R&M Fiberglass no more

[doublee]

Well what started out as a good week moving dirt and hauling gravel for your new shop, I decided to go ahead and ordered a front kit and fenders  for my  9  from R&M to
find out the no longer make any of it. I was going to order it a year ago but decided to what until the shop was started, if I only knew then what I know now.

[luvrbus]

Yep Richard and Karen went on to bigger and better things they are making the front and rear caps for a RV manufacture in that area now and it keeps them real busy nowadays,he even scraped all the molds he had for buses 

[doublee]

I just talked to them they still have the mold in storage and they need repaired. I guess they are for sale but they want to sell them all as a set not individually.
  Any body want to partner  on a fiberglass company?  LOL!!!!!

[luvrbus]

That's good he didn't cut all the molds up when he stopped by he was in the process of cutting up some molds lol only one I wanted he cut it up

[jav9956]

Did they mention how much they are selling the molds for?

[doublee]

 No, I never ask. IBP industries were talking to them about the the molds, but I'm afraid IF IBP got them they would be way to costly for the fiberglass parts.

[gumpy]

I put R&M all over my bus. I wouldn't do it again. Quality was not what I expected for the price I paid. The only piece I would maybe do again is the rear cap, and only if I
could custom ordered it and have them leave extra on so it can be trimmed properly.

If I were doing it again, I'd keep the original front cap and just fill in below it in the roof raise.

Eventually I'll remove all the crap I put on the rear. The louvered radiator covers and the rear door panels are junk. Chipped and cracked!
I may leave the lower corners simply because they have the lights set in them. The rest will go in the trash and I'll fabricate new stuff.

[DoubleEagle]

That is a shame, they were the main provider of fiberglass parts, despite quality concerns. It might be a sign that bus conversions are in decline. International Bus Parts used to have a lot of Eagle stuff, but not so much now. This might make any existing supplies of caps, dashes, visors, etc. more dear now, and if there is accident damage, repairs will be more difficult. Fabrications can be done, but it takes time and skill.

[buswarrior]

Is it a matter of the calendar, and fashion?

The buses that got caps are done. The pioneers that installed 'em, or their estates, are selling them, where there was no "used bus conversions" like them available before.

Nobody is fooled by that fad of putting lipstick on a pig, er, "updating" an older coach with newer looking falsies.

The unnatural "rush" to dump the 96 wide coaches, by the double hit of wide body, shortly followed by long body, made them available younger and in higher numbers than the natural order of things.

The market is filling in, the newer stuff isn't being capped, the demand for the cap product is gone.

New busnuts might not be exposing themselves to the Boards by typing? We are rather harsh at times, and everything has been answered in the archives, if you run some searches...

Busnuts converting things seems to continue?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[sledhead]

kind of sad that I lot of the stuff that is needed to convert a bus to a coach have disappeared .
I used storm tite rv windows out of canada  on our coach and my 2000 featherlite has the same but I see they are still in business but no longer sell them , but did find a company in the us that sells rv windows of the same name ?

dave

[DoubleEagle]

There still must be some interest in converting, but it is troublesome to note that quite often there are ten "users" signed in but ninety "guests", or some similar percentage. BusWarrior has it right, the newer buses do not need the same changes that the older ones went through. Everyone involved with maintaining older buses still needs help figuring out the many problems that pop up.

[luvrbus]

Richard,(R&M) has been a friend for years he never made any big money at selling his stuff he only survived.He sold only 1 cap the year he decided to go in different direction.
I never bought a Eagle cap from him I hated his rear caps for a Eagle he made those to fit several different buses and they were a bitch to make one fit. 
The Eagle just doesn't look right with a straight cap on the rear IMO so I bought my caps from Eagle lol @ twice the cost over Richards   

[DoubleEagle]

I remember ordering a windshield visor for my 05 Eagle, and when I held it up to see how it fit, I could not make sense of it. I called Richard and described what I had, and it turned out that they had sent the part that goes below the windshield instead of the visor. He sent out the correct part at his cost, and I still have the other part. He probably did not make any money on that deal, and I had offered to send the wrong part back.

[TomC]

Then R&M needs to update their web site that they are not doing buses anymore

[luvrbus]

? is Hansen still around in N or SC they sold more Eagles caps than Richard ever made,there was a guy in Boulder NV Fiberglass Specialties  that made fiberglass parts for buses like the fender flares,bumpers and air scoops he could still be there.Then there was the guy in OH that built my dash Richard copied Bill Johns he did nice some dashes wonder if he is still around.Richard was just one of many back in the days that made fiber glass parts for buses.Richard had to move on there was just not enough sold for him to survive