Roof question and thought.

[Chaz]

I have been reading the "Roof coating" thread. I'm always interested to see if something new has been discovered. (looks like nothing new yet!  )
I also didn't want to hijack that thread so here's my question:
    What is a Saudi Roof??
Ok, I seen the pictures so please don't state the obvious, but what exactly is it, material wise? Is it something we all have the opportunity to put on our bus's? Or is it bus specific? It seems like an awesome idea!!!
Again, I have no idea about how it's made or what it's made from, but do you think the people who make the white PVC fences could extrude something like this that would work for our bus's?? Or maybe it just wouldn't be worth it.

  Just a thought,
    Chaz

[Jeremy]

If a 'Saudi Roof' is the same as a 'Safari Roof' then there are no clever materials involved, just a bit of moderately clever design. If it is something different then I'm probably just confusing the issue

By the way, welcome back Chaz - long time no posts!

Jeremy

[H3Jim]

my understanding of a saudi roof was froma groujp of MCI 5's that were sold a lot of years ago to the saudis.  Because of the high heat, the buses had a second skin over the top of the roof, with about 3/4 of an inch free air space underneath.  The extra skin can easily be seen from the side / ground as the edge just seems to float jsut where the roof curve gets steep.  I have never heard of any other bus having this roof, although there may have been.

[ghanson]

Chaz,

It's part of the bus, and I'm sure it came from MCI like this.   The bus spent it's glory years hauling people between cruise ships and the airports in FLA, and was ordered like that.  I got roped into this thing primarily because it didn't have a restroom, and thought it'd be less work in my conversion efforts.  This is true, but the bummer is that it also had a bifold door, and I believed the guy when he said he could put a solid door on and it'd be just like the original door.  What a mistake that was - but I digress.   

The reason I'm looking to paint the roof, or do some kind of coating,  is because the paint that's up there now is faded and kind of thrashed, and I thought every little bit would help.  The photos I put up there are when the paint job was new.  The bus still looks good, but the years have not been so kind to the roof.    I will be leaving the bus out for a while if I travel this summer as planned, but normally I have it in a garage, so the dirt factor might not be that big of a deal.

But don't waste any brain cells pondering a Saudi roof.  It's likely a bigger deal to install after the fact, and the benefits couldn't possibly be worth the effort. 

g

[Chaz]

Thanx Jeremy!! Nice you noticed. But I do check everyday. It's just that I can't type, per se, and have a busy schedule right now. (working on my waste veggy oil cleaner; Upcoming art show, etc.)

  Thanx G. By the way, as others said in the other post - Super nice looking bus!!! Very nice.
  I was just thinking something like that could possibly be achieved my PVC formed in such a manner and not only save us from extra unwanted heat, but also make a nice looking white top thats easy to clean. Instead of it being, say, something like square tubes molded together, it could be more like channels (read channel iron for those of you versed in structural metal) with the legs down. It would then be easy to form over our beloved radius-ed roofs. But hey, just another thought. I have many!   
   
    Chaz

[Jeremy]

my understanding of a saudi roof was froma groujp of MCI 5's that were sold a lot of years ago to the saudis.  Because of the high heat, the buses had a second skin over the top of the roof, with about 3/4 of an inch free air space underneath.  The extra skin can easily be seen from the side / ground as the edge just seems to float jsut where the roof curve gets steep.  I have never heard of any other bus having this roof, although there may have been.

Yes, that's just like a Safari Roof as available for many years as an option on Land Rovers going to hot countries

Jeremy

[HighTechRedneck]

If someone was looking to do this aftermarket now, it seems like it would be more practical to do as some have talked about in various other threads.  Lay down a layer of rigid foam insulation, topped with a layer of reflective insulation and then skin over it, blending into the existing roof crown.  Just a thought.

[Len Silva]

I don't know much about the saudi roof but I can tell you this.  I covered a shingled barn roof with 3/4" furring and V-crimp metal and it very dramatically dropped the inside temperature.

Len

[buswarrior]

Hello.

George Myers, a frequenter of the boards, authour of conversion materials, and a nice guy too, has a transit with the insulation on the exterior of the roof.

The Saudi buses were built for Greyhound to fulfill a contract for transportation services in Saudi Arabia. It is also suggested that the AC was supplemented with an auxiliary unit mounted down the back as well.

When the contract was up, the coaches were put back on a ship and returned to North America.

There are a few busnuts running around with them. The second roof is just metal skin, to shade the coach roof, held up with a channel perforated with big holes to allow air movement.

My bet is that the goal was as inexpensive an addition to a stock coach as MCI and Greyhound could muster, that would perform adequately, profit, not best results, being the ultimate purpose.

A busnut could easily recreate this effect by attaching appropriate shaped ribs to the roof and riveting sheets to the ribs.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Nissan_DownUnder]

Hi All

Safari roofs are very common in Australia.  Generally added aftermarket to buses & 4x4 used in the outback.

Appropriate spacers are simply riveted to the existing roof and aluminium sheet is bent in place over the top & riveted on.  Generally, a space of 1 to 2 cm (1/2 to 1 inch) is left between the existing roof & the false roof.

Cheers
       Peter

[ghanson]

Okay, I would agree that adding a Saudi roof might not be rocket surgery for some of you, but I would think the benefits would not outweigh the work involved.  I'd sooner look into the rigid foam idea, or better yet, depending on what stage you're in, insulate more on the inside.  Those three roof top air conditioners don't really do the trick on a really hot day, although it may be more a matter of placement than anything else.  I could really use another one up front. 

At this stage in life, I'm too busy to put much effort into the bus, so I will leave it alone for now, but someday, I'd like to ad another AC unit.  The oversized Yanmar in the bay will scoff at the thought of running a mere 4 a/c units!  HA!

I just I hope I'm not posting any "Yikes" stories when I tackle the roof.  When I insulated this inside, I got a guy to foam the roof and half way down the walls.  Did a nice job, but as he was exiting  the bus, he dropped his foaming gun and fffffttttttt, all over the side of my new $5k paint job, not to mention the leather seat.   Not paying him was the least of my problems that day. 

Onward.......through the fog!

g

[Chaz]

Did a nice job, but as he was exiting  the bus, he dropped his foaming gun and fffffttttttt, all over the side of my new $5k paint job, not to mention the leather seat.

Oh man... I'm so sorry for BOTH of you. What a drag!!!

I doubt many of us will be attaching such a roof to our "babies", but it's cool to ponder. I would think that having a Saudi roof already attached would be a good thing, tho. By the way, G, I live in Batesville IN. and maybe we will be able to cross paths someday. I would like to see your bus. It's a very nice looking piece. Oh, have you posted any interior shots?? Most of us have this little "nose issue"!  lol 

   Later...........