Mostly painted

Today was another bright and sunny South Carolina day. Having spent pretty much the whole of yesterday doing nothing but riveting screw holes, it was nice to get on with some painting. From when I started - sometime after brunch until dusk, I was busy painting.

This time, an extending roller brush was used and a paint tray. A grand expenditure of some $17 made the day before on my rivet buying trip. Holy Cow, that brush sped up painting tremendously. Simply by extending the handle, it was possible to paint beyond the center of the roof from my stepladder. There was a little rust on the roof and that was dealt with speedily with a combination of an abrasive brush in the pistol drill and some rust converter spray.

By the time the entire roof had been covered, only half of my gallon of paint had been used - if that. The roof supports got two coats while the roof got one. The hood and school bus sign also had some paint rolled on. Last night's painting in the dark had pretty much covered large areas of the hood but there were plenty dribbles. As I keep saying, it's an old bus - not a new bus so I'm not really bothered about a perfect finish.

The roller paint gave a slightly stippled effect that's not unpleasant. There were areas that could not be reached with the roller that will need to be done with a paintbrush and others that are intricate enough to need a spray. On the whole I'm happy with what I've done today though as ever I am disappointed that I could not have done more.

My long-suffering ladyfriend patiently puts up with my bus obsession but threatens to charge me 25 cents every time I mention the bus. I'm so grateful that she allows me to store my bus on her land while converting it into a motorhome. I estimate that next weekend, the painting will be completed and I will be able to start work on removing the vinyl floor tiles. Then I should be able to sand the floor and identify which floor panels need replacement.

Meanwhile with the plummeting price of fuel, consideration has been given to buying more diesel since the tank is almost empty. I'm not really sure that there's much point in having fuel just sitting in the tank when I'm not doing many miles. Next week will mark two weeks that I've not driven the bus. The plan is to drive it once or twice a month just to keep it in operable condition. A solar panel dedicated to keeping the starter batteries charged must be a consideration.