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Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: Eric on May 09, 2012, 04:00:00 PM

Title: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Eric on May 09, 2012, 04:00:00 PM
So ripped ahem remove the inside walls today to find that up top the drain rails are torn in a few places and have in turn ruined nearly all the metal in the walls of the bus passenger side.....spend the money to save it? Or pull everything and scrap it? Scrap is $200 less them I paid and I can steal everything out of it..

What's the consensus?

91 ward skoolie
40 ft 5.9 cummins and at545
219k

Have fun !

Eric
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Lin on May 09, 2012, 04:04:49 PM
Just to be clear, you are talking about scrapping the whole bus as opposed to rebuilding the entire passenger-side wall?
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Seangie on May 09, 2012, 04:31:16 PM
Eric,

So sad.  You were so excited when you brought it home.

I guess it comes back to how much time you have to spend on the repairs.  Dollars over time will replenish but the time you poor into repairs you wont get back.

Other things to consider are - Is the wall damage the only damage from the water?  Did it get under the bus and into the frame as well? What other surprises are lying in wait?

Also - How much do you enjoy doing that type of work?

I'd hate to see you scrap it after all the excitement but the decision is yours to make.

-Sean
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Eric on May 09, 2012, 04:36:08 PM
The entire passenger wall with the exception of a few cross pieces is nearly rot.. As I pulled hard on a cross member and it broke :( .. I can do the work and enjoy it but it comes down to is the bus actually worth it ... Mechanically it needs rear tires and my ruff cold idle worked out( back burner at this point)  to me it could be worth it... Right now I'm at the 5k dollar mark so if I scrap it I could find something else but be at square one.. And we plan on being road worthy by September ....ahh hell I don't know the frame is good but the floor is rot at the lip....

Lost in space


Have fun !

Eric
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Lin on May 09, 2012, 05:58:18 PM
It sounds like a lot of work to put into an old schoolie.  If scrapping it puts you finanacially even and square one, it would seem to be several squares ahead of where you are now.  I would not assume that a bus that has been allowed to rot out will not have all sorts of other surprises in store for you.
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Brassman on May 09, 2012, 07:33:11 PM
Best to let the old girl go, go to the bus barn, & git anudder. ;D
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: Scott & Heather on May 09, 2012, 07:46:40 PM
Yikes. We had a few random places of rot and stripped down our coach to the frame and welded new steel in to repair. Hard part is funding healthy metal to weld to after pulling rotten stuff out. In your situation Eric, we would grab the stuff we could out of the bus and scrap it. And as a matter of fact we promised ourselves our next bus (when we buy another one) that it would come from the south preferably Arizona since rot is rough stuff to deal with on a bus. Internal rust from condensation is a big issue too. Since you are asking for opinions ours is to scrap and search hard for a solid chassis. We had to do so much to ours that we regret not getting a cleaner chassis.


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Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: FloridaCliff on May 10, 2012, 04:19:26 AM
Quote from: Scott Bennett on May 09, 2012, 07:46:40 PM
Yikes. We had a few random places of rot and stripped down our coach to the frame and welded new steel in to repair. Hard part is funding healthy metal to weld to after pulling rotten stuff out. In your situation Eric, we would grab the stuff we could out of the bus and scrap it. And as a matter of fact we promised ourselves our next bus (when we buy another one) that it would come from the south preferably Arizona since rot is rough stuff to deal with on a bus. Internal rust from condensation is a big issue too. Since you are asking for opinions ours is to scrap and search hard for a solid chassis. We had to do so much to ours that we regret not getting a cleaner chassis.
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One common thread you hear, is that those who rip down to a skeleton on a build, find some rot.

There are lots of coaches running around with nice facade's, but I would bet there is some hidden......

Cliff
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: crown on May 10, 2012, 06:56:18 AM
 i think if you want real awnsers you need to post pictures. also you need to think about the time
spent ripping every thing out and starting over in a new bus. and the time to repair this bus john
Title: Re: Drip rail leakage in wall
Post by: muldoonman on May 10, 2012, 07:19:04 AM
I don't know Eric, The way prices on used buses are, I would think hard about throwing money into a project like that and I'm a welder.