1935 Chevy school bus

Discussions about all things to do with buses, trucks, and the homes made within them.

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ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All, Too much fun! I spent the day welding up "temporary stuff" and fabricating a pair of cowl spreaders (the cowl isn't wide enough to cover the steering column as it heads for the steering gear so I decided to force the fit a bit by widening the bottom of the cowl. I'll probably have to tweak the hood flaps a bit but OH WELL).

Lostranger, how is that door doing I take it you got to play with your bus this weekend so I am waiting expectantly for your post.

Tango, Thanks for your replies. For some reason there seems to be a bit of a lag posting your comments so if my response to you seems a little nutty its probably not entirely due to my various conditions-HA!-or maybe it is? You two wire people make me sick (just kiddin). I sure do have a ton of wire to stuff somewhere. You asked how far I had to move the fire wall so I measured it. 9". That leaves 5" of the original foot well so I am thankful that the Chevy W3500 came with cruise control! The brake and gas feel normal--its just that there isn't any stretch room for the left foot. But then as I recall, The Chevy (Isuzu) didn't have any more room and they sold a zillion of them so I'll probably get used to it. Jack
tango

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Mornin' Jack --- Sounds like you had to do a bit more cutting than I hope to encounter. Right now it looks like I can leave the firewall where it is but just cut a big relief in the center then doghouse it in. But it sounds like your arrangement might actually improve security a bit. Seems only thieves with a 9-1/2 D or smaller foot could drive it away. And we all know that professional bus thieves have an average shoe size of 13 EEE.

And Roger the "Lag" thing here. Gets confusing. Guess they must have had nightmares with spammers if they had to build in all the security doo-dads that slow down the postings.

I'm buying a 195" rolling Chevy bus frame here today, mostly for spare parts (front & rear axles, 6 wheels, springs, hangers, drive shafts, etc.). Hoping beyond hope that the rear end might be one of the extremely rare 5.43's but not holding my breath. Whad'ya expect for a hundred bucks? Did find a new radiator frame with all the bolt holes in tact and hope to be able to spend some quality time with my girl here sometime soon (haven't even seen her for 2-1/2 months!). Finally wrapping up seven months worth of working around the clock on a commission project this week. Man...I am totally whipped. Will sleep a few days then back on the bus. Hardest part will be remembering where the heck I left off on the 218 different things I had going at once. At my age, that's tough enough the next day.

Now, what did I come into this room for...???...
tango

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Lag Indeed! What's the deal? Let's see...I posted one comment back about 3 days ago and it's still not there. Today is Thursday, the 14th. Let's see how long this one takes. Love the forum but this is just wacky.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. I can't believe another week has gone by. The metal work on the cowl is now finished. Its been primed on the engine side and awaits sound mat and heat shielding on the inside. No problems getting the steering column and the brake pedal to fit but it took most of a day to get the fly by wire gas pedal to fit and feel right.

The last couple of days were spent making brackets etc. for the '35 Chevy dash. Superior (the bus body folks) built a one body-fits-all unit and then hung whoever's dash in front of the driver. I'm OK with that but I wanted to leave a little room between the Chevy dash and the front of the bus body as a route for a defroster air so this made bracket design a little tougher (every one must have frozen on this bus as it did not have a heater/defroster when built!).

The Chevy dash from the donor truck was held in place by 4 carriage bolts through its wooden body frame. I'm going to use 4 hex cap screws through the same holes to remount the dash in the Superior body. This will allow me easy access to the jumble of wiring that has to go behind the dash. I hope to make a false instrument cluster using the original Chevy dials which will cover the late model W3500 quadrant when the bus is parked. I hope to fool at least a few people and the original gauges are real cool looking--like something from a steam locomotive. Jack

Engine side of the fire wall.Image

Passenger side of the fire wall showing the W3500 instrument cluster mounted on its brackets. Image

1935 Chevy dash mounted on front of bus body. The gold colored studs will be replaced with stainless cap screws. Image[/b
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stuartcnz
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by stuartcnz »

tango wrote:Lag Indeed! What's the deal? Let's see...I posted one comment back about 3 days ago and it's still not there. Today is Thursday, the 14th. Let's see how long this one takes. Love the forum but this is just wacky.
Tango, the reason for the delay, is that you are posting as a guest. All guest posts are moderated these days, due to the amount of spam we get. But at least we do still allow guest posting, even though it is restricted.

If you join the forum, though, the posts go straight through. Just make sure you set the time zone to where you are, so I don't think it is a spam registration, as I do check against IP.
tango88

Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango88 »

Well Dangnabbit! --- I thought I had registered but you were correct sir. NOW I'm official. Too many forums, so little time.

Tuesday morning I'll be following the commission I've been working on for the last seven months up to Dallas for the installation. Whoopie-Ti-Yi Yo...done! Finally I'll be able to put a little time in on my bus. Got a lot of catching up to do. Meanwhile, I have been living vicariously through your build. Thanks Jack...it keeps me inspired. And that Carcajou rig has me re-thinking the possibility of a trolly top. Not sure yet, but I do like the idea of a little more headroom. But I'd just cut & weld it fixed...no pop-up. That's more than I want to take on right now. Maybe a couple of little windows...maybe? But the first order of business will be installing the new engine & tranny. That will likely take up what little of the Summer I can apply to this project. About 5 or 6 weeks are already committed to teaching a couple of sculpting classes around the country so there's only so much Summer left. I just want to keep things moving. Well...that's a lie. I want this damned thing done and rollin' down the road!

Can't wait to see your "woodie" dash. Still cogitating on what to do with mine. Maybe spun aluminum???

Onward!
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. I spent the day setting up my rust removal bath so I could clean up some surface rust that developed on my '35 Chevy body parts during the 2 years since the first treatment. I won't go into great detail becaust the science behind electyolytic rust removal is well documented on the internet. I'll just mention that there are 2 kinds of rust we restorers must deal with. The first is black rust which can be "converted" with acid (Rustmort and the like) and the second type of rust is red rust--the stuff that makes brown pie crust out of our parts. It is this red rust that the electrolytic treatment changes back into black rust.

MAGIC!--and no labor! All you need is a 2 amp 12 volt battery charger, a used fiberglass hot tub (free on Craigs List), some clean steel scrap metal to line the perimeter of the tub (parts to be treated go in the center of the tub not touching the scrap metal), about 100 gal of tap water and a box of baking soda to dump in the water. Be sure to connect the negative lead from the charger to the part to be treated and the positive to the scrap metal.

Now for the hard part--watching the MAGIC. The originally clear water will over a few hours develope a redish brown layer on its surface and you will see small bubbles in the brew--they contain free hydrogen so the set up should be in a ventilated area. I've tried to capture the hydrogen to play with but have had no luck--maybe you'll get lucky and blow up the garage :lol:

12 hours seems to be long enough to convert red to black if the rust isn't pie crust yet--longer if it is. Scrub the part with water and a stainless steel brush and dry it throughly (I use a heat gun) and then treat with Rustmort or something. The treated black rust can be painted just like fresh steel. I have had no problem with those pesky little "rust worms" that seem to show up in the paint job a few months after a conventional sand and paint paint job.

Fresh tub. Note that the water/baking soda is clear.Image

The tub begins to look like a delicious pot of chilli after a few hours---mmmm, and lets you know things are working.Image

I should mention that the water in the tub will become clear again after the charger is disconnected and the tub is left to sit for a couple of days. At that point the clear water can be disposed of and the slag at the bottom of the tub allowed to dry at which point it can be disposed of. Jack
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Lostranger
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Lostranger »

Hey Jack, Your work looks great, as usual. Sorry to keep you waiting on my report, but I've had demands on my time. Also, getting the engineering right on the door frame mount has been difficult. I've updated that thread today. This week I'll be working to get the entryway in useable condition and get the floor extension framed.

Keep the good stuff coming.

The Lost Ranger
"Who was that masked man?"
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. I pulled the cowl out of the rust removal tank and treated it with Rustmort. I did the same with the original firewall and today fabed up the front of the cowl as needed to deal with the engine etc. Now I can weld the whole thing to the bus body which will then allow me to finalize the dash insulation, wiring and steering column oh boy. Although I neglected to take a pic, I did my usual cardboard mock up of the part I planed to make, transfered the info and started cutting. Jack

By the time I thought to take a pic I had made my first cut on the original firewall. Image


Test fit. I don't know what I'd do without masking tape to hold stuff together. Image

All welded up and ready for metal glaze and paint.Image
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somewhereinusa
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by somewhereinusa »

Jack you are truly an inspiration to us all. I am always amazed at both your ideas and the speed that you carry them out.
:)
tango
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack --- you are really rockin' along. Is the "metal glaze" you are talking about from "Evercoat"? If so, how do you like it? I'm shopping some fillers myself but don't have any real experience with them.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. Not much to show for the days work today. I finished up the home made "Dyna Mat" on the fire wall and installed the 5/8 " thick rubber gym floor mat that I use for sound suppression. The rest of the day was spent lifting the floppy four piece hood on and off the engine compartment trying to figure out how to get all that motor to fit under that tiny front sheet metal--exhausting.

Hey Tango. Evercoat is the one. Although I have seen metal glaze used as a body filler it is not meant to go on that thick (but then I've also seen Bondo "extended" with flour). Its best use is for filling heavy sanding scratches and the inevitable pin holes in Bondo type products. I find that a light coat of metal glaze usually makes the use of catalyzed primer unnecessary allowing me to use lacquer primer which is easier to sand and about 1/10 the cost. Speaking of sanding, metal coat sands very easily and feather edges better than anything else I have used. Like all resin based materials you do have to sand through the sticky surface that usually appears during curing--once that is done the rest of the sanding is easy. Sometimes, contours allowing, I scrape off the sticky film with a single edge razor. This technique allows me to push the work faster as well. Properly mixed metal coat kicks off very fast so you will want to be ready to spread it without delay. I mix about 1/3 the amount I think I'll be using and go from there. Jack
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stuartcnz
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by stuartcnz »

ol trunt wrote:Like all resin based materials you do have to sand through the sticky surface that usually appears during curing--once that is done the rest of the sanding is easy. Sometimes, contours allowing, I scrape off the sticky film with a single edge razor. This technique allows me to push the work faster as well. Properly mixed metal coat kicks off very fast so you will want to be ready to spread it without delay. I mix about 1/3 the amount I think I'll be using and go from there. Jack
If it is an epoxy based resin, the sticky residue is amine blush, which can be washed off with warm soapy water and a scotch brite pad.
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Stuart --- Great trick...thanks for sharing!
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. I got the wire harness installed in the dash today. I'll have to lengthen 12 wires to allow the cruise control switches to be convenient to the driver otherwise the install went smothly. I made up the front floorboard including its 5/8" thick rubber sound supressor plus an inch of aluminum clad closed cell foam insulation. The floorboard is removable to give "easy" access to the trany and starter motor.

Wiring installed. Image

Floorboard waiting while the mastic cures. Image

Playing with the hood. Image
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