Eagles International Forum

keep up the good work. Fun to see an old Eagle rising from the rust pile.
Wayne

So long as you guys are having fun, that's what matters, right?

Putting the rear torsilastic assemble together took longer then I thought it would, but now it is mostly together, just small details left.
There is a lot of steel in the back of an Eagle!

Need to double tube this

So far I have not mentioned a unique addition to our bus. At some point in time one of the previous owners installed a round diesel tank in between the stock diesel tanks. Apparently they thought they needed more fuel capacity. (Not a bad idea) But there were a few details that I didn't like so I decided to take it out and see what was under there. Underneath the tank was a plywood floor exposed directly to the elements. That was the number 1 reason for taking it out. Also I wanted to see how much rust I would find underneath. Tapping the side with a wrench, I appeared almost empty, so I decided that I could drain it into 5 gallon buckets. After draining 40 gallons out, it was empty. Hence a picture of my bucket collection.
After removing the tank, I found out it has a large dent in one end. Somebody must of picked it up cheap at the junk yard.
Also, the diesel I drained out was orange. What does that mean???

Anyhow, after taking out the tank, I didn't find much rust, which is a good sign. I will clean up the cavity and then put the tank back in. It will be handy for running the generator when we are parked 50 miles from a truck stop.

That fuel could be off road fuel.

Yep, red diesel with a tinge of rust.

Should I be worried about rust in the fuel tank? The buckets were not perfectly clean. It is more of an orange color, Likely from filling up from red, which has been diluted down since. Also some rust too.

I haven't posted for a little while (besides the post about the fuel tank) and a lot of things have happened, so it may take a few posts to catch up to where I am now.

Curb side rear rebuild:
I have gotten the hoops made and welded in. I also have gotten the diagonal braces welded in. (The ones that run on the ceiling of the wheel well.) The old ones were welded below the floor line, but, seeing no good reason for that anymore, I welded the new ones flat with the floor. Also welded on a new shock mount.

Last Saturday (since it was 55 degrees) we were planning to pull the bus out and try our luck with sandblasting some of the front undercarriage. I cleaned up everything around the bus, put the air and fuel systems back together (so I thought) hooked the starter up, and fired 'r up. After running at moderate rpm's for a few minutes, it was still not building air, so ran it to the governor for a few minutes. Still was building barely any air. So, shut it off and decided to experiment with recently acquired sandblaster. After sandblasting a wheel barrow, (closest thing on hand) we decided we need a real sandblasting osha approved sandblasting hood before we crawl under the bus. So now the bus is on blocks again so I can work on it easier.

I also have tore out the baggage bay flooring, just to see how much rust was under there. Wasn't as bad as I though it'd be, but still needs some work.

Eagle obsessed wrote:Should I be worried about rust in the fuel tank? The buckets were not perfectly clean. It is more of an orange color, Likely from filling up from red, which has been diluted down since. Also some rust too.

Depending on the quantity of rust, it can foul up the fuel filters fairly quick. Let the buckets sit and see if rust particles settle out. If you plan on reusing the fuel, filter it first. The tank can be cleaned and treated, and coated to prevent that from happening again. KBS Coatings in Indiana sells kits for that. The alternative is doing away with the tank or getting one that fits the space better and is coated on the inside. The model 10's have a 154 Gal. one that fits in there but also sticks out into the bay a bit. There were also two versions of auxiliary tanks that were bolted to the baggage bay floor in addition bringing the capacity up to 199 Gal. maximum gross rating. I don't know if that center part on the 05 is the same exact width, though. I have both in my yard, I'll have to measure them.

You sure have been doing a lot of cutting and welding, I've done it with dump body repairs. It's satisfying when it's done, but occasionally miserable when things are off or warped. It might be optical confusion, but your steel looks beefier than original, you might be adding a notable amount of weight. The original steel was metric, so that might account for the difference. There is at least one mill I know of in Toledo, Ohio that sells metric sized tube (now that you are almost done).

DoubleEagle wrote: The alternative is doing away with the tank or getting one that fits the space better and is coated on the inside. The model 10's have a 154 Gal. one that fits in there but also sticks out into the bay a bit. There were also two versions of auxiliary tanks that were bolted to the baggage bay floor in addition bringing the capacity up to 199 Gal. maximum gross rating. I don't know if that center part on the 05 is the same exact width, though. I have both in my yard, I'll have to measure them.

Walter: It would be interesting to know how big your auxiliary tanks are. I will have to measure the size of my opening today. Also how much does the 154 gal. tank stick into the bay?

DoubleEagle wrote: You sure have been doing a lot of cutting and welding, I've done it with dump body repairs. It's satisfying when it's done, but occasionally miserable when things are off or warped. It might be optical confusion, but your steel looks beefier than original, you might be adding a notable amount of weight. The original steel was metric, so that might account for the difference. There is at least one mill I know of in Toledo, Ohio that sells metric sized tube (now that you are almost done).

So far, I am not worried about adding weight to the bus. It is true I am adding some weight, but I don't think it will be that substantial.
For most things I am using 1 1/2x1 1/2x1/8" tubing. For the drive axle rebuild it was 1 1/2x2 1/2x3/16", so that was a little heavier.
Once I get the shell drivable, I would like to take it over a scale to see how the weight distribution is on the torsilastics. Then I will also know how much weight I can put into it on the actual conversion. 1 1/2" is actually slightly smaller than the original metric tubing, but the side wall is slightly heavier. Also, my supplier does not have any metric tubing, and they come right into McCook every Monday, so I decided I would be fine. In the end, I will be surprised if it adds over 1000 pounds.