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BCM June 2017 Bus Conversion Magazine A Simple Door Latch for a Residential Refrigerator Rally in the Desert Our First Bus, a 1968 Blue Bird A Tribute to William “Bill” Phelan. 2 BUS CONVERSION MAGAZINE June 2017 PUBLISHER´S NOTE DIGITAL EDITION ENHANCEMENTS GARY HATT Great news! Starting next month in the July Even if you have a print only subscription now, you should issue for the first time in history we will be consider converting your subscription over exclusively to a running new articles in our Bonus Section. digital subscription so you will be able to read this additional In the past, our Bonus Section has includ- content. You can contact us to do this and we will double ed Blast From the Past articles from issues over the past the remaining time on your digital subscription because the 25 years of BCM as well as much more information about digital is now half the price of the print subscription so you some of the bus rallies coming up. It also included Product will not have to renew as early. Announcements and Press Releases related to buses and RVs as well as our Bus Chat which are excerpts from our The digital edition also has advantages not available in very popular website Forum and extra photos of old buses the print such as taking up less space in your bus, you can or other photos of interest. enlarge text and photos for easier reading, you can search on keywords, you will not have to forward it when you head It is difficult for us to justify adding more pages to the print south for the winter, and you can click on links to take you edition of the magazine as much as we have wanted to, directly to online videos which we will be adding starting in due to the high cost of printing and mailing, but with more the July issue. It can also be read on any mobile device. and more people subscribing to the digital edition, which is And last but not least, if your computer is lost, damaged, now over 90% of our subscribers, we want to concentrate or stolen, we will replace all of your digital editions since on improving this delivery method even more. subscribing for free. That should be more than enough reasons to consider converting to a digital subscription if So if you have not subscribed to our digital edition, now is you haven’t already, like so many other people have. the time to do so before next month, because in July we will run the first part of a 12 part series of articles written Opinions and techniques expressed herein are those of by Bruce Fay about remolding the interior of his Prevost. the authors and do not necessarily represent those en- We will also start running other articles in the digital edi- dorsed by the Publisher. Bus Conversion Magazine and tion as well to be able to share more information with you the authors respectively accept no responsibility or liability each month about living, traveling, and maintaining a bus for any errors, omissions, alterations, or for any conse- conversion or any type of RV. If you already have a print quences ensuing upon the use of, or reliance upon any in- subscription, a digital subscription is a free add-on with one formation contained herein. Tasks performed in maintain- easy phone call to our office. ing, altering and using vehicles may require specialized skills and involve inherent risks to the person doing the With the advent of us running new articles in our digital edi- work or to the safe operation of the vehicle. It is the read- tion and making other improvements, if your subscription is er’s responsibility to assess their own skills to determine if coming up for renewal soon, and you currently have only a they can perform any such task and to seek professionally print subscription, you should consider renewing with a digital trained assistance if needed. edition subscription to take advantage of this new content. MAGAZINECONTACTS On The Cover Published By Bus Conversion Magazine 9852 Katella Ave., Suite 361 Anaheim, CA 92804 Website (657) 221-0432 www.BusConversions.com Publisher Online Discussion Forum Gary Hatt www.BusConversions.com/bbs/ Phil Lyons [email protected] [email protected] Rally in the Desert Editorial Jorge Escobar Moderators [email protected] Nick Badame Like us on Facebook: Jack Conrad facebook.com/BCMagUSA Senior Editor & Art Director K.J “Frank“ Franklin Paul Lawry We want to hear from you! Write to us. Accounting/Subscriptions Email us, call us. Tell us what you like and Linda Sohn don’t like. What type of information would [email protected] you like to see in the magazine? Send us a story! Do you have before and after photos $6.00 US of your conversion project? During? Maybe Contributing Authors a story about adventures while traveling, or Bruce Fay with Butch Williams $7.00 Canada a wonderful place to camp that you found. Pam Noonan Contact [email protected] to learn Jon Usle more or discuss your article idea. Please send us your stories of your bus conversions (long or short) and please document them with digital photos. We would love to consider your articles for the magazine. In addition, we are seeking submissions for the “Landmark BCM” photo feature. Please send them to [email protected]. www.BusConversions.com June 2017 BUS CONVERSION MAGAZINE 3 If you are viewing this magazine on a computer or mobile device, you A Simple Door Latch can click or tap any of the article titles or advertisers on this page to go directly to that article or ad. for a Residential Refrigerator By Bruce Fay In This Issue 4 with Butch Williams Publisher´s Note 2 Index of Advertisers 3 Rally in the Desert By Pam Noonan A Simple Door Latch for a Residential Refrigerator 4 By Bruce Fay with Butch Williams 8 Rally in the Desert 8 By Pam Noonan Our First Bus, a 1968 Our First Bus, a 1968 Blue Bird 20 Blue Bird By Jon Usle By Jon Usle A Tribute to William “Bill” Phelan 24 20 Rally News 25 26 Suscription Form A Ttribute to William Back Issue Order From 27 “Bill” Phelan Classifieds 28 24 Service Directory 31 Exclusively In this Issue Index of Advertisers Online Edition of BCM 9 All American Urethane More of Rally in The Desert 14 Ardemco BFTP - Bay Basics Atlantic Custom Coach 15 Road Fix - My Bus Blew Up Autex 5 They Just Don´t Make Them Like They Used To B&B Coachworks 32 Additional Rally Information Byler Rivet 13 Lloyd DeGerald’s 2017 Schedule Custom Instrument Panels 12 Bus Parts Liquidation Sale Engine Heat Protection 21 Engine Power Source 22 Get Your Bus ID Poster While They Last! 32 Press Release - CCW Delivers Two Buses to Fastening System International the City of Modesto LandRVs 24 Bus Chat - Bed Platform Lloyd DeGerald Services 8 Magne Shade 32 Mobile RV Glass 15 Pacific RV Parts 7 Reliable Glass 20 Also, additional bus related classifieds Sewer Sock 23 and potentially other late breaking info. Shade Smith 10 Sure Marine Service 14 Thanks to our advertisers Tommy Kaylor’s Bus and Truck 4 for supporting Transit Sales International 11 Unforgettable Fire 6 Bus Conversion Magazine Wrico International 21 www.BusConversions.com 4 BUS CONVERSION MAGAZINE June 2017 A Simple Door Latch for a Residential Refrigerator By Bruce Fay with Butch Williams The latch plate attached to the refrigerator case with the knob and all-thread removed. Yes, one of the mounting screws is missing. Refrigerator Door Latches intrigued us. Imagine a flat piece of metal shaped like a T. Bend the “bull” of the T 90 degrees and Our new refrigerator doors seal nicely, but in a sud- then bend the tip of the bull another 90 degrees in den stop there was no guarantee they would stay the same direction so the tip is now parallel to the closed. Our initial system for latching the doors run. Mount the run of the T to the refrigerator case was painter’s tape, but we clearly needed a better, so the bull sticks out between the upper and lower long-term solution. doors (or the left and right doors, as the case may be). Drill a hole in the tang at the end and install a We have seen several very clever ways to latch narrow turn latch (not a round knob). If the metal refrigerator doors on units that do not have them plate is sized correctly so the bull is just the right designed in. A simple hook and eye arrangement length, and the turn latch is the right size, it can be is easy to do if you have access to the side of the refrigerator case or surrounding cabinet and don’t mind drilling holes into your fridge case, doors, or woodwork. Our friend, fellow Bus Nut, and BCM contributor, Scott Bruner, attached electromagnets to the cabinet and matching plates to the doors. He wired up a circuit for the electromagnets that activates them when the ignition is turned on and provided an override switch to allow them to be opened. As much as that approach appealed to me, I was not up for running the wiring. A few winters ago we were staying at an RV park in Florida and they had an RV show. In one of the motorhomes we saw a simple, mechanical latch that www.BusConversions.com June 2017 BUS CONVERSION MAGAZINE 5 turned horizontally (vertically) to allow the doors to open and turned vertically (horizontally) to latch them closed.