Elf Bus E350 corbeil

[plfking]

Sorry about the Elf, Johan, but glad you two will be okay.

[BeNimble]

Oh no! Glad everyone is ok. Drivetrain and chassis still good right?

[joeblack5]

Thank you all. When the EMT told me that I would be very soar the next couple of days after the accident I told her I was feeling fine.. she just grinned a little. She was right. Everything hurts.. amazing.

I can now say that it is very painful and feel of loss for something that you dreamed and thought about and worked on for a long time.. better to have a store bought RV ... just get another one..

Rosie , our dog , is hopping around on three legs.. the one with the torn ligament is in a sling in the hope that leg stays in the hip socket and that scar tissue is going to hold it together..
she is 11-1/2 and her rear leg strength is failing so she has a hard time.

Johan

[baipin]

Jeeze... What a story. Glad to hear you're okay, best wishes for you, the kid, and the dog. Hope the bus makes a recovery as well. What a pathetic, jerk move on the part of the cop though. Way to add salt to a wound. I know someone who got fined for sliding off the road and they got out of the ticket in court, possibly actually paid, because the city was at fault somehow (not salting the road adaquetly or something along those lines).

[joeblack5]

Thanks Baipin,

Rosie is doing better. She has mastered the 3 leg hop.. amazing how seemingly easy they adapt.

I started working on the bus. A lot of oil leaked out thru a vent on the passenger valve cover. Filled up 2-1/2 gallon. Seems that oil came out of the exhaust and that somehow the passenger y pipe is leaking at the slip joint at the turbo.. not sure how the oil would get there...unless a hole in the piston. The engine sound is pretty normal..??

Engine runs but it takes a lot longer to start..like 5 sec..original it was instant.. thought that the first time it had to refill the hpop reservoir..but after 5 minutes it takes 5 seconds again...wonder if the drain back valve got dislodged. Please advise...

Took the bend steering bar of.
Took the crumpled side door of.

Thomas is still smiling.



Johan

[Danjo]

Bummer! I’m glad you’re OK

[musigenesis]

Man, what a thing to have happen. Very glad you're alive and well, sorry about the bus and the dog.

[Danjo]

Sorry about doggie! I worry about my dog in the bus.

[peteg59]

WOW, what a scene.
Glad you/Rosie are going to be okay, hopefully.

As you're most likely aware, anything mechanical can be fixed.
While the bus doesn't appear completely beyond repair from your posted pics, you'll have to evaluate your options on whether this bus is worth the effort both financially and sweat equity wise.

Good luck, going forward...

[joeblack5]

Thanks All,.
I will need to consider that.. But there is so much time and effort in this little bus of ours already and so much potential.

The whole body is bend about 2" towards the driver side so the back door can not close either.
I will first remove the side doors and uncouple the wind shield frame from the body and attempt to pull them back separately.

Straightened the steering bar. Will give it a try tomorrow and see if it still runs straight and see how the engine does on higher power levels.

Johan

[joeblack5]

Today our oldest daughter and me took the bend and mangled doors of.. mounted the straightened steering bar and took it for a spin. Seems to run good.

Tomorrow weather permitting we can take the passenger rear window panel of and remove the front fiberglass window moulding...

[joeblack5]

This afternoon it was dry ..so more demolition..tomorrow I will attempt to straighten the door post..at least good enough to get the window out.. this is depressing work..

[BeNimble]

I think this is a great opportunity to remove all the steel bus box and replace it with a fiberglass shell giving you a lighter and particularly not-top-heavy 4wd camper.

[BeNimble]

You can check out this guys 4x4 camper build..quite the diy..made his own box.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxlmlr0Ty0w

[joeblack5]

Thanks Nimble, I saw that video. My bus body on unimog seems to be unique approach.. I do not like the fiberglass / composite builds that much .they say the glue is stronger then the base material but a box like that cannot flex. It is fancy but to me not the right design for a flexing off road vehicle. Hence my skoolies riveted aluminum approach.

Today I did my first pull. The first try failed because the cable pullers were not strong enough.. I continued with a chain hoist with better result..

Tomorrow I will add another chain hoist and cable puller to see if I can move the whole body over..

Also need to straighten the twisted first door post..

I was amazed that this one pull already moved the driver a frame 1" as well ( see door).

My unimog flu419 is pretty stout so she is a nice anchor to pull against.. I put 6*6 blocks under the chassis to get less flex from the suspension..

[joeblack5]

So a little more pulling today. I had to brace the back end of the frame against the unimog loader since the bus was sliding over..

If people feel this is not interesting to the skoolies community then let me know..do not need to post.

[johnbloem1974]

Please keep the updates coming! We're pulling for you! (Pun intended) Seriously, though glad you didn't get hurt and hope the bus can recover...

John

[joeblack5]

Thanks Vineyardseashell for the PM and Johnbloem for the encouragement. Much needed and appreciated.

Hunting for a windshield to use as template for the a-frame distortion..
Today I like to bend back the first door post and remove a difficult to track rivet so that I can undo the deformation on the driver side back wall.

Johan

[joeblack5]

I was not unlucky with the rivet..the grinder with a half worn disc fitted in the space. After the rivet was gone it became clear that it was half pulled thru the channel. I figured the material was locally that deformed that it would be hard to get it back in place.. I ended up using a hole saw and cutting the affected area out.. tomorrow I will see if I can drop the door post 3/8" .

The military vehicles all helped out with regaining control of the situation... Here the jeep is the block for the hydraulics.

[tobeamiss]

I'm so sorry to hear of this horrific accident! But so happy to see that you and doggie are ok! Isn't this everybody's nightmare?! It sure is mine!
I'm so impressed with your strength physically, emotionally and mentally to continue to work on your dream.
I'm rooting for you...Keep the updates coming!