#16 TWO MONTHS IN ... 9 APRIL, 2024

WHAZAMMO & THE GILLIG

use the "Archives" link at the top left to get to #1

60 days in... the past two months have been cold, rainy days, maybe only 7-8 days of sun and above 45 degrees, being old, wet, and cold is not conducive to bus building (and the boat maintenance-move off-packing-transport time is not helping).

A great amount of thinking/planning is needed anyway, so, some  indoor time-consuming things get done out of sequence (in nasty weather) that will save those beautiful coming days from being consumed sitting indoors planning, researching, and buying materials.

Although totally "choked" with cabinetry and buy-ahead stuff, we "have" collected it all...  except the "new" items needed (mattresses, reefer, stove, galley sink, electric panel box, and countertops}... very little now actually needs to be purchased, and is in here ... somewhere, waiting to be modified, and installed.

These lazy 1/2 days will soon be over, and the working outdoors for sawing, fitting, and wood fabrication ... plus the small amount of under the bus (lie on the ground) work can begin.  I have a L.F. airbag supply line leak that will require a contortionist to fix, some brackets for plumbing support to fit, and a rear transit bus side door to eliminate (sheet metal/body work), all that require sun.

Satisfied... with the 60 day progress, especially the purchasing, at around 300 man hours invested, and some $1,700.00 (not including purchase price), for plates, license, insurance, travel, space rent, fuel, food, and one-time costs included... about splits that in 1/2.

In short, only around $800.00 bucks in materials has been spent so far, some sore backs and body from load-unload-move it here/move it there shenanigans, and, being cold... wet, it has been sucessful.

BUT... do the math, if we were having this done in a shop with a billable of around $50.00 an hour, we have invested around $6,000.00 dollars in labor so far...... at 50 bucks an hour for the two of us combined, we are at $1,500.00 

These build/conversion projects are very labor intensive, you "must" have the knowledge and skills to DIY... the GILLIG is at 15% completion (most of which was desk work), and the long days are yet to come, we are still 800-1,200 man hours of labor away from getting this rig from 15% to 90% and liveable... that last 10% of "grooming" is sort of ongoing, you are never at 100% (maybe 95%?).

An aside note... a large part of your project is the fun part of recording it, and later looking back and sharing the agony with others, one regret I personally have is that I have always been averse at photos... be sure to record these times...  when completed, discard all the receipts, cut the final dollar amount in half, and lie a lot...never-ever...  admit how much this project really cost. (no matter what your accountant tells you, beer and smoke "are" valid expenses).

In removing my tools and inventory from the boat (for the eventual sale) to the van, I realize many of my boat-build remnants and leftovers will pad the bus parts expenses... I have a lot of what's going to be needed right here.    With our buy-ahead cabinetry we are mostly there other than appliances, and countertops...  and needing sun to do outside sawing and wood working.  

This project and the boat-to-bus transition is at its apex right now, the van is muzzle loaded, the bus is packed, the boat is empty (and inefficient), the weather is shit, and it is chaos.

The physicality of 80 year old muscles makes 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4 plywood into 3/4" steel plate, somehow things take longer to do, and being alcohol free is ...

Wrestling plumbing and wiring next month will be a vacation though, and the only ugly left will be cabinetry.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#3 WHAT'S A GILLIG DADDY?

Image
  WHAZAMMO & THE GILLIG use the "Archives" link at the top left to get to #1 As the oldest surviving bus manufacturer in North America, Gillig was founded in 1890 by Jacob Gillig, t he shop was destroyed as part of the  1906 San Francisco earthquake , and  the company reopened as the Leo Gillig Automobile Works, which manufactured custom-built vehicle bodies.  One of the first bodies built inside the new factory was one for a motor bus,  in 1932, Gillig designed its first  school bus  body, a configuration it would produce for most of the next 60 years. By 1938, demand for school buses had surpassed the capacity of the San Francisco facility, leading Gillig Brothers to move to Hayward, California, on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay. [ In 1940, as a response to the  Crown Supercoach , the first  Gillig Transit Coach  was introduced, as both a coach and school bus. The first mid-engine school bus, the Transit Coach wore an all-st...
Read more

#29 - THE UPS/FED EX MATTRESS STORE - 16 JUNE, 2024

Image
  WHAZAMMO AND THE GILLIG #29 (Click the "MORE POSTS" link at the bottom to find Post #1)                                             We have all experienced  a UPS/FED EX/USPS mess-up in a delivery (especially now that we do sooo much online shopping/buying), living on the remote Oregon coast, we have a shared UPS/FED EX warehouse-staging area outside of town, the big rigs unload daily deliveries there, the local trucks all park there overnight, are fueled and serviced there. Ever so often you will see unclaimed freight and lost freight for sale items in our local thrift stores, usually new, unopened, and wrapped a thousand rounds of that clear stretch Saran-Wrap plastic packing ... we circuit the local stores once a week for oddities, surprises, and to keep our flea market rage at bay and controlled. I never go through the quilting-sewing, huge book-magazine, women's...
Read more

#30 NARROW BOAT OR COACH ? - 17 JUNE, 2013

Image
  WHAZAMMO AND THE GILLIG #307  (Click the "MORE POSTS" link at the bottom to find Post #1)      Being a boat builder and full-time live aboard, I have encountered many types of boats, among them, the canal boats of the UK... which are narrower than canal boats on the Holland or Germany-based canals. For us non-tilt-out bus builders, there are some shared ideas to be had, UK narrow boats are 6 foot 10" to 7 foot wide and present all the same problems as a slightly wider 7 foot 5" Skoolie or 8-foot transit bus, the UK narrow boat makes up for its skimpy side-to-side in length... from 40-72 foot long. Canal rovers are booondocking almost full-time, and their knowledge from experience goes back some 200 years, try aquavista.com, rightboat.com or whiltonmarina.co.uk for a starter, you will enjoy the views. A SIDE NOTE:.... This morning we put the boat up on Facebook Marketplace FOR SALE ! Remember last year this time, we offered her for $55k, and then dropped to $45...
Read more