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Old 12-31-2017, 08:35 AM   #41
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dang!! you burnt down the shed? im thinking we almost burned it down with that hellacious bon-fire we had the last skoolie get together!! was it intentional or did your bon-fire nail it this time?
-Christopher

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Old 12-31-2017, 08:36 AM   #42
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4 legged seats seem to come in a lot of thomas cutaways.. the 2 i use as dinette seats in my DEV bus were freebies on craigslist that came out of a thomas 4 window cutaway..
-Christopher
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Old 12-31-2017, 08:40 AM   #43
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dang!! you burnt down the shed? im thinking we almost burned it down with that hellacious bon-fire we had the last skoolie get together!! was it intentional or did your bon-fire nail it this time?
-Christopher
Yeah, they're trying to clean up a bit and get rid of the rotting structures since they're having a house built. The only things holding that shed together were the spiders and termites.

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4 legged seats seem to come in a lot of thomas cutaways.. the 2 i use as dinette seats in my DEV bus were freebies on craigslist that came out of a thomas 4 window cutaway..
-Christopher
The seats by the exits on my Ward were single, four legged seats. Glad I held on to one.
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Old 12-31-2017, 08:48 AM   #44
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id love to find some property like that in FL.. or like shaun's. that place is Bad arse!!!! a place klike shaun;s I could live work and play!!
-Christopher
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Old 12-31-2017, 04:42 PM   #45
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Good thing I was gonna replace all the vinyl anyhow.
And you've tempered the steel as well.....nicely done.


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Yeah I know its not a race but I've been watching folks enjoy their buses and I can't wait to get this one of mine on the road for real!

You and me both. Couple more weeks to strip the walls and ceiling, then will be driving around to have the body work done....can't get here fast enough. Will also be getting the new tires and the engine parameters optimized just before that.

Too cold for painting, or much of anything....supposed to get down to single digits tonight, and didn't want to see if the paint would gel or not. So today I removed the rear heater and tied the lines together, then ran it to make sure I had heat and no leaks....A-okay. One more thing crossed off the to-do list.

Happy New Year! Going out to dinner, then it's time to pull my annual drunk that spans two years.


Don
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Old 01-08-2018, 08:24 PM   #46
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Screw this cold weather.......can't do anything outside the bus that takes longer than 10 minutes, 'cause I can't feel my fingers. And on the inside, it's too cold to paint, and I need to finish the floor before starting on the walls.

So this weekend I replaced a mirror head that was missing, and 1 mirror glass that was cracked. Also hung the rearview mirror and got the doghouse off and out of the way.

Don
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Old 01-08-2018, 08:37 PM   #47
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It always feels like baby steps.
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Old 01-08-2018, 09:24 PM   #48
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It always feels like baby steps.
Baby steps frustrate me.....I'm a 'put your head down and go 100 mph til you get the job done' type.

Didn't realize until the last two weeks that actually feeling your fingers is an important part of getting tasks accomplished.


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Old 01-08-2018, 09:34 PM   #49
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For a lot of us, these buses are a lesson in patience. We'd all like to get them done within a month.
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Old 01-14-2018, 10:26 PM   #50
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Still hampered by the cold weather. Took the day off work Friday and finished stripping the floor in the driver's area, then re-painted the entire floor.....still tacky this morning, so I installed my new LED headlights and painted the trim rings.

Next weekend I'll demo the interior walls and pull the insulation. Will also re-install the seat so I can start driving this thing again. It's been almost a month. Will also remove the HurriHot beside the stairwell, if it isn't ducted to the windshield.

Don
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Old 01-14-2018, 10:38 PM   #51
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Global Warming at it's finest.
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Old 01-21-2018, 07:07 PM   #52
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Marching right along.

Sick as a green-spotted dog most of the week, but managed to get some painting done, and re-installed this weekend. Doghouse, trim, bumpers, and front rims....this bad boy is starting to LOOK like something!

And Friday looks like it will be a red-letter day......new tires and the long-awaited trip to the Int. dealership to see what kind of magic can be conjured from the computer.

(....sorry about the focus.....when you're sick, you just kinda have to guess as to when everything looks clear... )


Don
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Old 01-21-2018, 08:01 PM   #53
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That hood sure looks like "Cummins Tan".
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Old 01-21-2018, 08:22 PM   #54
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That hood sure looks like "Cummins Tan".

mine was faded exactly the same way on my red bus when I got it.. seems to be a navistar thing.
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Old 02-18-2018, 02:33 PM   #55
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Marching along.

Last week I got my 11R22.5s mounted front and back. Good clearance all around and stop-to-stop. Top speed went from 61 to 65 (tires WERE 265s).

This weekend I got all the wall skins and most of the ceiling skins down....skins and underside of roof are pristine. Hoping to use these ceiling skins again after insulating. Used the air-chisel "punch-and-shear" method.....worked fantastically well.

Someone had said that the wall skins couldn't be removed intact without removing the windows......mine just had a lip across the top, not tied into the window trim in any way. I did have to pry up the trim around the bottom of the emergency windows to get to the rivets under the trim, but that slid out easily as well. Just hammered the trim back down and re-screwed it down, as it won't be seen once my walls are in place.
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Old 02-18-2018, 04:45 PM   #56
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It's just certain models of bus that have the side panels pinned down by the wndows. Most of us don't have to deal with that issue.

Given how metal conducts heat/cold, you might want to reconsider reinstalling those ceiling panels. If you've got metal conductivity going to interior surfaces you'll continue to have dripping condensation and difficulty keeping warm during cold snaps.

On the other hand the ceiling panels could be used to create a RangeRover type roof on the exterior.
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Old 02-19-2018, 04:04 PM   #57
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I have only seen the inside metal wrapped under the windows on Thomas buses.

On the Bluebird it is pretty easy to remove the emergency windows, remove the metal, then reinstall the window.

I just did 4 of them and it took less than an hour.
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Old 02-19-2018, 05:42 PM   #58
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I have only seen the inside metal wrapped under the windows on Thomas buses.

On the Bluebird it is pretty easy to remove the emergency windows, remove the metal, then reinstall the window.

I just did 4 of them and it took less than an hour.
I took a window out to see how easy it would be to remove the remaining part of the sidewall.

At first glance it appears not easy. The wall doesn't go under the window, it is folded under another steel strip between it and the window.

What I did find is that if you have cut the wall a little too low, if you get hold of the loose end of the remaining sidewall with a set of vice-grips, it will tear off quite easily leaving only about 1/4" remaining. That can be left where it is.
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Old 02-19-2018, 09:46 PM   #59
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Given how metal conducts heat/cold, you might want to reconsider reinstalling those ceiling panels. If you've got metal conductivity going to interior surfaces you'll continue to have dripping condensation and difficulty keeping warm during cold snaps.

On the other hand the ceiling panels could be used to create a RangeRover type roof on the exterior.
I'm still thinking on it.....from what I've read here, I should be okay as long as the skins aren't touching or connected to the ribs. The other concern will be covering/filling 1.3 million rivet holes.

The roof will have a wooden deck.
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Old 02-19-2018, 11:06 PM   #60
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I've seen several other people try reusing their metal ceiling panels. Apparently it gets complicated. We're always ready for a success story.

Metal interiors are very durable but very conductive too.
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