LEAKOIL Forum

Bruce
A few posts back you were using a drill to clean out your heated cable tubes.
What kind of bit did you use?

I'm continually amazed by the quality of your welding!

(I've tried with random bits of metal a few times and it looks like a splattered squirt of toothpaste)

Ken wrote:Bruce
A few posts back you were using a drill to clean out your heated cable tubes.
What kind of bit did you use?

Use an old clutch cable and frey the end a bit, it acts like a wire brush when rotated.

toolbox wrote:

Ken wrote:Bruce
A few posts back you were using a drill to clean out your heated cable tubes.
What kind of bit did you use?

Use an old clutch cable and frey the end a bit, it acts like a wire brush when rotated.

Great Idea

Kirk wrote:Bruce,
Could you better explain "....a high spot in the center so I adjust it just like any other American box, (it's an ATE/Ross box!) to zero lash on the high spot. (pitman arm zero side play- no "click")"
Did your box start with slop and after cleaning and changing seal you adjusted all of this play out?

Most worm and sector style steering gears used in domestic trucks and cars (not rack and pinion) have a "high" spot in the center. That is, if you have a theoretical 3 turns lock-to-lock, there will be a "click" of side play in the pitman arm when the steering wheel is more than 1/4 turn to the left, or 1/4 turn to the right of center. When the steering wheel is near the center of its travel there is a "high" spot which eliminates this click of free play. My box not only had a click of free play off center but it had a bit of play when in the center, showing it needed adjustment. It's simple- drop the drag link, center the steering wheel, grab the pitman arm and see if there is any play in it, there should be none. Adjust accordingly, which is rarely more than 1/4 of a turn of the adjustment screw. If you get it too tight, it will bind when driving straight ahead and cause you to fight the wheel constantly because the car can't track on its own.

Ken: Yes, I used a piece of wire rope like clutch cable checked into the drill. I actually went to Home Depot and bought a bunch of varying size pieces because I wanted to clean all of the different sized tubes- throttle, pk brk, clutch, etc. An old clutch cable should work fine for all except the throttle cable.

blue71 wrote:I'm continually amazed by the quality of your welding!

That's funny, I'm not very proud of my welds.

Here's the shots of the inner valance I forgot to post a few days ago. I spliced it using only the lower half, as that makes it easier to change. To replace the whole valance the nose skin must either be cut or removed.

Right floor is done and came out well.


I bought a "wand" for painting inside the doglegs and framerail. It's a 3' tube that plugs into any common paint/rustproofing can with a tip that has 6 ports that spray nearly a 360* circle to coat the inside of stuff.

OK, on to the outer valance. Let's hit the inner with a coat of weld through primer first 'cause it's the last time it sees daylight for a while. I also shot the inner side of the lower outer valance for the same reason.
Fitting the outer valance. Once again, I spliced it and only used the lower half.
Here's where I stopped today- the outer valance is 80% done, just needs final welding.
My buddy's spot welder was the cat's ass for the lower edge- a real time saver.

I'm almost done with major welding, making me one fukking happy camper. I still will need to go around the bus and do final touch-ups with the mig, but all small detail shit.

On to the Ypsi swap meet tomorrow with a pocketfull of cash hoping to score parts. Aaron's looking for stuff for me at CTS/F'ton, too.

I finished welding and grinding the lower outer apron, it came out great.

The left seat belt mount was a bit funky looking, but it wasn't until I cleaned it well did I find it was pretty rotted. Here's an old pic zoomed in, I didn't shoot any closeups prior to cutting it out.

Here it is done, it came out great.

The PO must have lived on a dirt road because the rear crossmember was filled with dirt 2+ inches deep. I used the shop vac and an air gun to get it out as there is no real access to the inside besides the round hole where the heater tube runs through. Anyway, things didn't go so well. First, here's maybe 1/3 of the dirt that came out, second, it created a cloud like I've never seen by using a blowgun, third, I looked like an alien when I was done, and fourth, the fukking crossmember was done when I got done.
I used fiberglass jelly resin to seal up the welds around the wheelwells so water won't get in.

2 3/4" exhaust pipe fits perfect for replacing the rotted long heat tube, it's not easy to buy but Napa was able to get a 10' piece for $30.

Here is a small piece test fitted through the front crossmember and into the bent heater tube.

After sealing up the floors and bulkheads with FG, I mixed up some two part primer and shot the bottom. I'll continue working underneath doing a quick sandblast of the entire bottom and end up shooting gray acrylic paint on the whole underneath. I figure this is the best time, as once the outer body is done I sure won't want to be painting the bottom of the bus.
You might remember this front heater tube had a big rot hole in it, so I used glass mat and jelly to seal that up.

Next:

Replace the rear crossmember (ordered from ECC Tom), installing the heater tube at the same time so it won't have to be spliced. (est 4-6 hours)

Sandblast the bottom center section between the axles and paint it. (est 4-6 hours)

Reposition the bus on stands so the ass end is in the air higher, pull the trans, clean and paint the rear section. (est 6+ hours)

Chug, chug, chug. Just crossed 200 hours total, maybe 205 right now. Work is busy, slowing me down.

This thread is awesome! Great work Bruce! I love the 360 degree sprayer "wand". Also, that's a great tip on the NAPA 2 and 3/4 inch exhaust pipe for replacement heater tube. Great job on the complicated welds. And the fiberglass seal is also a great tip.

Excellent work Bruce. I like the fact you have kept track of your hours. It will make every minute driving it so worth it. There is deinately a satisfaction in knowing you did it yourself.
Cheers to ya
Tom