The Bromobile Cruiser

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Where did you find arrow LEDs? I was looking all over trying to find some last year. I kind of like the unnecessary obviousness of them.

These are by SoundOff Signal, I found them on Transportation Accessories Company's website.

https://www.tacbusparts.com/Lights/Turn-Signal-Lights

They give a wide choice of shipping options and processed my order very quickly. I ordered the lights and some switches and they showed up within 2 days.

Something else to consider if you don't mind changing styles are the turn signals from Whelen. They're very expensive, but offer progressive flash patterns. Whelen is also a very well trusted brand for fire and police departments, available from a couple of different vendors.

https://sirennet.com/leds/brake-tail-turn-leds.html

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Wisconsin lets me do a mail in application. Our DMVs are all open but vehicle transactions and title work have to be done online or by mail. Took me about 4 weeks but I finally got the motorhome plates and title.

Headlights look great. I went the cheap-ish route and got LED sealed beams on Amazon for 50 bucks or so. the round style must be more expensive.

I'm a bit skittish of the post office atm because of the prior troubles trying to get the title in the first place. Since the option to go in person is available, I'd rather take that.

These are also sealed beam. I'm sure there are plenty of cheap 7" LED headlights, especially because the size is compatible with Jeep Wranglers. However I decided watch some videos comparing beam patterns and selected the Trucklites based on them being praised for the high beam while also being much cheaper than the other lights I liked. For example JW Speaker headlights can run up to $400 for a pair.

[Truthseeker4449]

Well, my trip to Clintwood ended up being a mixed bag. Overall the bus performed well again, but the instrument cluster issues that started on the last long trip came back and got considerably worse. I spent most of the trip without a temp or oil pressure gauge and frequent dropouts of the rest of the cluster. More concerning sometimes when the cluster dropped out, the transmission felt like it was going out of lockup and go right back into it once the tach and speedo came back. Which was always very quickly. After the trip I found TPS and Loss of Com codes in the Transmission only, I looked over the wiring near the transmission and it looked okay, so I'm at a loss where to go next.

As far as the business I actually had at DMV, I got a new title for #19 but was unable to get registration because the system wouldn't let them take my money for the uninsured motorist fee. We were able to eventually verify that I do have to pay it to receive the plates. They were supposed to call me once they figured out what the problem was, but it's been a week and a half and I'll probably have to wait another month to try again and probably be blocked again....

Makes me consider the Vermont route.... Not sure I'm ready to paint a bus yet tho.

[WIbluebird]

Glad to hear it went well. Painting was actually the very first thing I did on my bus when I got it since Wisconsin requirements seem to start with that.



Sounds like your DMV situation is not...good. I just mailed in my application and got it back in around 4 weeks or so. They were even nice enough to refund me $20 of the fees since I miscalculated registration fees slightly.



What are you using to read the codes on the buses?

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

What are you using to read the codes on the buses?

JPro and Allision DOC off of the company laptop, Cat ET off my personal laptop.

Codes only on the TCM.

[Truthseeker4449]

I ended up taking the bus to the dealer on the strong suspicion I had a CAN problem, but no idea where it was and my means of tracking it down was limited. According to them the connector on the side of the rear control panel was the problem, where the wires got brittle and were stressed from the angle at which they are ran. I haven't picked the bus up yet, I figured while I already have a work order open at the dealer I'd have them throw in some other parts I wanted.


Here is a picture of the connector I had from before the problems started.

Now back to #19 where I did demolition all weekend. The plywood ended up being very nasty, not too surprising given how many water leaks the bus has. Got a nice huge pile of wood, mold, and mat in the back of the bus now that I will drop at the dump this weekend.

There were a couple of annoying spots, all the condenser mounts especially are being a pain. They are squared carriage bolts and I can't break the plywood around them readily. Also the condensers aren't so much bolted to the floor but suspended with the carriage bolts by double nuts. My solution was remove them one by one, remove the plywood, then reinstall the bolts with extra washers because the square pegs do not like the round holes. This is a tedious process because of the clearances and cramped conditions underneath the bus. I've only done two of the bolts thus far.


Then there's this BS where they riveted the shroud for the AC lines to the heater cladding. On the bright side, silicon heater hoses are a wonderful surprise. Now speaking of heater hoses, it is my intention to retain the factory heating arrangement with original cladding. To this end I want to cut out some new plywood to go down and seal it up really nice so it won't suffer the same fate as the original plywood. Maybe a coat of sealer then a coat of paint to be safe.


The very front of the bus is another problem area. The plywood continues underneath the heater and dashboard right up to the edge of the body. I know this area has had a nasty water leak for a while so the plywood here is not likely to be any better than the rest of the bus. Probably going to end up pulling the dashboard here to get rid of all the old plywood.



One thing that wasn't a problem was dealing with wheelchair lift, picked it right up with the shop forklift and nudged it back while I removed the plywood it sat on. I'm still on the fence if I want to remove or keep it. On one hand, it's pretty hand. On the other it takes up a lot of space that I could use for other things. It's right next to a nice big window too.


Rust wise its looking fairly decent and since there is no hardened adhesive everywhere, it should hopefully be a shorter process to get everything repainted. I'm thinking picking up a random orbit sander and using that for the bulk of the rust, using the angle grinder for the handful of heavier areas.

[WIbluebird]

I removed my factory AC system so on mine I just cut the heads off the carriage bolts with an angle grinder. Then I had zero issues pulling all the plywood off.



Looks great otherwise!

[racebar]

The bus is looking great! Good work. Are you still planning on selling it, or are you going to use it for Lemons Rally?

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by racebar

The bus is looking great! Good work. Are you still planning on selling it, or are you going to use it for Lemons Rally?

I do plan to eventually sell this bus (#422). The exact timeframe of which is still kinda up in the air since I still need to remove my nicer seats out of it. Should hopefully be by next spring, dependent on the rate I can make things move along with #19.


And keep this one (#19), this the one I'm currently working on the floor in.



My exact plans are currently uncertain. I would like to still do Rally for the fun of it, but I had a falling out with some people I was going to do it with. Either way, I'm still building it for an RV. I'm leaning towards doing a good job of it so I could potentially live in it.

[WIbluebird]

Good luck with the sale. Those are some nice buses.



I hear ya on the other people thing. Too many times I've had people offer to do this and that and then when it comes time to get work done poof they aren't around. With this lifestyle you def have to be willing to make a go of it on your own.

[racebar]

Hey if your looking for someone to do lemons with, we are always looking for fun adventurous people! Bring the bus! Sell it to us when your done with it. Or just come hang out with us. We haven't done a rally yet, but we've done new hampshire, New Jersey, vir, and are trying to do carolina motorsports park next year.

https://youtu.be/fNheC0Iny1w

[Truthseeker4449]

Progress over the last month


I'm really glad I ripped up this floor.


Several hundred pounds of junk gone


Started sanding the rust, found an oscillating sander with my vacuum plugged into it made the least amount of airborne dust, though the angle grinder with a sanding disc worked way faster.


Found the rust was more severe than I thought and the metal was significantly more pitted than I suspected. Granted there's no rot holes in the floor so I can't complain too much.


I eventually got it all cleaned up and ready for paint.


I elected to go with Rustoleum rusty metal primer because of the pitting, hoping that it keeps rust from coming back. It was also much more affordable than my previous choice on #422 (Kembond from Sherman-William) being a quarter of the cost.

Now that the bus isn't a mess water leaks are more apparent and I already knew both roof hatches are leaking pretty bad. It appears I have a few other roof leaks. So I climbed up onto the roof to have a look and verify roof hatch dimensions. I intend to replace the hatches since replacement hatches aren't that expensive and I feel roof emergency exits are very important. Good ventilators going down the highway too.


My camera honestly doesn't do this mess justice. No wonder it felt like I was cooking while I was pulling seats out, my roof was painted black with grime. And its so thick this little electric pressure washer wasn't doing squat. A lot of effort with a scrub brush did yield nicer results.


My hard work also pointed out that a significant amount of the roof leaks. I'm going to need a lot of sealant. Good thing I already have an electric caulk gun.

Currently sanding and painting the heater cladding, once that's that I need to cut up fresh plywood and treat it to be able to reinstall the cladding at it's original height. I'm thinking deck sealer and a coat of exterior paint should be at least adequate treatment, overkill is fine too.

[Native]

Wow, your new hoses are so clean and blue ... at first glance I thought you had taped them up!
I used the Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer as well. I have not had a chance to look at the floor now that it has been painted for over a year now to see if it worked out well or not.


Your roof looked like ours did. It did scrub off easily enough. We have since painted it white, but our trees are dumping their sap all over it and it needs another scrubbing.

[Truthseeker4449]

Originally Posted by Native

Wow, your new hoses are so clean and blue ... at first glance I thought you had taped them up!

Oh, I didn't buy those hoses. They came already installed on the bus, hidden behind a cladding on the driver side. They're blue because they are silicon hoses. Very expensive, high quality, and long lasting hose, silicon hose is preferred on fire trucks. I'm not sure if these particular hoses are original to the bus or not, I've never heard of silicon heater hose in a school bus.

[Truthseeker4449]

Went out to bus #19 today after putting down a layer of floor paint on Sunday and made the wonderful discovery that someone shot up some of my windows. Of course no way to bring justice to the jerks who did this.... I suppose should be thankful enough the windows are still largely in one piece.

[Bus'n it]

This is one of those things that made me decided against stock windows. I know people love them and included them in their builds but my question is how do you replace them once the bus is all framed in? I see on some builds there is no way to get to the two screws on each side of the frame once it is all closed in.
That really sucks for what they did to you. There are always going to be stupid asshats looking to do damage or theft to other peoples property for no real gain.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Bus'n it

This is one of those things that made me decided against stock windows. I know people love them and included them in their builds but my question is how do you replace them once the bus is all framed in? I see on some builds there is no way to get to the two screws on each side of the frame once it is all closed in.
That really sucks for what they did to you. There are always going to be stupid asshats looking to do damage or theft to other peoples property for no real gain.

I'm building my walls so that the trim around the windows can be easily removed and the windows taken out and replaced, if necessary. I already have three windows cracked (two from driving next to a tree and one I stepped on while it was lying flat on the floor) so being able to replace them is a must.

My problem is finding some damn replacement windows!

[musigenesis]

Man, your windows getting shot really sucks. Since I've owned it, my bus has been broken into four times, but luckily nobody has done any kind of vandalism to it. Maybe it helps to look like you've already been vandalized.

Let me know if you find a source of windows between you and PA, maybe. I need four or five replacements and maybe we could get a bulk deal of some sort. A few weeks ago I talked to a bus services company here in Philly that might have some windows for sale - I need to call them again.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by Bus'n it

This is one of those things that made me decided against stock windows. I know people love them and included them in their builds but my question is how do you replace them once the bus is all framed in? I see on some builds there is no way to get to the two screws on each side of the frame once it is all closed in.
That really sucks for what they did to you. There are always going to be stupid asshats looking to do damage or theft to other peoples property for no real gain.

I am designing my walls and ceiling to be able to quickly remove the windows if needed. I plan on going back and painting the frames black and tinting the windows at some point.

[Truthseeker4449]

It's been a while since I've written an update. The short of it is that both buses have had the school names finally removed. Though it took a ton of elbow grease on 422 due to how thick the spray paint was applied. I swear they must have they used one can for each side when the bus was removed from service.





Also have been working on removing the reflective tape from 422. I've been focusing on the ones around the exits for now. I quite like the results.


I also got the front school bus sign removed, and found a second one right underneath it.

This past weekend was pretty significant as I've begun a full service to 422, though I'll put off the oil change until after my next trip which is in about a week and a half. The service includes all filters and fluids, including the air drier. Shock absorbers have also been replaced and it's made a significant difference to how the bus is riding.

Lately I've noticed the radiator has been hanging down, especially in relation to a wear mark on the door. To my surprise I found I was able to lift the radiator up by 2 inches. Upon closer examination, I thought the radiator mount bushings had broken down into dust, but once I began taking things apart I found to my disappointment that a weld broke on the side of the radiator.


Fortunately I was able to weld it back on and reinforce it by welding it to more of the brace than it originally was. Unfortunately this did mean I had to disassemble quite a bit of the corner and I ultimately didn't finish until 1 in the the morning.

Other repairs include replacing broken rivets, bolts, and adjusting doors to fix rattles. It's made quite a difference, so much so one of my friends who hasn't ridden the bus in a few months immediately noticed the difference without any prior knowledge that I'd been addressing that.


My next project involves these light lens I got from RustyMetalGirl. I've been wanting to "fill in" the "holes" left by the warning lights. In my opinion, the easiest way was just install new lights.


I lightly painted them black and mounted them up. I felt this was already a major improvement but I decided to go a step further




I had some doubts how the painting process was going but now that it's all dry and outside in daylight, I'm immensely happy with the result.

[musigenesis]

Those black lights look great.