[tcb] Re: My bus ain't ready yet, but it's close

From: "Gerald V. Livingston II" <gvl2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 06:12:46 -0500 (Central Standard Time)
I was going to break this into a "proper" reply, mixing my replies in with
your points but it's really just a "roadmap" of my plans for the '74 and
didn't want to go together that way no matter how I tried.

Your complete message is included at the bottom so those who wish can refer
to it more easily (or at all if they don't keep old messages forever like
me <grin>).

Oh, and don't be put off by the tone and length. It doesn't happen often. I
don't think anyone here has been around on any of the other lists I'm on
long enough to have caught me in one of my "moods". The Buskatiers have
gotten some serious novel length emails over the last couple of years. No,
I'm not drunk, just overflowing with energy at the moment and it seems to
leak out on the keyboard.

1. No buckets of cash here. That $950 he quoted you would take some serious
thought before I let go of it. The $1500 wouldn't fly at all without months
of advance planning.

2. Also no wife, roomates, or anything else. I did the wife thing once and
it disagreed with me. Now that I'm old and really Fugly I don't think I
have to worry about accidentally catching another one.

(a. Before any of you who have lived more years than I jump in about the
"old" comment --- "OLD" is a state of mind in any given endeavor. My VW's
make me feel pretty young. Spent the day today {before the weather
interrupted} helping Kyle pull the engine out of the '70 we bought. Put in
the back of my truck and while he was pulling the fuel tank I hauled the
engine to my storage unit and unloaded it myself. The idea of dating and
trying to "meet someone" just flat wears me out though. First, my list of
qualifications is pretty tight. Second, I really am fugly -- I pretty much
scare off anyone who might otherwise make the cut. <grin>)

(b. It's a JOKE people. I know there are a LOT of happily married couples
out there who have been together for-freaking-ever.)

3. Skipping to the bottom. Any vehicle I own is intended to be driven.
Regardless of how pristine the paint job and body work are. Scratches and
dents are part of the driving experience. If some show judge dings me for a
scratch and ignores the work that went into the vehicle "pre-scratch" then
I didn't want their dang trophy anyway. Actually, I tend toi go to shows --
pay the entry fees to support the event -- and not put my vehicle in the
staging area. I'll take pictures the day it's done then drive it through
dense brush and trees to check out a swimming hole the next -- scratches be
damned. 

Now, on to the '74. When I decided to do a "ground up" refurb (not restore,
not much to be left "original") I did a "head sketch" of my Plan Of Attack.
I left it in my head because, as everyone knows, shit happens.

This is my POA.

1. Gut and strip to rolling shell. Mostly done at this point. I have yet to
pull the engine/tranny because I'm sort of out of space to store them.

2. Remove all wiring -- once again, mostly done. Only the main loom that
attaches to the engine remains (because I need to get  the engine out of
the way).

3. Pick a sunny day and start pressure washing at sunrise. Top, bottom,
inside, and out. Showroom clean. Leave it out in the Texas sun to dry.

4. Start chemical stripping the entire shell. One section at a time.
Rattlecan or brush prime each section with a single coat only to protect
from flash rust. Use one color for "good metal", a second color to mark
spots that will need further de-rusting attention, and a third color to
mark spots that will need serious attention and possibly a welder's
assistance. I plan to use the cheapest sealing primer I can find because it
will be coming back off before final painting.

5. Take care of the rust and welding. Intentionally vague because I won't
know what's needed until I strip it.

6. Prime it properly. Good multi stage sealing primer that can serve as a
topcoat for an extended period.

7. Frame and rolling works repair and paint. Replace brakes front to back.
Refurb and POR front beam. Raise rear one or two notches. POR entire
undercarriage. 

8. Investigate routing for wiring conduit (read further down) and possibly
go ahead and install/POR conduit. Investigate other possible mods. 

  Once again, a vague section. "Possible mods". I have no idea what that
might be. At this point it will look like a new bus. No rust, no dents,
nice (gray) paint. One I know of is -- back at step 5 I intend to have all
of the lighting holes welded up. I'm going to go with LED lighting
externally. So, at this point I'll probably be deciding on the lights and
marking/cutting the holes for them.

  Other than that -- I intend for this bus to stay useful. As I said, I
drive my vehicles. It's a '74 hardtop. I may want to haul all my buddies to
a ball game one day, then yank the seats and haul a load of lumber or rocks
the next, and load up the Westy tent and go camping that weekend. So, no
rad lowering or raising. No major visible body mods or cuts. I'll be
looking at a bare shell so ideas like looking for a place to put extra fuel
or a permanent potable water tank keep popping into my head. I thought aout
building a 2" raised deck in the cargo/rear seat area and custom welding a
plastic water tank under it. Working with rough numbers if the cargo floor
is 3'x3' square and there's room for a 1.5" tank under the raised floor
that would allow for about 8 gallons of water (36*36*1.5 = 1944 c.inches
1944/1728 = 1.125 c.feet 1.125*7.48 = 8.45 gal). I'm pretty sure it's bigger
than 3' wide so....

9. Once I'm done playing with the bare shell (and re-primering as
necessary) I'll want the base coat of paint shot. I keep changing my mind
about the color -- hopefully I'll settle by then.

10. Next I'll Dynamat (or equivalent) EVERYTHING. When I'm done I should be
able to drive it without putting the glass back in and hear nothing but
silence. Well... maybe not quite that good, but you get the idea. 

11. Rewire to my specs. I was a marine electrician for 10 years. No fuses
-- DC breakers instead. All connectors soldered to the wires. The fewest
possible number of spade type connectors -- everything should be bolt down
with wing nuts and lockwashers. All wire sizes increased by one step,
16=14, 12=10, etc. Battery attached to positive and negative buss bars in
the rear -- heavy guage pos and neg wires run to front and attached to buss
bars there. Very little use of body/frame for ground connections, anything
that needs a ground will have a wire run to one of the buss bars. If
something goes out it won't be because of a dirty ground or badly crimped
connector. 

12. Replace the interior. Here's another place it breaks down because it's
so far off.  I have no idea what I'm going to do inside the bus -- but
here's the spot where I'll do it.

13. Repair and repaint any damage done while running wires and jacking with
the interior. Finish whatever I decided to do with the paint and add the
clearcoat. 

14. Add glass, tranny, engine.

15 Drive

16. Consider carefully if I feel energetic to undertake the same sort of
job on the '73 Riviera.

It's steps 5, 6, 7, and 9 that I would consider farming out for the right
price. I have no welding experience and I'm not sure I want to try to set
up a proper paint booth.

Anyway, I've been at this 2 or 3 hours now and if the weather holds out I'm
supposed to meet Kyle to try to finish the engine/fuel tank swap about 5
hours from now.

Gerald

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 14:21:21 -0700 (PDT) Dennnis Dosdon <dld@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I thought of this after I sent the last letter. If you are  thinking
> about taking your bus down to bare metal, DON'T. 
> 
> The bare steel will rust amazingly fast. If it does rust it will pit the
> steel and you will have to sand more steel off and that is tiring so you
> will go to your machines and will wear the steel too thin and heat it
> too much and it will get wavy. Also as you do remove all the paint you
> will find spots that you will need to repair before you can move on. If
> you go to bare metal you have to clean it incredibly well using acids
> and lots of clean water,and then you need to prime it almost
> immediately. If you are set up with your compressor and paints and gun
> to prime, then you are really ready to shoot it with color. Of course
> after you shoot the first color then you will need to color/wet sand it
> and shoot on the second color and then you will be ready for the clear
> coat. 
> 
> But by then you will be unemployed because you didn't go to work for a
> month, divorced because you spent all your time in the garage so your
> kids call you "Uncle Daddy" and you look like hell, and broke because
> you have spent all the money that you have and maxed your credit cards
> to buy tools and materials you may never use again.
> 
> So, unless you have buckets of cash, an unbelievably understanding wife
> (I do) and all the time in the world, don't even start.
> 
> If you do go through the whole experience and survive it you will have
> incredible pride as people admire it and you can say that you did it all
> yourself. If you do it right and spend even more money and time than me
> it will not start to come apart after four years as mine did. 
> 
> No matter how careful you are, you will get a stone chip in the front or
> a small dent in the rear corner and it will tear your heart out.
> 
> Save your pennies and put your bus in the hands of a good shop.
References:
- [tcb] Re: My bus ain't ready yet, but it's close
  - From: Dennnis Dosdon
[tcb] Re: My bus ain't ready yet, but it's close

Other related posts:
