Randy's new 79 bus

[Randy in Maine]

Gee I really don't know much about the other products. I think this stuff may be a little thicker and have a bit more deadening power, but I don't know if that is a fact or just a sales pitch. I just wanted to do it once.

I was not going to do it, but I knew this was the time to do it (if ever) as the interior would all be out.

By the way, my buddy Phil is giving me the template to mount the 3x2 1/16" gauges under the radio in a baywindow dash and to make it look really professional and easy. Once I am done with it, I can "borrow" it out (as they would say in Minnesota).

[Randy in Maine]

Does anyone know right off what kind of resistance I should hopefully be seeing in defroster grids that actually work? I can't find a description of it in the Bentley 4-37.

I have 3 of them and I am getting ready to test them with my ohm meter. I would assume that something less than infinity (around <100 ohms) would be good, eh?

Thank you as always.

[TheBigSpud]

Lookin great! Is that 'mexico' or 'dakota' beige, Randy?

[Randy in Maine]

Mexico Beige (although it looks a little dark in the pictures). Perfect match for the interior that was covered up.

Got the 5 new tires today (Hancook 195R14s) mounted and balanced for $620. Look pretty hefty. The local guy pretty much met the best online price I could find ($404) if you count in the shipping ($112). I took in my own steel valve stems as I don't care for the pseudo rubber ones.

I am polishing the aluminum jalousie window frames right now. Real work. I am thinking about clear coating them afterwards, but I don't know if that is a good idea or not? The tinted windows come back tomorrow.

Thoughts out there?

[wwebner]

depending on what you clear coat them with, it tends to yellow. I polished mine about 15 years ago. A six pack and a can of neverdull and they shined like chrome. They are not as shiny now but still look real good.
Bill

[Randy in Maine]

Well I really did not have a ton of luck trying to remove the oxidation from these windows with about anything.

I took them over to a local guy who is going to media blast them for me using a couple of different medias. He told me they were anodized from the factory.

I will polish them when he is finished and likely clear coat them when I am finished. He seems to think that would be my best option to get them looking good and to keep them looking good long term.

[Randy in Maine]

Some more progress to report. Finished the damplifer & luxury liner on the area above the front seats which will be hidden with the headliner. I bought 10 sheets (4'x2') and will use them all.



Rear tinted side windows are now in.....real work to install without the 6" suction cup the pro guys use....





Here is the rear untinted window. The defroster grid was 20 ohms (I don't know if that is good or not though)



New windshield after I broke the old one.....



New H4 Bosch 60/55 watt headlights...



New Hancooks 195R14s...serious meat D rated.



New door seals everywhere. Poptop seals.

I changed out most of the external hardware for stainless whereever possible....

And the high mounted LED tail and brake lights....

[wwebner]

Looks great. How did the windshield install go? We had several experiences 2-3 years ago where the reproduction had to be ground. This was discovered after proffessional glass guys broke a few and figured it out.
Bill

[Randy in Maine]

Not great. I ended up breaking the wiindshield that came out of it. I ended up gettng a new one (made in China). They guy told me that good China glass is better than anything coming out of the US anymore. Ironically most of the US glass used to be made in Cleveland I think.

He showed me a couple of tricks. $200 installed.

1) He was impressed with the new German seals or "gaskets" as he referred to them. Very tight. He told me that used gaskets are a lot easier to get in. He uses no lube and when colder than here ~60º, he likes to warm them up on the defroster of his lousy Astro AWD van. He always puts the seam at the bottom center of the window, no reason he just always does.

2) Instead of my "095" weedwacker line, he used a 1/4 piece of nylon rope, starting at the seam now on the bottom, and overlapping by about 3".

3) He starts at the bottom center of the windshield, sort of sawing it into the pinchweld untill it gets a nice start. Then he get it in the groove on the top using the suction cup.

4) He had a suction cup gizmo sort of like this...that allows you to "pump it up" and more importantly allows you to pull the glass in a lot. Amazing how much the glass will bend.

http://www.toolocity.com/images/product ... 8858B1.jpg

5) So he started at the bottom and pulled the ropes out on both sides, about 1/2 way up the sides. The suction cup allowed him to pull the glass inward to get the seal over the lip all of the way around.

6) To work the seal better he would use his suction cup and tap with an open hand (no palm) the outside of the glass.

Took about 40 minutes.

His little "tool" looked like a piece of my wife's teflon spatula but only a "finger" of it about 6" long and 3/4" wide. Plastic, no metal, to work the seal over the pinch weld as needed.

He ended up getting in one of the side windows (left rear as I got rid of the "smoker's vent") that we were unable to get in completley. Again the suction cup gizmo was quite helpful with me thumb pushing from the outside while he was inside, to get a good tight seal all the way around. Just that window took him about 1/2 hour and I tipped him $50 for doing it right.

He told me to wash the car and to observe if there were any leaks. If so, to call him and he would come and fix any.

[wwebner]

I have done many of the rear side 1 piece windows. They are a bear. The good news is they are temper glass. I have wailed on them with a rubber mallet and a 1in rubber pad. Never broken one. I can't say the same for the windshields.
Bill