Grace 3 - Repaint then Road Trip

[Sharkey]

This is the third installment in an ongoing photo essay detailing the history of Prakash's bus Grace.

The previous installments are:

The Early Years
Room Addition

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Photo 11:

July, 1979, Prakash brought Grace to the 40 acre property where I was living to do some repairs and repaint in preparation for some extensive touring he was planning on doing.

This is one of the 'before' photos, showing off the nicely painted rear rafter with the variety of hand-made bells hanging from hooks. I seem to remember that Prakash painted over the vines and flowers on the beam.


Photo 12:

Front view of the bus before repainting. Prakash had already installed an extension to the bus' frame to allow him to carry his full-sized, twin-cylinder BMW R-69 motorcycle on the front bumper. A ramp allowed the bike to be driven up, and a set of welded brackets held it in place after a special travel frame was lowered over the bike's seat. Understandably, the steering on the bus required a bit more effort with the additional 450 pounds on the front axle. Auxiliary headights and turn signals were mounted to the top of the fender to allow them to be exposed above the cycle.

Photo 13:


Other projects for this visit included some roof repairs, dry rot repair, and installation of clearance lights at the roofline of the bus.

On the opposite side of Grace, you can see the body of my friend Paul's 1946 Dodge school bus. When he purchased it, there was a wooden roof extension which raised the roof along the center isle. After living in the bus for a couple of years, Paul decided to remove the extension, then cut the entire roof off of the bus at window level. He began installing vertical steel uprights, then, for some unexplained reason, he moved to New York for two years, leaving the bus, it's contents, oak flooring and stove exposed to the elements.


See how much Paul and his bus look alike??!!!

There's a couple of pictures in another part of the site showing him driving the bus away at last. It did eventually get finished...



More to come, but first I have to drag out the scanner, I just discovered a long-lost image of Grace after the painting.

[dadeo]

i really like grace, its one of the best, but i wonder; do you have any more pictures of Pauls bus?? its kinna cool with the caboose style raised roof.
-dadeo

[Sharkey]

Nope, those three are my entire stock of photos of Paul's '46. I wish I had my camera along some years back when I spotted it being lived in up on Turkey Run Road. Would have been fun to see what the new owners did after Paul enclosed it with a new roof and walls.

That roof extension was ~really~ heavy. We tried to disassemble it, but ended up removing the bolts that held it to the bus roof and pried it off the side with crowbars. It broke into a huge pile of splinters and nails when it hit the ground!

[dadeo]

heres another one with a kinna cabosse style raised centre:

looks a little lighter

[Sharkey]

Uhhh, let's see, back on-topic:

Photo 14:

August, 1979. The painting nears completion. This photo needed a lot of Photoshop help, but it looks pretty close to reality as far as color balance. The camera lens is making the deck columns look angled, they are really straight up-and-down.

The lower fields of the bus are more green than the old blue was. Still waiting to paint the Thunder Chickens on, but otherwise, mostly finished.

Note the long rectangular fixture on the roof. More about this in the next couple of photos. The two guys standing in the left of the frame are me and Prakash, left-to-right. The young lady in the foreground is Kymry, and she has a teen-aged son now! How's that for making a body feel old?

Also visible is my $80 1960 Rambler Classic sataion wagon that I bought from a wrecking yard. I drove daily it for another eleven years, and on-and-off for five more after that. It recently went into the crusher over at the local pick-n-pull and will be showing up in a Harbor Freight near you as cheap China-made tools soon!

[Sharkey]

Photo 15:

Here's the reason for the rectangular fixtures in the photo in the post just above this one: Roof-top deck! This area is almost 8 x 8 feet and is accessed by way of the opening skylight in the front loft. The edges of the decking have socket holes drilled and a set of 2-3 foot high pipes slip into them as apron standards. Attached to the pipes is some canvas that encloses all four sides, making the deck completely private from sightlines from the ground. (Of course, for travel, the pipes and canvas are removed.)

Prakash said that the deck was one of the best features while on the road and being set up in camp. It provided a place for private sunning, reading, or yoga, was above most flying insects that buzzed about the ground looking for hosts to feed on, and provided a place to hide from the curious. He used to sit up there listening to people on the ground talking about the bus, looking for someone to ask for a tour of the inside.

[Sharkey]

And now, the Road Trip:

Photo 16:

After the repairs and repainting, Prakash took Grace on a trip through western Canada. Our window into that trip will be brief, as the only two photos I have are the one in the post above this showing the deck, and this one.

This shows what happens when you stop at a scenic overlook and try to spend a few minutes admiring the majesty of the Canadian Rockies. Two Greyhound tour buses pull up, unload a cargo of tourists, who, assuming that your custom land yacht is part of the tour, form a single file line at the front door and begin walking through.

Prakash did put out the donation plate for this, and made a good chunk of change towards gas and food for the rest of the trip.

Notice that nearly everyone in the photo is focused on the bus, or at least facing it's direction. The tourists could be in a theme park for all they care, ignoring the incrediable view of the mountains.

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Proceed directly to the next chapter: The Great Highway 1 Housetruck Race

[Kai]

I love the funky doors on both Prakash's and the rainbow bus. Any info on who/how built/to build those?

[ezrablu]

I'm guessing Dennis knows how to make doors like those....and uh...nice garden in the front window

[Bob]

The bus is such a thing of beauty! If I had arrived on the greyhound I would have become a stowaway on Grace! Is it just me or does it seem that the posts have all been about food lately? Nice to see some busses!

[ezrablu]

lol....ya, I was thinking the same thing yesterday, Bob. Funny how food brings people together....and dirty dishes runs them off