| Author | Message | ||
| Bill Holstein (Billmoocow)
Registered Member Username: Billmoocow Post Number: 40 Registered: 5-2009 Posted From: 98.232.207.25 Rating: N/A |
Last summer i stripped the whole front of bus. I removed all the tubular steel because it was rusted. I then welded new steel and riveted new stainless skin on outside. Just found out that windshield had been leaking and was driping onto dashboard. Found some rust in center windshield area. Started scraping with my finger nail and now i can stick my index finger in da dash. Crap. Then, i get all bummed out because of the economy.. If i just would have waited i could of purchased a newer bus for same price i paid for her. Jeez. What the hell. At least she has a rebuilt inline that is less than 70,000mi.It is the only thing that keeps me going. What about those who purchase older ones?..Jeez | ||
| macgyver (91flyer)
Registered Member Username: 91flyer Post Number: 543 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 74.193.188.165  Rating: |
You will, at various times, _ALWAYS_ get the "What the hell did I get myself into?" feeling... It's inevitable. It's normal... And all of us experience it at one point or another, and usually many times over the course of our adventures... But... It always seems to come back to you... You're doing something that, hopefully, you enjoy overall... Yeah, you'll have problems... Yeah, you'll get into trouble... And yeah... You will, at times, wish you'd never had the idea in the first place... But, there are always those times when the opposite feeling creeps in and you feel joy in what you've accomplished... Typically, those moments come when you're out and about and someone stops you and says to you "Hey, that's pretty cool! Can I look?" Or just asks you about it in general... It's normal... It's usual. Just remember that you're doing something that few others even attempt... The folks on this board (and others like it) are an extremely small percentage of people compared to those who fix up and restore beaten down old cars... They have the same moments we do, just to a lesser degree... Take my 53 Flx Visicoach, for example... Yeah, she's rusted, yeah, she's an eyesore right now and yeah... She's got some serious issues... But, ya know what? Not a single time I stopped for gas did nobody say something to me about it. Nobody had _anything_ negative to say and everyone wanted to know everything about her... It's those moments when you know you've got something special... Every one of those people wish they had what you have, and maybe 1 in 100 of those people will take their interest to the next level and actually research what it takes to get one, and even fewer will actually follow through and buy one... Then, they start thinking the same as you are now... "What the hell did I get myself into?" Stop looking at the entire picture. Focus on one thing at a time... Set your goals in line with reality and you'll do just fine.  -Mac | ||
| Nellie Wilson (Vivianellie)
Registered Member Username: Vivianellie Post Number: 389 Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 75.178.92.43  Rating: N/A |
Aw Crap, Bill, I got stuck on mine too... over-anxious and stupid. But who knew fuel prices would explode and Chicago Thugs would invade the White House? Don't beat yourself up for not having a crystal ball... just fix the old gal up and, while you're doing it, drive the crap out of her (the very BEST fix). And, frankly, who cares if you can stick a pinky into the dashboard? I mean, is anybody actually gonna TRY that? I think not. And who cares anyway? I left the greatest car I've ever had in G.D. Quebec. Hell, you could stick your FOOT through the rocker panel, but it ran great and everything worked. But the body...? I mean, you could stick your entire FOOT through the rocker panel. I left it because I was embarrassed to come down here (the States) with such a beat out looking vehicle. I deeply regret that decision... one based purely on vanity, what 'people' might think of me. Ridiculous. Hey, Bill, get with the program... went to your profile and no photo of you OR your bus. How can we comment, critisize, smirk if we don't have some visuals Nellie Wilson | ||
| Nellie Wilson (Vivianellie)
Registered Member Username: Vivianellie Post Number: 391 Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 75.178.92.43 Rating: N/A |
Damn, Macgyver - Sorry to confess I misjudged you... you're not just a demented gear-head after all. Buried somewhere beneath that grease and oil and exhaust soot breathes a sensitive and vibrant poet! Nellie | ||
| John and Barb Tesser (Bigrigger)
Registered Member Username: Bigrigger Post Number: 293 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 24.183.21.246  Rating: |
I heard somewhere that a vehicle purchase is what happens approximatly one week before every other better deal you have ever seen in your lifetime comes along. I too have seen many great deals since I bought mine, but I guess thats the nature of the beast. Hey Nellie, You had asked me one time about the power plant in my 5C. I don't think it would help you though as its a 6 V 71 with an automatic. I am going to unload the whole bus in the spring if the guy that spoke for it hasn't come to get it by then. | ||
| Jim and Myrna Lawrence (Daffycanuck)
Registered Member Username: Daffycanuck Post Number: 57 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.19.14.29  Rating: N/A |
We paid a premium price for a 'different' rig. Thought I had done a pretty good job of checking her over for rust. It had a fresh paint job and was nice and shiny...2 and 1/2 years later, and double our budget, we had completely reframed and reskined our DAF...."What the hell did I get myself into?" was a daily comment. Building the interior took roughly 6 months...thank goodness. Now 11 years later, 7 years of fulltiming, the rest half timing, we still love her and do not begrudge the work or money (its still a money pit) we have spent on her. DaffyCanuck sits in her driveway anxious for the next trip!! | ||
| macgyver (91flyer)
Registered Member Username: 91flyer Post Number: 547 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 74.193.188.165 Rating: N/A |
The one thing I think everyone that gets a bus must resign themselves to is this... The road is long, it's traveled by few and that no matter what the "deal" was when you obtained your coach, in the end... It will always cost vastly more to own, operate and maintain than you ever thought it possibly would. Buses, whether they're skoolies, highway coaches, transit coaches or classics are and always will be classified as "heavy machinery". These aren't cars. Parts can be difficult or even impossible to locate and parts that should be dirt cheap often cost a small fortune. Repairs that would take minutes on a car often can take hours, days or even longer to carry out and complete. But, most importantly... Even when you think you're "done" with your coach, and everything is working EXACTLY as you want it to... You will always find something else that you want to do to it or with it. It's just the nature of it... I think of a bus more like I would a boat... If you're truly the kind of person that it takes to have one, then you're never satisfied to stay in one place for very long. By definition, it's a nomadic lifestyle... Like a boat anchored in a harbor, buses simply don't like sitting still. They were built for one thing, and one thing only... To move. Buses are the equivalent of a boat, just with wheels. They "float" over the road like a boat floats over the water... The primary difference? When a boat develops a leak, it has the potential to sink. If you're in the middle of the Pacific, that can end the lives of those living aboard her. If a bus develops a leak... You can stop and fix it with no worries that a storm will capsize you, or that a shark will come along and rip off your leg while working frantically below the water to plug a tiny hole... Personally... I will eventually have my boat. I already know what I'm going to build. It's 44 feet in length and will cost roughly $50,000 to build with my own hands. The bus is a temporary solution to my personal desire to get onto the open ocean, but what a great way to pretend I'm already there! Poetry in motion these machines are.... Once you get one, and decide that the life really is for you... Then it becomes a labor of love, not just another expense... She takes on a personality, and you begin calling her by a name and think of her as a member of the family, not just transportation. It's been said before, and I'll say it again... Enjoy the ride, but take your time. There's nowhere you have to be that's more important than the moment you're already in! -Mac | ||
| Bill Holstein (Billmoocow)
Registered Member Username: Billmoocow Post Number: 41 Registered: 5-2009 Posted From: 98.232.207.25  Rating: N/A |
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| Nellie Wilson (Vivianellie)
Registered Member Username: Vivianellie Post Number: 393 Registered: 11-2008 Posted From: 75.178.92.43 Rating: N/A |
Whoeee, Bill! Now THAT is a class bus. Hope you're gonna tell us all about her. Finger in the dashboard, who cares? Nellie Wilson PS to J&B: Thanks for the update on your 5C. I'll come back to you on that... maybe private email would be best? | ||
| Bill Holstein (Billmoocow)
Registered Member Username: Billmoocow Post Number: 42 Registered: 5-2009 Posted From: 98.232.207.25 Rating: N/A |
I guess we are all nuts. Thanks for the insperation. All i need to do now is wait two more years til last of kids turns 18, find a job traveling, and enjoy life. Hopefully. |
