The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Old Dominion Stovebolt Society (MD, VA, West VA, DC, DE and PA) Road trip to AmTrakJoe's ....

Alrighty then ... Those of you on the text chain know what this is about.

But ...

Within the next 14 days, I will have to make a trip to AmtrakJoe's "Northern ODSS HQ" Compound for a retrieval mission. The object of the retrieval will return to Stovebolt Main HQ under its own power. A few have expressed a desire to go.

I think we may, while at Joe's yard, be able to participate in the reawakening of a sleeping beauty 71-series Detroit in a '60's vintage 359 Peterbilt ... But not sure on that.

This would count towards your annual ODSS membership/seniority points.

We can either all take the train up there, or pool in an ODSS support vehicle (which may limit participation).

Discussion?

I like the train idea. Just need a date unless its this weekend. Otherwise, I bid you adieu.

Probably next weekend. Still have home health care logistics to work out. And we'll still need someone to run us up to the BWI train station. Hambone took me last time ... but he's not exactly close any more ...

What about the great train station at Fredericksburg? I got plenty of parking.

If I had some cash to burn, I would love to by that old Pete!

Joe ... How hard to take train from Fredericksburg vs BWI? And what if Sweet got on a freddyburg ... would that be same train Mike and I would catch at BWI?

Just talked to the train man. He is in radio silence mode. Not by choice, but due to no WiFi nor phone service. Expecting him to get back Monday afternoon. We will talk then. Over an out!

I wonder if a 1-way rental car would be cheaper than three or four of us taking the train ...

Then we could take a tool box ... and start box ...

A quick check on Priceline.com......

One car (type unknown) from Leonardtown MD to Joe's place is about $100.

Final bit of Logistics coming together.... No need for rental car or train. Paul, our Wrenchfest host, will provide transportation via the Potomac Palooza Support Vehicle (the Toyota SUV, aka, the "Ricebolt.")

Tomorrow, we should find out from Philly crew about moving the ... "item" ... from Jersey City to Trenton. So:

Plan A: ODSS Assault Team (Amtrak Joe, 53 Green 1-ton and possibly DJ) retrieves the "item" and relocates it from Jersey City to Trenton (ODSS Northern HQ) one day this week. Then, Saturday, ODSS Retrieval Team leaves Stovebolt HQ at OhDark30 via the aforementioned support vehicle to head to Trenton to relocate the "item" to Stovebolt HQ. Retrieval team tentative roster: John, Paul, George (Sweet), and Ringo (Roache).

Plan B: Should the Assault Team not be able to relocate the item to Trenton this week, ODSS Retrieval Team will proceed directly to Jersey City for item extraction NLT Saturday (preferably before). Should Plan B be implemented prior to Saturday, it is understood that not all ODSSRT members may be available.

BIG thanks and kudos to the Assault Team for the very successful initial reconnaissance and target assessment.

Stand by for further word.

Wait,……… Paul still wants to be associated with us?

Recons were completed last night! Test run proved successful! ( Ok, had to take the kids to Newark airport) anyway it still is considered a test run! Pre-ops were approved and we will depart at xxxxxx ( time was edited to achieve stealth security ). Upon return to Northern ODSS camp, with our bounty, we will communicate on the outcome of our mission!
Jim

I sent Joe a copy of the Driver Daily Inspection ...

Take a good big truck tire gauge with you if you have one...

Good luck!!

I believe there is one a the shop. Let’s hope…..

Phase One is complete. I've had an initial report from the extraction team and all went well.

Evidence is in the picture.

James .... You are THE MAN!!! Of course, I still hate you for having driven the new Stovebolt Mobile HQ before I did, but I will most likely get over it.

Eventually ...

BIG thanks, of course, to the ODSS Northern Contingent (Joe and Jim) for making this happen today.

I don’t want to burst your bubble, but that’s not a Chebby!😁

However, it does look very useful! Have a safe trip!

WHAT????? Joe ......... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She’s a beaut Clark!

Very cool John & Company! I need a copy of that "Daily driver inspection". We Midwest Bolters are gonna give you a run for your money.. Picking up the new Midwest Bolters Field HQ in a week or so. The deal has been made but extraction logistics have to be worked out at the current parking spot so we don't scratch the paint coming out. Although after a good Hot Blast and scuff the Green has got to go..
~Mongo

Mongo, I like’e!

Jim, you ought to post a little on the rescue mission. FIND IT: It was great to hear about it. Some of the boyz would enjoy it. FIX IT: will be epic.

Mongo, totally cool! That'll be a fun project for the MBA. Dan needs something to do. LOL

Mongo -- Attached.

Give me a run for my money??? Well ... the ODSS Northern Contingent has already driven the Stovebolt Mobile HQ from Jersey City, NJ to Morristown, PA via turnpike and Interstate. This weekend, we hope to complete the journey to Southern Maryland. We have boo coo points on the board already ... but ...

You're on.

To win, you have to drive (on public roads, under its own power, fully legal -- insurance and registration) your bus to KC (or wherever the Stovebolt MWBA Sept meeting will be) in 2025.

If you do not, then I win *if* I drive our bus to Winchester, VA for Tri-State '25. With Charlie on a trailer behind it. And with Miss Peggy on board.

Notice that I am spotting you 14 months. That's because my bus is mechanically driveable now. I have a few hoops to jump through before I can register it as a "Multi-purpose Vehicle" in Maryland (RV). Could I just register it as a charter/school bus? Yes. But the registration, insurance, LLC stuff is expensive and a hassle. I *do* however have the proper license to drive a vehicle with a gross combined weight of 32,000 lbs. which I will still need, BTW, even if registered as an RV.

Bring it!

Looks like you have more of a project on your hands than I do. I'll spot you another 12 months. Make it to '26 and you win.

OH!!! And I just noticed .... I will grant you more bonus points for the VW turn signals!! EXCELLENT!!!

And if you haven't already, you should check out skoolie.net

Miss Peggy, “Dan” is already signed up for the recovery mission. Very much looking forward to helping Steve retrieve and participate in getting it road-worthy!

Arrived safe and sound at Stovebolt HQ. Greeted by Crosby with cold DB’s in hand.

Early start tomorrow!

Mission accomplished. Details soon!

Fast Times at Stovebolt High!
Looks like a solid rig for sure. I think you got a great deal on it. Can't wait to see what you do with it.
Congrats to the the rescue and recovery team for a successful mission.

That’s a long sucker!
I can just see the wheels turning in your head imagining all that you could do with it!
Nice find!

Victor, you just wouldn't believe. But you have the right idea with Doughboy. hint, hint

That looks great can't wait to hear the plans for it!

Plans for the Mobile HQ are multi-layered and phased.

Phase 1 is the "must haves" -- getting it configured to pass inspection to be a multipurpose vehicle (i.e., an RV) rather than a school bus. Primarily that includes removing all the flashy warning stuff that school busses have, repainting it anything other than National School Bus Yellow, and meeting at least 4 of the criteria such as a bed, onboard power supply, A/C and Heat, onboard fresh water, a sink, a galley, a head, etc. Plus other things to make it pass inspection, like securing the batteries, having good tires, fixing all the lights, replacing the windshield wiper blades, fixing floor rust issues, etc.

Phase 2 is making the "nice to have" mods -- additional seating, counters, storage, flooring, Class 5 trailer hitch.

Drove the bus to work today Hit a huge downpour on the way home -- Driver side wiper did great!!

BIG thanks to all who helped make this happen:

The Philly Crew:
AmtrakJoe
1953 Green 1-ton (Jim)
DJ

The SoMD/NoVA Crew:
Paul
Roache
Sweet
Pat Guy (logistical support and standby rescue mission)

You guys rock!!

Oh wow -- found out that the onboard camera system was functioning during the trip to So Maryland. It got the image below. That's me in the driver seat, of course. Mike Roache and Sweet behind me. I think Sweet is the one with the nose problem ...

Bwaaaaa!!!!

You’re too funny!

That's pretty awesome. I love the tie down tracks in the floor do the seats lock in there? Reconfiguring the lay out would be really handy. I've been thinking about putting AD Suburban seat hold downs in a couple places on my bus to allow me to have a couple passenger seats right behind the driver that could be moved around to some other spots.
Mongo

Only one seat was actually fastened to the tracks. The rest were bolted to the floor. Each had to be ground off with an angle grinder. Six bolts per seat, nine seats... Got all that finished yesterday.

The tie down tracks were for the wheelchair ratchet straps. The bus was configured for 4 wheelchairs. The wheelchair occupants then each had a shoulder seat belt that fastened to a similar track on the walls above the windows in each of the four spots. All those tracks have to come up, as does the floor ... eventually. The floor is linoleum over plywood over steel. The tracks are aluminum and show heavy galvanic corrosion from being bolted to the steel floor with steel bolts. So there's probably corrosion of the steel floor and wheel wells that I should deal with before I get too crazy with the interior build out. The tracks also make it somewhat unfriendly for wheel chairs, oddly enough -- they'll catch the front caster wheels on Peg's chair and make it hard/annoying for her to maneuver in there.

That has to be one of the largest two seaters……

Clean up. The neighbor gal (20) looked in the bus yesterday and said, "Bus? Little kids? Yuck!!" John went through a lot of rags (non-returnable, thank you. ), a lot of Mr. Clean-type magic stuff, and a heavy duty scrub brush with a lot of elbow grease. He'll probably have to do it a few more times.

I ran the MEDS system this evening. It sprayed out a mist from the three nozzles ... Who knows? I'll probably repurpose its components for more useful endeavours. It has a neat little air compressor, a 1,000 Watt sine wave inverter and some impressive plumbing fittings.

Let me know when it’s time for the solar panel upgrade so you can do extended off-grid operations. I just finished upgrading my Beast to 1000 watts of freedom.

Roger all and WilCo.

Wow, MEDS system.. that's a new one for me pretty neat. The inverter and compressor will come in handy for your conversion. Have to find you an old lay down compressor tank to mount up under the body somewhere so you can have onboard air for airing up tires and maybe running some air tools. I'm assuming the rig is gonna be outfitted for road service on itself and whatever is in tow. And yeah Solar is a must I've got 4 panels sitting in the shop I'm planning on adding to mine.
~Mongo

Between the MEDS inverter, and another I have, I have about 2KW available now. Much more late aswe go along.

Primary goal now is to get registered as an RV-

Update on the Stovebolt Mobile HQ:

Almost done de-schoolbussing (removing all the signage and flashy things)
Learned that the heat gun is not your friend as much as the decal eraser wheel is... Note: when using the eraser wheel, do NOT park the daily driver next to the bus ...

John, is that last picture of the same bus but with the color doctored?
I think a camo paint job would be cool and would be a great group project for maybe 4 guys each with a paint gun with different colors in them. The job could get done 4 times faster that way. That monster is probably going to need 5 gallons of paint.

Kevin,

I'd love a Woodland Camo paintjob to match our old M-817 ... but ...

When I saw NapcoMan's H-3 in Desert Khaki a few years ago, I thought THAT was COOL! I originally thought we'd paint the bus to match our '49 ... Then I priced that color (Jaguar Red is the best modern match) .... YEEEEOOOOWWWW!!! Forget THAT!!

My painter ( a local who is well respected and does superlative work) said to get a gallon of primer/sealer, two gallons of base (Desert Khaki) and two gallons of clear coat.

I jokingly asked the paint store rep what Krylon rattlecan Desert Khaki went for by the case ... But I don't think my index finger would be up for that.

We'll see.

Today, I finally finished removing all the lights and reflective decals. Even the "International" logo at the top side corners. I'm thinking of eventually putting an "International Farmall" decal back up there And a classic IH on the front.

Saturday was the paint.... Tuesday will be the 6 new tires... Oh well, at least my kids won't be spending it on stupid stuff after I'm dead.

And yes, that last picture is a Photoshopped image to show, approximately, what the new paint job will look like.

If that painter's name is Robert, I would heartily agree on the superlative work. I've seen pics of his work, and he's helped me out as well on my project, even from Maryland.

Kevin, "even from Maryland" ... that's awesome. Robert is a very nice guy. He's got some good posts throughout the site.

I tell you what... looking forward to sitting in it with good friends and having an adult beverage ( or two, three, whatever!)

Mongo... I rode old #13 to school in the 1st and 2nd grade, then again in the 7th grade. She was a 53 and I think about her often. Cold ride in January.

Actually, Robert won't be painting the bus. I have someone else on that.

Are his initials D. J. ?

JB, actually.

Got half the bus painted today! The rest tomorrow.

Wow, It looks better than the photoshop!

Starting to look like a prison transfer bus. Great Idea, the cops will leave you alone!

Don

Looking good !

Painting this RV/motorhome will end up being the easiest job compared to the interior infrastructure...lol

Congrats on progress!

Mike B

Mike, painting this early was a NEED TO DO in order for the bus to pass inspection. The things that make it a school bus had to go like certain lights and flashers, a "whip" thing ... John can give those details. He'd normally post first thing but today's "first thing" was to go get Rosebus and drive it to its temporary resting place (where we had Wrenchfest, at Morgan's). There he can finish the last few things to get it inspected and then registered.

ITMT, John's been noodling with Pat Guy, Mongo, and other Skoolie owners on some interior ideas. I'm just amazed at what some folks have done inside the shell. We don't need much for it to work for us, but we do need more "leg" room, so to speak.

Update:

She's ready to go for inspection

Looking good John. Interior looks spacious and screaming for a fit out !!!!

You sure got a lot done in a short amount of time. I’ve noticed a few of your posts on Skoolies site; I signed up there when I got our 59 short bus.

Great job and good luck with the inspection!

De-schooling officially complete today! After painting and a few other things ... Rosebus passed Maryland inspection and I got her registered, tagged and titled today!

Looking good!

Way to go John. Now you need a nice box hitch receiver welded to the frame to round out your adventures.

Congratulations!!

Thanks for the kind words.

Joe -- I'll be bolting on the hitch. In case I ever need to take the 466 out...

For those who may be interested, this gem is sitting at Newburg looking for a new owner.... '69 GM Parlor coach converted to RV. 6-71N

John, will the bus be going to Winchester? All you need is a air mattress and a sleeping bag!

Mike B

Looking good John. Lots of progress in a short period of time. Almost like there is an event coming up soon or something.

Some recent photos of progress on Rosebus. You'd think I'd be be farther along. Not like I've had much else on my plate ...

Removing the flooring ... the linoleum is held to the subfloor by runners and the wheelchair tire down tracks. The runners have screws about every 8 inches. The screws go all the way through the metal floor Under the 5/8s plywood sub floor. The wheelchair tie down tracks have flush head bolts every 4 inches. These bolts go all the through the metal floor. They have to be cut as they can't be unbolted (hard to get to and they're rusted anyway) or ground. I've found the easiest way to deal with them is with a cutting wheel on the die grinder -- cut down the center of the track and through the center of the mounting bolts, then take the 3 lb hammer and the wrecking bar to split the tracks away from the bolts. Then, cut the bolts. Lastly, the 5/8ths plywood is mounted to the metal floor with rusted screws randomly spaced throughout the floor. These screws generally pull through the plywood when the big wrecking bar is used to pry up the plywood. The plywood generally breaks where it was routed for the tie down tracks.

Slow, tedious work. Plus, making it even less pleasant is finding all the dried "body fluid absorbent" that's congealed under every thing ... yuck.

To make up for that, I found quite a few little figurines, pencils, notes and even a picture ... each one stops me in my tracks to make me ponder the special needs child who lost that item on the bus and what kind of life they've had since. I hope they have nice memories from riding Rosebus.

Also ... Rosebus rolled off the assembly line in February of 2001 and was inservice with the Bayonne, NJ school system on the morning of 9-11. Bayonne is directly across the Hudson from Ground Zero. The driver and possibly the kids may have seen it happen.

The things you think about when grinding bolts one after the other after the other ...

I also have a bus we call the Rose bus, because it's actually my daughter Rose's. Thankfully it's long since been RV converted, but it's pretty rusty underneath. Kinda dreading to open that can of worms.

Yikes ... Already converted to an RV ... At this point, can you even deal with that floor without ripping everything out and starting over?

We called it Rosebus for sentimental reasons ... We (Peggy and I) both like "Citizen Kane" and our first project vehicle together was a '71 VW we painted red and named "Rosebug." We even had the personalized tag on it that said ROSEBUG. It was fun and we got a lot of comments on it at gas stations, etc. We were going to paint the bus a deep red and do the "Rosebus" name and flower motif (like on the sled in the movie) front and back where the "School Bus" was. Then ... I priced out the red paint... well, we dropped the red paint idea but the name stuck.

Heck, just bring Rosebus to Winchester. I’m sure I’ve got some red paint in can splash on it while we’re there!😊

There’s a lot of real estate to deal with: both inside and out. When I had Magic Bus I started pulling the seats out, and then stopped because I really didn’t have a goal for it. At least you know what you want.

Rosebus Update:

The interior demo is complete at this point. As of Christmas, I have patched the rust holes in the floor, rust treated the floor, patched all the bolt holes in the floor (with Flex Seal fabric tape) and have started installing the new sub floor.

Making progress...looks good!

Mike B

OK, so the wheelchair lift removal is not technically part of the demo process (which I have previously declared "Mission Complete" and awarded myself several medals and a promotion) because, after I clean up under it and replace the floor, it's going back in. But wait you say ... "What about the subfloor under the wheelchair lift ... aren't you "demo-ing THAT?" Ha. Nice try, but no. It was so rotted, it had demo'd itself. When we tilted the lift back to walk it to the other side of the bus, it all pretty much just disintegrated and fell out of the door, thus demoing itself and saving me the trouble.

Which pretty much settled the question of whether or not removing the lift was going to be worth the trouble. I was afraid of pulling the lift only to find pristine floor under it. I needn't have worried. The plywood was completely rotten and the steel floor was heavily surface rusted. Which, I admit, is pretty twisted on my part -- being glad to find rotten plywood and a little rust. So perfect situation ... bad enough to validate my decision to remove the lift but not bad enough to require patching -- just clean up, repaint, seal, redo that section of sub floor and then finish the Grey Oak vinyl planking! So big day yesterday in the bus. Monumental step forward. Perhaps even worth another round of awards, promotions and even a parade (I'll go for a spin around the farm in the Jeep).

I say "we" because Pastor Mike came and helped. It was nice to have help figuring out how to grind off the carriage bolts (8 of them) attaching the unit to the bus. Like most components of this bus, the wheelchair lift was installed with the thought that it would remain in place for the entire life of the bus. Not only are these components hard to remove in a shop/maintenance scenario, they are meant to remain in place in a crash scenario. Removing the 8 bolts required 5 different tools -- The big crew-served angle grinder (for 6 of the 8 bolts), the generator to run the CSAG, the cordless cut off tool (for two of the bolts inaccessible to the BCSAG), cordless drill (to drill out the rivets on the door trim plate and the cordless oscillating tool to get at one little metal thing blocking one of the bolts.

I recently re-read the history of the "Carrollton Bus Disaster" of 1988 in Carrollton, KY. It helps to keep me in check when I grumble about how hard EVERYTHING has been to get at in this bus. It reminds me to be glad for the kids riding school buses today. I just hope I *NEVER* have to drop the fuel tank ...

Enjoy some pictures.

Glad to hear of your continued success on the bus! We all pretty much know what we will find hiding in circumstances like that. I hear it's been unusually cold down there in AL land. Hope you bundled up for the parade ride.