Return of Big Yellow
Well, we have had quite the dry spell of big yellow vehicles.. Here's what we had to contend with on the latest bus. Some can opener effect going
on.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203769.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203770.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203771.jpg After cutting some of the mangled mess out of the way......... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203773.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203774.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203775.jpg ......we saw that the bottom structural member was not going to cooperate. The horizontal section behind the weld tear at the top used to be vertical... So to save some time, we'll cut this out and make a replacement. This is 16 ga, and is there to keep vehicles out of the passenger compartment. It did it's job, so let's put in a new one to restore the integrity.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203776.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203777.jpg Here the bottom flange is pushed in over an inch.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203778.jpg Here's the replacement we made up.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203780.jpg Comparison.... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203782.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203783.jpg All trimmed, we'll get the replacement panel formed and fitted Tuesday.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203784.jpg Spare parts... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203786.jpg |
Nice work Robert, what kind of bender do you have to make those close bends on 16ga?
I saw a good way to store a ladder too! I like that. |
Those pictures are at the bus owners shop, Mine isn't deep enough for a bus and it was a bit too cold on Saturday for outside work ;)
I used the Baileigh Magnetic brake to make the bends. Its only a four foot machine, so we Tigged two pieces together.. |
Thanks for showing how you are going about it Robert. Good to see the strength all going back into it too. :)
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Got to keep 'em safe!
Well our bus side panel is just shy of 8' long and about 24" wide. We did a light pass on the wheeling machine just enough to break the grain, figured it would have less chance of waves that way... We found out real quick that 8' is a bit long, so some 1x2's were pony-clamped under the outside edges to provide a bit of support. We tried to make a pass through the bead roller for the stepped flange at the bottom, with less than stellar results, a bit wavy up and down. Good thing we had the other half of the sheet. More wheeling, and used the offset / step dies in the Lennox Tru-Edge. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203787.jpg Given our challenges with the long panels, we had to call in reinforcements. Regardless of the late hour that Scott's attire suggests, it was only 8 at night! http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203789.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203788.jpg Linear slides really came in handy, nice straight detail this go round.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203791.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203792.jpg Comparing the bend relief above the rear bumper ear... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203793.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203795.jpg Tomorrow evening well get it fitted to the bus and final trimmed.. |
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Thanks Kent......
Finished the welding of the lower structural member on the bus repair... http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203797.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203798.jpg .....and underneath it is tied to the floor cross members http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203802.jpg Added the frame around the fuel door, this helps prevent the side panel from flopping around as the fuel door is pushed closed.. http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203803.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203808.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203807.jpg http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203806.jpg Thursday evening we'll get all the holes pre-drilled for the skirting and start prepping for paint.. |
Do you get to hear how the accidents happen? Looks like a car T boned this one for instance? What do they do for a bus in the mean time?
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A buddy of mine has a fleet of about 20 buses with not all in use, so he can rotate around an issue like this. I got a phone call just after he heard of the accident. I rode down to the scene to survey the damage when it happened. The driver was a temporary replacement on this route and he turned left into a housing development with what he thought was plenty of clearance. The woman in the Jeep Cherokee proved otherwise, but it was hard to fathom that over 3/4 of the length of a big yellow vehicle can cross in front of you in a 30 mph zone before you react to hit brakes, only to catch the back end of it. Not making excuses for the bus driver, but I feel the Jeep driver was both speeding and texting, and saw him too late. The Board of Education's bus transportation rep shows up for each incident like this and wanted the bus driver cited for the accident. Funny that after the State's Attorney's office reviewed the camera footage, they dismissed his ticket. So perhaps someone was texting.. The Jeep was totaled.
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Thanks for the background Robert.
Damn Jeep drivers! ;) |
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