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Old 11-20-2015, 07:49 AM   #21
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Got some interior panels removed. When looking for a bus to buy: extended ceiling is amazing, and the option on the build sheet that says "interior ceiling screws: yes" is amazing. I used a screw gun to zip out the panels in no time. Only had to grind 5 that refused to move.

Luckily the panels came out of this channel without having to take the windows out. I'm trying to save that for last.



Stripped out one wall up to the drivers area:






Labeled everything along the way for reattachment somehwere else after she's cut in half:





Safety selfie! Once the ceiling starts to come down I'll don the respirator.



Got the back door destination sign cover off and the other side all done too. Ceiling tomorrow!



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Old 11-20-2015, 08:11 AM   #22
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Nice, so basically you have a RUST FREE bus in nearly new condition!
Sounds and looks like the thing was kept in a garage.
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Old 11-20-2015, 08:12 AM   #23
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Internationals/Amtrans (and probably Wards) are great for screwed in panels. If you're pulling the side panels, they're tack welded under the windows.
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Old 11-20-2015, 08:19 AM   #24
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Actually my Ward has what has to be the maximum amount of rivets possible.
Part of what took SO LONG to demo my interior panels etc.

I've heard Thomas uses screws a lot more, though. A friends 91 Thomas has mostly screws.

Removing literally thousands of rivets really sucks!!
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Old 11-20-2015, 09:02 AM   #25
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I haven't found any rust yet, but the floor does concern me. We had a few bolts snap due to rust, and the floor feels very uneven like the plywood underneath is rotted or the main pan is sagging. Gotta get the ceiling down and get all the insulation out first. Does the floor come up before the walls?
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Old 11-20-2015, 09:14 AM   #26
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I'm doing the walls before the floor, but it doesn't really matter what the order is.
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Old 11-20-2015, 09:23 AM   #27
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Nope- order doesn't really matter. I'm stripping and refinishing the ENTIRE inside, so I gutted it all out.
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Old 11-20-2015, 09:07 PM   #28
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Got 1/7 ceiling panels down and got all the fiberglass pulled out, wire-brushed the ceiling, and vacuumed it all up.

My workplace for the night:




Of course... super safety selfie:



Pile o' crap outside the back door:



Got the back wall panel off:



Found some shoddy body work around the upper corners:




Removed both left and right body harnesses:


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Old 11-21-2015, 08:48 AM   #29
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Hauler/RV

Plan on retirement in a few years and looking to explore setups for hauling a small vehicle and HD for exploring once arrived. looking for suggestions.
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Old 11-21-2015, 08:08 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dobey455 View Post
Plan on retirement in a few years and looking to explore setups for hauling a small vehicle and HD for exploring once arrived. looking for suggestions.
What do you mean by "HD for exploring once arrived."?
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Old 11-21-2015, 08:33 PM   #31
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Got some more ceiling demo'ed. Most screws came out without issue. I still maintain that phillips heads screws have no place in an automotive application, but they're way better than grinding rivets! Had to grind a few, but not thousands like some people have dealt with. I'm an idiot and forgot the second battery to my screw gun at work, so I had to finish the last panel by hand and still have one panel to go, but I'll do it Monday after work.

More panels down:



The bus after wire brushing fiberglass:



After vacuuming, all clean and breathing freely:



Home base for the night:



Still have this to go for another night:



Obligatory artistic-y bus lit up by the garage floodlights shot:



Most of the ribs have this stamped on them. Nat, were these AmTran buses made up your way?

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Old 11-22-2015, 08:37 AM   #32
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WOW! you're build is comin' along pretty quick, wish I had a bus as rust free as yours....I'll be lucky to see a half dozen years outta mine.....I new that when I started.

Put mine in storage yesterday... woke up to this, this mornin'. No fun workin' with mittens. Click image for larger version

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Old 11-22-2015, 09:42 AM   #33
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Yup.

You will find most of the buses with galvanized upper body's were made in Canada.

Good job on the progress. Your sailing through the messy parts.

Nat
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Old 11-22-2015, 03:36 PM   #34
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Since I forgot my screw gun battery at work, and I am not doing those panels by hand, I finished the stove. It looks pretty damn good, and I think inside of a half-sized bus it will actually cook me out! That's ok though, that means I can get it all fired up and toasty and if the temp drops 20 degrees inside the bus overnight, it will still be livable come morning, and I'll fire it up again.

Got the latch mechanism fabbed up. I made it adjustable so I could move it back and forth and account for gasket thickness, and if the gasket flattens out over time I can adjust it tighter. Put two studs into the side:




The actual catch can slide back and forth on the studs to adjust the door tension. All made with an angle grinder. I'm fancy, lol.



Mocking up the latch:



Mounted the pivot stud for the latch. I'm dumb and didnt think about the fact that I can't have the head of a bolt on the otherside of the door because the stove body is in the way. Duh. So I cut the head of the bolt off, held the threaded part in the hole with a 90* magnet, and welded/grinded the back side.




Simple yet effective. The handle will have a spring that goes over it to try and dissipate some heat. I also left that at work, so that'll have to wait.




I was about to get the chop saw out along with some scrap angle iron I have and make some legs. Then I just happened to look out the side window of the garage and think "What am I doing? I've got plenty of pre-fabbed legs in a nice pile outside!" I cut a couple of legs off two seats and they were the perfect height! I set the stove on jackstands that also happened to be the prefect height. Sometimes you just get lucky. I used a floor jack to level it out just right and she was good to go!




Proud of the gap filling ability here:



Looks good enough to me!





Everything getting painted in my state of the art booth:

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Old 11-23-2015, 09:41 AM   #35
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Just maybe my favorite re-purposing of seat material ever! Lookin' great!
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Old 11-23-2015, 11:31 PM   #36
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Finished and fired up the stove today! Gluing the gasket on: (again, very scientific...)



Made a heat resistant handle out of a bolt, washer, and screen door spring. It actually works very well.



Finished product assembled!




Got her fired up and learned a couple of things. I need to make the bottom lip of the opening higher up. When I rake coals to the front of the stove I flick them all over the place. Also, I need to cut some of the baffle back. I think it sits a little too close to the door of the stove, and it pours smoke every time I open the door. Not a big deal in the driveway, but would be in a tiny bus. The other issue I had was the wood. I used deadfall I found around the woods, and while it would be kinda cool to heat the bus on nothing but free dead wood found around the campsite, it is extremely smokey and took a long time to get to a decent burn. Just too much moisture. I'ma have to break down and split and season some wood like normal folk.
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Old 11-24-2015, 05:33 AM   #37
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Beautiful, man!

Come on down to FL, we have all the firewood and no use for it!
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Old 11-25-2015, 07:17 AM   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooternj View Post
If you're pulling the side panels, they're tack welded under the windows.
I was hoping you were wrong: you were not.

I guess I have to take the windows out, chisel the panel off, then put windows back in. I don't really want this thing sitting during the winter months with no windows.
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Old 11-25-2015, 09:24 AM   #39
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tippyman View Post
I was hoping you were wrong: you were not.

I guess I have to take the windows out, chisel the panel off, then put windows back in. I don't really want this thing sitting during the winter months with no windows.
You can put the windows back in once the panels out
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Old 11-26-2015, 12:32 PM   #40
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So what's the best way youve found for removing the spotwelds? I was thinking air hammer with a chisel bit.
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