I got the price today for the repair work in my bays from the portable welder guy, he said 235 for the metal and 300 for the labor and the bays would be shiney and nice and ready to load up again with everything that I never used but couldn't live without. What he didn't say was when he could do it, hopefully soon, I am getting totally shack happy and need a change of scenery, and I think it would do the war department a lot of good. So now the list begins, what do I need to do before i can get the old girl rolling and also what does the bus need lol, oops sorry. Then we have to come up with an idea of where to go, but first the smoke wrench must speak and the knuckles need to get skinned again, maybe life will be good again, expiring minds want to know.
Cody, its good to hear that the fix will not hurt to bad in the pocket. Coffees on the spit in Tombstone,Az :D anytime. All the Best, M&C
Sounds great Cody, now you just have to make your way to Abilene TX. I'm sure you will be happy when it's finished, and all the stuff in your bays will like it too!
~Paul~
Just talked to the welder guy, he says the metal will be in on wednsday, now the real work begins, me and jamie have been out in the garage creating room for all the stuff from the bays so I can empty them out, I'm kinda anxious to see how it turns out, I plan on undercoating the metal before I cover it up again, any suggestions? I kinda like the rubberized undercoating but one guy said that liquid stuff they use to line pickup boxes is a good choice too, I'm thinking that a bunch of people here have thoughts on it lol. After the metal is protected my thoughts are to line the bays in pressure treated plywood, that gives me a nice mounting surface to attach cabinets or my joey bed or whatever I decide to throw back into it.
Pickup box lining is really good stuff, but you pay for it. A truck bed runs $400 so I imagine undercoating a bus with the stuff would not be inexpensive either.
Rust bullet is the preferred coating on the rustless money pit . . . .
From what I've seen, it is the best & most durable by far.
Another question is cleaning the metal, I have a bunch of left over air line alcohol, I'm thinking using a degreaser and then wiping it down with the alcohol to get it clean before spraying it, any thoughts, I'm trying to do this as close to right as I can.
cody clean with lacquer thinner and brush or spray Rust Bullet this stuff works well, I used it on my bus also it is hard as a rock when it cures.
Have fun John
In my experience it is the "rinse" that is usually neglected. The cheapest rinse material is WATER. Plain and simple. The thing you have on the metal that will hurt the paint bond is grease/oil/wax. My absolute favorite de-greaser is LYE. It is cheap and it will rinse of with a garden hose for that perfect rinse. Just like at the machine shop....first solvent then de-greaser and then rinse with water. And lye won't hurt the metal at all. Plumbers Lye is easy to find and the leftover can sparkle your garage floor or open up a plugged drain. Store it in a airtight container. Simple green and that "Purple Death" de-greaser from Wally World great stuff.
Lye bio degrades by the way.
If you have any surface rust AT ALL you need to treat it with "Ospho". That stuff converts the rust to a really hard black stuff that resists rusting further. It is also a paint prep treat for galvanized metal. Excellent product and not spendy. ACID diluted!
I would spray the Rustbullet on instead of brushing. You dilute it to spray it and it coats uniformly and goes further even with two coats. Spraying usually returns your cost of the gun in reduced product usage.
High pressure water cleaner is also a real must. You don't need that 15,000 PSI monster...6 or 8 is enuf :P
John
Today I got the poop tank loose and quess what, it's got a poop block in it lol. must be from that last trip last fall lol, not a big block but a chunk anyway and libby won't let me bring it into the house to thaw out, imagine that lol. We're going to load the tank up into the back of the truck and haul it to a dump station lol.
At least the block is in the tank and not somewere else. LOL Good here about the new metal.
John
Quote from: cody on March 24, 2009, 12:08:42 PM
it's got a poop block in it lol.
\\I always knew he was FULL of it ;D ;D
Tanks a lot lol
Yesterday I had to admit to myself that I'm old, after unloading, unbolting and unscrewing what ever I could and making no real progress I hired the 37 year old kid of a friend our ours to come in and work on getting the bays ready for the welder, in the past 2 hours he has goten more done than I did in the last 4 days. I guess time marches on without me. It looks like the bays will be ready for the welder at some point today, whether the welder will start quickly is up to him but he indicated all I had to do is call him and he would appear, welding rod in hand lol, heres hoping, then comes the rebuilding and the exhaust issue, hopefully the kind offer from a busnut here to help me with it still holds. It was not an easy decision for me to break down and realize I'm not 20 years old anymore but I guess sometimes that sort of thing happens. Just figured it was time for an update lol.
Wow, you said 37 year old kid and I understood completely. We are getting old, aren't we?
Yep, we sure are, I was friends with his parents back in high school long before they got married and we've been friends ever since, he'll always be a kid to us. I didn't realize how it sounded until you pointed it out but it kinda rings true for me. I'll give him credit tho, he does know how to work, the temp outside is in the teens and he has been at it all day so far and is almost done. I had to make him stop for lunch.
The bays are ready for the welder, I called him and he said he would be here at 8AM, tomorrow morning, life is not good yet but it is certainly getting better. lol. This will be a major step in the right direction, ever since I bought the bus around 6 years ago, the bays have been on my mind and a lot of temporary work scabbed together to make them workable, I shyed away from doing anything that wasn't temporary cause I didn't want to have to tear out anything nice, but now I can do some planning and put the bays together properly so that maybe I can actually find something. lol
Welder guy pulled in at 8AM, just like he said he would, him and his helper set up his trailer and then went to get the metal which is at his shop about 2 miles away, now that I have it all open and exposed for him to see he said he wants to add some gussets in the partition corners, he's the king of overkill lol. I'm looking for some batteries so I can take a pic or two.
Cody, Please post some pics on a project thread on Eagles International. Some don't look over here much. We all would like to see your progress! ;D
~Paul~
First pictures of the project is the welders setting up and the opened bays.
I always wondered what they looked like without anything in them! ::)
~Paul~
It took a week to disconnect, unhook, unscrew, unbolt and unload the bays to get them ready, it's amazing what all a person can cram in the bays.
The welder guys have left, the job is done and I'm really pleased with the results, they had quoted me 235 for the material and 300 for the labor, the labor was figured at 60 an hour for the guy and his helper so that meant he figured 5 hours for the job, the reality was it took them 9 hours to do it, mainly because he found some problems that he didn't want to cover up without fixing first, when he came in and said they were done, I asked him what I owed him and he said 235 for the material and 300 for the labor lol, I told him that he worked far over the quote, he just it's ok lol, he wanted to make sure it was right. Like I said about him before, he prefers over kill lol. I gave them some extra for each so they can take their wives our to dinner. And I even took a couple of after pics lol. I'm pleased with the job.
Some of the uprights need paint badly but that'll come with the metal prep thats yet to come.
Cody,
That is a sweet looking job. Price seemed excellent to me. Good on ya Bro!
Those original pieces in the pic that have some paint and some light surface rust bring OSPHO treatment to mind. That stuff is a rust converter and the converted rust is slow to start rusting again. Ospho is also a pre paint etch so you have no compatibility problems lurking. >:( The other thing is that it should be water rinsed the next day and all your stuff seems out in the open and rinseable. Put it on everything and even the new stuff will be more resistant. Then again, how long must this thing hang together? :-\ ;D Right? :D
Are you going to fill the inside of the square channel with foam or is the outside completely sealed?
Again, really nice looking job.
John
John they are completely sealed, I figure to take a wire wheel to the surface rust on the remaining metal, then steam clean it and rustproof it, where can I get the OSPHO stuff, I don't recall seeing it around here.
Quote from: cody on March 28, 2009, 04:28:38 PM
where can I get the OSPHO stuff, I don't recall seeing it around here.
Just about any hardware store, paint store or big box store. OsPho is one brand. The active ingredient is Phosphoric Acid. Jack
Cody,
That looks like a top notch professional repair there buddy. Very impressive. You know me, I would recommend the Rust Bullet so then you will kill two birds with one paint can...... ;D ;)
....Kentucky Steve........
Wow Cody, Looking really good! The total price is also unbeatable! Now fill 'em up! ::)
~Paul~
Looks good. Looks like it will go well with the new rosewood cabinets LOL
John
John, the cabinets would be worth more than the whole bus, after i get the metal preped and painted and the bays re-crammed, the next project is doing the exhaust and the turbo setup, then if I still have a pulse I'll think about her rosewood cabinets.
Cody, I am proud of you for doing it the right way,I hate that when people weld a square tube under the bays for support, it works but does not look good to me. good luck
wow cody that does look great
Nice looking job at a great price. Thanks for sharing Cody. Couple of questions....I know that Eagles have full frames, but when the work was done did he cut the whole "floor frame" out at the same time or did he do a section at a time? I am looking at another Eagle that needs the same type of work. Did you have the bus blocked while the work was being done?
Thanks....Tim
Tim, the baggage compartments are not any part of the structural strength on a Eagle you can remove all the baggage compartments and drive it down the road, you MCI guys want to try that lol.They are designed to carry 1250# each no need for blocking to do repairs. good luck
Yep, no blocking needed, he cut the entire floor out and dragged it out, all new metal now, more metal and heavier than original, they did a good job on it.
I went looking for the rustbullet stuff yesterday and came up empty, it might be very hard to find in this area, the big box stores had a 'rust deformer' made by rustoleum on a 2oz bottle for 6 bucks but that was the closest I found, so today the search will continue, today I'll hit the auto supply stores like napa and carquest, I'm also going to talk to a friend that does bodywork and car painting, he'll know where to get it. I'm anxious to do the work but the weather isn't the best for that, I may have to wait for it to get above 30F before I can paint lol.
Cody,
If you were looking for the real Rust Bullet product, the only place I know to get it is online through their website and out of Las Vegas. http://rustbullet.com You can order it now and get free shipping. I get it shipped to Kentucky and it only takes 5 business days to get it here. I think you would be happy with the Rust bullet once you try it. HTH
...........Kentucky Steve .................
Cody , I just bought the rust Bullet got it online from them direct came quick. Also doing some welding work on my Eagle
Try www.rustbullet.com phone 775-829-5606
ADDRESS 300 Brinkly ave. Suite 200
Reno , NV 89509
ED
Sorry for Busting in "Cody". Ed, do you have any other larger pics of your Eagle?
~Paul~
Paul, try here..
http://family.webshots.com/album/570763176tJgbjG
ED
Thanks Ed! Very nice looking Eagle ya have there! What's the pooches name?
~Paul~
Paul , Thanks I'll start another thread soon and add some interior shots. The bus was my dad's so I got it the wrong way would rather still be working on it for Him not me.
The dog ( four legged Human) is Rebel loves to go in the bus say the word trip and he waiting at the bus door.
ED