changing rear bumperettes on a 72 mci 7 piece of cake hah hah hah

[mikelutestanski]

Hello   
   Just working through a two hour job that is now into 3 days and not completed yet.
     Changing rear corner bumperettes on an old bus...   The rusty corroded stuff was one thing . The nuts on the studs were half gone along with the aluminum spacers.  Over the years the rust had taken its toll and a few hits damages the cheesy steel frames that the bumper bolts to.  I ended up literally destroying the pass side unit to get it apart. sawzall, hammer and prybar work.
   I have 2 new pristine units to replace the old ones and thought it would be a piece of cake.  however the mounting frames were rusted away because of salt and corrosion.  The bottom is open so the road water can be sprayed up into the area.
   Oh the holding studs are 9/16-12 thd about 3.5 inches long.    So I made an EECN ( mikes Executive engineering change notice)   and decided to go with 5/8 studs because They are available. Tractor supply had loads of bolts and threaded rod.   I also had the taps and drill so 8 holes X .5 hours = 4 hours and we were on our way.
    Now one interesting point the bottom rail is stainless while the upright part of the bracket is mld steel.  Guess what they used Stainless weld to fasten the two metals and after 38 years the welds and metal was holding  up very well.   Nearby metal was decimated by salt.
    So take a note .  You can weld mild steel to stainless and have it outlast your needs.
  So another day and replacement welding of battered mounting holes with scavenged steel plates and we were ready to mount the new parts..
    Alas   no bingo yet.  The pass side unit that had the most amount of rusty metal actually mounted well and looks fine.
   The driver side is lopsided and requires further shimming and probably redrilling of the mounting plates .  Somewhere along the line that side got pushed in when the driver backed into something (not evenly of course) .
    So  probably another day to get that detail completed. 
   The objective is to get the bus ready for painting.  We put new aluminum siding on her many years ago.  Now we are installing new homemade trim and  repairing all those dings that we worked so hard to put on the bus.
   We are also deciding on a paint scheme for Mikes Metal Mistress.
      I ordered polishing supplies from Caswell plating Lyons NY.  They had the best price for the polishing wheels, rouge bars, and adaptor fitting for the polisher.  Should arrive soon.  Includes a polishing guide  ...
    The interior is done so when the exterior is finished we can   get my mistress rolling  rolling rolling.
        Regards and happy bussin   mike
   
       

[bobofthenorth]

Pictures Mike, we want pictures!!  It sounds like you are having fun.

[mikelutestanski]

Hello:    BOB   pictures are uploaded   mike

[ol713]

HI mike;
         Where did you ever find new or almost new bumperetts?
         I have a 71'  MC-7 that could use a set
                                    Thanks,  Merle.

[bobofthenorth]

OH DEAR Mike - looks like an Eagle in some of those pictures.   

[Sojourner]

Mike...thank you for sharing your interesting repairing project with photos.

Keep us updated!

Sojourn for Christ, Gerald

[Dreamscape]

OH DEAR Mike - looks like an Eagle in some of those pictures.  

Yeah it sure does, but with all that brown stuff it makes our coaches fly like an Eagle!

~Paul~

[cody]

OH DEAR Mike - looks like an Eagle in some of those pictures.  

bob what we eagle owners do is follow MCI's now and then so we can update our rust proofing. lol