Concurrence

It seems that waterproof rivets are not really utterly needed. What was suggested was to use an ordinary pop rivet but to dip it in glue then to use it then after use, to dab more glue on top of the rivet head. That makes sense. Apparently this technique is often used on small boats. Small boats will be subject to far more waterpressure than the occasional downpour. Indeed, I rather suspect that somebody jetwashing my bus might wash my freshly applied paint off which would be exceedingly unwelcome.

In daylight, up close it's possible to see ripples and runs on the paint. From a distance it's possible to see where the second coat has not been applied. On the whole, it looks better than school bus yellow. I'll attack the rivet holes in the roof this coming weekend and will probably roller the roof at the same time.

I'm not too bothered about a pristine paint finish because this is an OLD school bus. It's not a new bus and NOTHING will increase or reduce its value. As I've already stated, paintbrushes are $1.99 each and the Smoke Grey Rustoleum is $25 a gallon plus a few hours work at the weekend. My time is free and doesn't cost me anything. My helper's time is also free. He helps me for something to do at the weekend in order to escape the household.

A paint roller would be more expensive and spray painting would be horrendously expensive since none of us owns a sprayer. Individual cans of spray paint are pretty worthless as they really don't cover more than a couple of square feet before they're out. Spray cans are handy in hard-to-reach areas.

The whole aim of the paint job is to produce something of a different color and to protect the bus. Mostly its a different color thing, just to differentiate the bus from a school bus.

One of the tasks after this will be to couple the indicator lights and brake lights to the top lights so that when the brake is pressed, the top rear reds come on. The amber lights at the top will be used as turn indicators. On the front, initially only the turn indicators will be used. If, however, a clear lens can be found for the red lights then they could well become a second set of side lights. Other than that they have no particular use and might well end up as spare brake lights with steel plate riveted over their positions.