Rear Bumper removal and cleanup

[ajducote]

A while back I decded to tackle some rust and ugly area's in the rear of the bus. I suspect the previous owners had run on salted winter roads and never rinsed the salt off. So I had (and still have a few) areas that looked real bad.
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Rear Bumper and ugly mud flap removed

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Hitch removed


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cleaned and primed

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painted gey

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hitch cleaned, painted and reattached

[ajducote]

More photos

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Close up of had bad it was
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another one
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I polished the rear bumper before I put it back on

[dalej]

It looks like you did a really good job Andre! It just feels good doesn't it.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

What paint did you choose to match that frame? Looks really really nice.

[rfoster]

Andre: Great Job. Looks A1. And I know that you feel great about getting her done.

[garyde]

Great job Andre. How many hours overall did you spend on the project. Did you sand blast the hitch? What type of paints did you use for re painting?

[gmcbuffalo]

Andre in the second post first picture what material is that white pipe made out of?
GregM

[Joe Cannarozzi]

That is painted copper fittings, all sweated togeather Greg.

Brian found that out when he removed all his radiator plumbing on his Liberty to have it powdercoated, and couldn't.

Looks nice hu

[ajducote]

I sent most of 1 weekend on this job. I do not have a sandblaster so I used steel wire brushes of various sizes and shapes on an electric drill and some sandpaper to clean out and remove as much rust, paint and dirt as possible.
For paint I went to Lowe's, it is close by and had a large selection of Rust-Oleum.

4 Step Process.
Grind away as much rust and dirt as possible, and wipe down with paint thinner.
Paint 2 coats of Rust-Oleum "Rust Reformer" that is the black paint in the pictures
Paint 2 coats of Rust-Oleum "Grey PRIMER"
Then 2 coats of Rust-Oleum "All surface Gloss Slate Gray"

The gray is close to the Prevost Gray, but there is an area where you can see the line between old and new. But it looks a hundred times better then when I started, so I called it a success.
Believe me it is not a perfect job, but I am happy with the results.

Hope I answered everyone's questions.

[BrianE]

Since Joe brought it up......When refurbishing the 8V in Tom's coach, I thought the large water-pipes would look good powder-coated. Bad idea. The baking process melted the soldered joints in the pipes. Strip, prime and repaint is the right way to go on those puppies. There are no secrets in this bunch. :eek:

Great job Andre, worries me a little about what's behind our bumper though.

[mike kerley]

Good Job Andre, Florida Detroit pulled the bumper on our bus when they changed the rear seal on the engine, and discovered significant wear on the bolts holding the hitch to the frame. Fresh sanding, paint, new bolts solved the problem, but it could have been real bad. Worthy of checking on the older frames. My guess is that hitch takes some serious shocks while towing.

[phorner]

That looks great, Andre. And the step by step procedure and pictures are a big help too.

My bus could sure use the same treatment, and your post makes it look like it's something that I just might tackle.

Thanks for posting!:)

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Brian,

I am surprised the soldered joints melted. I have done powder coating on a production level for decades and most cures are done at 325 degrees F, with the occasional cures up to 450 for shorter cure times. The only cures I am aware of are those for stuff like Teflon that require temps in excess of 500 degrees F

Any powder coater knows for heat sensitive items a low temp, long time cycle cure is just as effective.

[BrianE]

Jon, After finding a number of leaks in my (Tom's) brand new powder coat job I did a little research and came to the same conclusion ref curing temps. The powder coat folks returned my money and asked me to not bring them any more work. Considering the consequences of a poorly monitored bake job I think it might be wise to not choose PC for soldered assemblies.

[truk4u]

Hmm, do I smell anti-freeze?:confused:

[gmcbuffalo]

My bus was originally designed for a guy in Ontrior Canadaand the their road salt does a impressive job of creating rust. I maybe looking for a new oil pan, it looks ugly.
GregM