window handles -- I sent you a pm -- please let me know if you didn't get it.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by banman

The window makes it look much more inviting than the usual industrial cage...

As a weld cools it shrinks the metal. this is what caused your bend to change and the window to almost not fit.

With the 1/8" strap perimeter if you can lay a bead on the opposite side it will balance the shrinking forces and maintain your desired shape.


RE: the e-window handles -- I sent you a pm -- please let me know if you didn't get it.

Sorry, I got the PM. I'm setting up an account with stamps.com so I can mail them off without going into the post office.

I have two of them but I'm going to be adding a third window so I'll have a third handle as well if you want it.

[Native]

Looking good. Nice to see construction and not reconstruction.


Re: The front window ... remember you plan on building out 2" of wall. Your arm looks to be just barely able to fit in and actuate the latch with the 1" wide wall as-is. You may do well to temporarily attach a 2x4 to the edge of the new wall andsee if you can still operate the window latch.


P.S. I still have that anti-fatigue mat waiting for you!

[musigenesis]

The plywood layout template I attached my seat rails to came in handy. I first drilled half-inch holes in the template, then placed it and drilled marker holes in the metal floor.



Decided to get some drilling fluid. It works great, but of course I lost the damned cap after 10 minutes and I can't manage to keep something like this upright.



Butcher job on the end of the crippled stiffener. The middle bolt hole came down right on the end of this so I had to cut some off. I was under there with my angle grinder and cutting blade and all I could think about was the thing catching and rebounding into my skull in that tight area. I couldn't find any way to keep both my head and my groin out of the plane of rotation, so I just made a couple of quick, frightened cuts and bent the rest of it out.



I had to give up my plan to run a bolt through the middle hole of the aisle rail. The side of the stiffener is directly in the way; I had intended to cut the stiffener back to this point, but the chassis rail and the muffler make this impossible there. So I'll bolt through the other three holes in the rail and all four holes in the other one. I may also order a 4" bolt and try to run that from the bottom of the stiffener.



Underside brackets for the corner bolts, 2"x3/16" angle, 22" long.



Got my Dad to help me run the nuts on while I held the bolts from below. It's wild, I didn't really think about how I was going to get a wrench on the bolt heads from below because of how I'm orienting the underside brackets, but there turned out to be the absolute minimum room and accessibility to do it. If I'd made the brackets 1" longer I wouldn't have been able to do it.



I didn't think it was even possible for me to mess up the layout here given how many times I checked and rechecked it. Still a sigh of relief when the seat snapped into place exactly where it's supposed to be.







This shows how I ran the brackets underneath and why it was a bit hard to get a wrench on the heads.



I always assumed mounting this seat was going to a multi-day ordeal, but it's not bad for a morning's work. I still have to make small brackets of some sort for the other three bolts, but that won't take much time.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

Looking good. Nice to see construction and not reconstruction.


Re: The front window ... remember you plan on building out 2" of wall. Your arm looks to be just barely able to fit in and actuate the latch with the 1" wide wall as-is. You may do well to temporarily attach a 2x4 to the edge of the new wall andsee if you can still operate the window latch.


P.S. I still have that anti-fatigue mat waiting for you!

I think the last pic is kind of visually confusing as far as what is where. My side walls are going to be 2" in from the original bus walls (I'm leaving the cavities between the ribs empty and putting 2" XPS foam board up against the ribs and then 1/4" plywood on that to form the inner wall. The outer side of my bulkhead wall is also 2" away from the original bus walls; in that little 10" or so run from the bulkhead wall back to the first rib, my inner wall of 1/4" plywood will be empty behind it, so as long as I can get my hand around the bulkhead wall I'll be able to handle the window tab.

That space behind will be empty and thus not insulated for the inside, but I'll put a removable block of XPS foam in there - this will keep the inside insulated but also let me access the window from the cab when I need to open it.

[banman]

The transit seat looks great there -- it's coming together for you!

RE: the cutting oil bottle -- next time you cut the tip off a tube of caulk-- that might fit, otherwise a nail...

Stamps online? Cool concept.

I'd love an extra, extra spare handle! The one just broke off in my hand with no pressure, so who know's how long the other 3 will last...? They really weren't meant to be used daily -- they're a cheap pot metal fixture...

Appreciate it!

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by banman

The transit seat looks great there -- it's coming together for you!

RE: the cutting oil bottle -- next time you cut the tip off a tube of caulk-- that might fit, otherwise a nail...

Stamps online? Cool concept.

I'd love an extra, extra spare handle! The one just broke off in my hand with no pressure, so who know's how long the other 3 will last...? They really weren't meant to be used daily -- they're a cheap pot metal fixture...

Appreciate it!

Yeah, looks great ... and is kinda miserable to sit in, even for one person. I think it's mainly going to end up being something I can haul stuff around on that needs to be treated gently, like eggs.

I'll grind another handle off a window for you.

[musigenesis]

Always slightly jarring to see shiny metal in my bus.



The second of something is always so much easier to build than the first. I just precut everything off the measurements from the first.

I noticed something while cutting this that I missed the first time around. The short little pieces for joining the two longest vertical parts need to be 1⅞", but on the chop saw the pieces kept coming out 1¾". I had to throw away more than half the pieces I cut. Looking at the first wall, I see some of those pieces I cut for it are too short and it makes the edge a bit wonky. More stuff to pay attention to.



Lucky day today. I found the cap for my cutting oil, and then underneath my bus on the ground I randomly found one of the two little screws that holds on the lens of my welding mask (I can take off the duct tape now, although that was working fine, too). Also found one of my vice grips that had been missing for a couple of weeks, still clamped on hard to a nut on the underside of my bus.



This pic looks like a flag every time I see it out of the corner of my eye, with the bag of bolts being the stars.

[Native]

There really is no room under the bus up front. At least your fuel tank is in the rear. Mine is right under the area where you mounted your new seat(s). The edge of the fuel tank cage is about an inch from the back wall of the stairwell. I think you have done well with your recent additions.


Have you come up with a solution you like concerning the glass in the windows?


I suppose you have examined the construction of the windows and realize that once they are down to the window and the frame that the glass is easily replaced.

[Native]

You are having quite a lucky streak! Time to pick up a lotto ticket.


That shot of the table is quite artistic. You have a photographer's eye.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

Have you come up with a solution you like concerning the glass in the windows?

Ha ha, yes: I decided to stop caring about it. Apathy is the most potent tool in my tool bag.

It is safety laminate so I'm not really worried about the window embedding itself in passengers' heads, and I don't plan on having loose objects back in the living space that could come completely through the glass in an accident.

I need to check in my bus - I wonder if the emergency exit windows use a different kind of glass than the regular kind.

Originally Posted by Native

I suppose you have examined the construction of the windows and realize that once they are down to the window and the frame that the glass is easily replaced.

Is it really that easy? I'd have to re-do the gaskets, wouldn't I?

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

There really is no room under the bus up front. At least your fuel tank is in the rear. Mine is right under the area where you mounted your new seat(s). The edge of the fuel tank cage is about an inch from the back wall of the stairwell. I think you have done well with your recent additions.

Aha, I think maybe that explains the weirdness in my bus right behind the stairwell (the crippled stiffener and the cutouts in the skirt supports despite there being nothing mounted under the floor there). I'm guessing the buses are built that way in case the customer opts for a front-mounted fuel tank?

[DrDanger]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Decided to get some drilling fluid. It works great, but of course I lost the damned cap after 10 minutes and I can't manage to keep something like this upright.

Hahahaha! I'm glad I'm not the only one. I have the same stuff and kept track of the cap for a while (even lost it for a day then found it), but alas, it walked away from me for the last time I believe.
That stuff made drilling underbody chassis attachments sooooo much easier. WD40 just isn't the same as actual cutting fluid.
Keep up the good work, it is looking really good!

[Native]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Is it really that easy? I'd have to re-do the gaskets, wouldn't I?

Easy is a relative construct. Maybe I should say, it is easy with regards to replacing glass in general. I would think that, yes, the gasket would need to be replaced. I have not disassembled one of the windows so I do not have first hand experience. However, the guy that replaced our windshields (he was so fast that I almost missed it) said he really likes to do the bus windows and that they are very easy to do. I'll take his experience over mine when it comes to replacing glass.

[Native]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Aha, I think maybe that explains the weirdness in my bus right behind the stairwell (the crippled stiffener and the cutouts in the skirt supports despite there being nothing mounted under the floor there). I'm guessing the buses are built that way in case the customer opts for a front-mounted fuel tank?

Could very well explain a lot. Why have different body designs for the various accessories. It makes a whole lot of manufacturing sense.

[musigenesis]

I built this second wall using the sketch and measurements of the first one. Unfortunately I misread read it and cut the outer beam to the height of the top of the window, but the beam itself is another 6" taller, so I had to weld on an extra piece. I almost disassembled the wall to fix it, stopped myself in time.



Brackets welded in place.





Starting to assemble the wall section.



Once again, I'm learning too late to check out my materials thoroughly. When I fabbed the other side of this wall, I used the piece of expanded sheet to square up the frame since the frame is very bendy without a sheet of something to stiffen it. Looking at the material today, I realized expanded sheet (at least this stuff I got) is not at all regular around the edges, which is why it got so wonky in places.

I really should have laid out markings on my floor for the frame and made sure it was squared, then welded the expanded over it and cut all four edges.









For this section, I made sure the frame was square and allowed the irregular edge to extend off the frame - and then I forgot to trim it off. By another amazing stroke of luck, it turns out I needed to shim this section up to make it level with the other one, and the part I forgot to trim brought the wall up to the correct height.



I truly, truly hate cutting expanded sheet with an angle grinder.













Building the lintel for the top of the doorway. I think maybe a lintel has to be built out of stone to be called a lintel, but oh well.







I didn't want the ordeal of trying to cut expanded sheet to fit over this thing, so I went with 14 ga. sheet instead. Which was an ordeal to cut because my electric shears are trashed. I have a set of replacement jaws for them but I can't find them right now.

The separate lintel is bolted to each half of the bulkhead wall. It's quite strong for a couple of pieces of flimsy flat bar - I did some pullups on it even before I attached the sheet metal.







The door opening here is 26" wide and I was kinda worried that it would be too narrow, but I spent the whole afternoon going through it before I realized that it's no problem at all, plenty of width.

[Native]

26" is a standard door opening.


You should consider a vocation in crafting wrought iron furniture. You have a definite flare for it.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

26" is a standard door opening.


You should consider a vocation in crafting wrought iron furniture. You have a definite flare for it.

Thank you, but you would probably think differently if you saw it up close.

[Native]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Thank you, but you would probably think differently if you saw it up close.

I would love to!