1935 Chevy school bus

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ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

I HATE changing oil. Every vehicle I own has the oil filter stashed in some out of the way place where tools can't reach and hands can't get a good grip on the canister. :banghead:

I did three on my back on the cold concrete oil changes today. Though I can't say I enjoyed the experience, I can say that I came away feeling a little smug at how well my home made "get-a-grip" on the oil filters worked. After the last round of filter changes I decided to prepare for the next round of changes by brushing a heavy later of latex paint on the replacement filters followed by the application of a coating of medium coarse sand. I was careful not to get sand in the filter. I let the paint dry over night and knocked the loose sand from the paint. Today was the test. Even with oily hands I was able to quickly install the filter and tighten it down snug with only one hand. I won't know until the next round of oil changes how well the rough surface will work for removal, but I expect it will be successful. The whole paint and sand process took less than a minute to complete.

I know that some mfg's use wrinkle paint on the end of their filters (Fram for one) but those never seem to be available when I need them and they never seem to be bargain priced. Jack

Image[b/]

Sand coated.
Image[b/]
Stealth Camper
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Stealth Camper »

Plus FRAM is a pretty crappy filter.... I use them when desperate for a "quick" change, then go back to WIX as soon as possible. And I just stay with the Cummins filter for the truck...
tango
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Great to see your "Cover Girl" getting the recognition she so rightfully deserves!
As for the sand on the filter...c'mon Jack...get e grip!
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Lostranger
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Lostranger »

Honeysuckle Rose looks marvelous on the cover of February's Bus Conversions Magazine. And to think that we got to watch it happen. Congratulations, Jack, on an honor that is well deserved. We're so proud.

Jim
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. I've been doing a little upkeep on Honeysuckle Rose these last few days in preparation for a long weekend camp out with a bunch of other bus nuts.

When I built Honeysuckle Rose, I didn't think having a 120 volt recptacle on the outside was very important--besides, it would have looked bad. I've since changed my mind so what would have taken minutes to install during the build took me most of the day. It sure will be handy to have 120 V available under the awning. Jack


First I had to find a spot where I dared cut a hole.Image[b/]

Next I had to face actually cutting a hole in a perfectly good panel. I primed around the cut. Image[b/]

Looks like I got the wiring hooked up correctly. Image.
LuckyChow
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by LuckyChow »

Good job Jack. After using one for a while, you find out what youd did wrong, lol. I use my outside outlet quite a bit. Usually for radio or fan or both.
Darryl
Smyrna GA
2000 Gillig Phantom
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. We spent an enjoyable weekend at a private camp ground called East Shore RV Park. The rv park is adjacent to Puddingstone reservoir in Southern California and is comprised of about 200 camp sites well spaced over rolling grassy hills with the lake as the backdrop. The lake is used for fishing, "Ski-doos" and water sports. More than 20 buses and motor homes showed up.

We were lucky with the weather as the weatherman first predicted rain for Friday, and then for Saturday instead and then for Sunday, finally settling om Saturday night--all night. Couldn't get much better than that and we need the rain. Luck continued to hold when the Turbo hose separated from the intercooler as we climbed the coastal mountain pass ( an 8% grade) that gets us through LA. This was first noticed as a loud pop followed by a long whoosh of air and an engine speed of idle. We were able to pull off the fwy on a wide spot so I could reinstall the hose. The hose slips over a smooth cylinder and is fastened by a hose clamp. Since the tube is part of the cast aluminum intercooler, I'll try to talk my welder friend into welding a couple of blobs of Al at the spot where the manufacturer should have provided a cast lip to keep the hose from sliding off when under pressure.

Like the announcer on TV says, "But wait, there's more". I neglected to top off the propane tank prior to embarking resulting in an empty tank within minutes of firing up the stove. Our luck still held. The RV park provided propane refill services at your site and were just beginning their rounds! Since we sort of make a tradition of baking a fresh apple pie during our camp outs, I was especially pleased with the turn of events.

BWTM----While doing my "pre-flight" just before heading home, I discovered that the left rear directional light on the toad didn't work. Thanks to the joys of multiplex wiring on the bus, there are a total of 9 relays necessary to make the directional lights work on the toad. To shorten the story, 2 relays serve to increase the current to the directional lamps in the toad and one of those had failed. I found a way to bypass the faulty relay and that gave me a functioning (though dim) directional to drive home with. Jack

Our camp site at the RV park
Image.

When I got home I opened the bad relay. You can see where the contact has eroded away with use until no current could flow.
Image.

Since I didn't want to cut any wires, I spliced around the bad relay by using a 25 amp fuse as a way to temporally splice the wires.
Image.
Mark R. Obtinario
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Mark R. Obtinario »

That was an interesting work around to get home.

I have been wondering how well multiplexing would work in a conversion.

I know on new buses when the dealer installs options it can be a real challenge to know where to splice in a power connection for new stuff. In the past it was a matter of just hooking onto an unused post on the accessory panel. With multiplexing if you do that you change the value of the amount of juice on that circuit and you mess up everything that was on that circuit.

It also means that if a switch goes bad you can't pick up any old Cole Hersee or Napa switch to replace the bad switch. You have to go to the dealer and get the specific switch. The switch to the rear heater will work in any position. If you don't get a switch with the correct built in impedence for the rear heater the rear heater won't work and you might turn something else on or turn everything else off.

I like old school mostly because I know it.

Since you built everything on your bus you should know not only how it was designed but how it was put together.

I doubt I would have known where to start to look for the problem.
tango
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack...looks like you also narrowly missed having a fire to add to the list. Glad to hear it all ended well. Now for some more pie.
LuckyChow
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by LuckyChow »

I have to agree with Tango. That's the worst burned relay I've seen in a bus.
Darryl
Smyrna GA
2000 Gillig Phantom
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. Breaking news! Well, not really, just brake news. While Honeysuckle Rose stops on a dime when fully loaded, she is a bit hard pressed to preform when attached to Clarence the nearly 3000# Toad. Would the exhaust brake work all the way to a complete stop, all would be well. Unfortunately, the exhaust brake releases at 30 mph leaving the hydraulic system alone to complete the job----poorly. I hate ending up half way through an intersection!

Enter ebay. I bought an "Easy Brake" to add to the toad--it didn't work at all so I sent it back. Next I bought a Blue Ox "brake buddy" and it sort of worked but wouldn't ever develop enough air pressure to allow the pump to shut off. It did, however, work in all other aspects. Since I have a compressor on the bus I decided to use it to operate the Blue Ox on the Toad. I ran an air line to the rear of the bus and installed a quick connect that routes air pressure to the toad. With the help of a one way valve and a pressure regulator, it was pretty straight forward substituting pump pressure with bus air pressure to the Blue Ox. All of the normalization and test procedures for the Ox worked perfectly so I am hopeful that the brake unit will work properly when I get a chance to try it out next Saturday--we'll see. Jack

I replaced all the air lines in the Blue Ox as several seemed a bit brittle. Image. [b/]

I brought the bus air into the Toad's cabin through the floor beneith the drivers seat along with a pressure regulator and a one way valve. Image. [b/]

The Blue Ox sits in front of the driver's seat and uses a pneumatic ram to push the Toad's brake pedal down via a signal from a decel-sensor. Image[b/]

The unit transmits a signal to a receiver in the bus which illuminates when the Toad brake is energized. The receiver is now mounted on the dash. Image[b/]
Mark R. Obtinario
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Mark R. Obtinario »

Nice setup.

I hope you are taking the air supply for the toad from an air source that does not deplete the air for the service brakes on the bus. To do so could put you in serious trouble with the Feds if they should ever inspect your rig.

I forget what sort of braking system you have on your bus.

If you have air brakes you should have a wet tank, a front take, and a rear tank. If you have any air accessories like an air ride driver's seat it should be getting air from a fourth tank. Air for the toad's braking system should be coming from the fourth tank.

If for whatever reason you get a leak in the fourth tank it should have a one-way valve between it and the wet tank so that it won't deplete the air in any of the other tanks. It should also be plumbed in such a way that it doesn't start to build pressure until the front and rear tank have at least 60 PSI.

If you don't have air brakes, not a problem.

Again, nice set up.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Thanks Mark and all good points. I don't have air brakes so all the compressor serves is the door actuator and now the toad's brake buddy. Both the door actuator and the brake buddy have their own tanks with one way valves. You can see the tank for the brake buddy in the first picture above. I'm toying with the idea of putting an air pressure gauge on the dash so i can keep an eye on the pressure in the main tank. Jack
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

I took the bus and the toad on a test drive today to see if the Blue Ox actually worked. It works as advertised with the toad brakes applying along with the bus brakes above 35 mph. The toad brakes stay applied as long as the bus brakes are applied all the way to a stop. The transmitter lights the signal lamp on the dash of the bus when the toad's brakes are applied.

With the B Ox sensitivity at the most sensitive setting and the air pressure set at 75 out of 85#s, a quick jab of the bus brake at speeds below 35 mph seems to fool the motion detector in the unit into applying the brakes just as it does at speeds above 35 mph. While I can feel the toad tugging at the bus when the Blue Ox kicks in, it doesn't seem to be locking up the brakes on the toad--just giving that little assist I was hoping for. Jack
tango
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack --- Nice fix. Like having trailer brakes. Makes steep down hills a little less scary.
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