Should this rust be scaring me?

[RazorCityDen]

Great forum, my first post, been reading a lot and shopping buses now for a few weeks, springs coming and I'm getting twitchy to get started!

I'm a WY general contractor and commercial contract superintendent but it's pretty slow these days so I'm going to build a live aboard, put my white water raft on top and Jeep in tow and carry enough tools to make expenses for an extended working road trip vacation! WARNING TO ALL THOSE THAT HAVE CRASHED AT MY PLACE WHILE HUNTING AND FISHING FOR WEEKS AT A TIME, IT"S PAYBACK TIME

I've pretty much settled on a a 66 passenger conventional with corn-binder running gear (I can work on IH equipment). Finding a good bus in the mountain west has been hit and miss and most buses seem to find their way to the mid-west.

So mid-west I look, but oh the hell everything seems to be so rusty!

Should this rust be scaring me, I've got a sandblaster and spray unit and not afraid to use it, but I plan on making my bus pretty damm comfy and don't want to spend a lot of time on a poor platform. There doesn't seem to be any rust on the external body work and the front step's look good as well.

Thank's

[bbbrt76]

maybe at the brake lines, but the frame and suspension components are nothing, just treat it now so it doesn't get any worse, and brake lines are an easy replacement

[RazorCityDen]

Thanks for the reply

Yesterday I got a line on some buses coming in from Washington state fresh from the school district, dealer said no rust! I'm going to head up and take a peak at them Monday once I get some more pics of tires, engine and such. 65 passenger, 150k-180k mileage, early 90's, International/Wayne DT466/5sd and a couple with 643's, the 5 sd has air brakes and is my first pick. The buses with the 643's have tall ceilings hmm......

They all have side emergency doors which I was trying to do without but they're going to price out in the low 3k range. I may have to compromise that point and come up with some thing to make them go away. I swapped a bunch of Rolex colored coil stock to my sheet metal contractor for my window skin stock so it shouldn't be any problem to skin over a side door and patch in some rub rail for apperances.

I plan on skinning though the original windows anyway and going back in with RV windows with the "sportyrick" (thanks Rick for the pics) side door conversion, I've been wheeling and dealing, collecting parts and pieces all winter

Den

[Castro]

If you can get a bus with no rust, get one of those. My first bus had rust issues that didnt seem large when I bought it. I chased rust the entire time I owned it. I had one fun instance where a rust hole in the exhaust melted an air hose going to the brakes. Thats fun to find coming down an off ramp...

[RazorCityDen]

Originally Posted by fireguy9993

If you can get a bus with no rust, get one of those. My first bus had rust issues that didnt seem large when I bought it. I chased rust the entire time I owned it. I had one fun instance where a rust hole in the exhaust melted an air hose going to the brakes. Thats fun to find coming down an off ramp...

Will do, this thing is going to be enough work without dealing with rust

Den,

[Lady Franklin]

Razorcityden

Will do, this thing is going to be enough work without dealing with rust

Forgive me razorcityden but I can't help but wonder if you know just how true your statement is. Take a real deep breath cause your about to dive into a project I fear you can't fully appreciate until you start. Good Luck!!!

[RazorCityDen]

I hear ya loud and clear

I plan on working on this project till spring before I take anymore contracting work so I will have at least a month and a half of full time effort into the project by then. I stocked back materials all last building season and have what I need for framing, insulation, sub-floor and finish floor.

So far the biggest challenge has been finding a good bus to start with, private bus sales are far and few between around here and even then one hasn't came up with the drive train I want. I watch Craigslist and Ebay, but I'm not going to bid on something I haven't been over with a fine tooth comb so that means two trips. I'm resigned to going though a dealer at this point, more money, but they seem ready to deal these days.

When I get a bus I'll start in with some pictures, that only seems fair, everyone's pictures and experiences have been a huge help planning this thing!

Den,