Mason's 1968 model 05

[Eagle obsessed]

ok, back again.

coming back to my last post, I still think that there is air in the system. on the last test drive we didn't put a cap on our power steering reservoir and air was coming through and throwing out fluid. we have not driven since then but i believe that driving will fix the problem... i.e bleed the system.

As i said in last post my most recent project is completely sealing off front end, and configuring dash wiring, starting with putting 18 gauge steel under floor then sprayfoam. on top is then plywood, which should totally seal off all leaks. I did rebuild the stairs, however they are almost same as original, for a few reasons. i did make it so rise is same for each step. And we also still hope to be able to fit spare tire underneath. did widen the 4th step up, making it a little wider towards the curbside of bus for better accessibility.

I'm now doing wiring in thefront so i can insulate front bulkhead, which should be almost the last thing to insulate.


We also have new windshields, at somepoint we will start putting them in and tweaking things so they fit. (the frame not the windows. windows dont tweak )

And also some more insulation in the genset compartment.

And we are working towards getting levelers going.

[beltguy]

Mason, so glad you are back to posting and showing us your great fabrication skills.

Just an FYI, the custom car folks "tweak" the curved glass windshields when they chop the top . Watched a guy work on the glass when a rather famous customizer chopped the top on a Chevy a few years ago at a car show and his skills were amazing.

Jim

[Eagle obsessed]

Test

[beltguy]

reply to Masons test (he is having an issue).

Jim

[Eagle obsessed]

ok jim i am back. somehow it wouldnt post last time, i think i used an emoji off my iphone which caused problems.
So not a forum problem.

ok so last post i was trying to talk about how the windshields worked.

Basically we took all the bondo off from around the opening, the test fitted the windows. Test fit went fine, then we started trying with gasket , and they did not seem to fit, with the corners being a little tight. so take out and sand the corners. We took an 1/8 of glue off then maybe 1/16-1/8" of glass. Then using a variety of tools were able to fit both windows into their proper places.

side note: We compared both profiles of old and new windows and it appears that the new windows were curved slightly different in our favor.

After that took on a test drive to see how well it was sealed up in the front, but at that point i had not completely sealed around the brake treadle, (huge hole) so there was a lot of wind coming through. and of course a terrible door. Also tested my extended cruise and jake wires, which worked fine. Our last trip cruise was not wired to the brakes so we were not able to use.

At this point the entire front end is sealed satisfactory as far as i know. further test driving will tell the tale.

I reverted with the front floor around driver is still angled, as it was stock. This was the only way to give clearance to headlights.

[Eagle obsessed]

Headlights.

I found a website that makes led headlight replacements for old vehicles with old headlights. such as an old bus.

https://vintagecarleds.com/

They are a very close fit, however i had to cut out the back of the headlight housing as they are a little longer then stock. and all 4 headlights are hi/lo beam.

i have not aimed them yet, them seem bright enough in the shop but it is hard to tell.

[Eagle obsessed]

Wipers.

I was never too impressed with air wipers, no hard reasons just not impressed. So when we were taking bluebird apart also took off wiper motors and stashed in back of shop.
removing the air wipers from the eagle left huge gaping holes, quite unsightly, leaving me wondering how to cover them. (the electric wiper motors had a much smaller penetration.) Well we decided we would try tig welding patches in, being that someone lives here that knows the basics of tig welding (not me) after a ton of prep this turned out pretty well. It probably is not quite wayne level, but i did not want to find new frontal aluminum siding.
We did smooth it with a flap sanding disk, not sure how that will look because the anodizing is gone. but it is and extremely small area.

After the patching was done it was very easy to drill a new smaller hole and mount the wiper motor.

I do still need to wire motors but that is it on the wiper motor installation.

[Eagle obsessed]

My most recent project was making cafe doors for the rear curb side compartment.

I have a t handle latch coming for the front door, rear door latches from inside





More sideways iPhone pics

[Eagle obsessed]

Today finished up the rear door, it hinges at the top, still need to get struts for it but that is all

[rusty]

Nice work tell me about the shutters.
Wayne