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01-26-2013, 06:21 PM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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1990 E350 Conversion Project
Hi all,
I'm new to the forum, just wanted to say Hi and post a pic of my new baby! I've wanted to do a conversion for years now and I'm super stoked to actually be doing it!!! This forum is amazing. I can't believe there are so many people as crazy as me out there....I love it!!
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01-26-2013, 07:11 PM
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#2
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Skoolie
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Southeast British Columbia
Posts: 106
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 72
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Welcome, that looks like a sweet unit
__________________
Living the dream in the Kootenays
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01-27-2013, 03:26 PM
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#3
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,489
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/AT545
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Cool rig. Does that have the 7.3 liter International diesel with rotary injection pump and indirect injection?
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01-27-2013, 10:42 PM
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#4
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
The engine is a ford 460 7.5 liter gasoline. I was hoping for a diesel but it turned out not to be, oh well. The rear axles are dual then single tag. The tag axle has an electronic brake and auto leveling air spring installed, sounds great but I fear it just more to break down later!
Day 1, we got the seats removed and started on the rear heater. My daughter is my bus buddy, not many teenagers would want to spend their weekend working on dirty old bus with their dad! She got the bug, I'm so proud!
At the end of day 2 we completed removal of the AC unit, rear heater, and ceiling.
When I was under the bus removing the heater lines, I noticed the floor is plywood straight through. Looks like I'll be ripping it all out and installing sheet metal before laying a subfloor. The upside is it'll be easier to paint the frame. I was thinking on using Por-15. I've had great luck with their products on past projects.
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01-31-2013, 10:29 PM
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#5
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,485
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
good looking bus! i got a 90 aswell with the international 7.3
that is one looooong bus! Also most use plywood all the way through. mine has tin on the bottom of the floors.
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02-02-2013, 07:47 AM
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#6
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Thanks, I can't wait to squeeze my floor plan into that long space!Question about the floor, since most of these buses come with wood floors, do you think it would be ok to replace the floor with marine ply rather than sheet metal, then maybe coat the entire underside in rubber coat? The original floor lasted this long and it wasn't undercoated. Thoughts?
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02-02-2013, 10:20 AM
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#7
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Marine Grade Plywood?
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02-02-2013, 10:15 PM
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#8
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Ok, so today I got to work on the bus. The roof hatch was leaking and soaked the cardboard honey comb sandwiched between the two layers of fiberglass. The roof was sagging bad on one side so I had to cut open the ceiling and remove all the damaged insides.
![](http://www.skoolie.net/attachments/photobucket/img_72565_58cc00ed75a61e7f53253ce562580612.jpg)
After a few bloody knuckles I finally got the cardboard scraped off.
![](http://www.skoolie.net/attachments/photobucket/img_72565_0ee624a5b106ff643435b9913b54338a.jpg)
I plan to reinforce the roof and insulate it. Then I'll support the original roof line with my interior walls.
Things went pretty smooth and I had some time to start ripping up the floor. Hoefully I can get the rest done tomorrow.
![](http://www.skoolie.net/attachments/photobucket/img_72565_43b3aa905b7fca20b4d2e73ef1150578.jpg)
It looks like I'll be doing some welding to the frame. These side supports were badly rusted and falling apart.
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02-04-2013, 10:03 AM
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#9
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 575
Coachwork: Thomas
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Nice bus, great size.
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02-09-2013, 03:55 PM
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#10
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Ok, so the big snow storm passed and I got some more work done on the bus today. I finished pulling the floor up.....what a P.I.A. !!
Here you can see better, the extensive damage to the crossmembers. It looks like I'll be taking them all out and replacing them with new steel.
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02-09-2013, 03:56 PM
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#11
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,485
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
wow thats some RRRrrrrrrrrrrrust! glad i dont have that under mine!
looks like you got the floor/ceiling well under control! Who ever thought of using cardboard as insulation was not that smart... condensation and so forth would make it mush!
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02-09-2013, 05:21 PM
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#12
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MNT CITY TN
Posts: 5,158
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Good progress....what's actually holding fiberglass. Body up right now?I know not the heater or toolbox.
J/K
Good luck atleast it looks like mostly straight cuts on material with a few holes for mounting.
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Chin up,beer on ice,saw and drill....check... ![33](https://www.skoolie.net/forums/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Post progress pics
__________________
Our build La Tortuga
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
George S. Patton
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02-10-2013, 06:58 AM
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#13
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
Good progress....what's actually holding fiberglass. Body up right now?I know not the heater or toolbox.
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LOL, I was wondering that myself! It looks like the rear bumper support and then the front cab are the only things holding it up right now. I got a little nervous yesterday becasuse we just had a foot of snow dumped on us. I thought I was going to wake up to a collapsed roof! As far the cuts go they should be pretty straight forward, like you said. I just have to find a good steel supplier.
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02-13-2013, 06:25 AM
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#14
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Yeah it's pretty bad, on the lighter side, I just placed my steel order. I'm picking it up on Friday, so that'll be my weekend project. I can start preparing the crossbeams. Unfortunately the temps here are still too low to begin any painting on the frame so I'll have to wait a couple of weeks.
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02-13-2013, 11:53 AM
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#15
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Seeing your support beam damage is motivating me to have a good look at my undercarriage.
Lovin' your avatar, BTW.
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02-15-2013, 06:04 PM
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#16
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Farmington Hills, Mi (Detroit area)
Posts: 1,968
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Eldorado Aerotech 24'
Chassis: Ford E-450 Cutaway Bus
Engine: 7.3L Powerstroke
Rated Cap: 19
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by roach711
Seeing your support beam damage is motivating me to have a good look at my undercarriage.
Lovin' your avatar, BTW.
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The kids and I were out for a walk today and came across an old abandoned car that me and my buddies had burned, blown up and shot up over 45 years ago. The frame on that car was totally intact. You could drag that bugger out of the woods and build it into a perfectly serviceable vehicle. It ticks me off that that old nasty thing is in great shape and mine is all rusty.
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02-15-2013, 06:34 PM
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#17
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Roach.....They definately don't build em like they used too, that's for sure. I picked up my steel order today. The new crossbeams I'm putting in are 1/8" thick, nice and beefy compared to the 1/16th" garbage they originally put in my bus. It's no wonder why they rotted out so bad. On another note, glad you like the avatar, just my little statement against our out of control government. Living in NY I have to deal with some of the worst!
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02-17-2013, 09:34 PM
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#18
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
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02-18-2013, 11:00 AM
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#19
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MNT CITY TN
Posts: 5,158
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
so any 7.62x51 in the 50 cal cans you want to get ride of
__________________
Our build La Tortuga
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
George S. Patton
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02-18-2013, 05:37 PM
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#20
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Orange County, NY
Posts: 37
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Eldorado
Chassis: E350
Engine: Ford 7.5 liter Gas
Rated Cap: 29
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Re: 1990 E350 Conversion Project
Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
so any 7.62x51 in the 50 cal cans you want to get ride of ![33](https://www.skoolie.net/forums/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
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Sorry Bansil, no ammo for you! ![lol](https://www.skoolie.net/forums/images/smilies/icon_lol.gif) This stuff is impossible to get now, especially now with NY's "Safe Act"
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