More than one way to skin a cat!

I've got it under wraps!
A few months ago, while doing some research into heating and cooling systems, I stumbled on a little shop here in Calgary that sells tarps, shelters etc. Although I wasn't thrilled with their shelters, I did see a 20'x40' tarp......I thought...."hmmm that might come in handy one day!"
And it did!

Space time continuum

Do not adjust your sets, what you are about to see really happened...
Seriously, don't worry! The weather hasn't magically changed in the last 3 hours. But rather I realized that there were some photos etc that are blog worthy that I forgot to post.
Before the snow storm (which is currently still going on...very cold[not really -1C] and very wet[really]) we finally did some more rivet magic.

I thought I got suckered in to buying a fancier rivet gun than what I needed.....but I was wrong....there I said it...'I was wrong'(did you hear that Michelle?)...I doubted the rivet expert...but he was right and you can never have too many tools!
when placing hundreds of rivets...this baby is awesome!


Although Jeffrey has been my main rivet guy, Anna took a turn and shows us how it's done.
Sorry for the sideways picture....I keep forgetting with the hand held camera that you can't rotate the picture like you can with a digital image.

Here's how it looks from the inside!

Jeffrey decided to take the hard stuff and do all the rivets under the bus. This is his handy work!

I'm over it.

OK not really but there is nothing I can do about the snow so I might as well just get over it. Having said that I really think that I have to look at some sort of shelter. I have been eyeing the Kodiak shelter which, oddly enough, is not manufactured in Kodiak bear country(Although the term “Kodiak bear” is widely used to include all coastal Alaska brown bears, the subspecies only occurs on the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago) but rather in Selkirk Manitoba!
http://www.kodiakshelters.com/modules.php?name=Gallery&cid=15

So what do we do on a cold and snowy day?
Well due to underlying resentment 'we' tend to stay away from the bus and rather tackle other jobs which have been put on the back burner for weeks/months/perhaps years

Like finally making a welding cart!!Yes Michelle we are turning into white trash....yes I did dumpster dive for the cart:)

And how about the fence for the garden?

A quick call to Joe and presto! holes are dug....now just the fence and the raised garden bed.

Oh for the love of Grrrrrrrrrr!!!

Really? REALLY????

Oh come on!....give me a break!!

POR-15

I've talked before, likely ad nauseum , about a rust paint POR-15. Yes, yes great stuff....and you have to be careful not to get it on your skin...blah blah blah.
Well I ordered some more of it(the local distributor is in Red Deer) and try as I might I can't get one of the tins open!

I gently tried to pry the lid off....then I not so gently tried to pry the lid off...

As far as I can figure there must have been some slop on the rim during manufacture...cause this just will not open.
Luckily the dealer said...."yup, just bring 'er by the shop and we'll swap ya fer a new one."
Great.....an hour and a half drive......maybe if I just puncture the tin and transfer to a new tin?

Put a lid on it!

So yesterday I thought...."darn it all"(not the actual words but this is a family program) I haven't gotten much bus stuff done. So on Monday I'm going to say screw it! I'm working all day on the bus!--are you done laughing?
Well as you guessed.....that didn't happen.
We did have a great family walk this morning. Spent a few hours just kickin' in the sun. It's hard to lament about not getting work done when you're laying on your back in a meadow with the spring sun on your face and your kids resting their head on your chest. I wasn't getting my bus list done but I was soaking up the family time.
Now when we got back to the house and Michelle decided that it was a good time to have a family work bee and mow/rake/spring clean the yard.......then I was lamenting!!

But once the yard work was done, I was able to get to it!
I decided that I didn't like the gas covers that were on the bus. Of course I decided this when I saw a Dodge truck go by with these really cool looking covers. So I ordered a couple. Then had to figure out how to mount them, a good time to do it as I was swapping out the body panels anyway. I had a flange made at the company I have been getting all my metal from.

When I put the panels up, I had the foresight to pre-mark where the gas cover should go.

A little snip-snip!

A little fine tuning with the angle grinder, I must say when I started making sparks I was getting a little up tight being so close to the gas tank. On the drivers side, a non issue- I had dropped the tank out on Friday. But the passenger side.....the tank was still there, so I covered it over with a wet cloth, said a prayer....and....

No problem!!

Slow and steady

That may be a term I use allot with this beast. Friday I didn't get much done on the bus I was golfing in the afternoon(based on my score I should have worked on the bus) but I did spend the morning getting some"parts" from the city. More sheet metal, inside window trim, and finally the front 'Flxible' emblem. You can see in this photo where it is supposed to go.



Turned out pretty nice I would have to say. Jeff likes it so much he wants to put it on the wall of his room

I struck a deal with him, I said the emblem would be the last thing to go on the bus so until then, he could put it up on his wall.

I once again started shaping the passenger rear quarter panel, cut marked,drilled......and now we wait.......again.....

Because of the rain.

Back in the Saddle

It's been a while since I had time to post...or better put, had any new info to post. Another weekend of singing. The good news, our chorus sang really well and achieved a goal we set for ourselves in terms of performance quality and of course scores too. The bad news is our quartet did not win the Trophy(phew!!- that thing is a pain). Seriously we didn't have our best performance, but it was what it was. No regrets.
I came home really early so it did allow me to get a little bus time in this afternoon.


Truth of the matter is that although I have been blaming the lack of work being done on the weather, there was another reason. I have been avoiding a perceived problem until I could figure out how to fix it.

I have been so proud of the way the new body panels look.....but I just stopped looking at the bottom. The bottom of the panel follows the curve of the frame and slopes in and under the bus. But after I got the panels and my first attempt at securing the panels failed miserably and I actually ended up putting a dent in a panel. Small, but I still know I did it.
So I left the problem to percolate for a while. Then it came to me! I would like to appropriately credit a flxible owner who gave me the idea but for the life of me I can't remember where I saw the picture.

Anyway, some well placed tie down straps WITH a 2x4 help to evenly apply forces in the proper directions and ...Viola!

Still allot of work to do, but one step at a time!

Waiting and waiting...

I knew that there were going to be times where weather, family commitments, work....in general life, would impede the bus progress. I just have to keep chanting slow and steady slow and steady.But it's hard!! I want to get out there and make sparks fly and rebuild and....stuff!!
But alas....last week my quartet,Timelines, had a gig in Regina. It was a great weekend the Regina barbershop chapter treated us very well, we had two great shows.
I was a bit in the dog house as I had to leave on Michelle's birthday and return on Mothers' day.
(still payin' for that move)
This coming weekend I am off to Edmonton for a competition....defending the title....wish us luck!
Anyway, in all of my self wallowing and moping about not being able to work on the ol' girl, there are always examples of rigs that are far less fortunate. This was one that was for sale in North Dakota....for $500....at that price I can only imagine...yet I was interested in salvaging a few things off her myself.

When to say when... but not now!

A beautiful day in Bragg, and although there was a whack of snow on the ground we didn't let it dampen our spirits. When I say we, my good friend and partner in crime....if singing and golfing is a crime...Randy joined me for some spring thaw body work.


Over the winter I pulled off the affected panels, cleaned and prepped the frame and I am in the process of replacing.....but then I take a look at some other panels(passenger side rear wheel) and I can see some bondo....and well if I have able and eager bodies....and the knowledge of what needs to get done....why not?

So, yes back to a destruction phase. Randy ground and drilled the rivets while I seemingly wasn't there as I was ferrying kids to and from school and dance class.

Once the panel was off, then the usual frame clean up

After Randy spent an hour or two with the angle grinder, I realized how much work we've done. Take a look at the old vs new wire brush.

In the end the frame is clean and ready for rust paint(POR-15)