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Old 02-12-2016, 04:07 AM   #61
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Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Willis, TX
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Year: 1999
Chassis: Midbus
Engine: GM 5.7 L31
Rated Cap: 19
Awesome progress! What kind of spray foam insulation are you using?

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Old 06-10-2016, 12:38 AM   #62
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Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Miami
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Year: 1982
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: GMC
Wow, it's been awhile. I can hardly remember where I left off. The bus was fixed, the bus was registered, the bus was insured. Girl has still not really driven the bus.

And now, six months later, I am moving cross country and using the bus to do it. It won't be complete, but it will be 10 day road trip worthy.

I know you need pictures as proof and I swear if I weren't hustling like hell to be ready to move in 2 weeks, you would certainly have them, so a list will have to do for now.
Progress:
1.Ceiling and sides completely insulated
2. Furring strips up in ceiling ready for tongue and groove
3. Wheel well boxes complete (including hella insulation)
4. Bead board up over the side panels that were insulated
5. Ordered my flooring (gripstrip)

And tomorrow I'm finishing my road trip inspection checklist, driving the the little lady to the truck wash, and then painting Saturday.

Since I'm an optimistic beast, that only leaves putting the floor in, building a bed that converts to a bench seat (with seatbelts), getting ripped working overhead to install the ceiling, making the door functional, and building two hidey holes for the cats that are joining me on my journey. Plus packing/loading/donating.

p.s. sorry to the last few people I didn't respond to, wasn't checking and answers don't exactly seem timely now, but holler if you want 'em.
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Old 06-10-2016, 12:56 AM   #63
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Making time cuz I care. It's not much, but we're getting somewhere.


Showing the bead board, right before I finished those last three strips in the ceiling. Obvi there is some RMax up there and Great Stuff everywhere there's an inkling of a gap.


Clear shot of the bead board on the side... we switched to a nail gun after seeing the sin ugliness of using regular screws. It will all get trimmed up nice eventually


Wheel well box before putting the RMax in and taping like it's my favorite thing in the world to do.


Didn't I tell you it's my favorite thing in the world to do?

Alright, fingers crossed that next time I check in, the pics will be of my fabulous new paint job.
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Old 06-10-2016, 10:08 PM   #64
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Join Date: Aug 2014
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Lady, you are kicking tiny bus butt! Great looking, fun build to follow.

Where ya headed east, if I may be so bold?
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Old 06-10-2016, 10:20 PM   #65
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Originally Posted by dan-fox View Post
Lady, you are kicking tiny bus butt! Great looking, fun build to follow.

Where ya headed east, if I may be so bold?
Thank you Mr. Fox! Today I am praying that it were as fun to do as it is to see, and of course that means there is a story of woe to be told. But, that will have to wait until the post-paint wrap up post.

You may be bold! 10 days. San Diego to Miami.
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Old 06-10-2016, 10:45 PM   #66
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Ah, the Southern Exposure! We have people in Miami; they will introduce themselves. Good Luck!
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Old 06-10-2016, 10:55 PM   #67
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Goodness that is one heck of a trek. I moved to Virginia some eleven years past, and rode the Greyhound bus here. 2800 miles, 58 hour bus ride.
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Old 06-13-2016, 02:01 PM   #68
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Originally Posted by Carytowncat View Post
Goodness that is one heck of a trek. I moved to Virginia some eleven years past, and rode the Greyhound bus here. 2800 miles, 58 hour bus ride.
I am a veteran of one hecka of a treks. Via the greyhound and the amtrak I've been across and up and down the country a few times. This time I'm driving though!
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Old 06-13-2016, 02:35 PM   #69
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The Story of Painting a Bus Part 1

In which, a girl, vanquishes all foes in her path and emerges victorious with a bus that will probably look like an ice cream truck.

Acquiring the paint
Our three day journey begins with a short drive to an Ace Hardware to pick up Ace Rust Stop, as I read somewhere the could custom tint it. This is not, in fact, the case. At least, not at this particular store. Foiled, but not defeated, I leave with foam rollers, paint thinner, sanding paper and enough sanding blocks for the team, teensy foam brushes for the details, and three rolls of green paint tape. Oh, and a couple cans of glossy black rustoleum for all those black parts.
Remembering a mention of Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel, I mosey on over to a store where I reach the crisis of colors. So many shades of light blue, of teal, crap that retro mint catches my eye, that was not my plan. I call and text multiple people who have multiple opinions. Alright, this one is on me. I walk inside and outside, place colors against black and white, and choose... Tantalizing Teal. I walk up to the desk with my cans of enamel to find that they cannot tint them at this store, but store on yada yada boulevard can. Alright, I can do this.
Store 3, otherwise known as Sherwin Williams #2, can tint my paint! But, they only have three quarts and am I sure that Sherwin Williams #1 has more of the paint I need? I am positive, and am sent back to SW#1 to acquire two more quarts with a nifty slip that says I do not have to pay for it. SW#2 tints my paint, I grab some rags. And to my surprise, my paint is 40% off. 83$ for one gallon and one quart of paint.

Washing the bus

I return home from my journey to find my father has disconnected the heater hose to replace it, but does not have the replacement. I had charged him with doing a road trip check over, and while all this is good and great, I can now not go to the truck stop where I planned to wash my bus. I call it a night.
7am the next morning and I am up to get to the truck wash first thing. I have a cadre of friends arriving at 10am to get 'er done. I wait three hours at the truck wash. I push start time to 11, and then again to 12. And watch as they do magnificent job after magnificent job on big rigs. This has me very excited, my bus will be so shiny, squeaky, clean. It's my turn, and behold they wash my bus.

And, as I pull away a steam of dirty water runs down from my roof. Eff.

Prepping and Painting
This is a well known story. Tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape, tape,tape, tape,tape, tape. Sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand, sand. Wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe, wipe (you get the picture)


Remove all the hardware, but make one of the first dumb decisions so far to just tape up all the lights. Because it is certainly easier to paint around all the lights than to remove them. Lesson learned.

While all helping hands have dropped away by painting time, it is one of the breezier parts. Just roll and try to get even-ish coverage. 8-ish pm finds us finished with our first coat. Needing to get it out of the neighbors' parking spots (I had only arranged to use them for the day), we discovered that I would be driving blind. Excellent taping and newspapering over every window. A dad and daughter trust fall ensues as he verbally guides me back out onto the street and back forward into my very own parking spot. Success, we call it a night.




Stay tuned for Part 2 with pics of the DUH DUH DUH second and final coat!
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Old 06-13-2016, 02:44 PM   #70
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
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Year: 1991
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Chassis: International 3800
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Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Lovin on the colors!! lovin on the Trek!!!

I love treks! most of mine are 1300 miles or less at a time... nevertheless ive already made an 1100 mile trek in my bus... and cant wait for the next one!!
-Christopher
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Old 06-13-2016, 02:45 PM   #71
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Location: Eustis FLORIDA
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That's a really nice color!
Keep up the great work!
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Old 06-13-2016, 02:48 PM   #72
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Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
Lovin on the colors!! lovin on the Trek!!!

I love treks! most of mine are 1300 miles or less at a time... nevertheless ive already made an 1100 mile trek in my bus... and cant wait for the next one!!
-Christopher
That's awesome! What year is your bus? Despite mine having extensive mechanical work done, and making sure I'm doing thorough pre-road trip maintenance, I am still paranoid that I will break down.
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Old 06-13-2016, 02:50 PM   #73
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
That's a really nice color!
Keep up the great work!
Thank you! I can't wait to get the second coat on and to pull off all the tape so I can see it with the black and the white.

11 days to lift off, and I appreciate the encouragement.
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Old 06-13-2016, 03:49 PM   #74
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Penny View Post
That's awesome! What year is your bus? Despite mine having extensive mechanical work done, and making sure I'm doing thorough pre-road trip maintenance, I am still paranoid that I will break down.

im a 1991.. and I did break down... truckdown.com (and a few $$) and I was back on the road... if I had tools I coulda fixed it myself.. but that was me being a cowboy thinkng I could go buy a bus and just drive it home without tools lolol..

ive done quite a bit to it since ive had it home.. and I drive it around almost like a daily driver just to learn how it sounds , smells, feels, acts, etc...

and because its just plain fun to drive around in a bus!
-Christopher
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Old 06-16-2016, 10:26 AM   #75
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The Story of Paint Part 2

I'm going to keep this one short and let the pictures do most of the talking. But, a quick recap goes:

Day 2 finds us with itty bitty brushes going over all the yellow spots. There are a lot. A LOT. Everywhere we look we find nooks and crannies with yellow. WHYYYYYY. Because everything takes longer than I want it to.

And then Day 3! We experiment with wet sanding and do not care for it. Out come the rollers and the paint and in about 3 and a half hours we have the whole thing rolled. We go run some errands and return to pull all the tape off. This part is a little disappointing as things are not perfect. We spend time with paint thinner on all the rubber bits of the bus (around the back windows, the door) removing the adhesive and things are looking about 50% better.

As I've heard other people say around the forums and on the web and I'll repeat it, from about 20 feet back, she looks perfect. When we get time to repaint the rub rails (black) and get into a few more nooks and crannies, she'll look pretty darn good even up close.

Tantalizing Teal Picture Bomb:



Dad picture bomb
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Old 06-16-2016, 01:18 PM   #76
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Man that is a BEAUTIFUL color scheme.
I've been thinking of similar for mine when I finally get to that point.
Way to go, though. That's a really cool lookin little bus!
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Old 06-16-2016, 02:11 PM   #77
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that color scheme is perfect for a small bus..!! esp a cool shape like that!!

-Christopher
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Old 06-16-2016, 02:42 PM   #78
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
Man that is a BEAUTIFUL color scheme.
I've been thinking of similar for mine when I finally get to that point.
Way to go, though. That's a really cool lookin little bus!
I'm pleased as punch. It's a lot lighter color in the bright sunlight, but it's pretty dreamy. I say go for it!
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Old 06-16-2016, 03:17 PM   #79
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Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
that color scheme is perfect for a small bus..!! esp a cool shape like that!!

-Christopher

Thanks man! I'm in love with the shape. I passed up bus after bus until I saw this one and got stars in my eyes.
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Old 06-24-2016, 11:37 AM   #80
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
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Very nice job ... it looks real good.

How much blue paint did you end up using?

Two coats?
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