a bus named gypsy bird.... im serious - Page 3

Wutm8 · 02-22-2017, 08:10 AM

thanks a lot Evolution Moon. I'm not much of a desert person but Moab is something special, I get there when I can.

Haven't had much time to look into this yet but I will tonight, all the seats are out and I'm now trying to get the flooring out. Really hope there is an easier way then what I've tried so far. Half of these screws won't come out of the floor and I'm not really sure how to get up under it. If anyone has had success in this area feel free to give me some tips. Will do research tonight when I can

Rameses · 02-22-2017, 08:24 AM

Mine had a different type of screws (just great big sheet metal screws.)

But if yours is put together like mine was, it has nails holding it down in addition to the screws, and it'll still be a bear to pry it up even if you can get all of the screws out.

Wutm8 · 02-22-2017, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rameses

Mine had a different type of screws (just great big sheet metal screws.)

But if yours is put together like mine was, it has nails holding it down in addition to the screws, and it'll still be a bear to pry it up even if you can get all of the screws out.

Oh yes, the little wood I've seen so far has all been nailed down. Kind of considering going and picking up like a long chisel and a big hammer and just trying to get it down below and pull it up chunk by chunk.

family wagon · 02-22-2017, 08:32 AM

PigPen asked that very question (how to remove the flooring screws) yesterday. I related the method I learned from here on skoolie.net there: Removing screws holding plywood flooring to floor

Rameses · 02-22-2017, 09:03 AM

Ahhh, that's right. It was his pictures I was thinking of when I said my screws weren't the same. Chances are, with yours being a Blue Bird also, our screws are the same.

For driving under the wood, and prying it up, I used a flat pry bar. It's also good for pulling the nails out of the metal floor after the wood is up. Almost all of mine pulled through the wood and stayed in the metal. Be extremely careful to make sure you get all of the nails out of the metal. I'd imagine it would seriously impede progress if you stuffed one of those into your knee while working on the floor.

This's the kind of bar I'm talking about...
https://m.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-15-in-Pry-Bar/4777015

I have one of these also, but found it didn't work as well because the straight end has a little more of a curve to it and wanted to dig into the wood instead of smoothly driving under it...
https://m.lowes.com/pd/VAUGHAN-21-in...bar/1000002906

Wutm8 · 02-22-2017, 07:00 PM

Rameses thanks for the suggestion man I picked both up and so far they've both been useful.

I don't know if this is typical but they glued everything straight to the ground and then nailed it down as well, you'll see in my posted picture for hours worth of work. I feel as though I've been defeated LOL.

One thing that has me worried, everything was extremely difficult until I got just passed my fuel fill pipe. I took the metal piece off that was around it and for a good four feet past that everything came right up, there was diesel soaked all the way through everything. It made things really easy to get up but I'm wondering if that's typical or if I have a problem on my hands

Wutm8 · 02-25-2017, 09:25 AM

Hey guys a little update. Put in 10 hours yesterday and had a helper for a bit of that. Got out the rest of the flooring and was able to start on the panels.

Got a quote for the roof raise, 5k. Seems reasonable but I'm having second thoughts. Worried about making a mistake, worried about new windows/placement etc.

Next up I need to get this heaters out for the time being, work on that rust and getting the rest of the panels out. Feel free to give any tips or observations on anything.

TAOLIK · 02-25-2017, 07:25 PM

Good stuff, nice progress! 84 more days to go eh?

Wutm8 · 02-28-2017, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TAOLIK

Good stuff, nice progress! 84 more days to go eh?

Thanks a lot man

84 days seems like a long time yet still not enough time to get this finished. I have no idea what I was getting myself into. It's a total blast and exciting to take on such a big project but at this time I'm doubting my finish date. We will see

Wutm8 · 03-01-2017, 10:05 PM

Having a hell of a time with my roof panels, using an air hammer with chisel but my compressor gases out after about 2 then I have to wait for the pressure to get back. So what I've been doing is setting it down while it's recharging and just going at it with a four pound hammer and chisel. Seems to work nearly as fast. Only had a little bit of time to work on it today and knocked out three rows of rivets. I'll be back there at 6 a.m. tomorrow to work on it for most the day.

Note for those in the tc2000, start from the back!

A question for you guys, any advice on how to get the seat belt out from the wall? It looks like it needs a star bit but I don't know what size

Stewzer55 · 03-02-2017, 09:26 PM

I know on GM stuff its a T47, but YMMV.

Wutm8 · 03-09-2017, 05:12 PM

Hey guys, little update. Used some zip ties and cable mounts to get the wires up and out of the way and ready for insulation. About to have this order go through for foam it green insulation.

Most of the floor is sanded and we've got some Bondo going in over the holes. Going to finish sanding tonight and also apply a rust converter, finish bondo tomorrow and then paint through floor with Rust-Oleum.

Next I'm going to work on furring strips with foam underneath and then hopefully 2 to 2 1/2 inches of foam it green.

Wutm8 · 03-13-2017, 11:28 PM

If we measured correctly the wheel wells will go partially and the closets and a partially in the bathrooms. The front ones should go under the sofas. If so it should work out just fine. Feel free to critique the hell out of this. This is my first time doing anything like this and I'm sure it is very Bland but I spent the last 2 months working on this and this was the best I came up with so far

superdave · 03-14-2017, 07:01 AM

Touch 'n Seal U2-600 Spray Foam Insulation Kit Closed Cell-Standard FR-FREE SHIP | eBay
i used 2 of these. 32 ' bus. when spraying under the chair rail, i put a piece of rigid foam just under floor level so the spray foam would stop there. when filling this area i would do it in layers to make sure it cures properly. i just sprayed a layer in these voids each side then spryed on the ceiling for a while. went back and did the same thing till they were filled. i probably put 5 or 6 layers down in there. all my wires are in conduit, i used cheap soup bowls from doller general to cover the back side of the lights and thin wall 1/2" irigation pipe from lowes to connect them together.i removed all the safety light wires and alarm wires also. good luck

Wutm8 · 03-16-2017, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by superdave

Touch 'n Seal U2-600 Spray Foam Insulation Kit Closed Cell-Standard FR-FREE SHIP | eBay
i used 2 of these. 32 ' bus. when spraying under the chair rail, i put a piece of rigid foam just under floor level so the spray foam would stop there. when filling this area i would do it in layers to make sure it cures properly. i just sprayed a layer in these voids each side then spryed on the ceiling for a while. went back and did the same thing till they were filled. i probably put 5 or 6 layers down in there. all my wires are in conduit, i used cheap soup bowls from doller general to cover the back side of the lights and thin wall 1/2" irigation pipe from lowes to connect them together.i removed all the safety light wires and alarm wires also. good luck

Dave are you happy with the results? did that method turn out to work well? It sounds great in theory and is what I will attempt as well. Wishing I would have seen this before I have made my purchase as i could have saved a lot of money! A bit more important is safety in the ingredients due to my little one but having not compared the two they could potentially have been just as safe.

Wutm8 · 03-16-2017, 01:37 PM

A little update, things are going much slower right now as I'm working a ton due to a position at my family's business opening up and them needing some extra help. I've been going in to work on the bus most days around 4 in the morning and then starting work at 9. Rough schedule.

All the panels and taking out are finally out, sand of the floor, Bondo for the holes, resend it it and now I'm going to go back over with some epoxy over the holes before Rust-Oleum.

One thing I'm kind of lost with right now is what to do with the holes that had the tubes that carried the coolant to the floor heaters. I want to reinstall those heaters so I'm trying to make sure everything is accessible but I want to do so without leaving room for moisture and little creatures to get in. Any ideas as usual would be greatly appreciated

Robin97396 · 03-16-2017, 01:55 PM

I didn't realize it cost that much for a spray foam kit, although it does sound like you intend to make the foam thicker than most people do with the smaller foam kits.

When I was ready for installation of the foam, all taped off, I went to a commercial foam guy and had him spray it for $800. The new foam doesn't offgas and doesn't burn. My complaint is that he put the foam on way to thick. There was still 2 1/2" of foam above or below the ribs depending on how you look at it. 4" and even 5" deep in places. It took over a week to trim the foam down to rib level. I was trying not to loose headroom because I may put in an insulated floating floor to keep my feet warm.

Different strokes for different buses. I wanted this done instead of me calling a help line. All the wall cavities are completely full of foam, although I realize most people leave an air gap for a thermal break. I didn't want to attempt carving a thermal break into the foam in each wall cavity. I opted to cover the ribs and foam with 1/2" rigid styrofoam panels from the home store. That keeps the plywood interior from directly contacting the steel ribs to cut down on thermal transfer.

I consider myself to be a victim of circumstance. The foam was way overdone, so I rolled with it. Don't know if it's right or wrong by skoolie standards.

Isn't it amazing how deafening these buses are to drive when the interior panels and insulation are all stripped out? Not to mention how hot these get during the summer while the bus is stripped out. Whew!

1olfart · 03-16-2017, 03:19 PM

In reading these posts I started wondering why the pros seem to spray the foam on thicker. My guess is that it seems to be a "rhythem" motion that is used. They are used to filling a 4" or 6" void, instead of the 1.5" (or so) void, and their timing is off, a bit.
Maybe it would help if they were to listen to a few Blues Tunes, while they work, instead of Heavy Metal. lol (Better yet Country)

EastCoastCB · 03-16-2017, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1olfart

In reading these posts I started wondering why the pros seem to spray the foam on thicker. My guess is that it seems to be a "rhythem" motion that is used. They are used to filling a 4" or 6" void, instead of the 1.5" (or so) void, and their timing is off, a bit.
Maybe it would help if they were to listen to a few Blues Tunes, while they work, instead of Heavy Metal. lol (Better yet Country)

I've kinda been thinking the same.

I'd be spraying it thinner, I've heard the problems arise form applying it too thick. IDK, I'm only using SOME of it, but I'll try to video what happens!

Robin97396 · 03-16-2017, 04:32 PM

1olfart, I'd have to agree with you about the thickness of application of foam. I explained what I needed to this guy about three times and it's like he never heard me. It was a young guy and the term "tweeker" does come to mind. You should have seen what he did to my wiring bundles.
I know the guy put effort into it but it was largely sloppy and really intensified my work load for me to clean it up. These commercial guys aren't used to someone wanting a certain level of application thickness, and I don't think he understood what I wanted or needed. I carved off at least half the cured foam to get where I needed to be. Oddly enough this guy was talking about how other commercial foam sprayers us half as much product as he uses. I wish he'd have used half as much.
Given the comparable costs of self application versus commercial application, I'd rather not deal with the mickey mouse sprayers. But then I'm old and just taping it was a PITA, or so I thought until I started the cured foam carving process.
It worked out and I generally heat this bus with a 600 watt electric ceramic heater now. No dirt from firewood or the wood stove and no changing propane tanks, but I am connected to the grid obviously. It's worth all the foam pain in the long run IMO, but I was sure using some choice words for a while.

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