The Journey of Jake - Lexi's Bus (Was: And one more added)

[Stray Catalyst]

if i could make all my friends the rack they wanted, I would have a much bigger group of friends.

Or a group of much bigger friends.

Jake (or Paige) is too pretty to baja hack a rack. On a roof that long, you could probably use four or more of the "normal" car roof rack bars, the ones that clamp to the drip edge.

Stray

[Sneaks]

What about a group of friend with bigger racks?

And then the topic goes really down hill...

Ok, back on track...I should show you (fuser) the ladder rack I have for the Ford, it clamps to the drip rails with a pretty simple system. I'll shoot you some pics tomorrow.

or you could go the baja express way and just weld some steel to your roof and call it a rack...

Ohhh, that stings. It would probably hurt more if it wasn't so friggin' true. At least you called it 'baja express,' almost sounds respectable like 'Holiday Inn Express' instead of 'too damn cheap to buy one and lacking the attention to build one for real.'

Did I mention...HE RUNS?
That progressive still needs to be tweaked but it even started tonight without help.

[DannyK]

I'm watching Crigslist for a Yakima or Thule drip rail mount with wide enough bars for a Bay. They probably have "friends" with bigger racks on there too, but I don't wanna rent by the hour !

[sparklingredpepper]

Yo, ain't nothin' wrong with smaller racks...

Somebody mentioned a ladder? Down the side of the bus...
This is such a terrible idea, given my tendency to knock my head and limbs on hard objects, but, huh...
At least I can't do that until I get a nice big rack and unfortunately, that won't be for a while.

I think January is the perfect time to do lots of metalwork. Fuser if you'd ever be willing to teach me to make a rack, I would love to figure that out in the dead of winter.

[sparklingredpepper]

Oh yes, and by make I mean something sleek and shiny and pretty for Jake, not whatever hunk of twisted metal a "baja express" looks like...

Given my track record, it will have some personality, probably in the form of unfortunate oopsies.

[sparklingredpepper]

That's what I get for skimming quickly...

HE RUNS??? My baby's running? Not far, but they gotta crawl first, right?

Sneaks, you're amazing

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[fusername]

we will pad everything at head height, don't worry. at transporter fest you should bring your camerea, a bunch of the early bussess have roof racks with ladders, we should copy them. Or just use them for ideas. Its your rack, i'll make it however you want.

[Sneaks]

I'm watching Crigslist for a Yakima or Thule drip rail mount with wide enough bars for a Bay. They probably have "friends" with bigger racks on there too, but I don't wanna rent by the hour !

Rent by the hour? How WIDE are those bars???

Yo, ain't nothin' wrong with smaller racks...

I agree, it is all about the shape and not the size.

Somebody mentioned a ladder? Down the side of the bus...
This is such a terrible idea, given my tendency to knock my head and limbs on hard objects, but, huh...

Yup, a ladder. (SIDEBAR - every time I think of the word ladder, I get that scene from The Santa Claus where they find the tag from The Rose Such a Ladder Company...) I've seen them on the side as well as the rear. The one downfall to them on the back is they need to be removed if you want to open the hatch. Here's a few pics:





But not ladders like this, right?







You get the idea. Yeh, go to transporterfest with a camera and look around. We all should be there and can give you all the unsolicited advice you could ever want...

I think January is the perfect time to do lots of metalwork. Fuser if you'd ever be willing to teach me to make a rack, I would love to figure that out in the dead of winter.

It is amazing how much faster you can work when you can't feel your toes and fingers. One of these days I'm gonna have to give that bender of his a workout.

Oh yes, and by make I mean something sleek and shiny and pretty for Jake, not whatever hunk of twisted metal a "baja express" looks like...

Ok, here is the 'baja express' rack. I envisioned something much larger but this was easier and it does what it needs to do. Plus, the color is good, right?

Given my track record, it will have some personality, probably in the form of unfortunate oopsies.

It's ALL about the personality. If it was about mechanics, we'd all be driving <shudder> Toyotas and Chevy conversion vans.

That's what I get for skimming quickly...

HE RUNS??? My baby's running? Not far, but they gotta crawl first, right?

Sneaks, you're amazing

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He does run. Has a decent sound to him too, not too loud, not fweemy...more like fwoooomy. If the weather continues to be wet today, I'll work on tuning him better. If it clears, then I'll get to the rest of the bodywork.

we will pad everything at head height, don't worry. at transporter fest you should bring your camerea, a bunch of the early bussess have roof racks with ladders, we should copy them. Or just use them for ideas. Its your rack, i'll make it however you want.

I get the feeling we are missing out on a story or two....



i see something like this in the future for the pickle

[sparklingredpepper]

Yup, a ladder. (SIDEBAR - every time I think of the word ladder, I get that scene from The Santa Claus where they find the tag from The Rose Such a Ladder Company...) I've seen them on the side as well as the rear. The one downfall to them on the back is they need to be removed if you want to open the hatch.

Those look brilliant... I think I'd like mine going down the side. I suppose it probably wouldn't work to make a rope ladder that I can roll up around the roof rack and let down when I feel like it?

Ok, here is the 'baja express' rack. I envisioned something much larger but this was easier and it does what it needs to do. Plus, the color is good, right?

That actually looks rather lovely, I do like the color. I was imagining something terrible *glares at fuser* Was that on the car when I was there?

I get the feeling we are missing out on a story or two....

I work as a theater electrician on my campus. Let's just say there was an incident a couple of years ago with an 80-pound pipe (or a lineset, for those of you who know what that is). While we were in Utah, I managed to bump my head at least once a day on Fuser's bus' ceiling. It got to the point where he very wisely kept an eye on me every time I sat down and on more than one occasion grabbed my head before it cracked against the cabinet. And as Fuser said once while we were hiking, "Everyone who has control over your center of gravity? You're in charge of making sure Lexi doesn't die."
So, yes, I have this unfortunate tendency to bump my head on all things within about a ten foot radius...

i see something like this in the future for the pickle

A couple of my theater electrician friends wanted to attach a few of these to my bus...

parcan2.jpg

[ajdenette]

those will certanly light the road but will be hell on the alternator

[Sneaks]

Yup, it was on the car but I'll excuse you cuz it was a bit chaotic trying to find Lady and talking about your bus and all, plus being tucked in the backyard didn't help either. fuser gives me grief cuz I welded it to the roof.

AJ, I'm thinking screw the altenator and lets just run a Honda generator in the back to power those things...


Oh, and I almost forgot (no I didn't, I'm lying but I had to say it for the dramatic effect)...I made this today. Present for Lexi.



Yes m'dear, that is the sound of Jake running all on his own. Nice idle I have to say, especially for a progressive carb. I ended up putting in my Pertronix breakerless ignition and a new coil, I'd rather you have the low maintainence ignition.

[sparklingredpepper]

Aye, those par cans suck a nice 1000 watts apiece...bye bye power. But just think of the light they give off! (Of course, they also burn your hands off once they've been on for longer than about 2 minutes, but that's another problem.)
I think the welded rack looks really nice, actually. It's got some curves, very pretty. Don't listen to fuser.
You have no idea how much I appreciate the low maintenance option... thankyouverymuch! Low maintenance is a good idea for me, at least to start.

[fusername]

no points is deffinatly a good thing, simplify the tune up and maybe even get better mileage! I ain't knockin your rack sneaks, I just think we can make something more impressive, or removable for when she wants to go topless. lexi if you didn't notice, teh baja express doesnt come off.

also i just noticed a good bit of creepin goin on behind that there bush...

[Sneaks]

Racks.
Topless.
This thread has really gone places I didn't image when I started it.

Also, dunno why it is just a pic instead of showing it as a video link but if you click that ugly picture in my last post, it takes you to the video of Jake running.

This one (CLICK IT! CLICK IT NOWWWWWWWW):

[sparklingredpepper]

Racks.
Topless.
This thread has really gone places I didn't image when I started it.

I blame Fuser.

Thanks for the link. That sound is like music... HE RUNS!!