Dusty's Bus

[Dusty]

With everything in such close quarters I am curious about residual heat, partlcularly with the exhaust so close to your feet.

Yeah, you and me both Mark.

I have made some heat shields to deflect some heat and am also relying a lot on the large engine cooling fan to shift enough air to aid in cooling that area.

We will see how it goes in due course.

[Mark R. Obtinario]

I think I would be investing in some sort of insulation that is designed for engine compartments. Otherwise long trips could see you melting your shoes.

[Dusty]

Oh yes , there is some expensive insulation as part of the engine cover and adjacent floor and foot well

[Dusty]

I have been very slow with progress lately other stuff just seems to keep getting a higher priority

I have not had a holiday for a long time and I'm feeling the need, actually , I'm bustin to get away.

I had a brain wave last week . An "Oh Wow ..... why didn't I think of that a year ago" moment .

A friend had a '37 Chev pickup he built a camper for , then that was transferred the the replacement '46 Chev. Now he has a '59 Chev Apache and the camper won't fit.

Yep , pretty obvious the action I was going to take

[Dusty]

It fits pretty good , eh

[Dusty]

My friend has a very strong interest in the north American Indian culture , so I made a couple of little leadlight windows for him , about 12 years ago, it's great to see they are still in lovely condition.





I wish I could remember the significance of each detail , but he specifically requested the canoe, horse , teepee, chief and head dress, eagle , sun and the web of life , and after all that (in windows that are only 14" x 5") I tried to make it a bit ethereal too. , So I am really pleased to get them back too.

[GoodClue]

Nice camper, nice glass work ... like the contemporary interpretation ... our Native American culture is usually tourist-ized, ignored, or marginallized ... guess that's what the winner's do ... I have friends wanting me to explore S. America and the Spanish architecture ... I prefer the pre-Columbian ... they still exist ... who knows? Very much like your projects and talents ... anxious to see more ... enjoy your vacation.

[splummer]

and take plenty of pics

[rocky]

Have really enjoyed going through all your pic,s Dusty. An inspiration for a lot of folks methinks..

[ol trunt]

Hey Dusty. I'm new here and just getting around to reading your entire post. Your work on the 58 Bedford is is most impressive. Your engineering and welding skills are exceptional! Fun to see a real pro's work.

I'm sure you have figured out the potential exhaust heat issue by now but I thought I'd mention motorcycle heat wrap. The material comes in rolls and loks sort of like heavy duty seat belt material. I built a tow behind for my as yet unfinished bus (Morris Minor Traveler woodie wagon on a 4X4 Geo Tracker frame) The exhaust came out right below the gas pedal heal pad and the floor was a hearty 250 degrees F! After wrapping the exhaust manifold and the head pipe with the motorcycle wrap the floor temp now maxes out at 100 degrees F. I bought the wrap at Pep Boys on line for something like fifty bucks. Hope this helps. Jack, AKA 'OL Trunt.

[Dusty]

Time flys by when you're having fun .......................................

Progress on the bus has been tiny, I'm a mug , I should really be getting stuck into it and finishing off the details (self flagellation in progress)

Instead

I've had a wee play with the truck , built a sway bar mount for the rear , adapted a sway bar from an old mercedes I have in the yard. Repositioned the rear shocks , adjusted the overload springs , all in an attempt to make the truck more stable when carrying the camper.

Mostly it's worked too , but the tyres were a let down. If you look at the first pics of the camper , you will see the truck has some standard LandCruiser 750/16 tyres and rims on the rear.

2 things about that , the side wall is just at it's comfortable limit under the load , so sway is still evident and also , NO HUBCAPS , lol , I really like the way the front looks , so stuff had to happen.

I got some original 15" artillery wheels (as on the front) and had a 16" rim adapted to them.

Then I had 245/75R16 tyres mounted. Great load capacity and excellent improvement in stability when loaded on the road.

Here is a before and after pic of the rims.



Then I have also stained the timber siding and sealed/painted the roof.

Cool, hubcaps all 'round now

[Dusty]

First things first .... unexpectedly, I was offered money for the unfinished VAS project .



So I took it.

Another lot of work I don't have to do ........... phew!

Secondly , the bus still is not finished

Never mind , I have the truck . The long weekend just passed was too good an opportunity to let go. The Southern Classic Trucks group were doing a trip to Wanaka , any one tag along.

The weather was amazing , gale Nor West , had me down to barely 20mph in places, then it snowed the next night , then the sun came out for a perfect day , very picturesque.

I got ....... nope , it was the truck , got swamped by tourists at several stops so I was late at several destinations along the route . Consequently I never got as far as Wanaka this time .
But the trip up the Waitaki River was great , battling into the head winds and trying to stay on the road , We drove up the north bank to Kurow , crossed the rickerty old bridge , just before it is removed as the new bridge is being built now. Then across Avimore dam and along the scenic route to Benmore , back onto the main road to Omarama.

Kurow bridge

[Dusty]

Pretty COOL line up at the Omarama service station , nope, they were not with me , just out doing their own thing.



I tucked up close to some trees as shelter from the still strong winds ,



Across the road the mountains looked good , in a stark sorta way,



10 minutes later ........



Closely followed by ......... Mountain weather eh.

[Dusty]

Woke up to a VERY crisp morning , so glad the camper is well insulated

[Dusty]

I helped a couple of young Belgium tourists in a nasty wee rental camper van get it going as they had left the lights on with the subsequent very dead battery as you would expect. They seemed grateful , tho I never got a hug LOL .....