Hey Everybody! We bought a bus!

[Native]

As long as you only removed the rear heater, you should be fine. Provided the defrost heater is functional, of course.

[cadillackid]

Or rebiuild it like I did my dev bus.. I kept my front door heater and restored it with new core and motors.
My driver heater I gutted out and installed a custom heat/ cool unit so I have dashboard A/C and good driver best plus refrigerated defrost if I want it ( rainy humid days it defiogs like a new car)..

Like I seem to end up in Texas in July or August I’ve found myself in Wisconsin or Minnesota in dec or Jan when daytime highs were negative number .. ain’t no hat n glove wearin inside my bus in winter!!

[BabztheBus]

Yah, I definitely don’t plan on re-using the original driver beater, it’s just as destroyed as the area underneath. Plus pulling it out was a PITA. I’ll probablu replace it with something a little newer, maybe even more budget friendly. And the door heater I will most likely re-install.

[cadillackid]

dont think budget think lots of heat and strong airflow.. there are definitely lots better heaters out there that you can buy or build.. but it takes quite a bit of airflow and heat to stay warm in an old school bus when its on the road.. even if you insulate up the back and all real nice, that front area and windshield get cold in real cold weather..



a little summit hotrod heater wont keep you warm.. you'll need 2 or 3 of those at least .. they are probably more budget friendly than the bergstrom / kysor that was likely the original.. those guys are over-priced.. ive got a total of about 55000 BTU of heat in my driver box alone.. and then the factory door heater which has 2 blowers plus a fan blade.. all that turned on high along with my midship and rear heater (my bus is still stock so uninsulated which yours will be converted and insulated you wont need near as much heat for the mid and back if any at all depending on whether you have passengers or need to concern about water tanks freezing while on the road..



I also have all my original windows and door too

[BabztheBus]

You make a good point, I might possibly attempt to redo the driver heater. It’s actually still in pretty decent shape. As far as the other heater next to the seat, that will take some real tony stark level of engineering to get it up to snuff again.

[BabztheBus]

Got the rear bumper removed with the help of some friends. The rust on the back under carriage is wayyyyy worse than the backwall. Starting to think I got myself in to deep, after some encouragement I guess it has to look worse before it looks better! I’ll be spending the rest of the evening wirewheeling back and underneath here. I imagine I’ll be covered head to toe in black chips by the time this is over. Here’s to hoping I don’t get cancer!

[Native]

Trudge on, my man, trudge on. The rust is waiting for you to conquer it.

[BabztheBus]

So not a whole lot new to report, I’m in the place where the bus is parked so I will be constantly working on it these next few days. Point of reminder people, always hold out for a non-rusty bus. I know it’s been said to death, but sometimes people don’t have a lot of extra time to do rust maintenance or sometimes is not even worth it. In my case the bus just fell into my lap, still haven’t decided if I’m going to get it to a decent place and sell it as is. Let someone else build it up. But In the meantime here are some pics.

Last time I haphazardly laid the floor down thinking I could weld around the rust, once I realized the entire door studs aren’t even connected I now know I have to start from scratch. Ripped all the old insulation out (darn me for laying down the adhesive!) so I lost a couple bucks on that but at least now I know I didn’t do that great a job with the rust conversion because some of the adhesive prob up paint chips of rust. Now that I have a welder I am going to properly patch all the holes and fix the gaps. So here we are. I sprayed down with a little krud cutter since it is impossible to find ospho in my hometown. I only need to do some of stuff these patches and re-paint. I don’t think stripping the paint will be worth it. I can always hit the underside as well.

[Native]

Ace Hardware has Ospho in our town.

[BabztheBus]

Thanks for your interest Native!

Yah, that seems to be the consensus, but today is Sunday and unfortunately I got there just a little to late. I’m going to give them a call tomorrow. Otherwise what do you guys think of Prep and Etch or Rustoleum Rust Reformer. As long as it has the phosphoric acid it should work pretty well right?

[Native]

EastCoastCB swears by Rustoleum Rust Reformer in the gallon size. I have not used it.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BabztheBus

Thanks for your interest Native!

Yah, that seems to be the consensus, but today is Sunday and unfortunately I got there just a little to late. I’m going to give them a call tomorrow. Otherwise what do you guys think of Prep and Etch or Rustoleum Rust Reformer. As long as it has the phosphoric acid it should work pretty well right?

Rust reformer is as good as it gets. But not the spray cans. Those are just black spray paint. The jugs of liquid rust reformer are the real deal.

[RolesvilleMarina]

Ditto on the air ride

my bus did not come with one

my donor bus that I bought for the transmission DID

so I swapped the seats as well

love it

[Jocelyn]

Grats on your bus!! Looking forward to seeing your work continue. I'm jealous of your full-size engine compartment!

[BabztheBus]

So I removed the battery to test it and give it some juice, here’s the thing. When I went to reconnect it now I can’t crank and have no “wait to start” lights. Did I do something wrong? Am I suppose to connect both the ground and positive to the same terminal? I’ve never had a system like this?

[Native]

Wow .... your positive cable has heavy corrosion in it!

[BabztheBus]

Just in the stem. Not the part that connects to the terminal. Although I did spend a good bit scrubbing it. You know anything about this battery hookup Native?

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by bp1791-unleashed

May I ask why you elected to remove the air ride seat? The impression I've had from people over the years is that they are highly desirable. I'm curious what your reasoning is.

I have to say, it looks like you're doing a great job tackling that rust. wow.

Thank you,
Jim

My first bus came with a minimalist air seat. A stool and a back like a basic office chair. It was quite comfortable unfortunately it was just butt ugly.

I replaced it with a beautiful ultraleather drivers seat out of a, wrecked, high end coach. It was beautiful. It was also a mistake. The air seat was soooooo much more comfortable on long drives. I could take much longer driving shifts without fatigue with the original seat.

On my current bus I am going to restore the original air seat.

Just my $0.02

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by bp1791-unleashed

May I ask why you elected to remove the air ride seat? The impression I've had from people over the years is that they are highly desirable. I'm curious what your reasoning is.

I have to say, it looks like you're doing a great job tackling that rust. wow.

Thank you,
Jim

My first bus came with a minimalist air seat. A stool and a back like a basic office chair. It was quite comfortable unfortunately it was just butt ugly.

I replaced it with a beautiful ultraleather drivers seat out of a, wrecked, high end coach. It was beautiful. It was also a mistake. The air seat was soooooo much more comfortable on long drives. I could take much longer driving shifts without fatigue with the original seat.

On my current bus I am going to restore the original air seat.

Just my $0.02

[BabztheBus]

Had to remove the seat to finish the floor demolition. Everything was connected together in a weird way. I’m having the seat re-upholstered and it will go back in when I’m finished. Just closed off the air for now.