1935 Chevy school bus

[Lostranger]

Glad you folks enjoyed the Lake Mead event. We might try that someday as part of a big western trip. Would certainly beat the sub twenty degree temps we've been "enjoying" here.

I do like the roll up cupboards. Bus and toad look great as usual.

Check my thread when you get a chance and let me know what you think of Titebond tape. I've given up any thought of nails for the 1/4" plywood, but haven't picked an adhesive. I'll probably use the "Jack" method and try several before deciding.

Jim

[tango]

Sweeet! --- Thanks for the road report Jack. Everything looks awesome. Love the homemade tambour doors on the cabinets and the LED's appear to be very close to sunlight. Much better than the old yellow incandescent auto lamps or deathly green fluorescents. HR can hold her own in any company thanks to all the fine work you have done. I'd take her over any megabuck factory rig any day.

[somewhereinusa]

I'd take her over any megabuck factory rig any day.

[ol trunt]

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Remember to save some time today to post a few pics and a line or two about your favorite project. We couldn't find a local rv park with space open for the day so we decided to play "lets pretend" and have our roast chicken dinner in the bus, in the quiet of the garage and watch a movie Jack

[Lostranger]

Happy We decided to play "lets pretend" and have our roast chicken dinner in the bus, in the quiet of the garage and watch a movie Jack

I like it!

Since we eat most meals in the bus, it was a treat for us to go to youngest daughter's and eat in a house. The fact that the rest of the family was there — including all four grandchildren — was something of a bonus. Only one missing was son-in-law, Tyler. He's a professional musician, and the band he plays with is booked at the big Bluegrass festival in Myrtle Beach.

I cooked the turkey as I always do. I don't have a Dutch oven large enough for a whole bird, so I cut it in two and use two deep 14" ovens. New trick this year: I fired the big air compressor, ventilated every crevice of the Bosch jig saw, and cut the turkey in half in about a minute. What a pleasure that was compared to a hand saw. Looked like this:



Then like this:



Then like this:



Turned out kinda not bad. So did the stuffing, but I did not get a photo of the finished product:



Happy Thanksgiving to all. One of the things I'm thankful for is that I can see an end to insulation work, at least on walls and roof. The floor will be another chapter.

Jim

[ol trunt]

Can't resist asking, what did you use the Jiff PB on (next to the stuffing)? Just got off the phone with the kid who is enduring a stayed and quiet T-day with her inlaws. She just laughed when she heard what we were up to--I doubt she'll share the knowledge . So much for conformity. Jack

[Lostranger]

Arrrrrg! Jack, you've found me out! The secret ingredient in Hillbilly Stuffing is — Jiff!

(No other brand will work, by the way.)

Jim

[ol trunt]

Hello All. We are looking forward to a couple of days at a local KOA (50-60 miles away) for a belated T-day camp out. Wiffy found a small 300 watt rice cooker and a $7 toaster both of which will fit in the space originally assigned to only the rice cooker so we'll get to try those out. I've installed some magnetic strips to the edges of the bathroom entry to secure the edges of the shower curtain. Hopefully this will keep the cold air drafts from around our ankles when we shower.

The 10 day weather forecast is predicting rain for our last camping day. I guess I'll find out if (where) the bus leaks. My greatest concern is around the rear door. It lies at quite an angle and has a skimpy at best water diversion system. I'll take a wide roll of soft stick tape along just in case and a bunch of bath towels for sopping. Jack

[tango]

Aw C'mon Jack! --- I am confident that if any drips appear, you will MacGyver a watertight submarine seal out of some rubber tubing inflated by the steam from the new rice cooker...and get a tasty rice bowl in the process.

[Lostranger]

What Tango said!

[ol trunt]

Hello All. While it was nice to get away for a belated T-day, the trip wasn't without its frustrations. I've never stayed at a KOA campground before and I expect some are better than others. While the owners are busy pouring money into modular "cabins", they sure aren't spending much on maintenance. Our site did have full hook-ups but the sewer connection was oozing from its lid and the cable t/v line had been cut off and the asphalt paving dropped off almost 4" from the left side of the bus to the right side which led to a sleepless night with our heads lower than our feet. The place was pretty much filled with long term residents so changing spots wasn't an option. Oh well, any camping is better than no camping and the experience goaded me into figuring out a way to level the bus without hauling a bunch of lumber around.

To that end, I had acquired a set of leveling jacks from a smashed tent trailer and felt real smug that I'd gotten by so cheaply. Wrong! The jacks wouldn't even budge the bus . When we returned home I dragged out my China Freight port o power and gave it a try--it jacks the bus easily. I stripped the camper jacks down keeping only the articulating base and a short section of square tube. As luck would have it, the port o power ram fits snugly in the square tube and with a little creative welding I think I can make a hydrolic jacking system capable of raising the bus up about 5". I've done the calcs now and have a pretty good idea of which way to head. While I wait for 3 more cylinders to arrive I'll get the bases ready to install on the frame of the bus. Here are a couple of pics. More to follow. Jack

Pic of the camper jacks as I found them. They operate sort of like the old VW pipe jacks.
First mock-up after deleting the vertical locking notch and removing unwanted bits.

[tango]

Me Likee! --- What will you power the hydraulics off of Jack?

[ol trunt]

Hello All. First I'd like to wish you and yours a very happy and safe holiday season! We will be traveling a bit to see the kid and grand kids at the other grand parents house for Christmas. Its a real culinary experience (Scandinavian, Chinese and Japanese) as each tribe tries to out do the other and the results are delicious!

Well, the postman, AKA Santa, finally brought me the three hydrolic rams I ordered on E-bay. They are a Chinese knockoff of my original Chinese knockoff so I am glad I waited before building the leveling jacks. The new rams are the same diameter as the original (knockoff) but about 1/4" shorter. Fortunately, the stroke on both is the same. Anyway, I did a bunch of cutting and pasting and got the lifts completed. To start with I'll use the hand pump from the original port-o-power to operate the 4 jacks via a 4 gang valve system. Perhaps some day I'll run across a bargain on an air over or electric over hydrolic pump to replace the hand pump. Since I know without a doubt that given half a chance I'd drive off without lowering the jacks, I"ll install a warning horn which will sound should I start the bus engine with the jacks down. I did a test fit and run on one of the jacks. I raised the right front corner about 3" and then began hearing complaints from the body and stopped. I'm pretty sure that if I lift a bit here and a bit there the overall results will be acceptable. Jack

These pics show the finished jacks in what would be their up (stowed), down (ready for use) and back side.

This is a pic of the installed jack extended.

This is a pic of the installed jack retracted. I left 1/2" of clearance for irregular ground surface. Hopefully, that will be enough.

This pic shows what the jack looks like in its stowed position. The jack is held in this position by a coil spring.

[tango]

Excellent as always Jack --- And do have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy & prosperous New Year. Keep on Truckin'!

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

What a great little rig this is