Hope to pick up my new rear end before the week is out. Found a Chevy 3500, Dana 80 HD duallie but the gearing was too low. Swapped out the 5.13 set for a 4.30 R&P. Has huge disks and the same lug circle & pattern as the '46 but my rims will need to have the center hole machined out just a bit to fit properly. Since these are center piloted, the machining has to be pretty much spot on. I will get some pix when we offload it.

Tango, what a journey you've been on. It WILL be very rewarding. Atta boy, stay at it.

Thanks AChip --- finally got to visit the old gal for the first time in a couple of months. Now have the new rear axle re-geared and on site, working on body panels & window frames and she is all leveled up so we can start wrangling the engine & tranny into place. There are 9 or 10 new pix at the bottom of my album page on Flickr...

Tango's Skoolie on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/tango88/sets/72157626526227672/

Guess it's about time for an update --- Been a while since I've gotten back here but some, small progress has been made. Now have the rear axle ready to mount after battling Chevrolet over...lug nuts. They couldn't find their a$$es with either hand as far as parts. Without a VIN, they couldn't even look up the model of their own truck! Finally got the VIN from the wrecking yard only to discover that Chevy wants $10 bucks apiece for frikkin lug nuts! NAPA...$2.39 each.

Been a real battle prepping everything necessary to hang the new side body panels. They will be welded in place, so I had to make sure that everything in between the inner & outer walls was right first. Wound up having to cut and remake the rear window frames and in the process discovered I cannot keep/use the original windows. More time & bucks. Will be ordering aluminum frame bus type windows from Peninsula Glass. Did a lot of insulating using a NASA spin-off product by HyTech. Micro ceramic beads you mix in with paint. I have seen it in action on a tin roof and was blown away by how effectively it cut heat transmission. What you mostly see in the pix is an added layer of the shiny, foil faced, bubble wrap insulating material that is over the ceramic coating. Hoping between the two to help out the A/C & heater.

Engine & tranny are STILL awaiting a visit from a Cummins Diesel tech to do some consulting before I stuff it in and find out later that XXXX needed to be somewhere else. Have one lined up to drop by next week. Hopefully.

Also now have brand new front springs courtesy of Eaton Detroit. It was way too easy. Called and told'em I need them for a 1946 Chevy school bus and got ready for the usual 30 minute explanation drill. The gal who answered the phone never skipped a beat..."What tonnage & wheelbase, Hon?" They even had all the hanging hardware to go with them as well as giving me an extra 300 pounds of grunt to compensate for the weight of the Cummins. Best service I have gotten anywhere in the last 20 years! Maybe 50.

Any how, there are some new pix in my Flckr Album for anyone who likes that sort of thing. Take a peek here...

Tango's 46" Chevy Skoolie https://www.flickr.com/photos/tango88/sets/72157626526227672/

Progress is progress, Tango. I looked back at all your pictures and you HAVE come a long way. We're all in your corner and it looks like things are coming together. You'll be riding soon.

Thanks Chip --- I sure hope so. When I look at what "Ol Trunt" pulled off in four years on his '35 school bus it makes my efforts look simple by comparison. Don't know if you have seen it or not, but you can take a look here...

'35 skoolie http://nomadicista.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3012

Very trick!

Tango, thanks for the link. I had not seen this before. Double WOW is about all I can say. Man, you guys have all the talent.

Jack is definitely a master builder. He has restored or modified quite a few rigs over the years as near as I can tell and everything I've seen of his has been first class.

Me...I don't have his skill set, so I'm just schlepping through as best I can. I do seem to learn something new every time I work on mine. Just not always somethin' I necessarily wanted to learn.

Example...all the new metal I have fabbed is hot rolled steel. I learned two things about the mill scale that comes on all hot roll. 1. It has to come off before welding or painting. 2. It is a royal PITA to remove!

Spent three hours and wore out myself and nearly every flap disk I had just trying to clean up a little section about 18" x 24". Went online last night and discovered that Muriatic acid is about the only way to get it off without spending three hours per square foot and breaking the bank. However...you have to have access to plenty of water to flush off the acid before it eats everything. The crappy shop I'm working in has zero water so now I need to build some kind of portable tank just to lug H20.

"If it isn't one thing it's another my little Rosannadanna."

PS...if anyone here knows an easier way to clean off mill scale...I am very open to any suggestions.

Follow up on removing mill scale...

In case anyone else out there runs into the same issue regarding the removal of mill scale from hot rolled steel, there is a solution. A chemical solution...Muriatic acid. Did some homework online, tried it out and it works like gangbusters. Still need to polish off the residue but it softens the crud enough that a stripping pad makes light work of it. Was a real life saver for me as I have some really big areas that I am replacing with new steel.

Just give the stuff the respect it deserves and take all the necessary precautions when using it. Long rubber gloves, eye protection, lots of ventilation.

More minor movement --- Now have my new front leaf springs and working on new shock towers. As with everything else on this beastie...having fits locating shocks. May have some on the way that will work but won't know till they get here.

Also dropped the old rear axle and am in the process of cojoling the new Dana 80 to take its' place. New rear springs on the way for it too which will also require re-locating the spring perches out about 3/4 in. on each side. The fun just never ends!

Tango's '46 Skoolie Project https://www.flickr.com/photos/tango88/sets/72157626526227672/

Onward