People are asking similar questions, so why not answer them here.
Where did you buy those new front and rear fibreglass headers?
The coaches were build here in Brisbane, but the companies have since gone. But some loyal ex-employees have bought all of the stock and continue to provide support for the Austral and Denning coaches.
They are "Bus & Coach Parts Australia Pty Ltd" and are in Virginia Queensland. Their phone number is (07) 3630 4066. Their email address buscoachparts@bigpond.com.au
As far as I know they do not have a web site.
They sell the front and rear fibreglass headers and a one-piece fibreglass
roof skin. And fibreglass panels for the sides of the coach... They also sell
spare parts for the Denning/Austral.
Tell David you heard about them from us. :-)
Where are you?
Redcliffe in Sunny Queensland (North of Brisbane).
What products of Sika are you using to hold the gal panels on to the frame work?
We use Sikaflex 212FC for sealing gaps and adhering the floorboards and Sikaflex 221 for adhering the sheets and fibreglass.
However, before using any Sika product go to their web site (http://www.sika.com.au) or contact them as special surface preparation is required for the Sikaflex 221 and you may need to use a different Sika product for your application.
I have notice that all the metal sheeting is only glued on! Do you have that much confidence in the Sikaflex?
Yes, but we tested it first. Zac was not confident and wanted to use Sikaflex 252 instead of Sikaflex 221. The Sika rep assured us that coach builders use Sikaflex 221 for the panels.
Here is how we tested it.
We stuck four plates about 100mm wide and 2mm thick on a 50mm frame.
- Plate one is Sikaflex 221 on bare metal and bare galv.
- Plate two is Sikaflex 221 on etch/primed metal and etch/primed galv.
- Plate three is FixSeal MSP15 on bare metal and bare galv.
- Plate four is FixSeal MSP15 in etch/primed metal and etch/primed galv.
That was on Wednesday 22 February 2006.
On Saturday 4 March 2006, we pulled them off. The results are shown above.
The FixSeal MSP15 plates pulled off without much effort and the plated did not bend.
However, the Sikaflex 221 plates took a lot of effort. Peter used most of his weight to pull them off. Also, notice how bent the plates are. These plates are 2mm thick!
With the etch/primer it was a little more difficult to remove the plate.
Even after 10 days, the glue was still wet in the centre of the plate. (You can see that in the photo above). Had we waited longer, it would have been even more difficult to pull the plates off.
IMPORTANT: DO THIS TEST YOURSELF if you are considering to glue your panels to the frame.
Do you have any more pictures of the jig you used to mount the saw on to cut the roof upright supports?
Yes, see Our Tools page