Another small step.

Today there was a kinda plan to work on something but the day started slowly with my being tired having woken several times in the night, at least one time with acid reflux having eaten too late. The vast majority of the day was spent doing nothing but when the sun went behind clouds in the evening was when things started to happen. It was 92F in the shade, after all.

There was no actual planning involved but I pulled out both of the aluminium sheets then having drilled the requisite 8 holes in the one sheet that had not been drilled - using the first sheet as a template, I set to and removed patches that I'd put over hillbilly holes in the bodywork and put my two new aluminium panels in place.

Tools used today:

• Air compressor
• Air hammer
• Air drill
• Air riveter
• Rivets
• Battery drill
• Drill bit
• Step bit
• White spray paint
• 8 x No 10 self-drilling hex-head screws
• Hex driver for the No 10 screws.
• Dynatron caulk
• Old plastic packet
• Old envelope
• Paint thinner.
• Set of kitchen steps

One of the aluminium patches was hard to remove. Drilling the rivets out with the drill bit didn't achieve an awful lot. Using the step bit got the rivet heads off. The patch proved well attached by whatever I'd used as a sealant so the air hammer came in to chisel it out.

In the bottom left of the picture I'd already removed the patch and sprayed it with paint just to keep potential rust at bay

The next step was to hold the aluminium sheet in place. I chose aluminium rather than steel because it's so much lighter. All it has to do is to provide a rigidish cover over blanked off windows. It helps to provide a bit of security by looking more secure than it actually is. With luck also it will assist in keeping the bus cool since there's a gap above and below. The top gap is hidden by the gutter. That might produce convective airflow, keeping the bus cooler.

Holding the aluminium in place and using a short self-drilling screw in the electric drill with the hex driver, I made the first hole in the body and the first anchor point for the aluminium sheet. That was the hardest part. Each subsequent hole was far easier as the sheet was already anchored. The steps got me up beyond the first pair of holes.

With the panel screwed in place, the next thing was to test the bus electrics in case I'd damaged wiring hidden behind the bodywork. That test went fine so I proceeded to the next step. That was squeezing caulk around where water might seep into the construction. I have to say I like this Dynotron caulk. It seems to be what the original bus builders used.

Next I screwed it all back into place and watched as the caulk squeezed out from the edges. Where it didn't I later applied caulk and formed it using an old plastic packet. Before that though came the riveting. Every other screw was removed and the air drill used to drill-out the holes to be rivet sized. Having done that I used my air riveter to put the rivets in. I've gone through several hand riveters and long handled riveters. They work but they fail quite often. The air riveter is prone to jamming too and I was lucky to get away with 16 rivets total without an issue today. Using an air riveter isn't much faster but it does seem to work better.

Once all the rivets were in and the  caulk applied and dried for 10 minutes, it was time to add spray paint. The old envelope came in there to block over-spray. 

Having put two different grades of aluminium sheet on the bus I have to say that I find no practical difference between 5052 and 6061 which leads me to the conclusion that I might as well just use 5052 for the rest of the window covering. 6061 is so marginally stiffer that I can't say it makes a noticeable difference.

Now that these sheets of aluminium are in place I can change out the two lower marker lights at the front. I still have to buy the two red marker lights for the sides at the lower back. I still have to buy the aluminium sheets for the other windows too.

The next logical step since I have the parts is to do the roof vent and the last three front marker lights while remembering the mid-light at roof level on the driver side still needs attention. I want to do what I can without buying extra bits for the moment. There are several projects that can be completed that have been waiting (like the roof vent) for several years.