Lucky Prime

[N5tavniec]

Here is the only pic I took yesterday while sanding the bus.

Today I got an early start, ran to home depot for a few supplies and harbor freight for a heat gun and drill. The wind wasn't as bad as I thought though there were a couple of really good gusts. Hung my trash bag on the windshield wipers so it wouldn't blow away.
Took a heat gun and scraper to the signs and reflectors.

Hung it on the handle for the back.

No more reflectors or school bus signs. Need to sand the between and above the windows, the door side, the rear and all the spots reflector tape was, and the chair rails and bumpers. All that will be done after I clean up the left over glue with mineral spirits. I left the small circle reflectors on for now. They may or may not come off and get fresh ones added.

She's coming along.

Have an overnight work thing tonight along with a storm coming in. Monday looks good to finish sanding and get a few things done to it. I'm off to New Jersey on Tuesday to pick up a brand new MCI motorcoach my boss has decided to letter with my name under the driver window. First time he's done anything like this in 26 years. I'll post a pic or two once I'm back. Now I just need the weather to warm up so I can lay some primer. Busy season starts week after next.

 

[N5tavniec]

The weather does not want to cooperate with me. It was freezing and wet Monday, so nothing was accomplished. Tuesday was beautiful but I was bringing a Motorcoach home. Today is okay, but snow is coming tonight, so I took a gamble. I jumped on the roof, removed what silicone I could cleaned it up and put polyurethane sealant down.

 

[N5tavniec]

Sealant cured nicely despite cold wet weather while I was away. Ordered new replacement lights today and cleaned up all the glue residue around the bus.

 

[N5tavniec]

I've been very busy with work lately and the days I've had off have been bad weather. Well today the stars aligned so I got up early (6am) and got to work. I pulled ALL lights front and rear and the eyelashes, cleaned up, sanded, wiped down with mineral spirits.

Work called so I had to take 2 hours to go retrieve a bus. Came back and got right to it. Primed the rear and front and a little on the sides. Used Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. Did a bit on the roof as well as I was missing some paint up there.

I also removed the handles hanging up front. They will be put back on after it is painted.

Then reinstalled the lights for now so water doesn't invite itself in while I'm away for work.

It was a quick hack job as I was running out of time but I'll take the small win. Another day I'll get the details.

I ordered a bunch of new lights. Some came last week, a bunch came today and I'm waiting on 3 more sets to arrive (on back order) hopefully in the next week or 2. Time to pack for a week long trip.

 

[nikitis]

Where did your order your lights from?

 

[N5tavniec]

Where did your order your lights from?

Got LED Turn arrows from UnityBusParts.com
And found same/better LED lights for everything else, for a few bucks cheaper, off Amazon.

 

[N5tavniec]

Did another scrub on the roof, cleaned it up with the deck brush, and wiped down the seams with a rag. The sun dried the rest. Sealed the joints with a thin line of Vulkem 116 polyurethane sealant. Let that set while I taped off the roof and windows. Put one coat of Rustoleum on the roof and pulled the tape.

Then got the door side sanded, Stop sign pulled. I tasked the kid to remove that and she cut the air line. NO Biggie, but I'll need to get a fitting if I decide to repurpose it. I'll worry about that later. As "punishment", I made her start the bus to test it still starts even though she didn't cut anything critical and waited for it to air up to build up.

Sanded where the stop sign, turn signals, and side clearance lights were. Wiped it down and got to priming the sides. Still need to get around the windows and the side compartment and engine door, but one is not able to mistake it for a school bus no longer.

I have the next 3 days off also so I'm hoping to make some good headway on the bus. I should have all my LED lights by Wednesday. Waiting on one last set that took 2 weeks to ship.

 

[N5tavniec]

I have a bad habit of pulling screws, setting them somewhere and thinking I'll remember for sure what these were for. Only to look at those screws a day or 2 weeks later going, huh....what were these for???. I've since labeled sandwich baggies and put screws in them along with taking pictures BEFORE dismantling so I have a record of what indeed these were for and how was it secured.

Had some beautiful weather this past week so I test fit the lights. It was more to make sure the screws and the holes were still good and would fit.

Was still waiting on the clear LEDs for the front. but in the meantime.

Taped up the front and back for accent paint.

I screwed up on the top, forgot to trace and trim the tape before painting. I'll need to go back and get the top redone. It looks blue/not the color I went with in the picture. In person it looks really good. I went with Dark Hunter Green Rustoleum for the accents. Opted to do the area around the license plate, I like it.

The white LED's came on Wednesday so I pulled the orange and gave the paint a day to cure before installing them.

Thursday I went to work in the bus. Lots of bolts in the chair rail and under the chair rail for some unknown reason. So we removed those and also the coolant line covers. Half way through I got a call that another bus was having electrical issues so I had to call it quits and head to DC with a bus and bring the other one back home. With rain coming that night I prematurely put the lights in and locked up the bus. I snagged this picture real fast before I left. I still need to hook up the white lights.

Got home late Friday night, to exhausted to work on the bus. Saturday it rained, I went in and finished pulling coolant lines and some bolts then wrote off the rest of the day and snuggled with the pup.

Today, I ran to home depot for a few supplies. Then got to pulling up the floor. There is quite a bit more rust on the floor than anticipated and a large portion of that is from the coolant lines. I'm seriously considering removing the heaters and running the lines under the bus for driver heat/defrost. In the mean time They are in air jail off the floor so I can wire wheel and Ospho.

Up by the driver seat. Ended up going under and removing 2 bolts holding the driver seat from bouncing me through the roof. Once the floor is done, those bolts are going right back in!

Rest of the bus.

Slowly making progress. I definitely see the transformation but I feel like I'm swimming in circles. I have a late night job so have to call it quits early. I'll pick up again first thing in the morning tackling the rust followed by fixing the accents and connecting and fully installing all the new lights. Big ask but I'm confident I'll make a big dent in my to do list.

 

[N5tavniec]

Monday I had the momentum in me. Got grinding the rust, had to pause and get a better wire wheel after 3 floor panels. Got the whole bus squared away only to find a small coolant leak from the hose where it goes through the floor in the rear. Cleaned that up and wrapped a Terry towel around it to absorb what I could while I got stuff done. I'll have to deal with that when I get back next week. Ospho'd and let that work. Sorry, no pics.

Went out and put the gasket on the front clear lights and wired them up. Fixed the accent paint around the rear upper lights. Decided to also bring the accent paint around the regular rear lights flat against the engine door.

I didn't have time to let the ospho fully do it's job for 24 hours but gave it a good 6 hours. Ran some errands with the other half. After errands, I grabbed the paint and went to town on the floor slathering the paint on a bit thicker than normal. That has a whole week to sit and cure.

Finally went and installed the rear lights and wired them up in the dark. Didn't light test them yet, but I'm confident they are good. Will light test when I get home. Was 930pm when I finished up and I had to clean up, pack and get ready for a week long trip.

 

[nikitis]

Good work, keep it up! Seems like you are doing it right.

 

[Nstavniec]

We are in the middle of graduation, recitals, prepping for college and moving residences so it's been really crazy! I don't have any pictures uploaded because of that. Good news I've made some strides with the bus, but it will be used for storage for a bit. I'll update later with pics, etc. The party continues.

 

[AprilDawn]

Side note: Has anyone temporarily pulled down their factory AC to remove the ceiling and insulate before reinstalling the factory AC??? I don't want to break something and you bet I'll be taking a bajillion pictures when I pull it down so I can get it back up and fingers crossed not have a screw or 2 left over.

I disconnected and pulled mine down (I have 2), but I tossed the plastic housing, thinking I could make them " built in" to look better and match surrounding cabinets. I'm not sure how I'm going to put them back yet...or if I made a mistake by tossing the original housing.

 

[Dbacks2k4]

I disconnected and pulled mine down (I have 2), but I tossed the plastic housing, thinking I could make them " built in" to look better and match surrounding cabinets. I'm not sure how I'm going to put them back yet...or if I made a mistake by tossing the original housing.

I have same exact plan. The way my evaps are bolted through the ceiling there's really no way to get the ceiling and original insulation out without taking them down. Plus I think I'd prefer to have them at ground level in furniture/cabinets than overhead. Won't be as efficient but they're quite bulky and make the headroom space feel smaller than it actually is.

I bought all the equipment, haven't had the time (or nerve) to start evacuating the system yet!

 

[N5tavniec]

Life has been busy, however, progress on the bus continues as if I'm not working or sleeping I'm working on the bus. Still waiting on the house to be finished, should be done in the next few weeks (before Thanksgiving). Today I will be working on installing/securing the CDH fuel tanks(2), gray tank, urine tank and propane tank. I've taken pictures along the way and once I'm able updates and pictures will be posted. Nothing will stop me from finishing and more importantly ENJOYING my skoolie! I'll give you a little something to hold you over so here is my paint job. Rustoleum Aluminum hand painted, Rustoleum Dark Hunter Green hand painted/spray painted mainly. Roof Rustoleum White rolled.

 

[nikitis]

Like the paint colors. It's unique. Did you paint the roof as well or paint around it? And if you did paint the roof as well, did you paint it first or the aluminium that connects to the white? i.e. Which layer did you do first?

 

[N5tavniec]

Did the tried but true method of starting on the roof and working my way down. Would hate to have paint run down on my fresh coats.

Roof first, roof accents, aluminum side, rub rails last

 

[N5tavniec]

One HUGE hurdle down! Lucky Prime was officially registered as a motor home in Maine yesterday! Went in with all my documents, pics, etc. She had to call the state to get a comparable MSRP. She asked if it had a toilet, I said yes and showed her a picture of it. She asked if was painted, said yes and showed a picture. She was like a grayish silver? I told her the paint was Aluminum but we can call it silver. She asked how much money I put into converting it. I told her I have receipts at home but I gathered 'x' amount. She asked if it was complete, I told her not entirely but I have the water tanks in, bed in, TOILET in (they were very adamant about the toilet being installed), I have the sink, stove and fridge just need to install them. She said good enough. Asked what i wanted as the GVWR, I told her the plate stated 36,200lbs. She said 38000. Maine charges you on GVWR range, my rig landed in the 34001-38000. Bing bang boom about $900 later i walked out registered with plates and one happy camper!! (pun very much intended)

Now onward to get items shored in, new shoes, inspected and ready for adventure!!

 

[nikitis]

Congrats. I may give mine a go with South Carolina, but I was told you couldn't do it. A bus is a bus is a bus they said.

But you never know, different DMV location, different person, I've also heard of one other SC guy getting it done but he had his registered in Vermont first.

 

[N5tavniec]

I know Vermont closed their loop hole, so it is still possible, just much harder and possibly not worth it in the long run . Maybe you will have luck with register in Vermont and turn around to register in SC. If you do go that route, keep us posted.

 

[N5tavniec]

More good news. Called up the tire place in my area, talked to them about looking at my tires. They do look pretty good and have amazing tread on them for being date stamped 2016 on the duals and 2018 for the steers. Took it over yesterday so they could inspect it in person. I had concern on one rear tire with curb rash that started looking dry rot but the guy said no dry rot currently and he didn't want to charge me $3k for tires when I didn't need them. So I'll keep an eye on them and go from there. Now to get it inspected.