Rusty stuff

When I bought the bus I discovered some rust holes in the roof - I've heard of a few of these vehicles now with some roof rust.  This typically occurs around the little brackets that hold the cover pieces behind the air-conditioner hump.  A friend of mine also found some around the rear vent housing.  Another contact had significant rust in the curved section above the windows.  I repaired my roof a while ago and didn't document that but I've just had to tackle some rust under the front passenger window and I thought I might share the repair technique.

I was aware of this rust a while ago and had done a few little bodgie repairs to keep it under control but it was time to do the job properly. [Thanks Gary for reminding me that I need to get it done!]

First of all, the window needs to be removed.

From inside the bus remove the pinch weld around the window frame.  These windows are only held in by a silicone bead so use a blade to slice between the body work and the window frame.  Because of the rust I discovered the bottom edge of the frame wasn't really sticking to anything.  I also found some small perspex strips on the sides which must act as spacers.  I didn't need to cut these off to remove the window. [Just left them there ready to do their job when I put the window back in]

It's probably a good idea to have someone on the outside to stop the window just falling out once the silicone beading has been cut.  The frame will just push out but be careful as the frame is flexible and the windows themselves can fall out of the frame at the top (they appear to be held on the bottom track because I couldn't just lift them out of the frame - no need to anyway.)

Once the window is out put it in a safe place.  I needed to clean off all the old silicon which I did with a sharpened piece of perspex - my frames are black aluminium and the plastic blade prevents scratching)

Time to assess the damage - not pretty!

Window frame removed exposing serious rust on sill

Overhead view of the rusty sill

For about a third of the window the top of the sill was basically gone and the rest could not be saved. No option but to scrape clean and then commence surgery!

Surgery commences: cut away remaining top sill with angle grinder

I decided to remove all the rusted steel from the outer panel (rather than patch it). All the inner panel was cleaned back with grinder and treated with a product call penetrol to prevent further rust. It actually wasn't too bad. I didn't cut all the top of the panel in one go - I did it in sections to leave a guide for positioning the new window edge.

Rusty bits removed from outer panel - remaining steel cleaned up

I'll throw a diagram here to illustrate how I tackled the repair.

First piece of steel goes in - it was steel I already had and it already had a fold - a fraction heavier than what was there.  I also treated the underside of it with penetrol. I didn't worry about another vertical fold - there was already plenty of steel on the inside vertical. Worked out well because it created a little valley where the welds would be placed.

I only have a stick welder so I just tacked along the new seam at about 25mm intervals.  I had read somewhere that if you try to fully weld such joints you'll just end up with a buckled mess [Would have been impossible for me with a stick welder anyway!]  I was very happy with the result and I decided that the only thing to do was keep going with the same method.  The rest of the sill edge was actually in good condition but I decided that attempting to do the joint on the top of the sill was not going to work.  So with angle grinder in hand I kept going.  You can see the pencil line I marked for cutting. I ended up putting three sill plates in via this method [Why? the steel I had was only long enough to do it that way and I liked the way it allowed me to keep the existing line as I went.]  Next photo shows it all in place.

Next step was to check the window fitted back in before I went any further. Good news!

Beautiful - fits like a glove!

Hit all the welds with a grinder to make them flush with the existing panel and then use car filler to hide them.  Filler only takes about twenty minutes to dry and then sand back with 60-80 grit paper.  Actually in my research I was given a worthwhile tip - only ever dry sand the filler - it is porous and will let moisture through it. 

Time to mask up and apply primer surfacer. I applied 4-5 coats.  The last black mist coat acts as a sanding guide. Sand back with 600-800 grit paper - not a bad idea to use a sanding block  to keep the surface even.  Any black remaining will alert you of areas require further filling.

Application of the top coat - I only had a touch-up spray can of the matching colour and I was a bit anxious not having it in the proper spray gun but it went on surprisingly well.  I had enough for about 4 coats.  You have to leave it for 24 hours before doing anything else but I reckon its a good idea to get rid of the masking tape asap.  By the way I was using single pack acrylic lacquer.

Finish colour is on - you got to be happy with that!

Disaster struck [well not absolute catastrophe].  I must have put the last coat on too late in the day, then overnight we had rain and all the next day.  I ended up with little blisters in the top coat where it had got wet.  It was under a tarp but the moisture still found a way!
Left it in the sun the following day and sanded that coat back - not too bad - will have to repeat a filler and top coat to tidy it up.

That's where I'm up to at time of writing.  I need to wait awhile before I mask up again and repaint the window recess black [as done in the rest of the vehicle.]  Then it is just a matter of siliconing the window back in.  Always make sure you use a neutral cure silicon so it is not corrosive on the metal.

The whole process has got me keen to do the complete respray [in 2 pack] - but that's something I'll leave for another time.

Storage bins

Storage bins - Under floor storage

There are two things I wished I had considered more on this aspect of the build.

• Greater storage capacity can be made available by accessing through the floor storage - in this case from below to above the existing floor.
• Storage space is not necessarily limited by the size of the hatch available to access it.

Now before I explain how I came to these conclusions let me give you a little lead-in to this aspect of the build.

There is no doubt cutting the hole in the body for my access hatch was a stressful experience so I waited a while before I got up the courage to cut out pieces of the lower body to access under floor compartments.  I wanted to be sure on the placement and the method of access.
The first of these was really just an access flap to reach a battery rack on the drivers side of the bus.  I checked where vertical support stanchions were and basically made two vertical cuts in the panel on the inside edge of each stanchion and then a horizontal cut to join them. The horizontal cut was made at a suitable place in the body profile to facilitate the fitting of hinges to the flap. I used a jigsaw to achieve this and ending up with an opening about 700mm wide.  Another part of the decision was the corner - rounded or right angled?  I opted for square because I thought it would be easier to fit the pinch-weld I was using to finish the edges. I didn't think the pinchweld would fit snugly enough on the inner and outer curve.

Problem number 1: At this stage I didn't want to do any repainting or other modification so I devised the pinchweld method to finish the edges neatly.  The jigsaw however did not cut out enough metal to allow the fitting of the pinchweld to the flap and the body so I had to take to the flap with an angle grinder anyway to make it fit.  The whole idea of using the jigsaw in the first place was to avoid burning paint using the grinder. I avoided burning by going slowly [keep the paint cool with a damp rag] and the pinchweld helped hide any minor blemishes on the panel flap.  [Since that time I have decided that a reciprocating saw may have been useful.  I had discounted using an electric nibbler which does cut a gap that I thought would be too big. I also thought it was too difficult to control in that situation].  Down the track if I repaint parts of the vehicle I will repaint these edges properly.

Hinges used were stainless steel marine quality and I pop riveted them on. Pinchweld was about $5 a metre from Clark rubber.

The actual rack was made from angle iron built to fit and bolt onto the chassis.  I made it with a slide out tray to access the batteries which at that stage were deep cycle wet cells.  Now that I have changed to AGM batteries there really is no need for the sliding rack to check acid levels. I also fitted a lock to the slide out rack so it would not be easy for a thief to steal batteries.
Didn't do anything fancy with the flap - some marine type catches to hold it shut and a stick to hold it up when required.

Hatch number 2

After successfully negotiating the access hatch outlined above, I eventually decided that I needed another one on the passenger side which was cut using basically the same method.  This time I wanted to make an enclosed locker which would be used to house a generator (and later my chainsaw).
With limited vertical height available I worked out that I could carry a Honda EU10i generator (I probably should discuss generators in another post).  As I believed I would not ever be running an airconditioner I thought the 1kw should be adequate for my needs - which was basically just as another means of providing power for battery charging.

This was another one of those consequences caused by my decision to go with a compressor fridge - if you want to be independent, are not driving regularly and there is no sun for solar - you just have to have a backup power supply.  [As it turns out I have rarely had to use it - but there has been a couple of occasions where it was necessary].

I worked out that I could fit the 1 kw generator sideways through the hatch and there was just enough room to rotate it and stand it up again.  This is where I wish I had considered the height aspect more carefully - because this hatch was under clear floor AND I actually had the option to cut out the floor and expand into the kickboard space under the cupboards!  I could have achieved almost another 100mm height and possibly accommodated a larger generator if required.  (I have since done this to achieve some internal height in the locker.)
My second mistake was to only make the locker the size of the access hatch. This housed the generator and a 5 litre fuel tank comfortably, however later, when I decided I would like to carry a small chainsaw - I could just fit it in but space was at a premium.  I realized that I could easily have extended the locker by another 30cm which I have since done.  Because the locker was built out of angle iron with metal sides I basically took out one end and constructed another box to bolt to the original. The end of the box substitutes for the steel mudflap which I removed in the process. This has given me a lot more room to store the chainsaw, hoses and oils.  I fitted key-locks to this flap to protect my generator.
Another couple of features that may be of interest -

• I used one of the original bus seatbelts to secure the generator to the floor - this works well and prevents it bouncing around.
• I also have a hardened steel loop through the floor of the bus with a security cable to further safeguard the generator. The security cable is long enough to allow the generator to be placed on the ground if required.
• I had a short lead made up to plug the generator into the AC power inlet on the bus (which is very close to the hatch anyway).  This saves getting out the long extension lead.
• The front end of the generator locker has a disk flap that aligns with the generator exhaust - with the hatch door open (for adequate ventilation) the generator is operational from within the locker and I have run it this way on occasion.  The Honda is pretty quiet in economy mode and is bearable from within the vehicle.
• Even though I was limited by where I could place a generator I thought later later it might have been a mistake to place it on the awning side of the bus.  However in retrospect I have decided it was the best position. As it is likely that it would only be used in bad weather it made sense to have it on the sheltered side of the vehicle (for both the equipment and the operator).

So to reiterate on my opening statement...

• Don't disregard "through the floor" space when constructing lockers under the vehicle.
• Maximise the available space and don't necessarily be limited by the access hatch size.