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Old 10-20-2013, 11:30 PM   #41
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

We came up with a good name: THE DROPOUT

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Old 10-24-2013, 12:54 PM   #42
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Not much progress in the last week or so, I have had to work more at school to keep passing grades so no bus time...I received some closed-end rivets that I will use to seal up holes in the floor and for sheet metal patches. I also recieved a gallon of "OSPHO" rust treatment - phosphoric acid-based liquid that you pour on rusty metal and it converts iron oxide (rust) into iron phosphate which is harmless to metal. You then paint over that. I will be using that on the floor after scraping / wire wheeling.

I picked up this gem for $40 today:



Not 100% sure if I will use it, but it came with full plumbing for the faucet and how often do you find a red sink?! It is a great size for the kitchen area. Very heavy too.
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Old 10-24-2013, 02:20 PM   #43
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Red looks good with dark grey and that matches your seats.

The weather and work has slowed me down so too.
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Old 11-05-2013, 12:58 PM   #44
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

I got a bit of a chance to work on the bus this weekend. I had been spending time attempting to do better in school and got rather sick for a few days. It is very, very hard to concentrate on schoolwork with this project going on.

I have been working on this and that, experimenting with different projects. I bought a gallon of "OSPHO" rust treatment; basically stuff you brush on and it turns iron oxide (rust) into iron phosphate, which doesn't harm the metal (science!).





I took out all the side panels and insulation that I could get to. There is still a bit of insulation behind the thicker metal left by the floor. This metal has a ridge at the top that the seats bolted to, and I am planning on cutting this off because it will get in the way of my walls. I am leaving some of the metal, because it is structural, it appears. You can see a few of the holes I cut in the floor to isolate / remove any really heavily rotted / rust through areas.



Here is one of the sheet metal patches marked up and ready to cut.



Here is the hole in the floor it is going over (poor photo).



And here it is welded in.



Done with a Hobart 120 volt MIG welder with flux-core wire.

A few more patches...







And I have yet to do this one. It is a bit tricky. It's also fun having to do this by yourself and right after welding, throw off the mask and run under the bus and put out fires (burning undercoating).

I plan on sealing the seams from underneath and above with polyurethane seam sealer (automotive grade) once I am done with the patches.



Here is a test section of the OSPHO stuff. I quickly wire-brushed the area and just brushed it on. This is after about 10 minutes. I came back the next day and the rust had turned black, and it leaves somewhat of a coating on the surface. The stuff is $40 a gallon shipped on Amazon and is very strong, I highly reccommend it. I am going to do all the rusty floor areas with it once I am done patching. You just wire brush the loose rust off, paint the ospho on, and let it dry, then paint over the dried ospho.



Also, I picked up all these cabinets for free from an office being demoed. They fit well in the bus.

Later this week and weekend I will be finishing up the patches and wirebrushing the whole floor, (rusty areas) vacuuming it, wire brushing again, vacuuming again, and laying down ospho liberally. Then to let it dry and paint with some metal primer, and seal up with seam sealer. Before I can start on insulation I need to seal the roof completely, which will mean fixing the hatches (temporarily?) and painting the roof with several coats of elastomeric coating. I also need to pop out all the windows, scrape the old sealant off them, and silicone them back in.
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Old 11-05-2013, 01:29 PM   #45
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Damn good score on the cabinets
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Old 11-05-2013, 03:27 PM   #46
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Quote:
Originally Posted by allwthrrider
Damn good score on the cabinets


x2.................. NO shiat!!
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Old 11-05-2013, 07:33 PM   #47
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Quote:
Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches
Later this week and weekend I will be finishing up the patches and wirebrushing the whole floor, (rusty areas) vacuuming it, wire brushing again, vacuuming again, and laying down ospho liberally. Then to let it dry and paint with some metal primer, and seal up with seam sealer. Before I can start on insulation I need to seal the roof completely, which will mean fixing the hatches (temporarily?) and painting the roof with several coats of elastomeric coating. I also need to pop out all the windows, scrape the old sealant off them, and silicone them back in.
I have the steel for my hatches on order. When I get it I will give you my hatches.
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Old 11-06-2013, 12:05 PM   #48
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Quote:
Originally Posted by wmkbailey
Quote:
Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches
Later this week and weekend I will be finishing up the patches and wirebrushing the whole floor, (rusty areas) vacuuming it, wire brushing again, vacuuming again, and laying down ospho liberally. Then to let it dry and paint with some metal primer, and seal up with seam sealer. Before I can start on insulation I need to seal the roof completely, which will mean fixing the hatches (temporarily?) and painting the roof with several coats of elastomeric coating. I also need to pop out all the windows, scrape the old sealant off them, and silicone them back in.
I have the steel for my hatches on order. When I get it I will give you my hatches.
Awesome! I can't wait.
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Old 11-06-2013, 05:00 PM   #49
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

They got the steel cut today and I picked it up. We will have to remove the hatches this weekend. I just need to get some butyl tape.
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Old 11-06-2013, 07:43 PM   #50
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
Quote:
Originally Posted by allwthrrider
Damn good score on the cabinets


x2.................. NO shiat!!
Seriously!

Ospho is awesome! Caustic as hell so be careful, but it really does work. I did a few spots on my truck with it (no wire wheel, just a sprayer) and it turned the rust completely black overnight. There's a spot by the drivers window on the bus that needs some rust repair and I'm definitely using it.

You're making great progress on your bus! Keep up the good work!
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Old 11-08-2013, 09:54 AM   #51
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Today I worked on cutting out patches for a few areas.





I cut out 4 round ones to patch where the school lights go. I need 4 more but I ran out of metal. I also cut a few just for other holes in the metal from things I removed. I used Rustoleum rusty metal primer on the metal, before I put it in, to make sure everything is coated. It appears the inside of the body metal is coated with this from the factory.

This weekend I hopefully will make more progress.
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Old 11-08-2013, 10:28 AM   #52
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

I have some leftover steel I will bring over Saturday. Also I'm 12 rivets short to replace my hatches. I will sell you both hatches for 12 rivets. I went through 800 of them so far.
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Old 11-08-2013, 11:36 AM   #53
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Sweet! Take all the rivets you need!
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Old 11-12-2013, 06:40 PM   #54
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

I got a bit of work done this weekend. Not nearly as much as I wanted to, but some.



I cut out patches for the warning lights up top, and decided to keep the hoods for the look. I riveted them in and put seam sealer behind the metal bits to keep water out. Hopefully this should hold well.







And threw some primer on for good measure.

I also painted the inside, after wirebrushing the entire thing by myself with an angle grinder and a knotted wire wheel:







Somehow or another I found a gallon of oil-based rust preventative primer in the state of MD, which I would have thought was really difficult to do. It is great stuff and very thick, goes on like molasses on a cold day. Once it cures fully it should work real well.
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Old 11-13-2013, 10:24 AM   #55
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

What a bunch of work, but it won't be for nothin'. Looks great, keep it up!
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Old 11-13-2013, 10:38 AM   #56
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Nothing stirs my soul like a freshly gutted and primed bus interior!

Blank slate, man - go for it!
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Old 11-23-2013, 11:03 AM   #57
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

I haven't updated this in a while.

I haven't done a whole lot of stuff recently that is exciting or new really. As far as work goes I have just been chugging along getting the body ready for paint, filling holes, removing lights, and waiting for a couple of unusually warm days to paint.



I experimented with a few colors, and I know they don't render well on camera / screens but the consensus seems to be the one on the left.



The theme has been decided to be either this



or this. I will probably start with the first one and add the dark shade to the second one if we decide it will look better.



I started on painting the roof with this white elastomeric coating I got in a 5 gallon bucket from Home depot for $75. It is really thick stuff and I am using it in the hopes of it sealing up a few tiny leaks that are in between some rivets. It goes on like you're painting with jelly.



Here's after a few coats. I've put like 4 coats pin all around but it stll needs 2-3 more, when rolled on it goes on thin and yellow is hard to cover with white. No worries, I still have 2.5 gallons left...



Close-up of what this coating does. It sort of just encapsulates everything in its rubbery wonder. It reflects heat very well too. Just in time for winter

I also bought a few LED lights to experiment with.





They don't look very bright in the photo but these little lights go a long way. I will use these to replace the dim incandescent marker lights on the bus now. I may add 2 per side as well.



This is a LED warm white license plate light. The idea with it is to mount 3-4 of these per side on the "pillars" between the windows, pointing down, to cast a cool, semi-useful light around the perimeter of the bus while parked. Kind of nice atmospheric light, not too bright, but bright enough that it is useful for unloading, etc.



Here it is against a wall for an idea of what that would look like.

I also bought a LED board with 9 high-power LEDs to retrofit into the stock bus lights, but the board was DOA so I will have to get a new one to test.

Here is our current and likely final floor plan:





Shower and bathroom are separate. The big bed thing in the middle is a fold out futon. The big bucket seats in the front will likely not be on a platform but rather on a metal cylinder (think office swivel chair) and be able to pivot and lock. Tons of storage under the rear bed. Countertop in front of the side emergency door folds up / down. Fridge is a 10 cubic foot 120 VAC unit. Propane stove. Booth's table surface will be able to come down to seat bottom level to turn it into a 6.5' x 3' bed.

Now to figure out electrical and plumbing...

Any constructive criticism is appreciated.
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Old 11-23-2013, 12:30 PM   #58
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Only real issue I see is that someone will get real tired of crawling over someone to get out of bed,in middle of night to pee or get up early and wants to not disturbe other person sleeping
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Old 11-25-2013, 08:40 AM   #59
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Looks like you don't have much in the way of storage space. Or perhaps it's just hard to represent in the picture. What is that space in between the toilet and shower? I also agree with what Bansil said about the bed. If I had as much space to work with as you, I would rotate that bed 90 degrees so each person can get off to the side of the bed. I know it doesn't fit as well that way, but I think it is worth sacrificing the space. And even if Nat_ster is right that you sleep alone, that could change any day!
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Old 11-25-2013, 09:44 AM   #60
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Re: Smells Like Teen Spirit: Conversion of 1999 Thomas MVP

Looking good! I really like the green paint scheme.

The idea of those lights around the outside is a great oneI I might mock it up one night with a couple and see how it looks myself.
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