The Bus Thread. 1956 Ford B-600. General questions.

On staying warm, insulated coveralls are great, but I prefer a 2 piece setup in a more layered approach. On the bottom, long underwear(cheap stuff ok for your purposes), jeans, work pants of some sort over that, and THICK WOOL SOCKS. On top long underwear, t shirt, flannel, then a coat or two. Tuck your shirts in.

If you're going to rig up a heater core, definitely set it up with defrost hoses, you don't need heat, you need defrost. No defrost is an equipment violation in many states with winter.

For staying warm, if you have a pair of insulated boots, wear them, along with some good, sweat wicking (wool or spandex-containing) socks. That'll go a long way towards keeping your feet nice and toasty.

Look for a break in the weather window and let, er , roll. GOD hates a coward

Chicago peeps, just how bad is Chicago traffic in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. We will probably be rolling through about 2am on the way up.

Then the rental will have to be returned in Brookfield, just outside Milwaukee, by 10:30 Saturday. Again the shortest rout will be back through Chicago on I94/I294. Is that doable or would I be better off jumping out to I90 and I39 and coming south on them to avoid Chicago?

At 2am. Go right through Chicago. It's been years since I did it, I did the same thing in nyc a month ago. 2am and the worst traffic comes from the construction.

If you get the heater hoses inside, hook them to a heater core, find an electric radiator fan, apply duct tape, cardboard, engineering, maybe a few vacuum cleaner hoses for defrost and embark!

Bruce

If money allows, a pair oF insulated coveralls may be a wise investment just in case you need to crawl under it in the cold for repairs. I have a pair from a past job where I worked outside, and I'm in freaking south ga. I only need them one day a year, bUT damn I'm glad I have em when I do!

And congrats on the new addition!

Toyman01 wrote: Chicago peeps, just how bad is Chicago traffic in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. We will probably be rolling through about 2am on the way up. Then the rental will have to be returned in Brookfield, just outside Milwaukee, by 10:30 Saturday. Again the shortest rout will be back through Chicago on I94/I294. Is that doable or would I be better off jumping out to I90 and I39 and coming south on them to avoid Chicago?

94 through Chicago won't be bad at all at 2 am.

294 will be dead except for truck traffic.

Toyman01 wrote: Then the rental will have to be returned in Brookfield, just outside Milwaukee, by 10:30 Saturday.

Where in Brookfield? I'll buy you lunch.

This is awesome! God speed to you sir on your mission! Like others said 2 AM through Chicago will be fine. Worst thing you will have is semi traffic, more so as you get out of Chicago and enter Indiana.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: Chicago peeps, just how bad is Chicago traffic in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. We will probably be rolling through about 2am on the way up. Then the rental will have to be returned in Brookfield, just outside Milwaukee, by 10:30 Saturday. Again the shortest rout will be back through Chicago on I94/I294. Is that doable or would I be better off jumping out to I90 and I39 and coming south on them to avoid Chicago?

94 through Chicago won't be bad at all at 2 am. 294 will be dead except for truck traffic.

Just keep in mind that all the other traffic will be doing 90mph, there is rarely any courtesy given to other drivers, and they don't give a damn about your 60+ year old manual brakes.

In reply to RealMiniParker:

Midway Hotel and Suites, 1005 South Moorland Road, Brookfield, Wisconsin. Looks like it's right off of I94. The plan is to roll through there as early as possible, but it will probably be around 10am on the 30th by the time I meet with the owner and get on the road.

Are there enough Chicago GRMers to provide a escort through town? That would be awesome.

The Tool list.

This will be the tentative tool list. Probably too much, but not having something would purely suck.

SAE wrenches

1/2, 3/8, 1/4 socket sets

Samurai tool kit with pliers, screwdrivers and other assorted tools.

Medium ball peen hammer.

Driller hammer

4' pry bar

3' breaker bar with lug sockets

12 ton bottle jack

12 ton jack stands

2 - 6X6X12 blocks

2 - 2X6X12 blocks

Drill, impact, chargers

Misc bag of screws and bolts

Jump box

Fuel line

Racor fuel filter with barb fittings

Tubing cutter

Electrical repair box, all of it.

Roll of orange wire

Roll of 4 conductor wire

Fuses, assorted with holders

Magnetic brake light package

Gas can, 3 gallon, empty

Grease gun

1 gal 10W40

1 gal 75W90

1 gal antifreeze

6 gallon water jug

2 cans brake cleaner

2 cans carburetor cleaner

1 qt brake fluid

Orange hand pump

10X10 tarp for ground cloth

Buddy Heater

Possibles:

2200 watt generator

Welder

Grinder

25' cord

Electric heater

So, too much, not enough, missing anything. The rental on the way up is a mid size SUV, so I have some space to work with.

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to rob_lewis: That's a thought. I just don't want to find out an hour into the trip the alternator won't keep up with a electric heater.

Two options would be a spare battery in the cab that you charge up overnight (unless you're driving straight through) or a small camping heater (like this) to keep you warm. The propane heater would be a more reliable option and I'm 99.99% sure there will be enough air leaks in that old bus that you don't have to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning.

-Rob

In reply to logdog:

They might think it's a funeral procession rather than an escort.

In reply to rob_lewis:

On the way back we will be stopping, but probably sleeping in the bus. I don't want to come through the Smokey Mountains in the dark.

I'll be hauling a small propane heater for sure. The extra battery is a good idea. I have the deep cycle I use as the house battery for the Alaskan camper.

I see you are only bring one hammer.

Little suitcase gennie might be good for bypassing electrical problems. Invertor generator.

bearmtnmartin wrote: I see you are only bring one hammer.

2, a 20 oz ball peen and a 3 lb driller hammer. If I have to hit it harder than that, I'll probably be calling a tow truck.

Toyman01 wrote: 2, a 20 oz ball peen and a 3 lb driller hammer. If I have to hit it harder than that, I'll probably be calling a tow truck.

There was that time I ended up needing a 10lb sledge (held near the head) to get a solid enough hit on a pickle fork due to not having much space to swing a hammer (so a smaller one couldn't generate enough force)...

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to logdog: They might think it's a funeral procession rather than an escort.

I was thinking large tow truck. No need to be morbid!

In addition to more/bigger hammers, would you want to add a spare alternator to the pile?

In reply to XLR99:

The alternator is unidentified. It's probably from the same 70s era, Ford donor, as the engine, which is unknown.

Good thought though. Might be worth tracking down after I get up there.

In other news, the tool pile is coming together. I'll be out of town next weekend so I figured I'd get an early jump on getting them together.

A very important, but omitted item in in the middle.

hose clamps, various sizes