Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Moving Right Along


Face Forward.

Redid the front bumper.
Took seven cans for the front grill and bumper.
This is the texture paint I bought at Walmart.
Also available at Homedepot.

Side view.
Still need to paint the storage bay doors.

Standing proud.
Made the yard sign with my vinyl cutter.
The bus when it first arrived in Georgia.

Looks a little different?


A closeup of the yard sign.
Yard signs is one of the things I will do while on the 
road in the workshop at the back of the bus.
See more examples here.

One popular sign among RVer's and Vandwellers is the State Logo sign shown below.


Thanks for looking.

More to come.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Putting Her Back Together

Starting to put her back together.

Face painted with center grey trim.
Putting her makeup on is a time consuming task.  (You girls know what I'm talking about?)  Everything has to be just right.  And if you guys ever tried to help them put it on...  Well, that's another story for another time.  But in the end, after all's said and done, and you step out with your beautiful lady at your side and ALL eyes are on her (and nobody's looking at you) - It was well worth the wait!

Putting the shiney stuff back on.
Putting the metal trim back.  Wasn't quite sure if I wanted to.  It does give it back that distinctive "Hey you, I'm a Bluebird" look.


Big grin back in place.
Bumper in place.  Almost looks like 'he's smiling compared to when she first arrived.  (See below)  Still have to place new marker lights on top.  Changed upper turn signals from round to square park/turn signal lights.


The day she arrived.
Notice any difference?

Texture paint.
What you can't tell in the pictures is that the grey paint is an outdoor texture paint. When it dries it has the look of small pebbles or sand.  Up close the grey areas look like they may be made of some sort of stone.  Really cool looking.

Another look at the texture paint.

Gotta slow down and get er right.
Walmart has this texture spray paint.  It will take me 7 cans for the face grill and bumper at $5.77 a can.  I could have gotten by with 6 cans but near the end I got cocky and over confident and, well you can see the difference.  So the extra can was to repair the rush job.  Still for less than $50 bucks I got a neat looking grill and bumper.  Couldn't have done anything else decent for less.


A close up.

More pictures to come.
(Some more really cool/different stuff in mind.)




Saturday, August 17, 2013

A Little Slide Show

I recently talked to a TV casting crew who got wind of my little project here.  You  may remember the show "Pimp My Ride".  It was a show similar to that.  Here's a little slideshow I did for them.








Rocker Bret Michaels has a TV show called "Rock My RV"



More photos to come soon!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Back On Track

The weather's fine and it's time to get back on track.  Actually, I've been working on the bus, just haven't had time to post.  I am making an effort to try to post more regularly as things progress.

All the windows are out and covered.
The inside ceiling is removed and used to skin skin over the removed window openings.  The holes in the sheet metal are where speakers and lights were.


Painting started.
Still deciding on final color scheme but this is a start.


All 'er makeup is gone.
Front end chrome and trim removed for painting.


All 'er body parts on the floor.
This is when you know the Honeymoon is over.  When you wake up one day and your beloved's body parts are on the bedside table.


Front panels and bumper removed for painting.
Allows easy access to radiator and other necessary parts.

And away we go!
This was actually easier than trying to tape everything.

Starting to take shape.
Starting to look like an RV! (a toothless one)


And a little about the inside.


Interior completly gutted.
Interior walls and ceiling removed.
Original floor taken up and subfloor rust proofed.


View looking rear-ward.
View towards the rear.
Walk-in Jacuzzi tub/shower in position.

View looking forward.
View towards the front.
Walk-in Jacuzzi tub/shower in position.

Well, so much for now.
Check back soon for more updates.