1935 Chevy school bus

[ol trunt]

Hello All. Sort of a bitter sweet post today. This will be the first time I have been on vacation in a lot of years that I won't stand the chance of being called back to work in the middle of the trip. I've been part timing it for the last couple of years and now I am fully retired. During my last bike training I overheard a brother say :" He is a young man trapped in an old mans body" and I know he was right. Where did it all go? What did it mean? Its not that I don't have a plan "B"--but. The thieves and killers are still out there but I guess that will be someone elses problem now. What experiences have you had in the retirement arena, I'd like to know. Jack

[somewhereinusa]

What experiences have you had in the retirement arena, I'd like to know.

Best thing I've ever done, wish I could have done it 20 years ago. Due to the moon, stars and all of that stuff, I retired at 62. Well actually it was a truck with 1.5 million miles and me being sick and tired of the whole thing in general. I'm having a ball. I still can't seem to find enough time to get everything done. I'm doing the stuff around the house that didn't get done because I was gone all of the time. I work around the place in the mornings and work on the bus in the afternoons. I had been wanting to take square dance lessons for years, but was never home long enough. I go dancing two or three times a week. I have been dancing the last four nights and am going to another one tonight. I'm taking a granddaughter on a trip in the bus this weekend. Life is great

[tango]

Hey Jack --- I hate to be the one to break the news, but...you ain't retired bud. Nothing even like it. "Retired" is when you stop doing anything, whine a lot and sit around on yer ass and do nothing till your arteries go solid, then ya croak. I don't see any evidence at all of that going on where you are concerned. We may be old farts feeling like kids trapped in decaying bodies but as the Beatles used to say..."It's all in the mind, ya'know".

Hell, I never figured I'd live this long so I have zero regrets. A coupla' years ago, I had major cancer surgery and friends would ask..."how are you managing to stay so upbeat through all this?" My reply was..."We have a law here in Texas. They can't bury ya while yer still movin. So I just keep movin'."

Nuff said.

[splummer]

nicely put, i retired early last dec, cant belive its been 6 months, its the best thing i ever done,i think we all have differnt ideas what retirement is, its great to start and even finish a project, even tho i most likley wont see the end of mine, one thing iam learning is now i can take my time but still the daze arnt long enough. steve

[ol trunt]

Thank each of you for your thoughtful replies. I think I may have started this retirement thing on the right foot. We just got in from a week in Yosemete where I hiked and swam and read a couple of books and watched all kinds of people. I'm ready to jump back on the bus project so that it will be done in time for next Junes Yosemite--I even picked out a great camp spot along the river and will make reservations Monday. Get this, with the America the beautiful pass for seniors ($20 one time fee) the cost of a camp site is $2 per day! Sure beats the $220 a day it cost to stay in a little cabin this year! Jack

[tango]

Hey Jack --- if you found a great space at Yosemite, I hope you went ahead and made your reservation for next year. They fill up fast! And given the speed with which you work out/knock out major projects...I can definitely see you having it on the road by then. Go for it!

Me...if I ever get to drive mine during this lifetime I figure it will most likely have something to do with winning the SuperLotto.

Onward!

[ol trunt]

Hello All. Its been a busy week what with wiffy getting ready for an art show at the local art galery--I've tried to help by framing watercolors, assisting with the wall display and doing a bit of touchup paint work at the galery so the potential customers will study her art and not the grime and patches from other shows. All and all it looks great and it is fun to see her so excited!

I sort of picked up where I left off before vacation and have installed the A/C condenser and the drier. After several hours trying to figure out the computer controlled A/C wiring for the Isuzu, I decided I was wasting too much time if I plan to take the bus to Yosemite next June and I had better just start from scratch and wire the thing as if it was an aftermarket A/C. I figured I might as well complete the wiring for the power passenger seat, hood opener and heater at the same time and did. Because I had a little down time while the A/C hoses were being made up I decided to finish up the "false" step for the entrance to the bus. The step serves two purposes; it covers the hardware for the pneumatic door and gave me a place to store the relays for the hood and the remote cable to operate the hood. I still had more time so I did the repairs on the fold out step I acquired a few weeks ago and chucked it into the rust removal tank for the night. Jack

Paint stir stick mock up.[b/]

I decided to stick with the original diamond plate for the false floor--costly.

I stuffed the hood controls under the false floor.

Finished step. The as yet un repaired fold out step can be seen on the floor.

A/C condenser installed.

A/C drier installed.

[tango]

Hey Jack --- I like your approach on the step. If there ain't no room...make some! But all in all, following your build is depressing. I am so far behind it is making me crazy and it looks like it will be Fall before I can really get back to building anything. Maybe I'll see you at Yosemite sometime around 2025.

[Dusty]

Congratulations on your retirement I sure look forward to all the progress you will make with your already swift bus build

puts my progress to shame.

On the plus side , I've done several trips away in the slide on camper and its all been great.

Carry on regardless

[ol trunt]

Hello All. I spent a pleasant Fathers Day at an annual car show at the local marina. I took my '71 Chevy Suburban all decked out with its camp equiptment, set it all up and fed breakfast to several friends--it was fun. Monday I got back to the business of the bus and completed the installation of the folding step I spoke of earlier.

As is common with this build I jump from one project to another as need arises. I'm now back working on the genny. I had removed the muffler from the genny box in a successful attempt to bring the operating temp in the box down under 200 degrees F. Having allready spent a good deal of shower time thinking about what to do with the muffler, I fabed up new exhaust manifold complete with heat wrap and a flex tubing head pipe (carried in a section of 2" auto exhaust pipe) and various brackets to mount the original genny muffler on the bus frame. Both the manifold and the soon to be built exhaust pipe are made of 3/8" black pipe so are easy to weld. The exhaust pipe will travel from the mid chassis located muffler to the rear bumper. Since the muffler is of the baffled design I am considering adding a VW bug type glass pack at the end of the pipe as a resonator. According to what I have read, this combination seems to do the best job of quieting one cyl gas engines--we'll see. Jack

The black painted step almost disappears from view when it is folded in.[/b}

{b} This is the step folded out. It has a nifty adjustable support foot to add to its stability.

[ol trunt]

Hello All. Today I finished up the exhaust pipe for the genny which allowed me to try out the new thermocontrol I got a couple of months ago. I am using the TC to turn on and off an auxilary cooling fan which will help control the upper temp limits in the closed genny box. I set the device to maintain 69 degrees C (about 150 degrees F). I had previously installed two 190 degree F thermocouples which will shut the magnito down in the event that temp is reached. Today I added a third TC which shorts the fuse leading to the fuel pump if the temp reaches 190 degrees F on the engine block. I hope those safeguards along with only operating the genny while I am awake and present will ward off catastrophy. I still need to build the tail pipe to direct the exhaust out from under the bus. Jack

The exhaust pipe consists of two pipe unions, two short pipe sections and a length of flex exhaust pipe to allow for movement of the genny. The combined length of the exhaust pipe is contained in a length of automotive exhaust pipe.

This is a pic of the 3 TC's installed in the valley of the motor (where I had measured the greatest heat rise) just at the base of the cyl.

I set the TC to activate the aux fan at 69 degrees C.

The aux fan and the TC danced on/off and held the genny temp constant within one degree C. The temp of the air entering the cooling system was 80 degrees F. I'll give it another test on a hotter day--say 95 degrees F and see what happens.

[tango]

Hey Jack...yer makin' my head hurt with all the physics involved here!

[ol trunt]

Hello All, I spent some more time on the genny this week. I finished up the tail pipe and re set the T/C switch from 150 degrees F to 140 degrees as this seems to reduce the on-off cycles of the auxillary fan when the genny is running full speed and under load (A/C operating). It has been hot here so I took advantage of that and ran temp tests on the genny and its cooling system. The shop was hovering around 90 degrees F so I got a pretty good idea of how the genny/AC system works when it is hot. The A/C works just fine but the genny seems to produce more waste heat than I'd like to see--but I think it is OK.

I made up the sheet metal for the top of the cowl and finished it to primer. I still need to make the lower extensions of the cowl where nothing but rust existed when I started. Between the wood cab frame, the collection of dirt and moisture and nearly 80 years, there wasn't much left to work with. At least this way I'll have a chance to build what I need rather than making do with what I have.

Now that I'm back working on the front sheet metal again I decided to straighten out the front fenders and re-work the wheel opening before I try to install the rest of the front sheet metal. The pounding and cutting and fitting and welding will probably take some time but I am expecting to have something to show for my efforts in a week or ten days. Jack

The top of the cowl is in primmer and ready for paint.

I located the templates for the wheel opening changes I made up a while back and I am still happy with them.

I used the plasma cutter to rough out the filler panels for the wheel openings and will soon begin cutting and welding--too much fun!

[tango]

Hey Jack --- you are one multi-talented son-of-a-gun. And so far ahead of me it hurts. Right now, it doesn't look like I'll be able to spend any time actually doing anything noticeable until Fall. And the way you are rockin' along, I expect you'll be out driving around by then.

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango, would that that was true! At the rate I'm going I'll be lucky to be able to use the bus as a "tin tent" come June '14 in Yosemite. Other than the hood over the stove and the pop up for the bathroom, nothing has even been started on the conversion Jack