Dirt, rust, compressed air, 2 x 4s, and a pot of coffee
Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:54 pm
Well thank God the weather cooperated with a freakishly rare weather phenomenon known, I believe, as a "sunny day." For those of us in the Midwest, This is where the water stops falling from the sky and it gets really bright and blue--like in the pictures. Of course, not to panic, it is back to normal again today.
The main thrust of Colin's visit was, as planned, to really, really, attack any little rust spots or areas prone to rust. Our Bus is a So Cal Bus until '97 or so and is pretty solid--but since it turned 41 years on the road as of last December--there are some hidden (and not so hidden) issues starting to creep up.
I'm super glad Colin was here for this. His detailed knowledge of Bus construction and insight as to where they start rusting is pretty amazing.
Once the Bus was up on jack stands with all four wheels off, there was a lot of sleuthing and digging for loose caulk and brown flakes hiding in corners under caulk and undercoating. From there we used the sharp end of a metal shrinking body hammer to dig away the bad stuff until we got to good metal. All spots were treated with rust catalyzing primer and patched with RTV...larger ones patched with sheet metal.
Dang! Dang! Dang! I forgot to get a picture of Colin welding in sheet metal patches! He looked cool in my flame decorated welding mask!
We also used compressed air to blow, in my estimation, 7.34 thousand metric tons of dirt and old rust flakes out of places I didn't know existed...Chased this with rust killer/primer.
Dirt traps! Hidden dirt traps. They hold moisture against the metal in the most insidious places and plug up drain holes (most of which I didn't know were there). I recommend this service. I can prolly hold my own for an amateur on most cars and trucks when it comes to rust abatement--but there is SO MUCH hidden-double-metal-sandwich-strange-German-engineered-drain-hole-pocket-hollow-support stuff I didn't find by myself.
Of course it's not done...not in one day...but I know what to do and where to look. I hope to have this old thing pretty much clad against the tinworm by fall.
When I thought we were done for the day, he suggested we work on the doors a little. My Bus has been hit at some time and the doors are a bit hard to close. That's where the 2 X 4 frame shop came in. It took some doing but there is a huge improvement in the door workings now. Mostly, latches needed adjusted, but the passender side front door took some really thoughful bending with the lumber. And and a couple not so thoughtful bonzai-with-the-baby-sledge-into-the-lumber swings on my part. I did chip a chunk of old paint/Bondo...but no biggie.
My bad.
He also adjusted brakes, and fuel mixture just right, and we went for a double-clutching refresher test drive.
Look at cool computer program.
Eat hamburgers.
Visit a bit.
Then he rolled off to Montana.
It was a great day!
Rob
The main thrust of Colin's visit was, as planned, to really, really, attack any little rust spots or areas prone to rust. Our Bus is a So Cal Bus until '97 or so and is pretty solid--but since it turned 41 years on the road as of last December--there are some hidden (and not so hidden) issues starting to creep up.
I'm super glad Colin was here for this. His detailed knowledge of Bus construction and insight as to where they start rusting is pretty amazing.
Once the Bus was up on jack stands with all four wheels off, there was a lot of sleuthing and digging for loose caulk and brown flakes hiding in corners under caulk and undercoating. From there we used the sharp end of a metal shrinking body hammer to dig away the bad stuff until we got to good metal. All spots were treated with rust catalyzing primer and patched with RTV...larger ones patched with sheet metal.
Dang! Dang! Dang! I forgot to get a picture of Colin welding in sheet metal patches! He looked cool in my flame decorated welding mask!
We also used compressed air to blow, in my estimation, 7.34 thousand metric tons of dirt and old rust flakes out of places I didn't know existed...Chased this with rust killer/primer.
Dirt traps! Hidden dirt traps. They hold moisture against the metal in the most insidious places and plug up drain holes (most of which I didn't know were there). I recommend this service. I can prolly hold my own for an amateur on most cars and trucks when it comes to rust abatement--but there is SO MUCH hidden-double-metal-sandwich-strange-German-engineered-drain-hole-pocket-hollow-support stuff I didn't find by myself.
Of course it's not done...not in one day...but I know what to do and where to look. I hope to have this old thing pretty much clad against the tinworm by fall.
When I thought we were done for the day, he suggested we work on the doors a little. My Bus has been hit at some time and the doors are a bit hard to close. That's where the 2 X 4 frame shop came in. It took some doing but there is a huge improvement in the door workings now. Mostly, latches needed adjusted, but the passender side front door took some really thoughful bending with the lumber. And and a couple not so thoughtful bonzai-with-the-baby-sledge-into-the-lumber swings on my part. I did chip a chunk of old paint/Bondo...but no biggie.
My bad.
He also adjusted brakes, and fuel mixture just right, and we went for a double-clutching refresher test drive.
Look at cool computer program.
Eat hamburgers.
Visit a bit.
Then he rolled off to Montana.
It was a great day!
Rob
