1935 Chevy school bus

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tango

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack --- what is the plan for battery access? I've been lookin' at an all stainless, drop-down carrier since I'm, too lazy to fashion an access door.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hey splumer and Tango. Splumer, I found the "chat key and left a message--HELP. BTW, you must have one heck of a powerful blower to break a window!! Tango, you always hone in on the exact problem. I had originally thought about a drop down battery tray and even went as far as buying a HFelectric winch to raise and lower it. I decided that since I had to make a cover for the genny I might as well just make it a little wider and cover the batteries as well and forego the winch idea. I've run out several hundred gallons of hot water standing in the shower pondering the cover and will probably run through a couple of hundred more before I get it figured out :lol: I like the warerproof hinges used on many of the S&S but they are aluminum and I want stainless so I am still looking.

I seem to jump from one sub project to another and today I am back working on the generator because I now dare to finish the fuel and electrical hook-ups since the compressor, air tank, generator gas tank and seats are more or less figured out (these items all overlap each other spatially). Jack
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Lostranger
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Lostranger »

Hello ol trunt,

Now that we have internet service again, I'm enjoying your thread. Keep up the good work. My 1999 Gillig conversion is a somewhat different platform than you are working with, but I see that we are engaged in many similar issues. I'll be posting an update in the next couple days since I can do that now without having to go so elsewhere to join the web.

I do find it interesting that someone else has confessed to doing their best thinking in the shower. I find it a life-long habit. I've been known to spend hours wrestling with a thorny issue and go to bed disgusted, only to find the clear solution hovering in the steam of next morning's shower.

All the best with your bus and life.

The Lostranger

"Who was that masked man?"
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by splummer »

looking forward to see more pics of both buses, right now its only pics of my bus i can see, thanks to the snow,
just because you ride the bus , it doesnt make you a bus person
the bus stopped and i got on and thats how it all began
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. Lostranger and splummer, thanks for your interest! I managed to dislocate my left index finger today doing a favor for a friend so my typing is worse than usual-Ha. Lostranger, I just read your thread and am glad to see the progress on your ute--intenet and all 8) . No amount of shower water has solved the problem of putting solar panels on my round bus without messing up the "art decco" look so I'll probably do without but it does look like an interesting project.

I'm still working on the genny and it's remote wiring. I did get as far as starting it up today for a test run in it's "sound proof" drawer. While I am quite pleased with the noise level (not audable at 25 feet) I still have a ways to go with heat dissipation. I rigged the generator to shut down when its temp reached 184 degrees F and it did. I chose this temp baised on the heat range of the oil used in the genny which is 230 degrees F max. I ran my test using only one of the two fans available for cooling. Last night's shower produced the idea of moving the muffler out of the genny drawer and reinstalling it at the end of the flex exhaust pipe I have allready installed--that should eliminate a large part of the heat being trapped in the drawer and hopefully not increase the noise level. We'll see! Jack
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Lostranger »

Sorry to hear about the finger, Jack. Hope it heals quickly. Back in mid January, I caught my left index finger in a reciprocating saw. Not in the blade, in the mechanism. No long term damage, but it slowed me considerably.

On the topic of similar issues, I've spent a lot of time on my generator. It sat unused in my old motorhome for about five years. Took a good bit of effort to just get it running. I thought it was okay until I started using it to top the battery bank a couple weeks ago. When the MagnaSine inverter put a load on the genny, it was never able to hold a steady speed. I finally dug into the carburetor. It looks like this:

Image

Turns out that the generators of that era came with a slightly different carburetor than the other Kohler KT 17s. It was not a big deal but time consuming. I had to make a couple gaskets that the local Kohler dealer told me did not exist. Genny is running fine now, but it would sound better mounted in the bus.

Heat is not going to be an issue in that installation. The space over the engine held the original air handler. With it out of the way, I have unlimited air flow. I think this photo will show what I mean:

Image

This space is about 30" deep and the full width of the bus. The muffler takes some room on the left, and the air cleaner sits on the right wall. The middle area is open and most of the roof is open. All the heat should dissipate without problem. Sound, however, may be more of a problem. Our bedroom is on the other side of that wall, and right now it's just one layer of 3/4" plywood with with some sheet metal on most of the engine side. I have some ideas. We'll see if they work out.

I'm loving your bus. The old body is cool, and I'm a big fan of Isuzu diesels. My eventual generator will be powered by a four cylinder Isuzu out of a ThermoKing reefer. I can see why you would not want to mess up the look with panels on the roof, but for us, it's the only way to fly. One thing slowing me down on that end is that I refuse to drill through the roof unless absolutely necessary. Hope to soon have something to show on that front.

Good luck with the generator heat. Sounds like you're on the right track.

Jim in NC

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ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. I had a fine weekend bus wise. I talked with a friend who owns a muffler shop about what if any change would occur by moving the muffler out of the "sound proof" box and several feet away where heat would not be a problem. He felt it should work OK so I went ahead. Getting the muffler off the genny required a complete tear down of the genny--right down to removing it from its frame. After I got the muffler removed I built a new head pipe and hooked it up to the flex tailpipe I've mentioned before. I reassembled everything, slid the drawer back in and fired up the genny. What a suprise! Try to imagine the sound of a 22 cal machine gun and you will have an idea of what the genny sounded like without a muffler :lol: . After about two minutes of that racket I crawled under the bus and hooked up the muffler before the neighbors could complain.

By the end of the day today, with the tally of 4 relays,3 thermocouples and 2 fans I saw the temp of the genny box drop from around 200 degrees to a balmy 128 degrees and never had a shut down (184 degrees oil temp) even after 3 hours of continuous operation :D . In the economy mode while standing next to the genny you can't tell it is running. At full bore when the second fan kicks in you are aware of the sound of rushing air but no genny noise. With the muffler out of the "sound proof" box you can hear it up to about 30 ft. I'll have to build a box just for the muffler and see if I can improve this aspect. I'll post some none-to-clear pics. Jack

My first trial run showed over 160 degrees cooling air temp--and an oil temp of 184 degrees as the unit shut down. Image

Generator electronics remote mounted out of genny box. Image

I'll use the original control panel to operate the genny. I added a fuel gauge to the cluster. Image [/]

View of genny box before tear down.Image

View of genny with ducting removed. Image

Genny out of drawer and apart to remove muffler. Image

Muffler out, genny back in box and a huge drop in temp. Image
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Lostranger »

Looks good. I knew you'd sort it out. What's next?
tango

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack --- You've about convinced me to just hang my genny on the back bumper! :lol: Ain't it amazing how simple little ideas can somehow grow into major projects. You have way more engineering skills (and patience) than I possess. Keep up the good work bud.
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by rlaggren »

Maybe a significantly bigger muffler (or two) with heavier pipe would tame the thing.

Rufus
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. Nothing much to post pics of yet this week--maybe tommorrow. Once I got the leaks out of the exhaust system on my genny it is as quiet as it was before I built the box which is 53 dB. With the muffler in the genny drawer the noise level was down to 49dB thanks to the soundproofing. For those new to dB values that is a BIG reduction in noise. I'll just put the muffler in it's own soundproof box and I should be OK--we'll see. I did some reading on how mufflers work--pressure waves and all that sort of stuff and it seems the reason the one cylender engines are so hard to quiet down exhaust wise is in part due to the abrupt rise and fall in exhaust pressure in the systen that results in the slapping quality of the exhaust note. An exhaust pipe which is smaller in diameter helps keep the exhaust pressure more constant thus lessening the slapping note. I also learned that on the ultra silent gennys (Yamaha and Honda) the muffler is designed to cancel the sound present in the exhaust. I'm not really unhappy with the noise level of my Yamaha--I just want it even more quiet.

Tango, You will appreciate this. I've spent my free time this week mocking up the cowl and fire wall to accomodate the turbo diesel. I doubt that you need worry about detailing your original fire wall because if it is anything like my bus you won't be able to use it anyway unless your engine and tranny are way farther foreward than mine. Ha Ha. My TD has an extra "intercooler" across the rear of the engine which cools the exhaust being directed to the EGR valve and interferes with the original fire wall. Hope yours is different! Jack
tango

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Howdy Jack --- Sounds like progress to me. I just dropped off some parts at my warehouse this morning and it was the first time I've even seen the old gal in nearly three months! And no doubt my firewall is going to require some mods. I'm figuring on a small doghouse to accommodate the rear of the 4BT and the giant housing on the Allison. At least I'll be able to build in room for some nice, thick insulation. Just hope I wind up with room for my feet & pedals when its' all done.

And, speaking of pedals...I picked up a '40's vintage "Speed King" bass drum footboard a couple of months ago that I'm gonna' try to use for my accelerator. Really cool old design, and it even has "Speed King" in raised letters across the top! Given my motor and the age of the bus, I just can't decide whether that constitutes irony, sarcasm or just plain wishful thinking. Thought I was being so clever and original with that idea but just the other night I was at may usual watering hole and stopped to look over a really classic T-Bucket roadster parked out front and damned if it didn't have exactly the same pedal! Oh well, at least '46 Skoolies are rarer on the road here than Buckets.

Onward!
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All, Today was wiffy's bi-annual garage sale so I stuck close to the house to help and keep an eye on things. I even managed to sell a couple of electric tools that had been replaced but were still in satisfactory condition! Between rounds of "customers" I worked on fabricating the fire wall I spoke of yesterday. First I did a cardboard mock-up and then dragged out the plasma cutter and went to work on the sheet metal. I LOVE playing with metal and can hardly wait for morning to get back at it! I'll post a couple of pics of the progress. Jack

This is what the dash looked like before I began work on the fire wallImage

This is a view from the engine side less cowl. Image

Lightweight cardboard template with cowl. Image

20 gauge sheetmetal with pattern transfered.Image

First trial fit of sheetmetal. I'm sure there will be trimming to do but the brake pedal, gas pedal. steering and wires all seem to fit. Image
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Lostranger »

I love it, trunt. I hope to have an update on my door frame tomorrow night.
tango

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack --- I see what you mean about the cooler across the back. Nothing like that on my 4BT. It only has a charge air that will have to squeeze in front of the radiator. And since mine is an old "Two-Wire" motor, I also have a lot less of them to deal with. Hard to tell from the pix, but how far back did you have to move the firewall?

And I have to admit that like you...I like messin' with metal. Just wish I had your tools & skill! A plasma cutter would make for even more fun.
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