I have posted previously on just how much I love my stereo and what I have purchased to be installed in our bus.
For Christmas, my lovely daughter bought me an iPod Shuffle. There were many reasons she went with an iPod, mainly because I use an Apple Macbook which I absolutely love. They connect perfectly well with either Apple or PC so don’t think you need to go out and buy an Apple computer!. However, I highly recommend them, especially if you are new to the wonderful world of computers. They are easy to use and do not get viruses!
As I use my MP3 fairly regularly, I had started looking into how I might hook it into my car stereo. I wasn’t quite sure how much it would cost but after researching it, found several options. You can get a variety of devices in several price ranges. I am quite surprised at the amount of options available. I found that you can get products that are basic right through to some pretty sophisticated options.
As it turned out, my daughter bought me a cassette adapter for Father’s Day ($32.95 Australia) which simply plugs into the MP3 player. You then just insert the cassette into your stereo player and it plays from your MP3, simple! I am very happy with the sound. I still can’t believe the quality of sound that comes out of such a small device. They are very easy to use so don’t worry if you are new to the world of tech gadgets.
And yes, my daughter is pretty wonderful buying me all these great gadgets
I will more than likely upgrade the shuffle which is perfect for me right now to an iPod 80GB when we start traveling.
The iPod also plays video and I’m told there is a TV adapter which means I can use it when on the road..neat!
I will have access to the internet while on the road so can use the iTunes music store to purchase music as we want.
I think it is a good idea to consider buying an MP3 player if you plan on traveling or drive a lot. The thing I like the most is that we don’t need to worry about bringing along music CD’s but rather just a small MP3 player that depending on the storage capacity you have, can store anywhere up to 20,000+ songs!
This morning I asked my daughter if she happened to have any old computer hard disks laying around.
I think she was initially puzzled when I explained to her that I required the magnets from inside the disk to use on the oil filter of the bus.
The reason is that many of the parts in engines are made up of ferrous metals. When the parts begin to wear, they create small particles that float in the oil. Placing Neodymium magnets on the oil filter and sump will trap the particles.
It is then a case of when changing your oil, you can easily remove all the trapped particles.
it just gives the engine a lot longer life which is always a very good thing!
For your information, you may find the following sites of interest if you would like to try this yourself. You can buy commercial products as well but as you all know, I prefer to make my own!
Welcome to Part Four in our How To cut out rust series.
In previous posts, I detailed the rust I discovered on the back and side windows and provided a guide to removing rust. You can check out those posts by visiting the Dealing with rust section.
In Part Four, I run through the steps required to get ready for the final paint of your rust free vehicle.
At this stage I have replaced all the metal previously cut out when removing the rust. You can check Part Three for further details of how this was achieved.
First step is to use the bodyfiller or bog as I call it. I like to try and make this job as neat as possible, it makes for less work when you have to sand it back!
Follow manufacturers instructions for best results.
Leave for a minimum of 10 minutes and sand after more than 20 minutes.
Take your time sanding to ensure a neat job.
And here is the same window once all sanded down.
I have only gone down a little bit, because I will be cutting out for the oven opening. My plan is to provide a slide out oven base which I will provide details for a bit later.
I will fit the window back in place just to make sure it sits right. I will then apply an undercoat.
I have to apply putty on to take up any scratches and anything else that might be in there. Once sanded, this makes the area smooth, you then undercoat it. Then sand the undercoat again so that when you are ready for the top coats, it is nice and smooth for the finish coats.
And here is what I said earlier about trying the window in to see how it all looks. Nice!
You should remove the window now and apply the undercoat, see this post for more information on the products used
Well, I am home now and recovering nicely from knee replacement surgery. Needless to say, I am pretty keen to get back out there and start working on Our Time but I think I’ll be a few weeks away from actually being able to do anything really productive.
Before the surgery, I managed to get the frame finished and ready for the windows to be installed. It was a big job and I found more rust that I anticipated but I will sleep much easier now knowing that she is rust free!
In previous posts, I detailed the rust I discovered on the back and side windows and provided a guide to removing rust. You can check out those posts by visiting the Dealing with rust section.
This is this next part of our series on How to cut out rust, we focus on two things, firstly, don’t assume there is no rust if you see no visible signs and secondly, how to bend metal to sit nicely in your window frames. You can also see Parts 1 and 2 to learn how to prepare the rust area and creating the metal sheeting by clicking here:
At this stage, I have already measured and cut out the new metal sheets to replace the rust I have removed and have them in position. Part One – How to cut out rust will give you the background and steps involved to bend the metal.
I wanted to make sure that there was no rust on any of the window frames even though there were no visible signs. It was just as well I did check because the back rear window turned out to be ridden with rust.
You will need to pop out the window frames to check for rust and then cut out where necessary.
Even though you don’t see rust, it can be there. Here you can see that when I removed the rear window, there was actually a lot of rust.
If you want to be really sure your bus is rust free, I would strongly advise that you remove the frames and just make sure it’s free of rust!
Here is a close up showing the rust.
This is a shot of the outside of the bus after the rust has been cut out and a new metal piece replaced.
You will notice that there are a few large areas that have been cut out. This was due to extensive rust. A new plate has been made up a new plate to replace the section that was removed.
I have made up a new metal piece and have partly slotted it back into place to show you what it looks like.
The plate is now dropped into position and will be pop riveted in.
Another plate has been made to replace the outer frame.
To bend your metal piece into a curved space, use your grinder. Make a series of cuts on both sides. Position and you will be able to easily bend it to the desired curve…easy!
You can see where I have used clamps to secure into position.
I will use pop rivets as with all the other frames. But what I do is take the pin out of the rivet which leaves you with the rivet head. I then drill the holes into the frame and put that rivet in the hole, I have two hammers, one on each side of the rivet and keep hitting the other side until they squash up tight.
This is a shot of the metal set in place with the rivets.
I have used my grinder to remove all of the paint ready for finishing up.
Here you can see that iI have ground all of the paint of ready to be bogged up.
Well that’s about it for this stage. Our next post will show you how to prepare the surface for bogging and finishing up for painting.
Update!
Here is the finished product after final spray of under coat along with the names of products used for this job.
Before
After
Products used:
Here are some of the products I have used for this project.
The big tin on top is Motospray Aclac 20 Acrylic Thiner. This is what you need to thin the paint down for spraying the under coats and the final coats.
The tin under is the bog, I used Daytona Auto Bodyfiller.
The product along side is the Motospray prepwash wax and grease remover.
Next , is the MotoSpray Acrylic Primer Surfacer, which is the under-coat.
Following on is the HiChem Super Etch Primer and anti corrosive properties, you spray two coats on bare metal. The first spray should be a very fine thin coat, leave for about 5 minutes and then spray another coat over it. And then you under coat it checking that it is nice and smooth
I posted recently about the rust I discovered on the back window. It turned out to be pretty bad so I opted to cut out the rust and purchase a new window which is on order.
My main objective was to remove the rust, make a new frame with window cut-out, sealing and then sand and coat ready for final spray coat.
This is what I have done so far, to see how I cut out the rust, you can read my first How To: Cutting out rust
Here you see the metal glued, sealed and riverted into the finished place.
If you look closely, you will notice that the bottom metal sheeting has a few cuts. The reason for this was due to the fact that the original frame has a sill.
This was part of the buses original design which curved out across the back.
There was no way I could bend the frame to this shape so several cuts were needed to cover up the original sill.
I have allowed about 20 millimeters with the new metal to cover over the old bus frame.
It was then glued and riverted which is something I have done from the beginning of this project. The riverts are approximately 80 millimeters apart, I put plenty of them in for extra strength.
Using my grinder, I roughed up the metal surface and ground a little bit off the heads of the riverts (not all though).
I also took the old paint off at the top above the new metal and the bottom so I can get a good finish when I bog it all up.
This is some more rust I found on the side up at the roof sill. I will cut it out as before and fix.
This is the first coat of bog and covers all the metal and riverts.
When dry, it is sanded back. You need to rough it up to ensure the next coat takes properly.
A second and third coat is applied with sanding done each time.
This is the final product.
It needs one more sand and I will then use a spray on under coat.
I know it doesn’t look much but once the bus is painted, it will look brand new!
Just a quick post to keep you updated on all the purchases for Our Time.
Sound is pretty important to me but not so much to Sheila . I would feel that Our Time was well and truly cheated had I just whacked in some basic speakers. Sheila, would be more than happy with a little portable radio with one of those tiny black and white televisions. But hey, this is Our Time, we want this to be our home away from home. Everything in Our Time is important, none more so that the stereo system.
Sheila has been a long time sufferer of sound. Unfortunately for her, I love loud, earth shattering sound. I’ve spent more hours that I care to remember tweaking the amplifiers I have owned over the years. For me, there is nothing like sitting back after spending those countless hours mulling over the settings, eagerly holding the remote and slowly turning the sound up. I sit there, in pure heaven just totally entranced by the sound. I have a complete surround sound system at home and I thoroughly enjoy my hobby. Sheila on the other hand is more than happy to listen to the radio alarm in our bedroom. Apparently that sound is perfectly fine for her, worse, she can even listen to mono! She just doesn’t care. But being the wonderful, supporting woman she is, not once has she said no to any of the things I’ve purchased for our home.
So it came as no surprise that she gave me complete control of the bus’ sound system. Infact, she just waved me off in the direction of the car stereo store, what a woman!
She may regret this decision later after I’ve installed the stereo system. I have a feeling that she might be going for long walks along the various beeches and forests we visit to allow me time to play with the stereo system installed in Our Time.
I’ve gone with the Sony Xplod range. My speakers consist of:
Hi everyone, it’s Brian and Sheila’s daughter here,
Just to let you know that my Dad is going to take a short break from posting on Our Time while recovering from knee replacement surgery.
He is doing very well and is expected home this Thursday. It’ll be a while before he can do any major work on his bus but he is planning on using his recovery time to research some pretty interesting alternatives for their bus.
One such plan is to convert the diesel engine to run on chip oil (waste vegetable oil), he will bring you more information on this when back home.
I have done a fair bit of research regarding cooking options for the bus.
Because we intend on making use of our new Ducar generator as often as possible, we feel it is important to install the most efficient appliances.
I have been weighing up the options of conventional and induction cooking methods and have settled on induction.
Induction cookers consume half as much electricity as electric cookers and are more efficient in heat transfer, achieving an absolute efficiency of 84% in US Dept of energy tests (compared to a typical 40% for a gas cooker).
According to CEG Electric Glass Company, power savings of 40-70% are realistically achievable in comparison to conventional cooktops. CEG Electric Glass Company also states induction cooking has an efficiency rate of 90%, while Electric and Gas have efficiency rates of less than 50%
We have since purchased a cooktop which will be installed at a later date.
The cooktop we settled on is the Omega Induction Electical Cooker (OIC16S) and we are more than impressed with it!
I’ve cooked several meals on it already as you simply plug it into a wall socket.
We can’t believe just how quick it is when cooking and we love that the plate itself is not hot to touch. Sheila has a nasty habit of sometimes burning herself when cooking so hopefully this will help to elimate this problem as well!
Our daughter and partner recently visited us and we showed them how quickly it boiled a big pot of water, it is amazing to see. Pretty much as soon as you put the pot down, steam start to rise followed quickly by a rapid boil.
We believe we have made the right decision for many reasons. It’s fast, efficient, portable and didn’t cost much, only $Aus160.00.
I have posted previously on just how much I love my stereo and what I have purchased to be installed in our bus.
I have done a fair bit of research regarding cooking options for the bus.
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