Keeping your bus dry on the inside shouldn't be a matter of much concern, usually... But, what if you're one of those bus-folk who mysteriously get a dash-shower every time you drive in the rain? Those who chuckle either have a memory cached away, or, think I'm making this up... I'm not.. It's spring here in not so sunny Florida and that means rain... Buckets of it have been coming down steadily for days and, as I'm the designated transportationist I can relay first hand the soggy feel one gets when driving a bus in the rain with Fresh-Air vents that need to a little TLC.

The fix is simple, costing you under $10.00 if you have to buy -everything- listed and, should take maybe all of an hour or two.

Grab a medium "Phillips" blade screwdriver and walk around to the front of the bus. Directly under the windshield you'll see a louvered grill which we need to remove to gain access to the fresh-air vents. Remove the 6 sheet metal screws holding the grill in place and gently pull away the grill from the bus. If you're lucky you'll find a clean, plastic-mesh screen behind. This is the "elusive" bug-screen which keeps most of the flying debris safe, on the outside of the bus. If yours is missing and/or damaged a pattern can be traced from the grill and you can substitute H.Duty window screen (the plastic or fiberglass reinforced kind) instead.

Once you've removed the grill and the screen you'll expose the intake where the culprit flaps reside. Long rectangular plates hinged on the top edges by more Phillips blade screws and a pair of plastic hinge pods. Remove the 4 screws (2 per flap) and have a friend go `round to the drivers seat, reach in and move the fresh-air controls to the "OPEN" position. The flaps should clunk down and flop sideways a bit as they're still attached to the control-rods on the back of the flap.Here comes the tricky part. The control-rods are fastened to the flaps via these funny little springs which you "unclasp" from the grooved part of the control-rod. Sounds techie but isn't. Go look and you'll see what I mean. Got `em off? Good. It's all easy from there.

You'll need to clean off any residual glue and foam seal that may still be attached to the backside of the flaps so that the new adhesive and rubber seal will adhere properly. If your flaps are natty (rusty) you might want to sand down all surfaces before you put the new weatherstripping on and paint `em with a good grade of Aerosol Enamel paint to make the look spiffy and protect them from the elements.

Reassemble and go drive in the rain...