Ok this is my second shake down trip in the Covid era...
Doing the snowbird migration south from Seattle to warmer climate in AZ.
Cousin in Wyoming sent me notification of -14 in Wyoming a few days ago...
Anyway the Phoenix AZ area has been swamped with covid refugees from the east coast and Canada.
To the point that it is impossible to find a RV parking space. I only got a spot outside of Quartzsite in the Phoenix area because i stayed with them last year and they knew me and I was allowed to dry camp in a dusty lot next door to the actual RV park with no services.
Anyway there are a number of thing that I want address on my bus/motorhome for the long term.
Recently I have had problems with the diesel boiler for my DIY hydronic system which I will document more on my build thread and the only backup to shore power is the diesel generator which had major problems in my case. In this dry camping lot I hear lots of generators....
Anyway the typical response for this year is don't call anyone on the phone as they won't call you back. Show up at their counter and talk to them face to face even if you have drive 90 minutes...
So anyway there is so many clothes that I can throw atop of the bed when it hits 38 degrees during the night.
While my solar/Tesla Battery pack configuration it can do a lot of things, it can't heat the cabin in the dead of the night, only shore power in a RV park or the diesel boiler can do that!!!
OK how does this get back to my bad day?
Practically anybody that you talk to in the phoenix area this year has the following rejections:
1. Your rig is older then 10 years
2. You are living in a motorhome and I don't do that...
3. I might be able to get to you in a couple of months from now (like April).
4. You are nor an over the road trucker, etc...
Anyway I found a nice place northeast of Phoenix that is willing to do what ever you request (as long as it's not in the cabin) with the hour meter running. You pay for how every long it takes.
How bloody refreshing!!!
Anyway their work location is a bit difficult to access and with the promise that I could dry camp in their storage lot I had a bit of euphoria and managed to screw up and side swipe a fire hydrant!!!
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/badday1.jpg)
I do admit that I was a bit over the moon as someone is willing to work with all the different things that I need (so many rejections) and I am not as wary as I normally am and in my stupid defense I had re-adjusted the mirrors on that side the previous day...
Any way it turns out that there is two types of fire hydrants. Cold weather and not!!! So dry verse wet, run off over a cold weather hydrant and you simply break it off at ground level as the valve that turns it on is below the frost line...
Warm weather and you get the fountain!!! Needless to say I didn't apply that much force, just re-clocked it so that the big outlet doesn't face the street.
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/badday2.jpg)
So now I am in the market for a complete bay door and the following panel on my 1980 Prevost and hey one big awh $#!%!!
Really sorry to see that and it certainly qualifies as a bad day. I'd say you're being really brave about it. Jack
Ouch!
Freds That's a bad day for sure. A least it didn't break the hydrant off too. Hoping for better days ahead for you.
Fred,
The shop I go to (he only does Prevost) scrapped a Prevost some months ago and I think they are about to scrap another one they have on site. All the bay doors are still there but before I get your hopes up I need measurements. AND I am going to Fla on Thursday for a few days of DD school and the guys are taking me to a bus junkyard. (maybe no Prevost but we'll see)
I downloaded your sad picture, but send me a picture of the door next to it so I can see what undamaged bottom looks like for trying to match. Also send me measurement of the crunched door. You might check with Visone RV. 606 843 9889 but they will probably be a bit spendy. If Visone has it I can go get it. Closer to you is Kyle at Border Coach Leasing in Az. 480 620 7691.
And for now, try to pull the arrow out of your head. You can still drive your bus. It can be fixed. Easter egg hunt for parts, but it can be fixed....
Brother Ted
Glad I never did anything like that. (except for the time I backed our Allegro bus a teeeeeny bit too far and the ladder, pushed by the big tree back there, punched 6 holes into that one piece fiberglass cap on the back. It was remarkably loud.).
I feel for you Freds, you have some luck it didn't create a fountain
Fred,
I feel for you and remember my "Shortest and Most Expensive Trip"!!!
At the last house I lived in prior to my divorce, I parked the bus in the driveway with the nose up almost against the garage door.
For whatever reason, I needed to move the bus back toward the street about 15 ft, so since I wasn't go on the road, I neglected to do my "pre-flight inspection walk around."
As I backed up I saw my rearmost bay door on the driver's side pop out and heard a scraping sound, so I stopped. I got out and discovered that I must have forgotten to put the 50 amp electric cord back in the utility bay. Fortunately the cord was not plugged in, but I guess the running over it with the front tire helped keep it "grounded." It snagged the open bay door, and twisted it all up, tore out the grommet in the bay wall and ripped a 3" slice in the bay wall, and ripped the 50Amp cord in half! I was so sick I didn't do anything else that day. :(
Well, at least I am helped to keep the hobby alive by keeping Luke in Business! ;D ;D
That was almost ten years ago, but it seems like yesterday.
Quote from: Paso One on February 27, 2022, 09:18:14 AM
I feel for you Freds, you have some luck it didn't create a fountain
Hey it might have gotten the solar panels washed LOL!!!
We all make mistakes
Some bigger than others.
Melbo
Bummer....
Maybe this will make you feel better.
I got smashed by 8 pieces of 3/4 subfloor today. I tried to slide it all at once. I know it was dumb.
I was laying half way into the rear cargo bay and my legs were trapped. I couldn't get any leverage to get my legs out.
Fortunately, I had my phone in my pocket. My two boys came out and lifted the pile enough to get my legs out.
Then the kerosene heater did something weird and filled the cabin with smoke. I had literally just cleaned the windows and dash. It made a mess.
Guess I'll clean it again tomorrow.
Hi Everyone
Ted requested the dimensions of my bay door as he knows someone who might have one. I will post everything here so that some search engine can find it for a 1980 Prevost LeMirage.
The width of the bay door is 45 and 1/8 inches.
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/BayDoorClosed.jpg)
The Height of the outer skin is 32 1/2 inches.
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/BayDoorOpen.jpg)
The inside square support structure is about 2 ½ on the left side of the door and 2 3/8 on the right side. From the bottom it is 2 ½ inches up, from the top it is about 3 ¼ inches.
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/BayDoorLockPivot.jpg)
The door locking pivot on each side is about 9 1/4 inches from bottom of the outer skin..
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/BayDoorSupport%20Plate.jpg)
The left side of the door support plate is about 9 3/4 from top of outer skin.
Note the extra inner piece that extends to the right holds door in place if hinge completely rips as it rotates up behind the hinge structure, so the door would be anchored in three places...
Here's some closer pictures of the damage behind the bay door.
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/SkinBehindLastDoor1.jpg)
Nothing significant here, just popped rivets..
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/SkinBehindLastDoor2.jpg)
Here you can see that it scraped my 200 gallon fuel tank, if it had gouged a hole it might have been a hazmat situation...
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/SkinBehindLastDoor3.jpg)
In this picture you can see that backing support beam is tad bent and out of alinement...
These type collisions often push the bottom edge or sides of the bag bay in, shunt the door hinge/pantograph, and what pushes in, has to sprout out somewhere else... some old fashioned pushing and pulling with the hydraulic ram and some chains to get the face of the opening square may be required. Sometimes, the pieces get cut out and fresh welded in. Cuz it won't go back with the stretching.
Gaps around the door fill the compartment with rain water, or road spray, depending...
There is lots of weight and leverage to twist your new door if these things are out of whack. Minimize moving the old door, if it is binding, you'll bend it some more. Keep the new door supported as you test the movement and fit.
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Sorry for your trouble. It could've always been worse. It's a good thing no one is hurt. I have been enjoying reading about your build, and looking forward to reading more in the future.
Wow, sorry to see that. As I get older, I find myself doing dumb things. I parked my Ram 2500 pickup next to a cart corral at Lowes yesterday. When I returned to leave I just pulled out of the spot making a tight turn as there was nobody around or so I thought. That's when I heard the scraping and was dragging the red corral with the truck. Screwed up my fender flares but like anything else, my pride was mainly affected. I hope you get your parts. I know it sucks. My truck is not pristine anymore... It's my garage baby but since I am working on my bus, I have been leaving it outside which makes it easier to take to the store rather than pull the car out of the garage.
I revisited the accident site on Tuesday and they had already attended to the bad orientation of the fire hydrant after I side swiped it.
The original city guy I talked to said he was going to unbolt it and re-clocked it from the bolt pattern.
The final repair looks like they dug it up and re-cocked it below ground. Waiting to hear what they will charge for that work...
Just thinking out loud here but before you volunteer to pay for hydrant repair - I would question why there weren't bollards to protect the hydrant.
I once rolled into a gas station overhang to fuel and my 9' stainless steel whip antenna busted a whole line of overhead fluorescent lights. When they told me I had to pay for all of them - I asked them to call the police. When they arrived I complained that there were no clearance signs showing height of overhang & no protective cages over the bulbs in a public trafficked area. The cop told me to go on... Just saying.
Really sorry for your loss - but it is a priceless experience _ hopefully not measured in $$$! Good luck.
That is a Muller F/H they with the break away they re-clock at the top not the bottom,they probably dug down to check the break away flange .I have had to replace the flange on many because people working for me would hit one lol and we installed the F/H's and they knew they were there and would still hit one.Pipe bollards are usually around a F/H on private property fire departments hate the bollards,the break away kit is around 300 bucks and a hour of labor
I have been hanging out in Wickenburg behind the Craig Truck/RV repair waiting for them to work on my generator and other semi-minor items that I would like them to do to my bus. Oil change, transmission shift linkage adjustment, backup lights, etc.
They are feeding me a 120v extension cord so sort of easy driveway camping as I feed that power into the house batteries and let the inverter handle the big surges.
They want to do everything at once and we have been waiting for a special tool to create a unique (i think) sealing flange on the hard fuel lines on my British Diesel Perkins engine which is part of my vintage generator.
Anyway I had sometime on my hands today since it's the weekend and started watching videos on how you remove structural stainless steel rivets and I decided to remove the skin that was torn up by the fire hydrant to see what the total damage was.
A few hours of work and I can now see more what the damage is.
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/badday3.jpg)
Note that support to the left of the tank that the skin is riveted too; should be a straight vertical structure, not that weird jog at the bottom.
And a more look down view which you can see waves in and out where the bottom part of the skin would attach too:
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/badday4.jpg)
One silver lining to this is that the area above the fuel tank is more accessible for:
1. Work on the shower drain to finish my recirculating hour long shower project.
2. Aux fuel tap on the main tank that feeds the generator and the Diesel hydronic boiler. Which was bypassed by the previous owner and is now giving me problems with an air leak so the Diesel boiler is unreliable pulling fuel from the main tank.
The picture makes light of the actual dent on the fuel tank because you can't see it in 3D, but it was a fairly good hit.
Once I got into the rhythm of it. Removing the damaged skin was relatively straight forward. If I can find the parts this might be easier to repair than other automotive things I have crunched in the last fifty years....
I side swiped a concrete high curb at the truck stop. Luckily it was a straight aluminum sheet. The sheet was 22" x 42" and had 96 (I kid you not) rivets to drill out. I took the damaged sheet in to get paint matched, I had a new piece made with .060 aluminum sheet, I painted it then after pulling out the bent parts reattached using big phillips head sheet metal screws (like what Thomas buses use) and only put in 45 screws. Can't even tell now. Always an adventure. Good Luck, TomC
My current thinking is they will just cut out the bent backing metal and weld in new metal. Then drill new holes to do the riveting..
I dont know much about Prevost but its construction reminds me of the GM style where the body is the frame.
You got lucky that it only dented the fuel tank and did not gouge a huge gash in it releasing all that liquid gold!
;D BK ;D
Quote from: Busted Knuckle on March 16, 2022, 09:55:37 AM
You got lucky that it only dented the fuel tank and did not gouge a huge gash in it releasing all that liquid gold!
;D BK ;D
I hear you though at the time I didn't think I had liquid gold. Just was worried about it being a hazmat situation.
Getting ready to head home in the next couple of weeks and it would be interesting to compare cost down verses cost back.
I broke down and posted on Facebook which is something that I avoid like the plague. (Funny how that statement doesn't seem to apply today...)
Anyway I heard back from:
Steve Kolb
IBP Industries
2055 Sprint Blvd
Apopka, Fl 32703
407-880-9700 Local
800-468-5287 Toll Free
407-880-2026 Fax
www.ibpindustries.com
https://ibp.parts
Turns out that they produced the skin panels under sub-contract to Prevost and had all the engineering drawings. Which they sent me for my bus which has one measurement that is different than is on my bus. I need to verify that that portion is behind the fender before ordering the part.
I was aware of them but didn't initially contact them as their website didn't list my bus.
Push comes to shove you can also send them your old part and they will measure it and build a new one. They also list MCI so maybe they can make skins for that bus also.
Good people and nice product.. satisfied customer--been to their shop. Bob
Quote from: freds on March 24, 2022, 09:51:59 AM
I broke down and posted on Facebook which is something that I avoid like the plague. (Funny how that statement doesn't seem to apply today...)
Anyway I heard back from:
Steve Kolb
IBP Industries
2055 Sprint Blvd
Apopka, Fl 32703
407-880-9700 Local
800-468-5287 Toll Free
407-880-2026 Fax
www.ibpindustries.com
https://ibp.parts
Turns out that they produced the skin panels under sub-contract to Prevost and had all the engineering drawings. Which they sent me for my bus which has one measurement that is different than is on my bus. I need to verify that that portion is behind the fender before ordering the part.
I was aware of them but didn't initially contact them as their website didn't list my bus.
Push comes to shove you can also send them your old part and they will measure it and build a new one. They also list MCI so maybe they can make skins for that bus also.
That is just cool! I love the network we have here.
Seb
IBP does WAY more than their website lists.
ALWAYS call them, old stuff like what we busnuts do, is small batch, low volume and requires talking anyway... listing old stuff on one's website isn't always good for the rest of what one does...
They can reproduce every style of fluted siding back to antiquity.
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Quote from: freds on March 24, 2022, 09:51:59 AM
I broke down and posted on Facebook which is something that I avoid like the plague. (Funny how that statement doesn't seem to apply today...)
Anyway I heard back from:
Steve Kolb
IBP Industries
2055 Sprint Blvd
Apopka, Fl 32703
407-880-9700 Local
800-468-5287 Toll Free
407-880-2026 Fax
www.ibpindustries.com
https://ibp.parts
Turns out that they produced the skin panels under sub-contract to Prevost and had all the engineering drawings. Which they sent me for my bus which has one measurement that is different than is on my bus. I need to verify that that portion is behind the fender before ordering the part.
I was aware of them but didn't initially contact them as their website didn't list my bus.
Push comes to shove you can also send them your old part and they will measure it and build a new one. They also list MCI so maybe they can make skins for that bus also.
I am leaving the bus at the Prevost LA maintenance location and they will handle everything. Sixteen work bays and about 60 parking spots.
They are currently finishing up repairs on a much newer bus (famous name recognition entertainer) that did a bit of off roading where all the storage bays were deformed.
Turns out it doesn't matter how old your Prevost is. You are a member of the club and this location has eight parking spaces with 50 AMP power that you are welcome to use if there is a space available.
Evidently it really fills up on the weekend with entertainer buses.
Looks like it will take six weeks to get everything done. So I will fly home and return to get it when it's done.
Going to have them do work on a bunch of other nagging things that I haven't gotten too.
Got complemented on the quality of the pictures that I sent them before that had accurately showed the damage.
how come so long ?
I could never leave my coach that long at a repair place
Yes, we too have worked w/ IBP over the years. Good folks. Also purchased a number of items from a (former?) advertiser: Complete Coach Works. Not sure what their status is though. They have a ton of used parts/pulls. We've purchased radiators, a bay door, and the list goes on..
https://completecoach.com/ (https://completecoach.com/)
I would ask for Mando.
Hope this helps!, Phil
Quote from: sledhead on April 07, 2022, 04:34:18 AM
how come so long ?
I could never leave my coach that long at a repair place
Six weeks in today's world doesn't seem like long. There is probably a line of buses ahead of his. It will probably take time to get the parts and then they have to install them.
I called some local truck shops about getting some simple work done on my bus last summer. The wait time was anywhere from two weeks to five weeks before they could even look at it. Luckily, my friend figured out the issue after he looked at it. (Something was hitting back of wheel and it turned out the clamp holding the brake chamber together needed to be rotated 90 degrees.) It was making so dang much noise after getting new wheels and tires I thought something was really wrong.
Hang in there with those guys Fred. I challenge Luke a little bit every time I give him a list because like you I have a 1980 Prevost. I bet the place you left it will find the parts or can carve new bay doors for you. My Chat guy still thinks his pile of doors won't fit your bus and I can't get him to go measure. I asked if I could go measure and he got grumpy. Glad he is my mechanic!!!
Best of luck with it my friend. They will fix all the gremlins.
For everyone hat has seen the big 45 ft. scenic cruiser belonging to Pat McNeil.
All the beautiful siding on it came fro IBP I pretty sure of.
uncle ned
Hi Guys
Thanks for the commiseration and helpful suggestions. I seem to be an cautionary tale of what not to do to you other guys LOL!!!
(https://www.crystalpoint.com/cpdownloads/public/outgoing/Freds/badday5.jpg)
I tried to turn around mid block in order to get a street parking space before it disappeared and managed to get the bus high centered. I should have gone around however many blocks it took instead.
Ended up pulling out the air jack and placing chunks of wood under the drive tires to get out of the situation.
In time that it took to do this the parking spot disappeared and then cleared once I was out.
It was just embarrassing and I am glad that I didn't have to call a tow truck to help out or explain myself to a police officer...
Having the side panel off also made it easy to see where I needed to place the air jack (groan)...
Freds you seem to have a lot of adventures ;D
My 1980 Prevost blood brother: It will all be ok buddy. And just let the weather loosen up a bit in middle America and maybe a little drop in Fuel prices, and the fleet will be back on the road. You will not be the lone ranger on the next episode of
" I crinkled my bus!!!!".
The only way any vehicle stays pristine is if it never gets driven.
Tough lessons, but you will be a much better driver when they hand your fixed bus back over to you buddy. And good on you for having the courage to share.
Hang in there.
Ok a quick follow up.
I left the bus at the Prevost maintenance facility in LA and flew home to Seattle with an estimate that it would take about five-six weeks to repair and that they would manage everything for me.
Since it was also at their location I asked for a safety inspection and estimate of other things on the bus that I wanted to get fixed. Anyway after quite a bit of sticker shock on the entire list. I trimmed it back to just the safety items plus one other item.
The collision repairs are still up in the air almost 60 days later and I am going to start calling the nearby collision repair shop daily (talked to them three times in the last week) to try and move that phase along.
Goal is to get it moved to their shop where they can't ignore it.
unfortunately Official Prevost repair sites are for owners of newer rigs with deep pockets.
At least you got estimate on repairs first
sounds right - just like all other high end car brands - BMW, Mercedes, etc. you just expect to pay multiple times the cost to take it across the street to Joe's shop. But OEM parts cost a lot no matter who does the wrenching
Fred - did the actual driving capability of the bus affected or is that mostly cosmetic (from the pics). I'm thinking it was not drivable back to Washinton or you would have done that.
The bus was drivable.
Though I had a very serious braking problem that developed while I was driving where the tag axle circuit sprang an air leak and my air pressure dropped to 80PSI (just above the alarm thresh hold) which reduced my available braking power.
As a result after standing on the brakes I wound up stopping in the middle of a large intersection, luckily the other drivers saw me coming and didn't pull out in front of me.
This was about two miles from the Prevost facility. Raising the tag axle restored the system pressure back up to 120PSI. So the first thing I asked for after I rolled into their facility was for a full safety inspection.
When the brakes were not delivering full power because of the low air pressure. I should have pulled the e-brake knob and let the spring break functionality take over.
Turns out there was a screw (in an area that I never worked on) that had penetrated the hard air line back to the tag axles that was causing a major leak.
The reason that I left it with the Prevost LA Facility was that they were going to handle everything for me and was supposed to interface with the body shop for the collision repair as a one stop shop.
:^
When you get the coach back, on a quiet street, pull the parking knob at 25 mph.
Repeat at higher speeds.
It ain't going to do what you think it might...
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
For sure, I will learn that capability in case of primary service brake failure or serious weak pressure.
Quote from: buswarrior on June 09, 2022, 06:17:07 PM
When you get the coach back, on a quiet street, pull the parking knob at 25 mph.
Repeat at higher speeds.
It ain't going to do what you think it might...
Happy coaching!
Buswarrior
Good Advice!!! After I posted I was wondering if I would have a cascade of objects moving forward....
Quote from: freds on June 11, 2022, 10:25:36 PM
Good Advice!!! After I posted I was wondering if I would have a cascade of objects moving forward....
If you do, now is the time to find out. Figure out how to secure everything before a panic stop at freeway speeds.
Ok it's been about four months, so a bit of a status update.
The Prevost repair shop has fixed the major air leak in the tag axle system and replaced about half the airbags.
It finally made it's way to the sub contractor who is doing the collision repair. It sat in their parking lot for a while and is now in their shop and they have started work on repairing the fuel tank.
I called for a status update today and the shop is turmoil as the owner was found floating in his pool and is now in the ICU.
Quote from: freds on July 19, 2022, 10:38:59 AM
I called for a status update today and the shop is turmoil as the owner was found floating in his pool and is now in the ICU.
Dayum! :o
bummer Fred - they say bad things happen in threes. one more to go. Really sorry to hear about the journey but brighter days ahead right?
If you could get it to Sacramento, CA there is a place called "The RV Doctor", Have seen them working on two accident Buses MCI 9 and a MCI 12 that had siding damage and also undercarriage replacement. They have a lot of used parts and new suppliers too the last time I was there. :^
Well the owner of the collision repair shop passed away last week. So the widow is coming back to work in the shop as the boss.
Just had a long conversion with the Prevost facility manager and he has committed to help manage getting the repair's finished on my bus.
I sent a message to the "The RV Doctor" in Sacramento and they gave me a contact and number for the shop next door that might be able to do the work.
I haven't contacted them yet while I wait for the chaos to subside and get more information.
ah they used to own that shop too but must of been after the old man died someone else took it over. Thats where they were working on the MCI's. :^
The one big thing that we decided long ago, the bus is NOT what you go exploring in. You only go to the campsite or park then take the towed to explore. Not worth getting high centered or stuck. I REALLY appreciate my tandem drives on my Kenworth super C. Good Luck, TomC
I have baggage doors from a 2005 XL if any ones knows if they will work for you
Doh! It did not click the reference meant "RV Doctor George". I know that crew well and worked them on hauling out 35 trailers a couple years ago. That specific shop is 100% parts, 97% used stuff for everything. No bus stuff there. And the repair shop next door no longer does customer repairs. Last I looked maybe last fall, they were using it to fix their own trailers from what I could tell. If you look on a map there is another RV repair place a door or two to the east from their building. For that matter, that whole one mile square around there is basically RV zone, from new sales, repairs, parts, etc.
Quote from: luvrbus on July 26, 2022, 09:27:42 AM
I have baggage doors from a 2005 XL if any ones knows if they will work for you
I think the XL is 53 inch door where as mine are 45 inches.
What I would like to do is adapt one of my doors from a rubber hinge at the top to the vertical lift panograph style for the swing out BBQ.
Do you have all the mounting hardware from the bay side?
Cliffor the doors are off of a 98 XL CC ;)
Quote from: freds on July 26, 2022, 03:03:36 PM
I think the XL is 53 inch door where as mine are 45 inches.
What I would like to do is adapt one of my doors from a rubber hinge at the top to the vertical lift panograph style for the swing out BBQ.
Do you have all the mounting hardware from the bay side?
All the mounting hardware is there minus the lift struts.
Quote from: windtrader on July 26, 2022, 11:11:17 AM
Doh! It did not click the reference meant "RV Doctor George". I know that crew well and worked them on hauling out 35 trailers a couple years ago. That specific shop is 100% parts, 97% used stuff for everything. No bus stuff there. And the repair shop next door no longer does customer repairs. Last I looked maybe last fall, they were using it to fix their own trailers from what I could tell. If you look on a map there is another RV repair place a door or two to the east from their building. For that matter, that whole one mile square around there is basically RV zone, from new sales, repairs, parts, etc.
Don never said they had bus parts just that George used to own the shop next door or two down east and they were rebuilding an MCI 9 and then a 12 a year later. Thought he might try it to see if they could still do his or find him parts.
Quote from: Van on July 26, 2022, 03:23:32 PM
All the mounting hardware is there minus the lift struts.
XL Prevost use 2 sizes of a door 2 are 53-1/2W and the rest are 60 inches wide aren't they the same up to 2003 ? I don't believe I have the hinges for those doors lol but they do have the nice high dollar rub rails and docking lights
FWIW I put slides on my xle. the bay doors couldn't go up so I just hinged them on forward side. Used same locking mech and all. Like the evap and condenser doors.
You can do a 2 piece cafe door style also they are easy to do, not my favorite door but they are functional for a BBQ grill on a roll out
FYI - RV Doctor George in Sacramento no longer has the shop next door. They are just down to the main property absolutely jammed with every used RV part imageabe. I swung by today looking for the metal tubing that has flared ends and brass fitting to go from the gas supply on the Norcold refrigerator to the pilot. Found an exact match. Yeah!
Quote from: robertglines1 on July 26, 2022, 04:42:05 PM
FWIW I put slides on my xle. the bay doors couldn't go up so I just hinged them on forward side. Used same locking mech and all. Like the evap and condenser doors.
Interesting Idea!!!
Actually the bay door being repaired on my bus from the collision is the one that I want to change on how it opens.
They are finally starting to make progress on repairing my bus!
One of the pacing items is getting the fuel tank out and repairing it. Here's a picture of the previous damage:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crystalpoint.com%2Fcpdownloads%2Fpublic%2Foutgoing%2FFreds%2FBadDay3.jpg&hash=e02876ac93d6230a581c191f9816c3ade2358e74)
Replacing the damaged end:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.crystalpoint.com%2Fcpdownloads%2Fpublic%2Foutgoing%2FFreds%2FTankRepair.jpg&hash=0c8655768a85b97e35ce66d67ec0745ae6fffd2a)
The tank is the major pacing item as it was deformed and preventing the replacement of the metal support structure for the external stainless steel skins.
Dang it may be done by the end of the month!!!
Hey the repairs are finally done!!!!
Now it's time to get the bus reactivated... I did set it up for what I thought was long term storage mode before I left.
Though my biggest worry was my $5000.00 worth of Tesla battery modules, what if it had a parasitic draw that I missed?
Nope same voltage as when I left it Whew!!!!
The house 12V battery was dead, so had to dig out the battery charger for that.
Anyway here a picture after the repairs.
Congratulations! It's been a long haul to get it back, enjoy!
Back on the road!
Quote from: windtrader on October 14, 2022, 09:34:14 AM
Back on the road!
Just about!
Got a few things to fix before I hit the road:
1. Refrigerator is not powering up and needs cleaning.
2. Have a new fresh water leak that has developed when it is pressurized.
3. A couple of loose solar panels.
Credit card didn't groan too bad paying the bill.
Also buying a new enclosed car hauler to pack the Tesla up into.
The bus looks very nice Fred. It looks as good as new.
I almost got as famous as you last week Fred. Stopped the bus short of the barn to check on a few things in the belly. Rita showed up to help guide me into a new spot in the shop. She was in the shop waving me forward. As I moved forward she walked over to the driver side and suddenly looked like I had just run over the dog - so I hit the brakes. I had left one of the bay doors all the way up on driver side. I didn't even see it in the mirror because I was watching her like a hawk.
(Old habit from my flying days. WATCH THE PLANE CAPTAIN.)
I was about 3 feet from coming into the shop. I got out, felt stupid, and was furious at myself from not doing my walk around EVERY time before I put it in gear. As it turned out, the bay door would have cleared the door jam. But so what. STUPID!
So as you venture out in your new bus my friend, remember what BusWarrior taught me.
Watch it Start
Watch it Turn
Watch if Finish
Best advice I ever got driving this bus
(and don't drive it into the shop with your new bay door open)
Glad you are back on the road!
Quote from: Glennman on October 14, 2022, 01:21:40 PM
The bus looks very nice Fred. It looks as good as new.
Thanks!!!
They cut up the damaged panel to get the docking light and in the process inserted a piece of metal that doesn't really look stainless like the rest of the metal in that area.
My first two items:
Refrigerator was fixed once the house battery came up to full voltage.
Water leak was a loose connector for the ICE maker.
In fixing the fuel tank they screwed up the plumbing for the shower which took a few hours to get right again.
So hey I may be able to take a shower in the morning LOL!!!
Having a problem with the battery management system for my Tesla Battery modules that is concerning me.
Since that is tied to the Victron solar equipment it's not allowing power delivery from the solar panels.
But hey getting closer to heading down the road.
Having a car hauler trailer delivered Monday to load the Tesla up in and drag it behind me in my travels. Can't flat tow an EV...
Quote from: Tedsoldbus on October 15, 2022, 05:48:44 PM
I almost got as famous as you last week Fred. Stopped the bus short of the barn to check on a few things in the belly. Rita showed up to help guide me into a new spot in the shop. She was in the shop waving me forward. As I moved forward she walked over to the driver side and suddenly looked like I had just run over the dog - so I hit the brakes. I had left one of the bay doors all the way up on driver side. I didn't even see it in the mirror because I was watching her like a hawk.
(Old habit from my flying days. WATCH THE PLANE CAPTAIN.)
I was about 3 feet from coming into the shop. I got out, felt stupid, and was furious at myself from not doing my walk around EVERY time before I put it in gear. As it turned out, the bay door would have cleared the door jam. But so what. STUPID!
So as you venture out in your new bus my friend, remember what BusWarrior taught me.
Watch it Start
Watch it Turn
Watch if Finish
Best advice I ever got driving this bus
(and don't drive it into the shop with your new bay door open)
Glad you are back on the road!
Hey Tod I did that myself and tore up the plastic on a friends bumper!!! Handle was sticking out...
Yes a full walk around before moving the bus is now on my pre-movement check list!!!
I pulled out of the shop once with a compartment door open - it made contact with a hollow core interior door to the shop bathroom & made a racket as it was "cutting into" the hollow core door before I realized what was happening and stopped. No damage to the bus though!
Stupid stuff happens when we get complacent!
Well the nightmare/saga is just about over!!
I noticed that the grounding wire for the fuel tank wasn't hooked up as I was fixing the shower drain plumbing that they disturbed.
So, I checked the fuel gauge and it only showed that the tank was about a quarter full WTF???
Got the ground wire hooked up and no change. I know that it was at least two thirds full when I handed it over to them as I had driven directly to their facility after my last top off.
So I stuck a stick in the tank and it was below where the stick could reach which would be about half a tank.
Long story short they de-tanked to one fuel cell and in their shop chaos refilled from another.
If I hadn't noticed it; I would have left without 100 gallons of fuel that I paid $3.89 earlier in the year.
Local price for diesel is about $6.50 a gallon here in LA.
They found my fuel cell but can't get the pump to work to pump the fuel out of it (Groan). They have now hooked up a 4GPM water pump to move the fuel so thinking it will take 40 minutes or so move it.
So, I could say as precaution when leaving your vehicle at a maintenance facility for a long time. Get a stick long enough to dip the tank and record the level for a recheck before departing.
Glad to see that the repair is finally done. Good catch on the fuel thing. (ain't the first time a bus has had fuel disappear at a shop after sitting a long time!)
Have fun with the "projects", it seems life is back to normal for you as there are always "PROJECTS" popping up!
:D BK :D
Dang I am almost back on the road!!!
As part of the collision repair they reworked the fuel tank and one of the things that I had requested while they had the tank out of the bus and recertifying it was the fix the Aux fuel tap for the generator and diesel boiler for the hydronic heating system.
It was pulling both fuel and air when you were trying to suction fuel out of the main tank which was causing both the generator and the diesel boiler to shut down. Note this problem already existed before I side swiped the fire hydrant. Prevost quoted $800.00+ just to remove the fuel tank to start work on that problem.
So since they were repairing the fuel tank I asked for extra attention in this area (repeatedly) with very little feedback so I kept reducing the scope of things I wanted them to address to just the collision repair and this task.
They are sort of subcontracted to the local Prevost maintenance facility for doing collision repairs. Heck in my last weeks observation they are working on lots of seated Prevost's for parking lot rash type stuff.
Anyway there is old and new plumbing (fresh fuel hoses) which I had covered with the owner before he stroked out and kicked the bucket. They hooked up the old system which has it's problems without talking with me.
The widow is struggling to keep everything running and the new shop foreman does not translate too well to the mostly Mexican crew.
I drew diagrams and pointed to end point hoses, etc.
The worker who was working on the project pulled the recently installed new hose to the diesel boiler and was wondering why I wasn't happy with only a single hose to the generator. They ended up ripping the new stainless steel skin back off the bus in order to work on this problem.
Anyway after a day and half I think things are finally correct fuel distribution wise (I can see fuel that is non-frothy coming out of the hose at each distribution point).
I think if I had just taken over as the full time foreman it could have been done in a half day.
Just a few more items to fix on the bus that are not related to the collision and I maybe headed out for Texas from LA.
If nothing else I need to start putting in some road miles to get away from here!!!
I am hoping to close out this saga and get back to personally enhancing the bus to my version of a high tech nerd bus.
Some of the things on the near future punch list are:
1. Bring up the StarLink internet dish for high speed internet as a external roof mounted item that be automatically extended and retracted while parked.
2. Implement the PepLink router configuration to automatically fail over from StarLink to Cellular data if there is momentary outage from the satellite dish so online conference calls are not interrupted.
3. Centralize water feed to automatically fill the fresh water tank (The local crew was able to route hoses which I couldn't figure out to feed back to fresh water tank in the front of the bus from the plumbing bay).
4. Track water consumption with a flow meter so that you don't run out of water in the middle of the night because you flushed the toilet and the pump runs dry the rest of the night because you are asleep.
5. With the flow meter and automation be able to automatically fill the fresh water tank when hooked to an external water source.
Hey TGIF!!!
I recommend you not make that tank fill an automatic operation but a manual one. The reason? Not all water sources are palatable and you don't want to contaminate your good fresh water with local sulfur water the first minute you hook up. Much better to retain the sweet water you have for drinking and run the shower and such off the hose. Plumbing in a manual valve for tank fill should not be at all difficult and even an automatic shut off should be feasible.
Jim
can you give more info about this
1. Bring up the StarLink internet dish for high speed internet as a external roof mounted item that be automatically extended and retracted while parked.
2. Implement the PepLink router configuration to automatically fail over from StarLink to Cellular data if there is momentary outage from the satellite dish so online conference calls are not interrupted.
thanks dave
Quote from: sledhead on October 23, 2022, 06:13:00 AM
can you give more info about this
1. Bring up the StarLink internet dish for high speed internet as a external roof mounted item that be automatically extended and retracted while parked.
2. Implement the PepLink router configuration to automatically fail over from StarLink to Cellular data if there is momentary outage from the satellite dish so online conference calls are not interrupted.
thanks dave
Hi Dave
Will do and I will make a full post on my build thread when I finish it up. But hey most of the info that I got on this is below:
Video on how to roof mounted Starlink dish and peplink.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIfiZwU3J9c (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIfiZwU3J9c)
Another video on how to power Starlink via DC power
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGCL9pNDDc&t=36s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrGCL9pNDDc&t=36s)
Fred
thanks Fred
nice video but it might be over my pay grade
I will wait for your report
Think twice about a permanent mount of starlink. I've had mine several months now and like those with sat. tv, there are times where you park is not where you get a good signal.
I have a tall pole but it hasn't really been that useful. I've found that I can find a spot on the ground that gets a good as shot as higher. That may be because I'm not as constrained horizontally so getting clear sky is about the same whether on the ground or on a pole.
I find a spot that works then put a folding chair behind it so it don't get run over.
If anything is the constraint on signal is having a longer cord. I just just had mine out to 75' and got a good signal. But I'm sure one day I will need a longer stretch.
Storing and set up is a couple minutes work so personally roof mounting isn't something for me.