Eagles International Forum

No side entrance. Just the stairs to access the basement from the living room. That access will remain closed until access to the basement is required. We plan an air cylinder lift on the area that is covering the stairs. That has yet to be designed but I picture a trap door that will become a 24" stem wall alongside the stairs when opened. The engineering worked out it should work easily. Not all things that should work easily actually do work easily.

Dave ,Being as you seem to have a fine example of a late model 15,and have stripped it down to the chassis,what kind of shape was the steel structure in ?I guess my real question is in regards to the Core ten steel that was used on later eagles ,what was your evaluation of the condition of the steel once you stripped down the coach?Did you find any more or less rusting and corrosion in comparison to an older model eagle?I don't remember exactly when the Core Ten steel was introduced,maybe starting with the model 15's .On my 15 ,I have found alot of surface rust ,and that seems to be normal,your thoughts on this?Thanks. Van

Wow, howd I miss this project thread. She's a nice one there buddy. Keep us posted with more pics. Its always nice when the paint starts flying like on the motor.


Kentucky Steve

Van,
That new steel seemed to work on Norma Jean. When I was ready to buy this bus we had a rally where it was on display. I had as many as 40 eagle owners go thru it and it was a univeral consenus "That is the cleanest bus we have ever seen." All the origional primer was still in place. When we pulled the siding off we found about a 24" piece of tubing with surface rust. We wire brushed it off and determined that it was sound. We only found one piece of tubing that was bent by the drivers wheel well. We did replace that bent piece but nothing else. We simply washed the whole thing down and sprayed it with a new coat of primer. I am convinced we have a NEW FRAME.

Hey guys the Cor-Ten started on the model 20 very few of the model 15's had it.I don't recall ever seeing a 45 ft made with Cor- Ten.Eagle went back to regular tubing in the later year of production.FWIW if dirt builds up around the Cor-Ten it will rust faster than regular steel.I have seen guard rails with dirt piled on the ends when you remove the dirt there was nothing left of it.Moral of the story keep it clean so it can protect it's self with the surface rust.As for primer I have never saw Cor-Ten primed it defeats the purpose of Cor-Ten steel,bet Dave has a extra clean Eagle with regular tubing
Clifford

well, it has been 8 years since my last post on this project. Following an number of setbacks, personal health issues, we are finally working on the bus with a somewhat renewed spirit.

First, we have decided to change the christened name for this bus. We now recognize her as "Two Feathers." This reflects the symbolic Eagle carrying the two of us gently down the road.

Two slide outs and one slide in now adorn our Eagle. The two slide outs are easy to visualize. The slide in is yet another matter. We built a slide that carries a portion of the kitchen cabinetry and a platform that a love seat is mounted on. That slide in moves to the center of the coach in the event you need access to the stairway that resides under the love seat. You only open this slide when you are parked and have activated the living room slide out that resides on the drivers side of the coach. You have a standard width aisle in the center of the coach so there is no conflict for moving about the coach when the stairway is opened. The lower portion of the kitchen cabinets also moves with the love seat allowing for a 75" headroom underneath the remaining portion of the kitchen cabinet. Stand up headroom at the foot of the bed which fills the center bay of the bus. A full dressing mirror above an 8" wide counter top allows for stand up dressing area. A closet bar along the top of the mirrored area allows for hanging clothes storage. Drop to a knee and you have a standard full sized mattress. Heating, TV, all the finishing trimmings of a bedroom with LED lighting switched at either end of the bed. Your bedroom is 57" wide x 92" long x 37" ceiling height, with double doors that open from inside at the head and foot of the bed. If that isn't comfortable find a motel room.

Dave, I am glad that you are back to posting. I was very impressed when I saw it a couple of times at Tony's, but have not seen it since. I know that you have really been through the wringer with this build, but it sounds like you are well on your way to a great bus.

When you get a chance, will you post some pictures of the interior? The basement room is an amazing idea and worth documenting.

Jim