Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

The braces for behind the lower skirt were mangled pretty well, had to untwist the pretzels to get accurate measurements..


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203809.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203811.jpg


Getting all the holes prepped...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203813.jpg


Welding in the new braces..


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203817.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203820.jpg


All the pieces of the puzzle... Well, almost..


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203821.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203822.jpg


Now to bust it apart for paint prep..

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Sure looks alot better...Jim

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Well, only one more piece to make for the bus, we need a cap to join together two pieces of rub rail....


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203823.jpg


Bent up some 18 ga on the Baileigh magnetic brake...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203824.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203825.jpg


Then for the highly technical stuff, bent the rest using vise grips to clamp it in place and a dead blow to incrementally tap the ears around...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203826.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203834.jpg


Continued to use the hammer to tap it around, then tightened up the radius on this die/post dolly


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203843.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203844.jpg


We'll get some paint on the bus parts tomorrow..

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Duplicate post

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Got some paint on the bus parts tonight....


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203847.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203848.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203850.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203852.jpg


For the hardware, we media blast the heads and then paint....


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203855.jpg

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Looks good...Jim

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Thanks Jim!

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

The other night while spraying parts, I made a couple trips over to the bus location with the spray gun... in between coats, to get some primer on the bare steel we put in... SPI epoxy on the structural components..


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203856.jpg


.....and some epoxy AND yellow added to the nice scraped up lower corner..


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203857.jpg


Coming together...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203859.jpg


Rivets were media blasted and urethane only, just like the screws. This shows how well the paint holds up to the installation "abuse"...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203860.jpg


Done!


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203863.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203866.jpg

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Nice work Robert.

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

We knew you could do it! :)

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Turned out great...Jim

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Nice work, I bet the original builder wasn't that concerned with priming behind the panels.

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

It seems a shame they didn't have you fix the scrape ahead of the wheel while yo were at it.

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Yes, but this wasn't an insurance job, nor was the previous incident when that dent was added. With the cost being paid by the owner, sometimes a line is drawn in the sand as to what is worth the cost of repair.

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

I hear ya I did collision repair for 15 years. Nice work on the bus always top notch

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Thanks!


Dropped it off before work, picked it up afterward.





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203866.jpg





After about an hour in the driveway with an air hose, the flow of trapped media is scarce, but I'm sure there's still some there. We'll get some SPI epoxy sprayed tomorrow night...





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203867.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203868.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203869.jpg

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

That frame is a thing of beauty,
Quality of work is second to none.
Even on a school bus no short cuts are taken.

When Im out in the shop I reflect back to this build and it makes me try that much harder.

Thanks for posting, even the small stuff.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

OOOO Cleeeeean! Gotta love some blasted metal.

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Nice turn around time, frame looks great...Jim

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Thanks for the comments fellas..



55 parts everywhere....


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203870.jpg


Two coats of SPI epoxy....


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203871.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203872.jpg


Had some left in the paint gun so a couple of extra pieces were moved in...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203873.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203874.jpg


Oh yeah....the "new" trailer wheels were all blasted and ready to go, so they got a couple coats on the back side...


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203875.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203876.jpg

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

The frame had some slight pitting so the sides were hit with the DA to flatten things out a bit, and some Evercoat 416 used to address some of our plug weld grinding marks on the frame plates...





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203882.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203880.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203881.jpg





Here's the "winter" heating method for spraying in cold temps. 170,000 BTU aimed at the air return, and the air handler fan turned on constant to circulate the heat. Open window for air intake..





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203883.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203884.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203885.jpg





After three coats of primer, the sides of the frame are looking much better than before...





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203886.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203887.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203889.jpg





Also got some more primer on these parts as well, should be ready for blocking in a few days.





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203891.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203892.jpg

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Have a Merry Christmas

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Nice and Clean.
Merry Christmas

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

Thanks guys. Merry Christmas everyone!

Re: 55 Wagon Progress
 

The other day when we primed the frame a second time we also did the front side of the trailer wheels..





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203893.jpg





and today I mixed up some Centari that has been sitting on the shelf a few years.. It sprayed pretty decent...





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203896.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203897.jpg





And more blocking.....





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203900.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203901.jpg





http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203902.jpg