Bad News, Existential Crisis, Insight Please

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

rust happens with steel.
from your post says you caint do the work yourself? YET?
SO YOU BUY A BUS AND IT NEEDS WORK?
teach yourself to weld
replace the the beam and flooring and be happy that you taught yourself a new skill

 

[EastCoastCB]

How much do engines like this usually go for? If I went this route, I would want to sell the whole thing as is so I am not left with an engineless bus that I need to tow to a scrap yard?

IDK, I'd make the ad say "rebuilt engine comes with free bus".

 

[banman]

Yeah it seems weird that the frame itself only has super minor rust but the spacer beam that the bed sits on is so super duper rusty. I think your hypothesis must have something going for it- the floor is pretty dang rusty too but not as rusty as the beam. So again, it seems weird that the piece in the middle of it all would be the rustiest. Heres a old shot of one of the rustiest parts of the the floor- it doesn't look significant enough to cause 10x as much rust underneath it.
View attachment 39489

Ahh, if there's a leak and moisture always pooled where the hole now is...
Then the moisture went down the hole -- is that above the rotten channel?
If the rotten channel is box-tubing -- and the tubing gets filled with water and dirt it will rust out much faster than a piece of C-channel which is open sided and dries out between wettings...

 

[Truthseeker4449]

I just had a somewhat similar situation at work where beams were cracked in several places on a Starcraft, clean through in some spots. We opted to ship it to a truck shop that does a fair bit of work for us when we get overwhelmed and they fishplated everything. However that bus wasn't a rust bucket, it's still actually a pretty clean bus. Still a little puzzled why that one cracked the way it did, nobody had seen that before.

 

[banman]

I just had a somewhat similar situation at work where beams were cracked in several places on a Starcraft, clean through in some spots. We opted to ship it to a truck shop that does a fair bit of work for us when we get overwhelmed and they fishplated everything. However that bus wasn't a rust bucket, it's still actually a pretty clean bus. Still a little puzzled why that one cracked the way it did, nobody had seen that before.

https://www.imetllc.com/training-article/hydrogen-embrittlement-steel/

Goes good with a cup of coffee...

 

[jmccoola]

rust happens with steel.
from your post says you caint do the work yourself? YET?
SO YOU BUY A BUS AND IT NEEDS WORK?
teach yourself to weld
replace the the beam and flooring and be happy that you taught yourself a new skill

Jolly Roger- thanks for the tough love and inspiration! This is honestly the goal that I have; when I started the project, half of the intention was to learn all the skills necessary to make it happen and welding was one of my top priorities.

The thing I'm running into now is where the heck to do it all, especially with a sub project as big as lifting the whole body of the frame. Its winter in Portland which means it rains pretty much every day and my bus is parked next to my friends house (outside). I have been looking for an inside workspace or shop I could rent to potentially do this sort of thing and they are hard to come by apparently (although I might just not be looking in the right place).

 

[leadsled01-SKO]

That's really ,not that rusty. Throw some steel at it and call it good. I bet half of the vehicles that are on the road have more structural rust than your bus.

 

[Truthseeker4449]

https://www.imetllc.com/training-article/hydrogen-embrittlement-steel/

Goes good with a cup of coffee...

Too bad I don't drink coffee. That an interesting theory. For what it's worth I found the pictures I submitted to my bosses when I discovered the cracking.

If this was fixable I'm sure OPs bus is, the question is it really worth your time? Do you want a diesel small bus that bad? Me personally I would strongly consider another bus, but it is harder to find a 7.3l (outside of a larger bus) now and there aren't very many other powerplants I would spring for in that size class. Whatever OPs choice is, I wish them the best of luck.

 

[o1marc]

Tesla Truck

Still ROTFLMAO at the unvieling of the new indestructible Tesla truck. Stainless steel skin and unbreakable glass. During the unvieling the designer throws a rock at the drivers door window to show how unbreakable it is. Of course it completely shatters. So they try again on the passemger window and he barely lobs the rock and again it shatters the glass. Then he shows the durability of the doors in stainless by hitting them with a sledge hammer using about a 3lbs swing. Totally emabarrassing, unless it was a marketing ploy like some are saying.

 

[bLEEp]

I’m with this dude, 100%
My bus is rusty as all get out, Missouri, and she has made it three years doing mountains at least four times per year.
Also, congrats on leaving the matrix man

 

[Mr4btTahoe]

Time to take a wire wheel to that beam and get a good look at it. I dont see holes in the main support beam and holes in the sheetmetal floor is common.


Clean it up and see what you are working with. A bit of pitting is ok. Holes or paper thin main supports is a different story but still fixable.

 

[ACamper-SKO]

Get a new bus and start over. You can polish a turd forever and you still have a turd.

All that time spent underneath messing with rusted garbage could be spend making a bus nice. You will never get any resale value for fixing rusted frames and you will never get any enjoyment out of it. Money and labor pit to ****.

Just my 2cents.

 

[leadsled01-SKO]

I bet Freiss welding here in Akron Ohio would fix it for well under a grand.

 

[Elliot Naess]

You live in Portland, Oregon, and you bought a bus in Iowa?
Hast ye gone daft, lad?!

(I'm old enough, I'm allowed to take that attitude. And git offa mah lawn while you are at it. :biggrin: )

I bought all three of mine in the Portland area, and they are free of rust. (One from Philomath by Corvallis, one from Scappoose, don't know about the third but bought it from dealer just east of Portland.)

That is a good engine, so you might want to keep it and scrap the rest. This way, you can buy a rust-free bus without worrying much about its engine.
Or, you may be able to sell the engine for good money, to fund a rust-free purchase.

The kind of rust you have on this bus is simply a non-starter in my book.
Best of luck!

 

[banman]

Jolly Roger- thanks for the tough love and inspiration! This is honestly the goal that I have; when I started the project, half of the intention was to learn all the skills necessary to make it happen and welding was one of my top priorities.

The thing I'm running into now is where the heck to do it all, especially with a sub project as big as lifting the whole body of the frame. Its winter in Portland which means it rains pretty much every day and my bus is parked next to my friends house (outside). I have been looking for an inside workspace or shop I could rent to potentially do this sort of thing and they are hard to come by apparently (although I might just not be looking in the right place).

If your friend is willing -- Buy one of those instant RV garages from HF or where ever... It'll keep you dry -- the money you save on renting a place you can spend on tools!

You don't need to "lifting the whole body off the frame." *In fact, it will be better NOT to do it that way. Instead:
1) Loosen all the body bolts all around.
2) Remove all the body bolts on one side.*
3) make sure your radiator fan has clearance with the shroud.
4)Raise the body just enough to cut that rotten spacer out. Put something between the body and the frame so your dick-ticklers can't get pinched anywhere if the jack slips/fails!
5) Replace that spacer with the appropriate size square tubing BUT SERIOUSLY -- if it's a custom size, the tubing won't be readily available/affordable BUT you can easily cut a 4"x 6" redwood beam into what ever custom size this spacer needs to be. How many years were you planning to use this bus? 5yrs? It'll last that...

*the reason for this is so the body stays in alignment with the frame -- same as if you were replacing all the body mount bushings (which you might consider doing since you're now doing all the labor for this anyway -- and replace any questionable hardware that you remove)

 

[sportyrick]

That aint no rust, as banman says put on some goggles and beat the **** out of that steel spacer and see what you have. Jack up bus body an inch or so and cut out piece. If a replacement of appropriate size isn't available have a sheet metal shop fabricate a new one, bolt back in, rattle can and it will last the life of vehicle. YouTube MIG welding and rent a welder to repair floor then get on with conversion. A rebuilt engine with 30,000 miles makes it a vehicle to keep! Especially since it's exactly what you want. A reputable weld shop wouldn't have a problem fixing both.