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Old 12-08-2016, 11:00 AM   #1921
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Ya got that right Jack! --- Given that the degree of anxiety is directly proportional to the size of the hole...I can only imagine what you went through with your rig!

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Old 12-08-2016, 01:26 PM   #1922
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My phone is nearly as old as my bus and only makes phone calls.

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Old 12-13-2016, 10:50 AM   #1923
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Makin' More Holes --- Howdy all. Still chopping away at this thing. The old taillight recess had been cut up so badly on both sides, I am deleting them both. Another reason is that once my generator is mounted on the rear deck...any taillights will have to be up higher to be visible. And once again, I decided to go the "glue & screw" route to avoid having to weld directly to the lead-based skin on this bus. A patch of cold-rolled 16 gauge will get welded to the new steel frame around the hole. I typically use Sika products for this type of attachment, but read some good things about the Gorilla brand equivalent. Guess I'll know if it was a good call in ten years or so.



Hole cut and the 1/8" flat stock being formed around the opening.


Here it is with the nuts & bolts & adhesive and a coat of Weld-Through primer.

BTW...there was some discussion a while back regarding the value of coating the backside or blind areas with Weld Through primer. The argument being that "primers" attract moisture and provide no benefit. Jack (Ol' Trunt) mentioned that he'd personally seen areas treated this way hold up much better than untreated. Well, I just got an explanation from my local steel supplier that made for a bit of a "Duh" moment. He said "Of course it provides protection...Weld Through primer is simply a form of cold galvanizing spray". Sure enough, after reading a bit more he's right. It is very high in zinc which is basically what makes it "weldable".

Mystery solved.

ONWARD!
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Old 12-13-2016, 11:21 AM   #1924
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Hey Tango. I was looking over some of your recent pics and I spotted one showing a welding ground seemingly attached to a magnet of some sort--am I seeing right? I've tried to use magnets to hold small parts for welding and have found the magnetic field caused the wire in the wire feed welder to be drawn to the magnet and the weld quality to be poor. Is the use of magnets common practice, I don't know?

After several failures I've gone back to using masking tape to hold small parts together, getting a strong tac, putting out the fire and completing the weld. What has your experience been?
Jack
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Old 12-13-2016, 12:45 PM   #1925
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Funny, because it is big no no to weld galvanized steel, at least if you appreciate your lungs. One would think that Zinc in whatever form would not be attractive to weld.

I have a Miller Tig welder, but I am not a proficient welder myself. A buddy is and he is not in favor of welding galvanized stuff together unless we grind at the weld the zinc away.

Later J
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Old 12-13-2016, 08:51 PM   #1926
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Howdy Jack --- Yeah, I find that if the magnet is too close to where I am welding, the field screws up the plasma. But if just a few inches away, it seems to work just fine.

Joeblack --- I won't weld galvanized either without grinding away the coating. But the primer does not seem to react the same as a full layer of zinc...cough, cough, wheez.
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Old 12-18-2016, 11:11 AM   #1927
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Have I mentioned just how much I HATE cold weather!? Not only does it make my bones ache...but paint...bondo...glue and anything that has to dry or cure...TAKES FOREVER!

We had a record high on Saturday of 82 degrees...last night while sitting outdoors, it dropped forty degrees in about twenty minutes and wound up about 34. Tonight it will go below freezing.

I know I won't get any sympathy from you Canadians or Minnesotans...but then you won't get any from me. Why on Earth does anyone live so far North that the ground only thaws out for a few weeks each year?

AH well...rant over...back to work.
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Old 12-18-2016, 11:26 AM   #1928
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Have I mentioned just how much I HATE cold weather!? Not only does it make my bones ache...but paint...bondo...glue and anything that has to dry or cure...TAKES FOREVER!

We had a record high on Saturday of 82 degrees...last night while sitting outdoors, it dropped forty degrees in about twenty minutes and wound up about 34. Tonight it will go below freezing.

I know I won't get any sympathy from you Canadians or Minnesotans...but then you won't get any from me. Why on Earth does anyone live so far North that the ground only thaws out for a few weeks each year?

AH well...rant over...back to work.

lmao! Got over a foot of snow in the last week and freezing rain last night, welcome to the great white north. Pretty sure Alaska has bit more than that.
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Old 12-18-2016, 12:38 PM   #1929
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hmm so in ohio thursday it was a HIGH of 10... low of 0 thurs and fri morning.. I had the redByrd serviced in florida before I brought it to ohio last month.. Grrr they put that blue windshield fluid in. yeah froze and cracked the pump and bottle!! and my apartment in florida is empty.!
so yesterday morning i got up at 6am to go get coffee.. it was 28 and Raining... so theres me holding onto the little squares in my silverado grill so I didnt fall on my ass in the driveway.. and im gonna DRIVE???

at 3pm the temp was 36 in columbus and 64! in cincinnati (90 miles away)... at 4pm the temperature was 62 in columbus... at 5pm the temperature was 38!! WTF?? and it was lightning out!.. and this AM it was 28 again.. and once again I was holding onto the little squares in my silverado grill so I didnt fall in my ass!!

I went to make a fire in the fireplace.. and all the firewood is froze like a brick!!

and my apartment in st pete is empty.. oh and I looked.. its 78 there..

someone please knock some sese into me.. my Peeps really must mean something to me for me to be here to take them to cool places in the Bus and throw a christmas party!

oh and my little body doesnt dig the cold.. im in my house right now with the Gas furnace on 78!!!

-Christopher
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Old 12-18-2016, 12:47 PM   #1930
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Sounds like you're just like me Chris..... hate the cold. My heat is only on 74 but the thermostat isn't too accurate so it's more like 76 in here...... it hit 70 here in Middle Tennessee yesterday but today it's in the 20s......
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Old 12-18-2016, 01:01 PM   #1931
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Sounds like you're just like me Chris..... hate the cold. My heat is only on 74 but the thermostat isn't too accurate so it's more like 76 in here...... it hit 70 here in Middle Tennessee yesterday but today it's in the 20s......
yeoow and you are gonna live in a bus?

im thinking of me ther day when it was 10 for the high driving RedByrd around. I had every dang heater in that thing turned on HIGH to stay comfortable.. lol let alone trying to park and be off the grid..

-Christopher
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Old 12-18-2016, 01:06 PM   #1932
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I don't have much choice..... I lost my house and I can't find anyone with a room for rent.... and my credit is shot so apartments are out. So I'll just have to deal with it.
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Old 12-18-2016, 01:12 PM   #1933
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I don't have much choice..... I lost my house and I can't find anyone with a room for rent.... and my credit is shot so apartments are out. So I'll just have to deal with it.
wow rooms for rent everywhere up here in ohio.. or at least it seems that way.. lots of people on craigslist and roomates.com looking.. esp in the suburbs.. typically suburbanites have a tough time renting as people without cars cant partake with no bus service near...

a friend of mine just went through the apartment thing.. independent apartments will rent to people without good credit.. they simply look to make sure theres no evictions.. a foreclosure is not counted as an eviction..

I agree the big complexes are crap they want only the pretty-people!.

-Christopher
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Old 12-18-2016, 02:26 PM   #1934
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Well the thing is, I have a dog and I'm not gonna give her up.... which significantly reduces my options.

Another problem I run into..... the listings are there but I run into one of two things..... 1) I don't get any sort of response at all to my inquiry, or 2) I get redirected to roomster.com which requires you to pay to use their messaging service (which I refuse to do, why list the room on CL if you're not going to close the deal there?).

I had a iine on a place but it ended up going to someone else. I'm just tired of fighting the system.... so it's bus city for me, once I get the seats out and have a way to keep some heaters running... there's a newly-opened Love's truck stop just a couple of miles up the road where I can park at night... there's a few Planet Fitness locations nearby where I can work out and shower afterwards ($19/mo as opposed to $12/shower at the Love's).... the only thing I have to work out is work (Uber driver), where I can park and leave my dog onboard while I'm Ubering.....
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Old 12-20-2016, 10:08 AM   #1935
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Still at it --- Managed to finish plugging the big hole on the rear passenger side. The old tail light area was a mess where someone had chopped it to pieces. Took the easy way out and glued & screwed some flat stock, then welded some cold-rolled 16 gauge onto that. Not the prettiest way to replace a big chunk of steel but it works.

And after all the pix of buses in snow and talk of sub-zero weather...I decided to add a little more insulation. I may not Winter in the Yukon, but hey...it was 10 degrees in Dallas the other day.


Hole...


Hole patch.


Added a second layer of Reflectix inside the walls. No it's not 3" of foam, but it will do for me. And please note that the many layers of paint down the side have been stripped and replaced with a little self-etching primer. The whole rig will eventually get stripped or possibly soda blasted but this will hopefully keep surface rust at bay until then.

[

Also finished off the interior window deletes with more Reflectix and sealed everything up with aluminum tape.

Shopped for marine plywood and finish ply yesterday. Hope to begin some actual interior buildout before too long but still a little metal work to be done first.

ONWARD!
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Old 12-20-2016, 10:15 AM   #1936
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this is lookin great!! wat do you do with the exposed ply on the outside? skin it with metal?

im thinking about any insulation,, reflectix or foam is probably 10 fold above what most school busses have factory.. and probably 20 fold what that bus had in it originally..

there are 3 ways to keep a bus warm inside.

1. Insulate it perfectly
2. use a BFH (Big F&*(^ Heater)
3. dont drive places that are F *&*^ cold..

one of those ought to cover you

-Christopher
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Old 12-20-2016, 10:28 AM   #1937
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Howdy Chris...and thanks. The ply you see is actually on the interior. There is rigid foam plus some Reflectix between it and the 14 gauge steel window delete on the outside.

And my plan is absolutely based around your Number 2 & 3 options. I guess I'll never understand why anyone not in training for the Winter Olympics would even go somewhere that is covered in snow & ice.

Another benefit (besides easy parking) of a Shorty is that they are much easier to heat and cool. In fact, it was about 34 or so in my warehouse yesterday morning and even with no windows or doors on the bus...a small (make that tiny) electric heater kept me comfortable all day. In fact I had to take off my jacket. I got too warm!
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Old 12-20-2016, 11:14 AM   #1938
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when i got the carpenter I had a specific set of goals in mind.. and meeting those goals didnt involve time to remove and rebuild walls, ceilings, and floors.. so in the end I installed 65,000 BTU of air conditioning and realized the bus being originally from the north had 7 heaters in it.. so when i added the A/C I made sure to buy A/C units with water coils too.. and a webasto (that I have yet to install)...

reality is I made ALL (plus) the goals i wanted for the year out of that bus.. (and scored a cool second one).. the second one will get additional A/C (with heat) added to it...

theoretically i could take the time now to tear apart first bus.. However i think I'll take the easy way out and just replace all the windows with tinted ones.. (school bus windows on modern busses are an easy replace..).. and there are sure enough skoolie windows floating around on the forums..
-Christopher
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Old 12-20-2016, 11:28 AM   #1939
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Hey Tango. That is a handsome rig you're building. Fun to see it coming together--love the pics.

I've run across several car show types over the last year who say if they had it to do over again they wouldn't have had their complete cars soda blasted. They say the soda sticks in the seams and then blisters out when it gets moist. I've had no personal experience but wanted to give you a heads up just in case there is something to it.

Have a happy holiday! Jack
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Old 12-20-2016, 01:37 PM   #1940
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Your use of reflectix makes me feel better about my liberal use of reflectix. Also the absence of cold when touching reflectix against metal also makes me feel better.
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