Bus Conversion Day 12 - More Prep Work & Body Work

Yesterday I really didn't do much. I scraped the front and rear upper window that used to say "School Bus".





I am not really sure what I am going to do with these windows. I am working on some ideas. One cool feature about these windows is the fact that they are lighted.

More paint prepping and body work was done today. I think I am starting to get too picky. Every flaw on the body now needs to be fixed. I figure if we are going to paint this thing the body should be in good condition. I started on the drivers side by removing all the Emergency Exit stickers on the outside. After removing all the stickers I went back over the whole passengers side and sanded it lightly. In some areas there was paint chipping so I made sure to sand it smooth in those spots so that no lines would be visible.

I used 3 different grits of sand paper today. 60, 100 and 150. If I wanted to remove paint fast or get any built up sticker gunk off the bus then I used the 60 grit. The 100 and 150 I used to smooth things out. These are good grits to use on the Bondo. Once, the Bondo dried to fast before I could get it smooth so I used the 60 grit to smooth it down fast after it dried.



There was one area that had a lot of paint missing where a large decal used to be. I sanded it well, wiped it down with paint thinner and primed it.



There is a body panel that has been bothering me from the moment we picked up the bus. It looks like the driver of the bus must have ran into something and dented it pretty bad.



I went to pick up more rivets from my sheet metal friend and spoke with him about the panel. He can make me a new one! So I drilled out all the rivets, and with some serious prying and hammering it came out.



Here is a pic of the removed panel.



Luckily this panel was small and required no cutting. I will take this up to the sheet metal shop tomorrow and he can use it as a pattern for my new piece.

When you are up close to the body while sanding, it is easy to notice all the defects. I noticed a deep scratch that ran along the back.



First, I sanded all the paint away.



Here is the first coat of Bondo.



After the first coat dried I sanded it and applied another.



Tomorrow I should be able to apply a few more coats of Bondo and it will be done and ready for paint.

On the rear drivers side there where two good sized dents.



I sanded away all the paint and applied a coat of Bondo to both dents.



After the first coat dried I sanded it and applied another.



A few more coats and some sanding will make this ready for paint.

More to come!

Bus Conversion Day 11 - Paint

Today I decided to go ahead and do some painting. I started with the roof because I figured that was the best place to get practice so if I messed up it would not be visible.

There are 3 pop up vents on the roof of the bus. I had to begin by removing each one.



After their removal I had to scrap off all the remaining silicone around each opening.



This actually took some time because the silicone was well attached to the metal.

Here is a pic of all the vents removed.



The best advice I read on painting preparation, if primer was not going to be used, was to simply wipe down the surface that you are going to be painting with paint thinner. This provides a clean surface for the paint to adhere to. I already had the thinner and the rags so I was ready to go. The thinner I used is called Safer Paint Thinner by Kleen Strip. It is a new product that is out that is more "green" and is less harmful to your skin not to mention good old mother nature. I guess "Safer" means it will take a little longer for me to get cancer then using the standard thinner.



This thinner comes out like a milk color and consistency and seems to work good.

I took a clean cloth and wiped down the bus roof from the back to the front.



Lets just say I was ready for a break after wiping down about 280 sq ft of bus roof by hand.

Now I was ready for paint.

The articles I have read state that Rustoleum is a great paint to use on vehicles if you are wanting to save some money and not go the rout of automotive paint. So for the roof we decided on gloss white. Probably the main reason for this color choice was because white is reflective and the less heat in the bus the better. This color should keep the roof a lot cooler.



The instructions on the paint can states that if you are going to cut the paint to do it with acetone. So we mixed one gallon of paint with a half gallon of Acetone in the 5 gallon bucket. This should give us a good smooth surface if the proper applicator is used. I went to the local lumber yard and picked up 4 foam rollers, a paintbrush, a paint tray and 3 liners. This cost about $38.00.

The first problem I noticed was the paint tray liner was a little to small. The edge of the roller was hitting it. We found some other plastic liners that we had sitting around from a previous paint job. They fit better. Then as I was painting my roller was falling off the roller tool so again we swapped out the roller tool.



Now that I thought nothing else could go wrong, lo and behold my roller started coming apart even though the package states "Will work with ALL paints". I was now feeling good that I bought 4 of these things so I swapped it out for the second one. After painting just a short time it came apart. So we switched it out for a standard roller. It did leave a little texture but it did not fall apart so I was happy. The first coat of paint went down easily and turned out pretty good.



I went to Lowe's this evening and picked up 4 Wooster smooth rollers. Along with that we also picked up Great Stuff Door & Window foam, another gallon of gloss white (We are running low), an additional gallon of paint for the lower body, another pack of rags, another razor scraper, some of the small (High Quality) foam rollers & Silicon (For resealing the vents when the paint is done). The total came to around $125.00.

Now the roof has one coat of paint and if the weather permits, tomorrow it will have it's final coat!

Bus Conversion Day 10 - Work Continues

Today I finished the plates both in the front and the rear of the bus that cover where the emergency lights were..



The last one (on the rear drivers side) was by far the hardest to do. It was bent pretty bad and I had to take a lot of time hammering out the dent. I have the plate now riveted in place but will still need to do some body work on it to get it right.



After I finished this I went ahead and finished up the bondo work on the stop sign and the exit door screws. I then put a coat of primer on it.

Here is a before shot of the Stop Signs holes as a reminder.



And here it is currently.



Here is a pic of the exit door holes done.



I found a good location where I will place the batteries that will connect to an inverter that will provide 120 v to the bus. This will allow the bus to run on standard power.

If you are facing the bus on the front left there is a compartment that held a second heater core for heating the front of the bus.

I removed the core and it leaves a very nice space for the batteries.



It should work out great with a few modifications.



Besides this I removed some metal trim that goes around the rear bumper to prep for paint.



More prep work tomorrow.

Bus Conversion Day 9 - Bondo

I did not get a lot done today. I had to go back into town and get more rivets to complete the emergency exit door so that ate into my time.

The emergency exit is now done.

Next we went around and flashed all the window openings on the inside where the frame meets the foam. This just provides a better seal.

Here is the passenger side flashed.



And the drivers side.



After this was done I decided to go ahead and treat the metal that was added to the bus with a chemical (Not sure what it is called) that etches the metal so it can better accept primer and paint.



The guy at the sheet metal place was nice enough to give me this stuff to use on the metal. I applied it with a rag and washed it off about 30 min later.

Next I decided to tackle the job of fixing the holes that the swing out Stop Sign had left along with the holes left from the emergency exit door that we removed.

Here is a picture of the holes before we started.



The holes that the screws had been in sort of protruded out so I took my hammer and tapped them in slightly. Then I used a course grit sand paper to rough the surface.



After some sanding I was ready to apply the Bondo.



I picked up all these items at Wal-Mart today when I was in town. The total cost came to around to $25.00.



Along with these items I got a can of rust converter (Turns rust into a sandable, paintable primer), some sand paper and the hand sander seen above.

I mixed a small amount of Bondo with the hardener as instructed on the can.

Here is my first sanded coat of Bondo. Man this stuff dries fast.



I am getting the hang of it now and it is coming along nice.

Here is the last coat I put on today. It should be all done tomorrow.



Before calling it a day I decided to go ahead and install one of the sheet metal plates that the sheet metal guy cut to cover the Emergency Flashing lights. (Top right in pic below)



Here is a pic of the plate before I modified it.



I am going to be cutting rounded corners on this so I used a carpet glue container (top right) as a pattern for the corner. I traced around the container with a construction pencil to get my mark.




Next I cut off the access metal and then re-cut right on my line. This made it a bit easier.

Here is the final finished piece.



Now for the installation. First I removed both of the lights.



I put a thick bead of caulk on the inner side of the metal to create a seal before riveting the metal in place.

Then I drilled a hole in the center along the top and riveted it to secure it in place. I did the same at the bottom. Then I drilled all my holes and put in my rivets.



I am done for the day!

Bus Conversion Day 8 - Metal & Insulation

Last night we finished the front windows on the drivers side as seen in the earlier post. Here is a pic of it completed from the outside.



Here is the rivet work.



Rivets are just cool to work with.

Our first task today was to complete the metal on the drivers side. Following all the steps listed before in this blog we were able to get it done rather quickly. I am finally using a good bit ($20) for drilling out the old rivets and it helped save time and energy. I think it would be impossible to break this bit.

Here is a view from the outside before the metal went up.



Here it is after from the outside.



Now all the windows that needed to be covered are covered. Next was the side Emergency Exit.

Here it is before the metal has been installed from the outside.



And the inside.



With the removal of 6 screws on the outside the door came off quite easy. That door was built like it was designed to go on a submarine...it was heavy.

Now that the door is removed I noticed some weld lines in the corners of the frame. I took a chisel and smoothed out the weld lines.



Now I can put in the metal. I wanted a good seal for the metal when I installed it against the frame. I did a bead of Liquid nails on the inside for holding power and a bead of caulk on the outside edge of the frame for a seal.

The picture below it is kind of hard to make out. The faint brown bead is the liquid nails. The white bead is the caulk.



Next I put my metal in place and drilled a few holes and installed a few rivets just so it was held where I wanted it. Then I drilled all my holes and installed my rivets. I am now all out of rivets and need more to finish this door completely. For now it is good.



Inside.



After this we went around and flashed the top edge of all the metal on the inside where the windows used to be. This will insure a good seal and a vapor barrier.



We needed more foam insulation so we cleaned out the bus and took a drive to the local lumber yard and picked up 4 more sheets for insulating where all the windows used to be. Our total bill was $40.00.

Before installing the foam I applied liquid nails to the metal that the foam will be resting against. Again I hope that this will allow the metal to adhere to the foam and act as a sound deadened.

I cut all the pieces of foam about 1/16 larger then the actual opening size. This gave the foam a very tight fit.



I installed 2 boards of foam per window opening. This currently gives it and R-6 value. By the time the bus is done it should have an R-12 value where the windows were.

Here is the passengers side completed.



Here is the drivers side completed.



While I was doing this my wife was laying out a detailed floor plan. She used blue masking tape and placed it on the floor showing where everything will go.

I still have to finish prepping the bus for paint. That is the next big step. More to come soon.