Well that was pretty mysterious!

Yesterday I had a message that my aluminium sheeting was in so I went and picked it up. I have to say I almost had the wrong vehicle. I'd ordered 4 pieces of .08" aluminium sheeting measuring 24.5 inches tall by 87.75", 59.75 and 58". I also picked up some white paint and some more Cosmic Pink for the bedroom since my old bucket of Cosmic Pink had seen better days.

The first thing done yesterday was to paint the aluminium on one side only with self-etching universal primer. That was pretty easy though as that primer was only available in spray cans, it did eat up between the 4 sheets of aluminium, about 3 spray cans.

Today I used the white paint I'd bought the other day and painted all four sheets. I have to say it took a very long time with a 1" brush but it was done. It really wasn't worth hunting for a bigger brush. At the end of the day that brush would work and I'd have to wait for the paint to cure, not just to dry. It should be cured enough to be usable tomorrow though it was dry within a couple of hours.

The other thing done was to paint the one side of the board that I'd prepared for the inside of the bedroom window with Cosmic Pink. That worked pretty well but it did need two coats. With some trepidation I held it up against the walls in the bedroom and it was a perfect match. Full marks there!

After a while the board was dry enough to stand inside the bus and I put two of the aluminium panels inside too - for easy access. It also served to separate them so there can be no confusion when I start to install tomorrow. One side has 4 windows that I'm covering and thus needs one 58 inch sheet and one 59.75 inch sheet. The other side has 5 windows that I'm covering and will need one 58 inch sheet and one 87.75 inch sheet. 

Once the metal sheets are in place I'll install the wooden sheet. That will take two self-drilling screws, some adhesive caulk and some gap-filling caulk (not Great Stuff).

The mystery mentioned earlier was at the back of the bus. There is absolutely no sign of water ingress anywhere yet one of the solar panels standing up at the back in the middle of the aisle, close to the door was full of water. That was incredible! I have no idea how that got there. The only thing I can think of is that there is a leak - possibly the very back seam. I can fix that. I have caulk. I just need to get up there with the ladder and a wire brush in the pistol drill. 

After the windows have panels I might re-enforce the panels by riveting a small strip of aluminium along the bottom edge. The tops don't bother me. They're hidden under the gutter. The plan is to put aluminium strips - three of them - across each window. That way the bus looks more prison bus and has a more secure feel. I don't think many would bother with a white prison bus.

I'm still pretty much against any labels on the side. I don't need people to know anything or to have reason to ask anything. Just let them work with their own imaginations.

I go back to work in a few short weeks and I have a lot to achieve before that. I want to get the windows completed, the brake lines completed, the underbus wiring done and the leak fixed. I also want to untape and test the roof vent to see if it's good or whether I really should replace it (again). Then I have stuff I can work on at leisure in bad weather inside the bus. That's a bit of wiring though. I do want to work on the wiper pivot too. That's slightly skewed which causes issues.