What a difference a day can make

This is Calgary, one day +10 the next .5 meters of snow.......that'll slow you down!

Shaving

The rivets I finally chose are called 'shave head rivets'. The rivet goes in, is pulled like any pop head rivet, but the shaft separates about 1" proud of the head. Then the finishing process begins:

Clip the rivet shaft



Leaving you with a small rough "nub" on the rivet head.


Then apply the rivet head shaver!!


And Voila!!


The end result is a smooth, shiny rivet that looks and feels like a solid head rivet!


As we were working on the rivets, Jeff said..."Dad I hear thunder". I of course replied 'naw Jeffie that's just a truck going by'.....but no my little helper with attention to details (he was actually listening to the news and weather report playing on the radio way over in the garage). So I paused and sure enough, dark clouds to the west....and I had nothing but tools all over. Quickly we tore down and packed up. Getting inside the garage just in time before it started coming down.....the snow!...that's right not rain but snow!!(you can't see it in the pic all that well but trust me it was coming down!)

Dibs on the rivet thingy!

Today was another great day...cool(about 8C) but clear skies and nice. Jeff and I worked on a few different things but continued on with the placement of the new panels. I knew I had an eager helper when he was calling dibs on the pneumatic rivet gun right away.

I got to admit it is allot of fun, Jeff made pretty short work of the rivets!

By the end of the day, things were looking good!

Measure twice, cut once...check it and then re check it.

I don't know how many times I have heard and I have preached to others, 'check it and then with every "little" change check it all over again. Assume nothing. Words to live by....to bad I didn't


So today after a morning of hunter-gather activity I set out to put the panels on the bus. As I knew from before with Ron, this is really a two person job. But I think I was a little eager to see some changes so I started.

First up was to apply the time sensitive seam sealer...yes you heard me 'time sensitive'. I liberally applied a coat to all seams between adjoining panels, panel and frame...you get the idea. Then I man handle the rear most panel into place...secure it with a cleco or two(it's all going very smooth so far). And then put the first NEW rivet into place.(cue ominous music) Hmmm... 'new'....did I re-check things???

As you guessed...NO.
The 400 and some holes are all drilled very carefully to 3/16".
The shaft of the new rivet is...(uh huh...you guessed it) 13/64".
You know when you make a mistake and you know you should have known better, it's usually the persons voice who taught you the lesson in the first place that you hear.
I don't know how many times he said it, maybe 10 times maybe a thousand, but my Dad's voice was so clear I thought he was behind me...."Out a little, out a lot Blake"...thanks Dad.
1/64" difference... that's all it took.
So there I was at a complete stand still, as hard as I tried I could not get that rivet in. I had to take the panel down and very quickly go and re drill all the holes to 13/64".....before the seam sealer dried.
Lucky for me my best helper in the world showed up(off the school bus), and didn't even blink. Jeff was the catalyst I needed and with his help we got things drilled and put up. We saved the first panel!!:)

Havin' a blast

I can't remember when I started this but I finally got it up and running. Yes a homemade blasting booth! It's great...perhaps not as efficient as the $700 models but this was cheap and I can putter!


A little MDF, I got the gloves and handle from....Princess Auto....

And bada boom!

Everyday is Christmas

The good news is the rivets I wanted( the first set I got I didn't like) for the bus showed up. Along with special clippers, and a shave head tool!!
The bad news is.....I am away again this coming weekend so nothing will be happening until at least April 23rd.
I hope everyone is doing well, if your in the neighborhood and feel like putting your knuckles to bus....there's always room for you in the pit!

It's Here!!

I love looking at the beauty of metal....except when it rusts....although that has it's own beauty too.

Now where was I....

Oh yes body panels, After Ron came back from Mexico we did the last of the Panel dry fitting(almost).This piece took a little out of the box thinking to get all the holes drilled, but we got 'er

OK OK enough teasing, On Friday when I was having coffee with Randy, "it" showed up. What is it?....


The NEW ENGINE!!

Well OK not 'new" but new to the bus. It's a 5.9L Cummins Turbo, 1992 with about 50 thousand Kilometers on it. It's from a series of pick ups bought from an underground potash mine. It's life has been one of regular maintenance and institutional up keep, the body rusted out but the engine is all good.
Or at least that's what the sales guy said. None the less, it's in good shape.

After removing it from the palate and doing an inspection, things aren't too bad. There has been some damage to the oil pan, I'll have to go to a wrecker and get a new one..

Although I must admit, Michelle is far from thrilled in the fact that my workshop is so full I have spilled out into the garage

Face lift

When you're a man of steel you don't get plastic surgery, you get an iron infusion.
I don't quite know what that means but I've been busing it all day and I'm a little punchy right now. Today I did a dry fit of some body panels.She's looking good!

How do you like my 'clecos'????

Today was another exciting day....Randy was here to witness the event. We were having coffee when "it" showed up!!!???

Stay tuned!!

Let the fun begin!

Very Exciting. This was the first day to try and rebuild. First order of business was to dry fit the new body panel. Before I could do that I had to do a little welding to reconstruct some pieces I had to cut away.....where are you Shawn.....teaching me how to weld now would be good timing...


Sunshine and giggles!



Not bad... but far from 'clean'...that's why the final picture of the weld is soooo far away....oh well nothing an angle grinder won't fix.



I covered everything that was exposed (after a little sand blasting) with a kick ass rust paint called POR-15.... and for those in the know, I didn't wear gloves... and yes I regret it, I've had to explain the stained hands to my patients all week.

There is beauty all around us.

You don't have to look far to see the beauty in the world. It can be the sunrise, the sunset, the dew on the morning grass or the clippings from a set of brand new pneumatic sheers. Yes my friends there is beauty all around us.

When I arrived home from Guatemala, I found the window frames from my good friend Randy, nicely arranged in a box looking quite sharp I might add. In a follow up email he said... "So I guess the state the bus is in right now is the worst she's going to get huh?".
Yes, yes....like an oil painting sometimes things look worse right before they start to look better. I sincerely hope that the state the bus is in right now is the worst she looks......but like James Bonds said...'Never say never'

Having said that we are finally in the stage of putting things back on as opposed to taking them off


Here we are cutting the new passenger side front body panel

Ron drilled all the holes and I did a dry fit when I got back, and she fits like a glove.
More to follow....stay tuned!

I'm back....!!

Wow, what an adventure. I've been away for two weeks. The first week was in Guatemala, volunteering for a group called Dentistry for all. I've been a supporter of the group for a number of years but this was my first opportunity to go do some of the dentistry myself. What an opportunity. It feels good to do some good in the world. A small drop in the bucket, I know, but a rainstorm is nothing more than a collection of raindrops.

Of course I have not had computer access(or very minimal anyway) but there are some photos of recent bus activity (pripr to my leaving)that I need to post.

Theses are the equivalent of the 1957 Chevy big fins at the back. These are my little wings. Nothing more than the rear of the body curving in and the SS fluting staying strait. The red dot are not lights but simply reflectors. I have yet to take them apart and see if I can salvage them.

Simple in design but they have a great look at night.

Of course underneath is like a tourist in south America, looks like he's peeling and uncomfortable.