Sojourner

[ben2go]

I've seen something similar done to some Furd E and F series motorhomes. It looks strange.

[sojourner]

I haven't posted in a while, partly because it's been raining so much I've not been able to do much and also because the new job has me so tired at the end of the day during the week the weekends are the only time I can attempt something. Prior to about two weeks of rain I beat out a tear in the rear right corner and welded it together. Sorry, but I don't have a pic of the welded repair but here's one of the tear:




This past sunday I was able to fiberglass and bondo the repaired tear as well as the places that were damaged from whatever it was that finally tore into the corner:








When my wife came out to see what I'd spent the day doing her comment was "Wow, it looks like nothing ever happened"! I guess I did alright if it passes her test . LOL!!


I was also able to repair the old center clearance light mounting. I had to lower the center clearance light because it was right smack dab in the middle of where an awning rail is supposed to be:





This next pic is a bit of a tease as to what I'm working on. I've mentioned it before and I finally scored some 55 gallon drum lids without bungs in them for $6/each. Here's what it looks like with the lid just sitting in the rim. I'm working on an attachment scheme that, if it works out, will be very discrete:





The rears will be pretty easy. The front wheels will be a bit of a challenge. Thankfully, I have a metal spinner down the road a piece that I visited and looked at his forms in the past and I think he might just have what I need to make the front ones. If I remember correctly he had some industrial vent covers that were just about the right size that could be trimmed and welded to the drum rim. Gonna have to go pay him a visit.

[plfking]

Those will look pretty spiffy........I'm eager to see the finished product.

[o1marc]

You have no idea what put the gash in the roof?

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by o1marc

You have no idea what put the gash in the roof?

No idea. It was there when I bought the bus. It drug down the side before tearing through.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by sojourner

No idea. It was there when I bought the bus. It drug down the side before tearing through.

Now it makes sense, thought it just appeared on you.

[EastCoastCB]

Stuff hits bus roofs all the time. Why I always warn against huge roof raises.

Nice to see you back on here posting.
How ya been man??

[sojourner]

Ok, so I got up early today and mowed the lawn so I could spend the day working on Gimel. I was hoping to get the rear wheel cover hub adapters and attachment system completed so I could mount the 55 gallon drum lid wheel covers on the rears.
After measuring the wheel hub studs, and checking to see if I had a drill bit that size I discovered I had everything but an 11/16" drill bit. Fortunately my son had to run to town and I rode along with him. Going to town here is a minimum of 2 hours and it took more like three to four before we got back home with drill bit in hand!! This didn't leave a lot of time but I went to work anyway. Here's what I got accomplished. Wheel hub adapter base assemblies.









I'll attach an aluminum plate to these. Attached to the aluminum plate will be three 88Lb pull force rare earth magnets (shim-able to make sure they make good contact with the wheel cover). I'm welding a 1/8" steel plate to the underside of the wheel cover where the magnets attach to give some thickness when removing the wheel covers. In the center of that plate will be a hole with a nut welded on the underside. To remove the wheel covers I'll take out a decorative screw and install a bolt to force the plate off the magnets and release the wheel cover from the center rather than prying from the edge and risk bending things. Not much to show for a days work but at least I got this far!

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Nice to see you back on here posting.
How ya been man??

BUSY at a new job. I'm assembling hydraulic power units for elevators. We're talking up to 50Hp oil bath motors and big pumps and valves and up to 75Hp dry units. It's good to have work but at almost 58 doing the level of physical work I did at 30 doesn't leave much energy left when I get in the door. Ibuprofen is my new best friend!! It's good to finally have some income for a change though. I'm setting aside some cash to do things on Gimel. Fun stuff planned for the future too!!



How's things for you? Have you made it through the rough patch? I totally feel for ya. Too many losses this past year. Hopefully things are looking better for ya.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by sojourner

BUSY at a new job. I'm assembling hydraulic power units for elevators. We're talking up to 50Hp oil bath motors and big pumps and valves and up to 75Hp dry units. It's good to have work but at almost 58 doing the level of physical work I did at 30 doesn't leave much energy left when I get in the door. Ibuprofen is my new best friend!! It's good to finally have some income for a change though. I'm setting aside some cash to do things on Gimel. Fun stuff planned for the future too!!



How's things for you? Have you made it through the rough patch? I totally feel for ya. Too many losses this past year. Hopefully things are looking better for ya.

Roxy and I got hitched this year. All's been well.
BUSY with work, too!

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by sojourner

I'll attach an aluminum plate to these. Attached to the aluminum plate will be three 88Lb pull force rare earth magnets (shim-able to make sure they make good contact with the wheel cover). I'm welding a 1/8" steel plate to blah blah blah.

Adaptation from HYOH (Hike Your Own Hike) would be BYOB (Build Your Own Bus) but why wheel covers. Sounding like a fair amount of work for "hubcaps". I don't have the "spoked" rims (forget the name) but don't think I'd bother unless there's a fuel savings. I suppose there is but I'd bet negligible in a bus with 5,000 miles a year (if that). Just seems like a lot of work when there are so many other things to do.



I still have to cut the roof off. Then there's the interior stuff. Someday oneday I'd get to pretty stuff like that.

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

............ Just seems like a lot of work when there are so many other things to do.
I still have to cut the roof off. Then there's the interior stuff. Someday oneday I'd get to pretty stuff like that.

I'm sure (or at least hoping) you're a nice guy and all but I gotta tell ya, the use of "blah, blah, blah" is quite condescending.


I suppose there are many things I'll do that you wouldn't for very different reasons than you. That's OK. I choose to build my bus the way it suits me. If I want to express a level of creativity to use 55 gallon drum lids to make wheel covers simply because I think they'll look good, I will. If they don't (to me) I'll remove them. Maybe it'll inspire others, like myself, that can't afford $100 each for wheel simulators for their Dayton spoke wheels. Not all of us have the blessing of having Budd wheels and can go to the truck salvage and get some sexy aluminum wheels to dress things up a bit.

That's why this thread is about my build. I'm simply sharing what I'm doing. Not asking approval of anyone. If you have a better suggestion on how I can accomplish my goals, I'd like to hear them.

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Roxy and I got hitched this year. All's been well.
BUSY with work, too!

Congratulations!!! (to you at least, not so sure about her LOL!!!!)
Seriously, that's awesome!! Very happy for the two of you!!

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by sojourner

I'm sure (or at least hoping) you're a nice guy and all but I gotta tell ya, the use of "blah, blah, blah" is quite condescending.

Sorry about that. Not my intention at all. Blah blah blah in this case simply meant the rest of your post. Blah = ... Next time I'll use ...

Maybe it'll inspire others, like myself, that can't afford $100 each for wheel simulators for their Dayton spoke wheels. Not all of us have the blessing of having Budd wheels and can go to the truck salvage and get some sexy aluminum wheels to dress things up a bit.

Ah, that's what I was asking about (I think). So it's purely cosmetic? Was wondering if there's a fuel savings, if those wheels need a dust cover, or etc.

That's why this thread is about my build. I'm simply sharing what I'm doing. Not asking approval of anyone. If you have a better suggestion on how I can accomplish my goals, I'd like to hear them.

That's why I started my post with BYOB, everyone's goals AND how they get there are different. Didn't mean to sound insulting.


How about doing the same with sheet metal? Something that can be polished? Hard to tell from the pic if they are plastic or metal to start with. I dunno about the whole chromed out look either. Isn't for me but I know CCBC and Cadi go for it. (Shiny) Sheet metal would cost more than $6 an axle but nowhere near $100.

[sojourner]

[QUOTE=How about doing the same with sheet metal? Something that can be polished? Hard to tell from the pic if they are plastic or metal to start with. I dunno about the whole chromed out look either. Isn't for me but I know CCBC and Cadi go for it. (Shiny) Sheet metal would cost more than $6 an axle but nowhere near $100.[/QUOTE]


for the clarification. I'm with you on the chromed thing. If you can tell from my build, I like doing things a bit different that the ordinary. Not that ordinary is bad or anything like that, I've just always liked putting my own personal touch on things. The wheel covers (they are steel which is why I'm trying to use magnets to hold them on) are just that. Nothing more than doing something different that, in the end, I hope comes out looking fun and unique (and at the end of the day easy to take care of). Like I said, if not, then off they come. One of the problems with trying to make them out of sheet metal (unless I had a metal spinning rig (which I don't)) is, if welded, they stand the potential to warp a good bit (even with the TIG). Starting out with a stamped, stable part makes things a good bit easier than making a welded composite of some sort from scratch.

[sojourner]

Made some progress on the 55 gallon drum lid rear wheel covers today. The first step was to locate the center of the drum lid and drill a 1/4" hole. Then attach a 5" diameter round piece of 16 ga. with a center hole in it as well using a 1/4" bolt. Then weld into place. This will thicken the center region where the rare earth magnets will hold the wheel cover in place so the thin sheet metal drum lid won't bend. The drum lid is so thin I did some deep tacks (100% penetration) to hold things together rather than a full weld (which would have warped things badly). The nut used to center the arrangement is also welded into place.






Because the drum lids are a slight bit undersized where they make contact with the inner diameter of the wheel rim I welded narrow pieces of 3/4" x 3/16" flat bar in five locations equally spaced around the perimeter. I tacked them in place at the top first, bent them out slightly at the bottom and fit them in place on the rim. I then welded the bottoms to hold in place. Essentially forming a 5 point cone to center the cover in place.





The wheel cover assembly now looks like this from the backside.





I then took another piece of 5" round 16 ga. sheet metal (they're knock outs removed from hydraulic tanks where I work), located the center and laid out locations for the rare earth magnets at 120 deg. from each other at the outer edge of the circle. I then center drilled the brackets I made last weekend, bolted the round plate to it and began the process of shimming the magnets (with 1/8" fender washers drilled to 3/16") so they make good tight contact with the wheel cover. I intentionally left a gap in case I needed to change the dept of magnet plate to accommodate any difference in the left and right wheel. As it turned out, they both fell exactly in the same place. I'll make things a bit more elegant with an aluminum plate to position the magnets with no more than one shim once I get a 5-1/2" hole saw to cut some 3/8" aluminum plate I have lying around.





The rare earth magnets (88 lbs. pull force each (over 250 lbs. total each side) do an incredible job of holding the wheel cover on. So much, I would damage the cover if I tried to pry it off from the edge. My solution (thought of in advance)? The nut welded to the back side of the cover in the first step is intentional to make a screw jack to press the covers off. All I need to do is pull the plate about 1/4" away from the magnets to pull the cover away easily with my fingers. No damage to the wheel cover and while not in use, I'll put a short screw with a decorative head (torx or 12pt) to conceal the hole.





Now, all I have to do is finish the covers with glazing putty, prime and paint to the desired color.





The front covers will be much more of a challenge due to the configuration of the front wheels.


Once I get the rears completely done I'll tackle the fronts. Needless to say, the heat here in SC has be whipped for the day. Gonna stay inside for a while

[joeblack5]

Looks fantastic. I would be a little nervous about the only magnet approach. I love it to find theae dimensional abnomalities that let you uses one thing in another application. Very clever. Hope you have a lucky find for the front wheels as well.

Later j

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Looks fantastic. I would be a little nervous about the only magnet approach. I love it to find theae dimensional abnomalities that let you uses one thing in another application. Very clever. Hope you have a lucky find for the front wheels as well.

Later j

Thanks for the comment. There's no issue with the magnets though. It requires a bolt to press them loose. They have over 250Lbs. of force holding the wheel cover on. I tried to pull the magnet plate off the wheel cover by hand with the wheel cover off. It was impossible without a properly placed pry bar or using the screw to detach it. When installing the cover you can hear each of the three magnets connect to the plate. The wheel cover is centered and solid as a rock with them holding things. Much more secure than spring fasteners.
As far as the front ones, there's a metal spinner locally that has some shallow domed storm covers that will fit nicely, if I remember correctly. I'll have to trim them down a bit and weld them to the drum ring to make what I need. As far as using things in other applications than what they were intended. Been doing that kind of stuff most my life (I'm almost 5. Didn't have much for money growing up so we had to get creative. Now it's more for the challenge to see if I still can .

[sojourner]

Made the new magnet mounts from plate aluminum and got them mounted:





Did the glazing putty on the wheel covers, sanded and painted them and mounted to the rear wheels:

[thrifty1]

That’s wicked cool man