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Old 06-30-2015, 08:10 AM   #61
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Got the last of the floor pulled up yesterday.

Just got off the phone with Progressive Commercial and have a policy in place so I can get it inspected this afternoon. I wasn't dishonest with the insurance company. I said I bought the bus for personal use mostly but that I've got the seats pulled out and I'm gonna help some people move this weekend. I'll drop Progressive once I get it converted and probably go the Good Sam route.

Gonna take the bus to get inspected today. There are some things that they should fail me for (tire/exhaust pipe). We'll see. I'll have 14 days to fix it if I fail. If I fail I'll probably get the muffler fixed today and the tires tomorrow. Otherwise those things can wait.

Before using the bus to help my friends move I'll need to get rid of all those nails in the sheet metal. Someone at Blue Bird 27 years ago thought it'd be a good idea to bend all of those nails over after they punched through the sheet metal. So I'll have to cut them off. I may use bolt cutters. There are some trim pieces I'd like to take off around the wheel wells too. Maybe if I get really ambitious I'll work on the heaters as well.

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Old 06-30-2015, 08:16 AM   #62
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got any pics of the nails?
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Old 06-30-2015, 08:21 AM   #63
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Nothing close up. I'll get some pics before I get rid of them. There are several dozen (maybe 50 or so?) still in the metal.
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Old 06-30-2015, 03:35 PM   #64
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Angle grinder with a abrasive wheel works best for bent nails in the metal floor. less than a second per nail, and they are cut flush with the floor.

I would not try bolt cutters. Part of the nail will still be sticking up.

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Old 06-30-2015, 04:54 PM   #65
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I got the bus inspected this afternoon. Betty passed. I'm glad I can save the tire purchase and muffler repair for another day. It has to be done before I hit the open road with it, but should be fine for the limited driving I'll be doing in the meantime.

It started pouring rain when I was getting it inspected. I had the windows down because it was about 95 degrees and sunny when I got in it. Now everything is soaked. I'm still exhausted from the weekend/yesterday, so I'll save the trim/nails/heater for tomorrow and thursday.
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Old 07-06-2015, 09:18 AM   #66
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I did some more work on the bus last week and over the holiday weekend. My father-in-law and I took out all the heater hoses running to the back of the bus. There's a fitting under the bus under the driver's seat where the hose tees off and supplies the front heaters with hot antifreeze. I cut the supply line just downstream of that tee and (using fittings salvaged from the back of the bus) looped it around to the return line. Now my front heaters function while going down the road and the rear heater is removed.

We ground off several nails and took off the last few pieces of trim off around the wheel wells. Then I started scraping. And scraping. And scraping. Gobs of icky tacky adhesive glue that was stuck to the walls and wheel wells after I pulled up the plywood. I tried paint thinner, WD-40, goo gone, and adhesive remover to try and make it easier to remove the gummy glue residue. It seems that the only thing that works is brute force and tedious scraping. I got about half of the bus done. I may try a heat gun on the rest of it. My arms are tired and in pain.

I picked up some tiger fuzz body filler to fill in the holes with. We'll see how it works.
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Old 07-06-2015, 12:24 PM   #67
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Originally Posted by austin1989us View Post
Then I started scraping. And scraping. And scraping. Gobs of icky tacky adhesive glue that was stuck to the walls and wheel wells after I pulled up the plywood. I tried paint thinner, WD-40, goo gone, and adhesive remover to try and make it easier to remove the gummy glue residue. It seems that the only thing that works is brute force and tedious scraping. I got about half of the bus done. I may try a heat gun on the rest of it. My arms are tired and in pain.
If it feels petroleum-based, a solvent on the spectrum of naphtha, xylene, acetone, or MEK might help. There also exist "flooring adhesive remover" products which might help..?
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Old 07-20-2015, 06:23 AM   #68
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I took last weekend off to go to a wedding and didn't do anything on the bus. This weekend I got back to work. I was able to get all of the glue up and run a wire wheel across the floor. I've got everything done from the back of the front wheel wells to the rear exit door. Clouds of rust dust everywhere. Should've gotten a mask.

The glue didn't want to come up. I found that the best way to get it off was to hit it with a heat gun and scrape the bulk of it off with the scraper. The residue that was left got liquified and stuck to the guard when I hit it with the wire wheel. I saved the area between/in front of the front wheel wells for last because there are some pretty tight spaces and they'll be a bit tricky. I'll get to that during the week this week and hopefully start filling holes.

I'll be out of town (tubing down a river) next weekend, so I won't be doing any work then either. It seems that I'll only be able to work about half of the weekends between now and my November deadline. I need to come up with a schedule so I can take advantage of the 8 or so weekends I have left working on this.

I almost forgot to mention what my wife accomplished on the bus this weekend. She called me Saturday while I was working on the bus. I felt like messing with her, so I told her I bought a new gun (it was a heat gun, but I didn't tell her that). She got a little cranky that I'd buy a(nother) gun on a whim, so she decided that she'd go to the store and buy a chair and new comforter for the bus. It ended up being great, because I don't really like shopping for that kind of stuff and she does. She knew the dimensions for the chair that's going to go over the front wheel well. When I got home she had this cute little orange chair and comforter waiting.
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Old 07-22-2015, 08:08 AM   #69
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I forgot to add pictures of my exciting glue scraping adventures, so I took some when I was scraping the last of it off of the front wheel wells. Monday I finished scraping glue and was planning on finishing wire wheeling, but I got the cord stuck and broke off in the grinder. That was scary. I replaced the cord and finished the wire wheeling yesterday. Today I'll be filling holes in the floor.
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Old 07-22-2015, 08:12 AM   #70
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I've been working on a schedule and here's what I have so far. Any input would be appreciated.

· July 20th – August 2nd
o Finish removing rust/glue from floor
o Fill holes in floor and door with body filler
o Tear out interior sheet metal/insulation
o Fill holes in exterior sheet metal with body filler
· August 3rd – August 9th
o Prime/Paint/Coat interior and floor
o Insulate floor
o Install plywood over floor insulation
o Frame walls and wheel wells
· August 10th – August 31st
o Run electrical (120VAC & 12VDC)
o Install A/C
o Install propane tanks
o Install fresh/black tanks
· September 1st – September 8th (labor day weekend)
o Install fill door and pump for fresh water tank
o Install dump valve for black water tank
o Install hot water heater
o Install shower pan and toilet
· September 9th – September 20th
o Build sink areas
o Finish plumbing (2 sinks + shower + toilet)
o Insulate/finish walls and ceiling
o Finish shower stall
· September 21st – October 4th
o Build cabinets and storage
o Build bed
o Build dining area
o Install lighting
· October 5th – October ???
o Build passenger area/bookshelf/handrail
o Install carpet/hardwood/linoleum
o Install 30A box at parking space
o Get new tires and maybe brakes

· November 7th
o Has to be livable
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Old 07-22-2015, 08:38 AM   #71
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Rarely do my scheduled tasks happen on time, but I hope it works for you
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Old 07-22-2015, 08:44 AM   #72
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Rarely do my scheduled tasks happen on time, but I hope it works for you
Ditto, but since I've got a hard deadline in early November it'll help to have a schedule. A lot of this stuff can slip, but this schedule is a best case scenario. A wish list. "Livable" to me could mean a mattress on the metal floor of the bus, as long as the air conditioner is installed. Shower/Toilet would be nice too, and I can make those work without tanks where I'll be parking it this winter.
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Old 07-22-2015, 11:21 AM   #73
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Well, it looks like you don't have that sprayed in black goo that's bringing me to almost a .... I'm putting more time on the goo than I had imagined I would. The Texas humidity is also working against me at this point. Looks like you have a good plan. Word of advice, add in an extra 10 to 25% more time just incase you come up against any unforeseen roadblocks or issues. I thought I'd be way beyond where I'm at right now. Owned her for about a month and she's still in tear-down mode....
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Old 07-22-2015, 12:24 PM   #74
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Hopefully I don't find any black goo when I tear down the interior sheet metal. I may consider not tearing it out so that'll give me a couple weeks of play in my schedule. I'm gonna see how hard it is to take those rivets out. I've got about a thousand. Any reccomendations?
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Old 07-22-2015, 12:31 PM   #75
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Well, that's why I bought Heavy. NO interior rivets of any real volume. I had screws to remove. Much easier. Looks like you'll need to grind those rivets out to remove the walls and ceiling panels. I feel your pain.....
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Old 07-22-2015, 12:42 PM   #76
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For removing rivets from a panel you don't mind destroying.. my priority order is plasma cutter (maybe oxy-fuel cutting torch? Didn't try that), shear the head off with an air chisel, shear it with a hand chisel, drill, or grind. The two shearing methods apply only to blind/pop type rivets; solid rivets are too thick to shear effectively.
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Old 07-24-2015, 07:10 PM   #77
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I'm gonna see how hard it is to take those rivets out. I've got about a thousand. Any recommendations?
Well, if you think its only about a thousand, the builder must have shorted it some. I'd bet mine has a thousand plus on just the ceiling.
Anyway, (a center punch if you need it and) a drill will make it easy. That is what I am using on my rub rails outside. Harbor Freight has the punch cheap.
Grab the step bit. It will remove the center of the rivet and just the top unless you forget to stop.


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Old 07-25-2015, 12:15 AM   #78
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Hopefully I don't find any black goo when I tear down the interior sheet metal. I may consider not tearing it out so that'll give me a couple weeks of play in my schedule. I'm gonna see how hard it is to take those rivets out. I've got about a thousand. Any reccomendations?
This way worked best for us, and while it took us about 3 weeks, it got done on a budget, using the tools and resources we had. Best of luck, Rivets are hands down the s***ty-est part of a renovation... so monotonous and never ending. Oh boy, though... is it worth it!
https://youtu.be/P7028_WSJKU
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Old 07-25-2015, 02:13 AM   #79
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Rivets and black goo have been the bane of my existence since I bought this bus.
I tell ya, the black stuff is a formidable opponent!
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Old 07-25-2015, 12:22 PM   #80
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IMO it's still hard to beat a four pound hammer and a long, 1 inch cold chisel with a hand guard to bust rivets.

Or a decent air hammer with a flat chisel.

On the rub rails I found the walls moved and flexed too much for the hammering. So I used a cobalt bit to drill the centers out of the rivets. Only a few seconds on each one.

Step bits are useless for this application. They would also be a waste, as you would only be wearing out the tip.

I had a steady hand so I had no need for the center punch until after the rivet head was drilled off.

I have a plasma, but would never use it for this application. Way to messy and dangerous. And I'm not a fan of breathing vaporized metal and paint.

Nat
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