Keeping it Cool

I wanted to post a quick update on the cooling fan work I did last night.  As you may remember from an earlier post, I was concerned about whether the fans kicked on during my anti-NASCAR test drives.  I watched the temperature rise on the UltraGauge, and even level off at 185*.  I think that was when the thermostat opened and the full coolant circuit (routing through the radiator) was active.  This allowed the 68* coolant that was sitting in the radiator to mingle with the 185* coolant leaving the engine.  Predictably, the temperature dropped temporarily and then increased again.  I didn't have the patience to watch the coolant rise too far above 190* before I got uneasy and stopped the test drive.  I should have hopped out at that point to see if either of the fans were spinning.  Wanting a backup system for fan activation was the driver for last night's efforts.

Relay Enabled
I re-attacked the fan wiring last night.  My first change was to tie the fans together so they both turn on and shut off together.  Having just one spin seemed silly.  To protect wiring, I have both fans activated off of an automotive (30A) relay triggered from the temperature switch in the radiator.  Now, when the "low speed" temperature is reached, both fans will fire.  I don't have a destination for the "high speed" signal yet, but I think I might wire it to my oil idiot light on the original dash.  That way, if I'm getting too hot, I'll have a visual queue to cool it.

Panic Switch
Now that both fans turn when the temperature switch says to fire, my concerns about whether that switch will always work kick in.  Honestly, I'm not sure if the current switch works.  Now, I could remove the switch (effectively draining the entire cooling system) and install a new one.  Yes, that would be the proper course.  Rather than do that, I wired in a panic switch for the fans.  Now, if I see the temperature running high, and lack the confidence in the fans turning on automagically, I can flip a switch (with an LED to show me that I did so) and fire them up.  The B+ side of the switch is running on circuit 30, so I can fire the fans after shutting off the engine.  Since the coolant will stop moving at that point, it is limited in utility, but it might help cool a little bit.  The tests of the switch and relay were positive, so I'm ready to test-drive again.

With all of these modifications, the wiring near the driver's feet has become, uh... rat-nest-like.  I'll spend some time cleaning that up tomorrow night, freeing up Saturday for test drives and final bits and pieces on the pop top.  Thanks for following along, and if all goes well, I'll be on the road Saturday doing more than just an anti-NASCAR this time.  WooHoo!

Tight Topside

In my last post, I mentioned troubles with getting the top to settle-down properly.  I'll post on how that resolved, and touch on some other random pop-top related things today.

Westy strap holding Riviera Top

Great Pair
So, I've mentioned that the hole for the Riviera top is larger and more square than the sunroof hole.  This lead to some interesting challenges for getting the inner wood framing to fit.  Included in this was a need to change how the front section will fit.  This forces a change to both the font hold-downs and the bow that holds the front bellows to the roof of the bus.  For the hold-downs, I pulled the 2 side hold-downs from the old westy top.  They fit well, and seem up to the task.  Like the original Riviera, there are 4 hold-downs, 1 of the originals on each side and 2 westy ones along the front.

note original hole
(black spot above screw head)

For the front bow, I re-used the original, but had to cut short sections of the ends to fit it.  To avoid putting too much stress on the bellows, I didn't reuse the original holes, but created new ones closer to the edge.  This way, the bellows are not stretched at all when the top is fully open.  Hopefully, this will extend its life a little bit.


Pointing Straight Ahead
After that last post, I realized that I didn't even try to align the feet front-to-back.  Dummy.  A quick measurement showed that the driver-side was a full inch further forward than the passenger side.  This would explain why it didn't close, and why it was diagonally pointing off to the passenger side at the front.  I matched the rear feet, screwed in one screw each at the front and back and verified the movement.  Perfect.


Nice Rack

Screw holding front p-side

With the top settled down, and the front of the bellows tightened down, that left installing the luggage rack.  I lowered the top down and pushed the luggage rack as far into the top as  I could get it, and shook it a little bit.  The top is held down by 4 long washered Phillips-head screws.  I marked the holes with a ball-point pen, and drilled the holes with a 7/64 bit.  Out of concern for water tracking under the rear of the rack back into the bus, I layered "rope" insulation along the rear edge just like I used around the edge of the bellows.  Once the top was screwed in place, I forced my hand under the inner edge and sealed the malleable stuff against the   top and the roof of the bus.  I tested it with light, but I still need to test it with water.

completed. tight seam.

That's it for today.  The boys helped some, but they've kinda lost interest in the work part of this project and are ready for the test-drive part.  I can't say I blame them.  I'm ready for the test driving part too.  I have one last thing I want to do first: install a radiator fan over-ride switch.  I hope to tackle that on Monday so I can take a few test flights this week.  Its very very close now, my friends.  My plan to take the boys camping in mid-August may actually come to fruition.

No New Tales to Tell

It's been the dog-days of Summer around my place the last 2 weeks, and getting into the bus hasn't been really happening.  Between the Brew Fest, and my niece's birthday on Saturday, last weekend was a wash.  I was able to start getting the scissor-support mounted, but they aren't quite on right, so I'll be re-starting that effort.  Unfortunately, that means that the little bit I did get done, I'll be doing again.

Since the top isn't really "on", I can't test drive it.  With a planned first camping trip just a few weeks away, my evenings and weekends are going to become very full very soon, starting tonight.  I have my boys with me this week, so I'll have to figure out a way of getting their hands involved too.

I wanted to post something, since it's been nearly 10 days since my last post, but, like the headline says, "No New Tales to Tell".  Once I have the scissor-supports solved, I'll share the pictures I've taken along the way.  Suffice to say, the supports have 2 long steel feet that run the length of the bus.  If they are not positioned exactly right, the top won't close, and it won't sit right.  Mine aren't, so it doesn't.  I think the driver's side rail is too far forward, so I'll try moving it towards the rear to see if that helps.  Since the support "feet" don't have channels for the screws to pass through (instead its just a tiny hole), adjusting the top means new holes in the roof for every adjustment.  Something to think about improving if you are thinking about putting a Riviera top on your non-Riviera bus.

That's all for now.  Like I said, I'll post when I have the top solved, and explain what I found as the cause.  I'll back-post a picture of the mis-aligned top to this posting later.