The Journey Visvi 1999 Thomas MVP ER

[wmkbailey]

Got a little done tonight around the rain. I finished drilling, marking and attaching the other three Ram Supports. Al that is left is welding them together. Then I start cutting the roof.

Now I need to watch the weather to find a good weather window to raise the roof in.

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

I'm going the marine way and using the 12 VDC Nova Kool 9.1 cubic ft Danfross compressor refrigerator. .

[eyedeal.ink]

Coming right along, looks great

[wmkbailey]

Well I got the four pillars cut using my circular saw with a 7" abrasive cutting blade.

Remounted my Ram Support - Roof Raising mechanism. Welded the piece that I bolted to the roof to it. I cranked up the Ram about 1/4" to put tension on the roof. 1) to see if anything breaks under the strain and 2) this should prevent my circular saw from binding when I cut the rest of the pillars.

Now I'm ready, just have to cut the rest of the roof free and up we go. It looks like the weather will be good to go on Saturday, which will be a fun way to spend my 50th birthday.

I'm busy tomorrow but Friday after work I will be back out. I guess I will have to find something else to start on.

[bansil]

Good luck and God speed on your endeavor

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by bansil

Good luck and God speed on your endeavor

As long as I don't hear "Houston, we have a problem"

[wmkbailey]

So I started cutting my roof apart for the roof raise. and noticed I missed something.



I can't just cut through this thing, so I had to remove it. Then when I went to the front of the bus to make my first cut across the roof I see this big piece of steel.



So that had to be cut out. Behind this piece I have these at each corner that had to be cut through too.



Now I can get down to cutting the roof. Oh wait a second what are these, they have to come out too.



Now we are cutting, I can see daylight.



I cut all the way to the cross brace and stopped. This way the roof is still attached.



Tomorrow I have to cut through this brace and the rest of the pillars.

[Accordion]

I can understand raising the roof on a bus if a person is too tall to walk in it without crouching. Fortunately, I am five foot nine inches tall. I do not have any problem walking through my bus.

I had a friend who was six foot four. He had to duck to walk through.

I have lived in vans in which I could not stand up. It was OK because I spent most of the time in them sitting.

Raising a roof on a bus is more work than I would ever want to do, not to mention that I am not skilled in metal fabrication. I admire the tenacity it takes to do a project like that.

I mentioned before that I would like to have a second floor in my bus. It would be old school. I would find a friend with a torch, and we would cut the top half of a Chevy window van off. Then we would weld it to the top of my bus. I would make a small entrance hole to the van top.

It would make a great spare bedroom. I dream of doing that old school roof addition. I just have to come up with the bucks. That may never happen. I still dream of it though.

[opus]

I dont allow people over 6' on my bus. Problem solved!

[wmkbailey]

I had a van, that I dumped for a bus because I was tired of not being able to stand up. I plan to insulate it well and that would make the interior hight 6', I'm 6'. Besides I like doing stuff like this and look forward to it, if it works out.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by opus

I dont allow people over 6' on my bus. Problem solved!

Hey!

[opus]

I figure its a lot less work to take that stand then to do a roof raise. At my age, I am getting an aversion to hard work. LOL!

[ThePimentals]

Does your deadbolt keep your door shut tight?

[porkchopsandwiches]

I actually went to see wmkbailey's bus a few weeks ago, after he had gutted all the seats and interior panels but before he started cutting the roof. This particular model bus (late 90's Thomas MVP) has a LOT of headroom as-is, I am 6'2" on a good day and I had several inches of headroom in the center, I believe it is 78" in the center of these buses. Personally, if I am lucky enough to find one of these buses for sale before next summer, I wouldn't do a roof raise, but I believe wm wanted to do it so it felt more roomy and more room for add'l insulation. A lot of heat is lost via the roof and a lot of heat comes in via the roof.

I wouldn't trust myself with the metal fab or have the time / patience for such an endeavor but it will probably make the bus feel huge (comparitavely) on the inside.

[bansil]

Originally Posted by ThePimentals

Does your deadbolt keep your door shut tight?

It did

[bapos]

Everyone thinks being tall is the end all be all of things... Well having a bus and being 6'3" tall is not always the best thing in the bus world. Although I would love to raise my bus I wont do it to this one. This bus for me is more of an experiment. I love to see what everyone is doing and how they do it. Ideally I would like to see people do more video but one thing at a time. Being so tall Id like to raise the next bus I do.

I can feel the bottom of the roof rubbing my hair as I walk down the inside of the bus. Kind of a bad feeling but I I lean over as I have enough scars on my head.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by bansil

It did

Ha ha ha.

No it does not keep the door shut tight, just gives me some peace of mind. I can pull the door open about 2" Right now I use the air to keep it tight, but want to come up with a latch that would close the door tight from both inside and out., with out the air.

[wmkbailey]

Happy birthday to me. Yesterday was my 50th.



Here's Durango wishing me a happy birthday, you young whipper snapper (he's 13 1/2 which makes him like 76 our age. I hope I look that good when I get old)

I was hoping to start the lift at 11:00 but it took longer that expected to get everything ready.



These things I could not cut through from inside and made me climb on the roof to cut. Once I got the roof cut free the pillars were easy. Using my circular saw with a 7" abrasive cutting blade it made short work of it. Using the Ram Supports to put tension of the roof prevented the saw from binding. All the popping and groaning the bus made when doing it was ... interesting. It was weird walking through the bus and seeing the middle shift and the front not move, then getting off and seeing the front shift and the middle not. The Ram Supports held the roof up and felt very sturdy, I could only shift the roof about 1/2" either way, but it was not going anywhere.

At 12:35 we have lift off.



Up the first inch.



An hour and 15 minutes later it was done. It took little effort to turn the bottom nuts that lifted the roof. Nothing binded during the lift. My friend Jim was there for moral support and want to know if he could help. I only had one 15/16 wrench, but with only 3" left to go I remembered I have an adjustable that would work. I could have been done in under 40 minutes.



Now to start welding the bus back together. The roof had kicked out about 1/2" on the drivers rear and passenger front sides. When I clamped in the four corners to weld it came back into place.



I hung two plumb bobs, one front and the other rear to check alignment. I screwed the string to the roof support and spray painted over it to mark for when I lowered the string to make sure it was in the same place. Close enough for a skoolie.



Once I got the welder adjusted tit welded up just fine. The only other adjustment I will have to make is, when I cut the front roof free it spread out about an inch on both sides. The rear did not spread out like the front. I used one my ratchet straps and was able to pull it back in.

By 5:00 I had only eight supports welded in, but my neighbors, Blues BBQ Company, found out it was my birthday and brought over a bottle of rum and some Coke... What happens in the bus stays in the bus.



That blurry blue truck is them. That is about how it looked when we got done around 10:00

Happy birthday to me.

[wmkbailey]

I had a little too much to drink, so I walked home. At 5:00 this morning I heard it start to rain, so I stumbled back out of bed and walked back to the bus to cover it with tarps and drove the car home. Good thing it is only about a 30 min walk. Now I almost feel sober

[ol trunt]

Happy BD The roof raise looks like fun. Well planned and well completed--credit where credit is due!