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04-30-2007, 08:29 PM
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#221
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Savage, MN
Posts: 472
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International
Engine: 7.3 diesel
Rated Cap: 14
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Wasn't there the other idea here somewhere where you could put a single brow across all of them?
Maybe you could do awnings front to back just underneath them.
Myself I was just going to leave mine alone but I only have 2 on the right and 3 one the left and I didn't do all the nice skin work you have done. I do lurk in here to see the work you have done as you do a good job of describing what you have done and even with some wanderless rambling it is still nice to read what you have typed for all of us to read.
Just the idea alone of sharping drill bits, I have heard of doing it that way and I have tried it a few times but I am not that good at it. I have see a adapter plate that was made to get the angle just right.
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04-30-2007, 09:18 PM
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#222
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Thank you for the kind words!
Back in the beginning, I suggested that we avoid extraneous chatter on this thread, but of
course, we are too human to make that stick very long!
So I plan to sort thru it all once Millicent is (somewhat) done, and ask Steve if he would
like to place the boiled-down version under "tutorials". Mind you, it would be a "how I
did it", and NOT "how you must do it"!
My bench grinder has an angled groove in the work rests at the fine grit wheel. I believe many
bench grinders have this. That's a drill sharpening guide. The idea is to place the bit in
the groove and push it forward and rotate it. But I learned to do it freehand,
with a tilting motion in the wrist, so I just keep doing it that way,
stubborn as I am!
To find the correct angle of a standard metal drilling bit, just take two hex head bolts or nuts
and hold them together, flat against flat. Grind the bit to that point.
For the clearance angle, hold the bit up in front of you, pointing a little away from you, and
sight along the cutting edge, with the edge horizontal. The surface behind the edge needs
to taper downward a little towards the left.
For drilling steel, you should have a "pointy" edge -- less than 90 degrees. For soft
metals like brass, you must have a blunt edge -- sharp but more than 90 degrees -- or
the bit will dig in uncontrollably.
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04-30-2007, 09:36 PM
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#223
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Middle Tennessee
Posts: 264
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You know, looking at your magnificent work, to me the eybrows aren't that distracting. The rub rails are what gets my attention I mean, if it was like an Eagle with dissimilar metals (aluminum skin on a steel frame) the ribbing is necessary for different expansion rates. But the rub rails just seem kind of unnecessary. Has anybody taken the rails off their bus? It might look good to have the one row down low and a smooth look above that. What? What do you mean, "extraneous chatter"??...
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Daddy, can we go on a trip again??
'85 Thomas SafTLiner RE
3208 NA CAT MT643
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04-30-2007, 10:49 PM
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#224
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Sure, a smooth Greyhound or Prevost looks good, but I'm happy to have the extra stiffness the
rails provide. And the eyebrows don't bother me a lot either -- it's more a matter of
how "clever" it would be to hide them with rub rails. This is a hobby, after all; not
a marketing campaign.
Thank yew. Thank yew verrrry mush!
(I've got another one fooled! )
Uhhh... Thread Drift?
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05-03-2007, 12:54 AM
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#225
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Indiana
Posts: 49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elliot Naess
Back in the beginning, I suggested that we avoid extraneous chatter on this thread, but of
course, we are too human to make that stick very long!
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There is an amazing amount of useful info here! A boiled down how-to would be great....but then where would all the Elliottisms go?
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05-13-2007, 11:12 AM
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#226
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Still here.
Running the engine, I noticed a lot of vibrating and rattling in the new skin. That may be
more of a concern than galvanic corrosion. There is probably a reason why the factory
slathers that sticky mastic in every joint and seam. We should probably do the same.
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05-14-2007, 08:50 AM
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#227
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: near flint michigan
Posts: 2,657
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i'll make sure to put some sort of sticky ickyness all over the roof panels on the bus when i put the roof panel back on!
thanks
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes (who will watch the watchmen?)
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06-01-2007, 08:34 PM
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#228
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 381
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
What would the correct "sticky ickyness" be... Does anyone have a preferred brand/product?
And by the way.... Has everyone had as much trouble logging on as I have???
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06-03-2007, 07:20 PM
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#229
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 1
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
Hey guys,
I just bought a bus today to use to relocate my family out of state. I happened on this thread at 3:00pm and it's now 5:20....
Elliot...this was the best 2 1/2 hrs I've spent in a while!
Thanks,
Ted
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06-10-2007, 11:30 PM
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#230
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
Hey, welcome aboard, Ted! Glad you found something of interest to you. What little I know about buses, I learned here, so it is good to be able to contribute to the "club".
And... "the captain has re-activated the fasten seat belts sign" -- I'm working on Millicent.
We (I) failed to get her ready in time for the Kinetic Grand Championship on Memorial Weekend, so now we (yep, that's me, I reck'n) are shooting for the race in Klamath Falls. OR, on June 23. Screwed the windows in place today -- nasty, nasty. There must be a better way. Photos soon. Tailgate lift springs are coming along nicely, though.
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06-12-2007, 02:00 PM
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#231
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: high desert, California
Posts: 61
Year: 1992
Coachwork: International
Chassis: 3800
Engine: INternational DTA 360
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
yay!! the continuing adventures of the big headed bus continue, I await your next progress photos with baited breath. speaking of breath, (weak transition, I know) I tried some of that Indica ale, pretty tasty, if a little hoppily bold, I would suggest you try a Lagunita's Czech style pilsner, not as hoppy, barely, but oh so refreshing. I would like to point out at this time that I am in no way advocating consumption of alcohol in ecsess or as a way of life, I am a beerist, I am content to enjoy, on occasion, one or two of my favorite beverage merely for the pleasure of taste and not for it's inebriative effects. Having spent a good part of my childhood in an Aleutian native village and having seen firsthand the destructive potential of substance abuse within my own family, I know the seriousness of that condition for many folks. Through some fluke of genetics and I suppose my own lack of serious emotional issues I can continue to enjoy one of my great passions, the consumption and enjoyment of finely brewed ales and pilsners. This has been a preemptive public service announcement. Anywho hope it all comes through smooth as a cats belly.
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"Beer speaks people mumble" (lagunitas beer bottle)
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06-17-2007, 12:17 AM
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#232
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
A manager, that’s what I need. Somebody to drag me out of bed and keep me working on one project until it is complete. Waaaaayyyy too many projects going on here now -- all at once, and I’m only one man. Let it be a lesson. (Hey, I make a very good bad example, don’t I!)
But here is a shot from the troublesome Window Installation Day, a week ago:
RV windows are installed by a “sandwich” method, where the window itself and its inner molding are the bread, and the wall of the vehicle is the meat. The stoopid thing is, that the “meat” has to be an exact thickness, to match the window. Excess thickness can be filled in with some sort of spacer, I suppose -- and I will be doing that, with cardboard or spray foam or something. But the screws have to be exactly the correct length, which is fine on the known wall thickness of a factory built RV -- and not so fine on the jerry rigged walls of Millicent. For good measure, my salvage windows are all different thickness. Oh well -- I’m allowed to whine once a year, right?
So I used some plywood I had laying around and made three big sandwiches. I suppose it will be fine, but I’m not proud of it. So there’s another lesson -- design your walls to be an even thickness, and make sure you have plenty of exactly the right length screws on hand -- if you are going to use RV windows.
Next, I have worked on the tailgate. It needs to be counter weighed so it can be opened and closed by hand. My first idea was to simply run a garage door spring in the little gap along the sides of the gate, but this proved inadequate. There isn’t room for a thick enough spring, and if I attach the spring far enough out on the gate, the spring will be over-stretched. So I’m running a cable from the gate over a pulley to the inside of the bus, where the cable attaches to the spring with a moving pulley and then to the ceiling. That way, there is all kinds of room for a big spring, or even two springs doubled up, and the spring will stretch only half the length of the gate movement.
There. Finally some progress, even if minor!
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06-25-2007, 06:10 PM
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#233
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
And it works!
With both springs installed, the gate can be lifted with one hand. In fact, the gate stays in place in any position. It took only three tries to get the leverage right, so today I'm not whining about anything -- I'm bragging about my eyeball engineering talent!
Last week's shots showed a skinny cable and some make-shift fastening. Here is the 1/4 (quarter) inch cable with thimble, and clamps with nylock nuts, finally installed. The eye-bolt will get a nylock nut also.
Next time, I'll see if I can really show off that gate.
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07-01-2007, 10:29 PM
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#234
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: Millicent; Crazy Man Tries To Raise Roof 2 Ft On 40 Ft BB
All right, no "showing off" yet, but there it is, holding position by itself:
Now it just needs finish work -- and latches.
Bicycle repair stand slips into square tube that holds tailgate hinges:
That the sort of thing you have in mind, VeloHauler?
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08-08-2007, 05:24 PM
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#235
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New Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 9
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Re: The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate
You haven't posted recently, so I dunno if you've been prepping for Burning man or just working (my real life sometimes gets in the way too!) but sweet ramp! You have found the way of KISS, grasshopper! DO you plan to re-attach the end cap to make it look pretty again? (I kinda like the redneck look without it!)
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08-08-2007, 06:34 PM
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#236
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate
Oooo... there's an idea -- a clamshell end cap that completely hides the tailgate until... POP!... out rolls "Henry Ford Goes Surfing"! I like your devious way of thinking!
Alas, that ain't gonna happen. I cut the tail end off in bits and pieces. And I'm even happy with the way it looks. Eventually I'll paint it, and then it should look fine.
Been busy otherwise, yes. Working for a living, yes -- that too. But Millicent WILL go to Burning Man! Leaving here Friday 24, picking up friends in Sacramento then arriving BRC mid-morning Saturday with Early Entry passes to set up camp.
Odds are Millicent will not have running water at BM. Everything takes lots of time.
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08-08-2007, 10:04 PM
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#237
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New Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 9
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Re: The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate
hehe....I'm in the medical field and when you wrote BM, I immediately thought "bowel movement"...ahh, the mind wanders occasionally... I'm thinking that a huge smiley face with a 'have a nice day' would look great on your back door! Whatever you put back there probably shouldn't include anything about bodily functions though
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08-08-2007, 10:14 PM
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#238
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate
Right, but a giant... uh... transom of some kind might work.
I do indeed need to be more careful about abbreviations. "BM" is routine shorthand for Burning Man around many of my friends, but of course not to everyone. Same with any specialty. A medical neighbor of mine rattled off "UTI" the other day, and I had to think a long time before I caught up. (Urinary Tract Infection)
All right, enough medical talk. Let's paint a gigantic Horse's Ass on that ramp!
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08-09-2007, 11:44 AM
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#239
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Saint James, MN
Posts: 2,669
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Re: The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate
My mom is a nurse so BM was a common utterance growing up. I immediately though bowel movement as well.
At the same time....when you said UTI I thought Universal Technical Institute....the place that cranks out high dollar mechanics.
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08-09-2007, 12:52 PM
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#240
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Clearlake, Northern California
Posts: 2,511
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC-2000 Frt Eng, Tranny:MT643
Engine: 5,9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
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Re: The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate
.
Clearly, we need to do something drastic to get this thread uh... regular again.
Lets try this:
That should do it.
And now:
Thats Old #35 (white with red stripe) -- Millicents predecessor -- at Burning Man last year. Just two weeks and a day before I leave....
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