| Author | Message | ||
| Johnny (63.159.192.187)
Rating: N/A |
Just wondering--mine would probably be discovering more and more hack-job "repairs" as I go along. So far: Dinky passcar oil filter. Trans low on oil & not changed in a LONG time. Ditto rear axle. Radiator has several pinched-off tubes & is loaded with corrosion. 5 bias-ply tires, 1 radial. "Spare tire" had no less than 4 nails in it, & was a different size. Also tread was down the cords in 2 places. Radio wired with household speaker wire (including the power lead). Right headlight had hi/low beams wired backwards (plug replaced). Battery "secured" with a rotted piece of cotton rope. Wrong battery. One window siliconed shut to stop a leak (which I must admit seems to work). More as I find them. | ||
| joe shelton (Littlewind) (67.241.228.45)
Rating: N/A |
the wife still can't find the off switch | ||
| Alan Baker (205.188.197.152)
Rating: N/A |
Arn't you the guy who got the bus for nothing? | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
My first bus's most cursing was caused by the removing of the seats. Every one had 4 non-plated carriage bolts way tooo long hanging down under and all rusted. They all had to be removed from the underside...I finally resorted to a cutting torch, but it was still a messy and frustrating job. My second (current) bus had no seats which was one of the main considerations in buying it... the curses on this one were/are mostly removing all the hacking that the seller had done in his beginnings of his turning it into motorhome, like crappy lineolium glued to crappy plywood which was drywall-screwed to the entire floor with the lineolium glue filling all the screwheads...and of course the plywood was totally covering ALL access hatches... and patching the giant hole he'd sabre-sawed into the side of the bus to mount a hotel room-style air conditioner (which he gave me for "free" ...whoopee-frigging-deal... he thought it was a super thing...didn't have a clue that it's a 277 volt unit!! totally worthless except maybe to suck the R-12 out of it...) Given his initial quality of work and amazing thoughtfulness in design, It was darned good for the bus (and anyone driving within 1000 feet of him) that he decided to quit early on and sell it. Fortunately my wife doesn't need an off switch... | ||
| Jack Conrad (Jackconrad) (204.193.117.66)
Rating: N/A |
Probably trying to remove that $^&#%% restroom. Finally used a sawzall, air chisel and torch. Jack | ||
| Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (216.67.216.89)
Rating: N/A |
Mine? Well, apart from removing the seats which came out easy except that they had to be stripped foam from steel, who knows why but that is what the salvage yard wanted. The fun was taking down the luggage racks by myself AFTER removing the seats, bad move, bigger distance for them to fall....LOL. The dreaded restroom was easy. I took out the top end and a friend of mine offered to play "destruction crew" and remove the tank.......LOL. He loves doing this sort of thing, must be a "toolman" thing. Whilst he was doing that I removed the a/c compressor and I took out the condensor, etc from that end. Peter. | ||
| Chris Christensen (164.165.217.254)
Rating: N/A |
For me.....was taking out the entire old 1/2" plywood floor due to a few soft (from window water leaks)spots. Thousands of bolts, all of them rusted, striped, sharp, hidden, you guys have seen it and know what I mean. Also after having the inside polyurethane spray foam insulation blown in I shaved it down myself. Must of sneezed shaved foam for a week !! And last but not least, removing the bus heating and AC units. Trying to get the massive units out without damaging anything that needed to remain. But now, as I sit inside the 80% finished unit, with the AC blowing and having a cool drink, it was all worth it. Sincerely, Chris Christensen in Idaho (finally made it Frank !!!) | ||
| FAST FRED (65.58.190.202) Rating: N/A |
I hate the sledgehammer methods , so unbolting the old heater core from the coach HVAC , and removing it was the worst knuckle buster. But I did wait an extra couple of years to find a 4106 with NO factory tiolet!! FAST FRED | ||
| Adame (129.82.227.66) Rating: N/A |
Air and Bondo where there used to be steel. | ||
| DaveD (206.47.98.152)
Rating: N/A |
Removing the old holding tank. I generally don't curse, but I knew where all the words would fit. DaveD | ||
| David Anderson (168.215.176.117) Rating: N/A |
bumping my head. I finally got a hardhat. Wife says I look like a lineman for Southwestern Bell ;) Hey lolly lolly, I hung it on the wall  | ||
| steve souza (Stevebnut) (24.91.90.28)
Rating: N/A |
mine was the old plywood floor. It was very dirty with soot and oil on the bottom. What i ended up doing was skill saw the plywood around the bolts and then used a pry bar to rip up the small pieces around the bolts. I then burned the bolts out of the frame with my plasma cutta. Steve | ||
| Scott Whitney (66.82.9.22) Rating: N/A |
Several months ago I had to cut my own hatch to get thru to the fuel check valve when it went belly up. After an hour of attempting positions only a professional contorsionist should be in, busting my knuckles and using several words not found in the Oxford, I decided to get out the cutter/grinder and cut myself an access hatch. 15 minutes later I had a new check valve in, and the engine was purring like a kitten again. Scott | ||
| Chad (206.215.137.195) Rating: N/A |
Not having enough free time to work on it. Chad | ||
| Emery Leraand (142.59.138.103)
Rating: N/A |
Finding that for some strange reason that every rusted away part was just covering up another rusted away part. Having to rent a shop to deal with our Calgary climate. On the third recip, now own three angle grinders and two welders. Will have the first essentially brand new 1958 Courier 96 on the road since 1959 someday damn itX%*##^@"&&, etc. Emery | ||
| Don KS/TX (64.24.4.152)
Rating: N/A |
HA! You kids don't know the meaning of disappointment! My low came after a bunch of work to get it back to roadworthy from installing caps and automatic transmission implant. Got her running and driveable, and due to some cobbled up crap I put on for temporary transmission controls, and from a stuck fast idle cyl from the sitting, I tried to shift from forward to reverse while the fast idle cylinder was stuck open. With engine screaming and neutral solenoid engaged, it attempted to make the shift into gear (VS2 transmission). Did not break anything, just melted the gears off the shifter gear from the high speed attempt at a mesh, much like a very powerful and sharp toolpost grinder on a lathe. I have always just hated to take something apart I just spent hours and hours putting together. | ||
| Merlin Moon (Mrmerlin) (65.24.96.77)
Rating: N/A |
Working without a bus wiring diagram. OK ... I purchased one, but it doesn't seem to cover this exact model ... meaning ... it is worthless to try to read the diagrams in the book. Over the years, various "experts" have done little fixes and patches in the wiring which further muddles up the system. Next frustration is dealing with bus conversion mechanics that think I'm made of gold. Some of the heavy mechanical work had to be farmed out since I don't have the heavy tools to do it. I learned almost too late that a bus conversion "expert" with a pair of wire cutters is a really dangerous thing. Still redoing the damage from that fiasco. Another frustration is finding out that someone had tried to jack the bus up without regard to the proper hard points. This little problem caused me many hours with a heavy sledge hammer trying to beat some bay under-framing back into place. Final frustration (to date) is learning that professional bus painters don't really care about preparation. Was about to contract for a paint job until I saw the "product" of the professional. Fresh paint over bird poop, dirt, and loose paint around rivets. Now I'm going to have to do it myself to get it done right. | ||
| FAST FRED (65.56.27.9) Rating: N/A |
A good tip is to use Da Book to find out the Correct hard points and paint them white! So if you have a flat the guy that comes with your $500 "replacement ,'that was all they had in your size'" can at least lift the coach with out hurting it. Also have a 4X10 about a foot long that a flat front tire can be run up on to give clearence for the jack. FAST FRED | ||
| Don KS/TX (64.24.4.88)
Rating: N/A |
Good point Fred. A friend of mine with a 4905 was coming thru and I made him an appointment at a local reputable big truck dealer to have new oil seals put into his front oil filled hubs. They wanted nobody in the shop area, but the owner had to go get something for them from the bus. They had jacked up the front with a bumper jack! You could not even open the door from the bind the bus was in!. | ||
| Scott Whitney (24.205.233.25) Rating: N/A |
Wow, good idea. I am going to schedule getting my front seals replaced this week. I am going to paint the jack points before I take it in. . . | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
The planning stage which seems to be going on forever, plus family and friends always wondering when this thing is going to get on the road. Also finding out that what I want to do vs what I can $afford$ to do are two entirely different things. Oh well, anyone got an extra $50K? He,he. |