Electrical Wire Fishing

[Tiki1469]

We are doing some electrical conversions on some old school buses, including installing some CCTV units. This requires us to drill holes in the front top of the bus interior metal walls (thin sheet metal riveted everywhere) and fish electrical wires from point to point. We are having a terrible time. Anyone have any experience with this? I wonder if a magnetic wire fishing system would work.......

[rossvtaylor]

I've had some luck doing this in ambulance conversions, where the framing is aluminum and the long flexible bits will drill through that. But I have never tried doing that in a bus, where the crossmembers are steel. I've never tried it because I believe it would be both hard to do and, if you could penetrate, it would leave sharp edges that would quickly abrade the cabling. At least in the ambulance, with 2-inch aluminum tubing, we could drill a 3/4-inch hole and run MC (metal armored flex) through it. Bus ribs are not as thick and they don't always have parallel edges...meaning the hat channel often used has some slope to it...so that would tend to push your drill bit towards the sidewall...assuming you found a suitable metal bit.

I hate to be negative, but I think this is a tough path. Most of us remove walls and ceilings, so we avoid that. But if you find a way to do it, let us know. There may be some instances where it might be handy.

[mrlupr]

Maybe post a few pictures of what you're up against. I've been pulling cable for 28 years and can assure you that each job poses unique challenges.

[DeMac]

Have you looked at pictures of the interior ribs. You may find pictures the same model with the ceiling skin removed. Each of my bays are separated by steel. What year/model bus(es)?
**Save on manhours, spend on wiremold.