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Old 02-09-2019, 10:01 PM   #21
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Awesome, this is exactly what I needed to hear, i’m going for it! Did you use diamond grit blades?

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Old 02-09-2019, 11:12 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by OnTheRoadW/theLord View Post
Awesome, this is exactly what I needed to hear, i’m going for it! Did you use diamond grit blades?
Good blades cost more but last longer. I'd rather used a cut off disc in a grinder to get the job done quicker.
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Old 02-09-2019, 11:56 PM   #23
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I found that the blades wore out quickly whether diamond or not so went cheap. Also found that longer blades had more bend to them. Good luck.
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Old 02-10-2019, 07:21 AM   #24
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I may try that approach as well. Did the floor deform at all when prying up on the L Track? How much plywood was below the L Track? I'm almost to that point myself.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

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Old 02-10-2019, 10:20 AM   #25
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No floor deformity when pulling up plywood. Most of the nails holding wood were rotted, yours might give more resistance. My rails were sunk down into plywood so very little wood under them. FYI when pulling very front behind engine and driver, damaged a few of the big rivets holding section together. If you have a front engine I would just leave that section, otherwise be careful pulling that section up. It gave me lots more resistance so take that as a sign to do area in smaller sections.
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Old 02-11-2019, 07:04 AM   #26
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Just an FYI from an old fabricator. The mandrel or center of good USM, Cherry Max, Avdel or Pop rivets are made of Monel steel. That is why you can't drill without punching the mandrel back out of the way. Once you drill the rivet you can actually go to a larger bit and when it gets past the head it will come off. And since you are not reusing the rail who cares if you drill into it a bit. Monel steel is the stuff used on aircraft exhaust systems. As long as the mandrel is in the rivet the shear strength is way up there. With the mandrel gone it drops to about the same as a hardware store crap rivet which many have aluminum body with aluminum mandrels. Hope this helps. Have not started a bus yet. Just looking and figuring out with way to go.
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Old 02-11-2019, 08:12 PM   #27
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I have no idea how to take this thing of with these rivets... any suggestions? Thanks in advance!


Those look like mine. Mine were hex bolts. I believe hardened bolts. That aluminum is the strongest Al I have ever seen. I have been told by guys at a skoolie rally that the hex size is not standard, AND they rolled their eyes when I told them that was my next step. I tried both metric and SAE to no avail.

Anyway my top ones were loose and came out with an Allen wrench “close “ to the right size.

For the floor, I got under the bus with grinder and cut some bolts loose on one end. Back in the bus I jammed a pry bar under that same end enough to get underneath with a long sawzall blade. I broke a lot of blades having to bend them to get underneath. So I don’t recommend the diamond blades on this one.Click image for larger version

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When I finished, I felt like I hade chewed them off with my teeth. On the bright side they shine up nicely. I’m going to trim out my dbl. doors with them. And/or picture frames
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Old 02-11-2019, 08:16 PM   #28
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That’s just sandpaper. I haven’t done any polishing yet!
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