Please stand by...

This may be my last post for a little while. We leave for Vancouver on Friday morning to go catch a few events at the Olympics. Men's Hockey and Women' Aerials!


This is a pic of the flashing of the front wheel well after sandblasting.

I couple of posts ago I talked about having to address the floor because I broke all my drill bits. Well this is it. Now I'm in the process of stripping all the rubber seals that are on the frame rails under the old plywood. Not an easy task...until I discovered my air chisel again!!:)

I removed the door and just started to strip it down....how can you break a firkin Phillips screw driver bit....I mean really?...REALLY???

And of course no project would be complete with out the need for some sort of specialty seal. This is a simple weather strip for the door. I have a pretty good idea where I can get this.

So unless I am wrong, so long fr now...we'll see you in a week or so!!

A stripper...my parents will be so proud.

After so many years of University, who would have thought I would end up being a stripper....a paint stripper. Sorry I couldn't help it.

Yesterday I spent some time doing a variety of things out there. Michelle laughed and said it looked like I had created my very own weather system. At one point she looked out and all she saw was a huge cloud of dust emanating from the bus. It was just me stripping pant from the dash. Luckily I have my respirator so my lungs are still in tact!
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You'd think I was a raven with how taken I am by the shiny metal...

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you all get a chance to give your squeeze a squeeze today! I know I will...or I will try...she's not too receptive when I stink like bus.:)
OK where were we.... oh yes blasting and a mess. Well as I said in my last post, the blaster works but it makes a mess. I used some crushed walnut shells to strip the paint off the small round disk in the last post and boy look at the mess from such a small job. The media is still usable, so I decided to make a blasting booth for the shop.

Not a work of Michelangelo but it will work. I plan to line the inside with some of the scrap metal from the removed bus body.

So that is the good news...something accomplished. The bad news is that on further inspection I found some rust on the bottom of the door. Not real bad but....now I have to figure out what to do.

A bit by the hinge as well.

Time Flies....

You know as a kid, you often heard your parents talk about how time was just "whizzin' by". Frankly we thought they were full of it. Time was 'slow' and it took forever to get anywhere, it took forever to wait for your favorite TV program to come on(and then you'd have to get up to turn it to your channel...don't get me started), and having to wait to turn 16 so you could legally drive?...YIKES...time flies? Ya right!
But like many many things over the years, you get some life experience and .....you know it Mom&Dad were right...again!

This week just flew by, I remember starting work Monday morning and then signing paychecks on Thursday afternoon....the rest is a blur. But I did manage to get a little bus stuff done. I pulled the door from the bus(needs work) and the bumper(to be re-chromed)

You may also remember that way back when I took some pieces to a self serve sandblasting place to clean then up.Well it worked like a charm but it wasn't cheap. Not a problem if you have only a couple of pieces.But...I have a bus...nothing is small or singular. Anyway I happened to be at princess auto the other day and they had a sandblaster unit...for less than what I paid for my little stint at the self serve place. Anyway...as you can see it is now yet another tool in my arsenal.

It works pretty well too! But it does make a mess....I might have to build a sandblast chest that recycles the blast media for the shop..... hmm not a bad idea....to be continued...

Another day in Paradise

The day started off well enough, I decided after much waffling to remove the front body panel where the rust and bondo were. Things were going along swimmingly...until I broke my last 3/16" drill bit. Which was good. Because...it made me address a job that I had been avoiding for some time. Removal of the center isle flooring.

The issue was the screws were rusted tight, and in extremely awkward places to get at. It seemed no amount of penetrating fluid and elbow grease would make them come easily. So....at first I applied the nearly-perfected and almost patented ostrich technique, bury your thoughts in another "high priority job" and all is good. It never takes care of the problem but it helps to distract you. Well with my hands tied I had no other choice.

I had to think outside the box....so I used a combination of brute force and strategic placement of that force. I used a keyhole saw to cut (weaken) the wood around the bolts and then placed a 20 ton jack under the floor and "jacked 'er up". The force of course made the wood fail, then I could use a jig saw to split the wood and take it out in pieces. In the end I got her all out. Now to figure out how to re-install the floor with a layer of insulation.

After that, I had to go get Anna from dance class(yet again) and I got more drills from Moose Mountain Hardware....finally I got the panel off!!

What is Fuzzy Schelgel??

Ahhh a very good question.After my post from yesterday I got as few questions,so here's a few answers.
Only a few short months ago if someone asked to see my fuzzy schlegel I would have popped them one right in the kisser!
In my last post I made reference to receiving my fuzzy schlegel...just for the record this is my second shipment....the first came from an airstream supply company I foolishly thought..."ehhh that's close enough!" when I looked at the measurements. Foolish rookie mistake...by the way if anyone is looking for schlegel for an airstream trailer... I have a line on some,below cost, cheap cheap just for you.
But alas...it is late and I am drifting off topic.
What is Fuzzy(or commonly refered to simply as) schlegel?
It is the flexible fibrous window channel seal that creates a air seal on the sliding component of a sliding window!!

Nylon encases a series of aluminum "U" shaped pieces that provide rigidity with an interior layer of fibers. The fiber "fingers" allow for both the movement of the window and the stoppage of air and water flow into the vehicle.

Today was a slow bus day, but a great day for other achievements. The day started off with the family going to the travel clinic to get our Hep"A+B" shots up to date, typhoid, tetanus, Dukorol vaccine...etc etc in prep for the Guatemala and Mexico trip.
The afternoon was bus support work. I recently did some work for a patient who then in turn got me a screaming deal on a MIG welder....which then meant I needed to get a 220 service into my garage. Thankfully I know one kick ass electrician.

My friend Rob came out with a panel, and lots of wire, we drilled some holes bidda-bang batta-boom One sub panel in the garage with a 220 and 110 service. I am ready to create havoc!

Bus Stuff

Is it bad when you measure a day on how much bus stuff you had arrive at your office??
Well if it is then this week was a good week. Fuzzy schlegal,air rivet gun(with 1000 rivets), air hose....and a sandblaster(with three different types of blasting material.....Life is good!

A New Month...a new problem.

Ok first of all it's not a new problem. More like it is a continuation of the same problem. Now that we're on the topic...perhaps I misspoke. It's not a problem but a challenge!
As I clean under the area where I took the body panel off I followed a trail. All was good until I removed the small bump rail just behind the passenger side front wheel. It didn't sit as flush to the body as I would have liked to see. When I pulled it off...sure enough, a penetration through the body panel. As I stripped some rust from under the bump rail up to the wheel well I noticed Bond....uhh oh! Then I followed the bondo...

Closer inspection revealed a patch job. Not a terrible one, and if you were avoiding removal of the panels, then a good option.....but I've already jumped into that pool...so why stop now?(famous last words I know)


So with more panel to tackle...I need more coverage. Thankfully Alvise gave me 3 tarps to use. Now I have more bus under covers!!