The Journey Visvi 1999 Thomas MVP ER

[porkchopsandwiches]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

Montgomery county does not use salt on their roads. Frederick county does and you should see the rust on their buses. Be glad you got the bus you have.

I have three holes, the rear is small, not much damage. The front two have rust on the rear of the wheel wells. I'm taking a trip to Indiana over the holiday, two weeks, 1500 mile round trip. I will deal with the stairs when I get back.

Oh yes they do use salt...when there is a light snow there is more salt on the road by volume than snow.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches

Oh yes they do use salt...when there is a light snow there is more salt on the road by volume than snow.

Oh well, I was told because they are in the Chesapeake water shed, they can't use salt, but a salt substitute.

[ThePimentals]

Originally Posted by bamper

No wheel well rust here .... BAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb18 ... 8f756b.jpg

Critize if you wish but I didn't dare tear the floor down to the metal. Too much time and $$$$ to fix all the issues I'm SURE are down there. I put the thin foam underlayment under the snap-together flooring and pretended like none of the rest was down there and all was well

you left the rubber floor?... Does it smell? I hate myself I think. I would be done with this bus if it wasn't for addressing the rust.

[sdwarf36]

I have storage under my bed-which goes right over the wheel arch. I even taped down garbage bags over the area just in case. Setting up camp for the wekend after driving thru the rain-to find out the blankets are wet would suck.

[bansil]

I think we should own stock in plastic bins.......we have almost every size in the bus

[wmkbailey]

Man I had a lot of things I wanted to get done today. But first might as well remove that front hatch that porkchop wants. I did receive my Maxxair Max fan Deluxe. Might as well put it in where the hatch was.

Three and a half hours later it is in.



One thing I did not count on is, I guess a standard RV has a flat roof. The mounting flange is flat, my roof at the peak is curved.



Not quit fitting. So I broke out a hammer and beat the steel into submission, and got the sides to with in 1/8". I just doubled up on the butyl tape down the sides.



Much better.



The butyl tape squeezed out on the edges and the inside. This is a nice fan, it incorporates a vent, fan, and rain protection all in one unit. It features a powerful 10-speed fan, thermostat, air intake and exhaust. The fan can be run with the lid closed to circulate air by setting it in Ceiling Fan Mode.

I spent some time playing with my new Hobart Auto Arc 130 Wire Feed MIG Welder. I realized I cant pull enough current through my little extension cord and my 15 amp apartment outdoor outlet. Tomorrow I will get a 20 amp cord and run it off my 30 amp generator, that should work a little better.

I need to weld in the steel I have already cut to cover my rust holes. I got the floor painted except where I need to weld. Hopefully I can finish that up tomorrow.

[wmkbailey]

Here is my layout version 298.





Most everything in brown is storage. Yes those are batteries under the bathroom sink. They will be on a slide that will pull out into the hallway to work on. I hope.
My fresh water tank will be under the bed and the platform will use hatchbacks gas lift supports, so I can raise my sleep number mattress to get to the storage under it.

[bapos]

Bit of advice go to the bulk wire area at home depot or whatever big box store you have and buy some wire in the bulk cable area. I would by something to hold a good 20 -30 amps. You never know you may want to get in to a bigger welder. I have a miller 250x that I use for big stuff and a miller 172 (older version of a 180) for smaller stuff. I use the 172 the most just due to ease of getting it around.

[snonbos]

For my mig welder I made up an adapter cord that converts the welder to a 30amp rv plug.
I allready had a couple of 25' rv extension cords and a 30amp rv plug in my shop for the motorhome.
If your generator has a 30 amp rv outlet that might be an option.

[Tango]

Two-Cents --- as others here have previously noted regarding other rig designs...unless you plan on sleeping alone...forever, configuring the bed so that no one has to crawl over anyone else getting in or out makes for a much happier arrangement. I've had both. Never again the "Scuse me" layout.

As for migs...my little Millermatic 140 is a dream machine. It is one of the newer "dual-voltage' set ups (110/220) and can handle anything from coke-can thin to 1/2" very predictably. I bought it for a project involving a fair amount of 8" schedule 40 pipe and when hooked up to 220 it laid down a bead that would have been impressive for a machine twice that size (and price). And it's mighty handy to be able to plug into 110 if that's all that's around. Liked it so much I bought a second one for my "other" shop.

Like I said...Two-Cents.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Tango

Two-Cents --- as others here have previously noted regarding other rig designs...unless you plan on sleeping alone...forever, configuring the bed so that no one has to crawl over anyone else getting in or out makes for a much happier arrangement. I've had both. Never again the "Scuse me" layout.

Like I said...Two-Cents.

You don't have to crawl over each other, the second person can get in and out at the end of the bed. Besides Durango is just happy jumping over me to get out of bed.

[wmkbailey]

Got out to the bus this morning and it was 28 out. Started up the old Wabasto heater and two hrs later it was 61 inside.



Not bad for an un-insulated bus. That poor Wabasto run almost none stop for eight hrs today to keep me warm.



I went to Home Depot and got 25' of 10 GA cable and made a 20 amp extension cord. Man did that new welder work better. I got the three rust holes welded over and sealed with Sikaflex 221. I also used the Sikaflex 221 to cover up all the holes in the floor from where the screws and bolt use to be.

I noticed that my rear driver side turn signal does not always work. Found out why, when I took it apart it is all rusted. The screws just disintegrated. I drilled out one of the mounting screws and replaced it with a larger one and got the light to work again. I got one of the lens screws out and replaced with a new one. It looks like all my rear lights are like this. I'm ordering all new LED lights.

This week I start insulating the inside.

[porkchopsandwiches]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

I noticed that my rear driver side turn signal does not always work. Found out why, when I took it apart it is all rusted. The screws just disintegrated. I drilled out one of the mounting screws and replaced it with a larger one and got the light to work again. I got one of the lens screws out and replaced with a new one. It looks like all my rear lights are like this. I'm ordering all new LED lights.

This week I start insulating the inside.

Funny, mine didn't work either. Neither did the brake / tail light, both were totally waterlogged. LED time!

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches

Funny, mine didn't work either. Neither did the brake / tail light, both were totally waterlogged. LED time!

Ha ha, I just ordered mine.

[wmkbailey]

My roof is leaking like a sieve. Mostly around rivets and all those screw holes where I removed the inner roof steel. Now I know why all the mold.

I guess the cold has made the steel contract enough to cause issues. I was hoping to start insulating this week.

My new Maxxair vent fan does not leak.

[Malkieri]

Do you think a spray-in bed liner like Rhino-liner would fix the leaks and such?

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

My roof is leaking like a sieve. Mostly around rivets and all those screw holes where I removed the inner roof steel. Now I know why all the mold.

I guess the cold has made the steel contract enough to cause issues. I was hoping to start insulating this week.

My new Maxxair vent fan does not leak.

Sorry to hear that, makes me cringe when I think about leak roofs...there's always Lexel, it's paintable and sticks real good even in the rain.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by eyedeal.ink

Sorry to hear that, makes me cringe when I think about leak roofs...there's always Lexel, it's paintable and sticks real good even in the rain.

Thanks, I will check it out.

I was check on Bus Kote, but it has to be at least 50 to put it on.

[wmkbailey]

Man, I wish I had brought my swim suit.

I have a small leak over the dash board.



Another coming from a rivet that holds the roof to the support by my door. It runs down the support and onto the floor.



Another form one of the rivets I put in to hold my new front panel. Nothing like creating leaks yourself.



As you can see the new steel is dry, This is where I expected all the leaks.

Here is the exact same spot that my old roof hatch leaked. Now my new cover is leaking too.



Now for the pond in the back. It is leaking through where the roof panels over lap.



Then runs down the wall.



And collects on the floor.



This explains all the mold on the roof here and the rust on the floor.



More good news, somehow I now have a broken window,



I guess it was raining really hard.

[Diesel Dan]

Damn man! I don't know what product will be best, but I have a feeling the word "elastomeric" will be featured, and multiple coats applied.