Skoolie Jane

Santa · 02-25-2018, 06:18 PM

Our search has come to an end and we want to embrace the community with a new addition.

After 3 months of searching low and not so high, we decided to venture out from 100 miles. After not that many hits we said what the heck let's go with 250 miles, which then led to 500 miles. Which soon turned to be 750 miles. After nothing really meeting our criteria, we took the plunge and did 1000 miles. Hoorah! There it was. Did our daily search finally find a match? Were we (my significant other and I) really going to move forward with the purchase? We turned to each other and said "This is the one! Let's fly out to Kentucky and drive it back home!"

Meet Skoolie Jane. She's not your typical gal from the fleet. What she's got under the hood is something like brown sugar bacon. If you never had that taste before, don't worry she'll taste just like she sounds with her DT466 motor that's matched up with a Allison MD3060. Mmm...now we're talking.

On the long side, but who said being the long one in the group was a bad thing? We've never driven anything this long before, but it sure is nice having 40ft to take you on the journey. She'll do us nicely especially with our 2 dogs, Benny and Mountain that are along for the adventure! Now the only thing is training them to drive so I can get some time away from the wheel!

Skoolie Jane ain't no stranger to the roads. She has put up a good fight so far with her 229,000 miles and around 13,000 hours under her belt. Although not an amateur to the ring, we knew if there were maintenance records to go with the sale, our money was on her.

Life isn't so dandy and delicate, but what's life without a couple of cuts and bruises? Surface rusts are visible, a few creaks can be heard and a bath could clean Jane right up.

Join us as Skoolie Jane plays dress-up and we help her pick out the right clothes as long as she doesn't give us back talk. We might need some help from the community along the way if she does!

For additional updates outside of the forum, we'll be posting them on Instagram and YouTube.
IG: https://www.instagram.com/wunder.lyfe/

YT: Link to come

johnbloem1974 · 02-25-2018, 06:57 PM

Did it come from Pulaski County?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

JamieJackson · 02-25-2018, 08:48 PM

That's a nice bus you've got there!

You have always influenced me to go this weekend and pick up my bus and drive her home from Oklahoma!

Great find and looking forward to your build!

James

Santa · 02-26-2018, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnbloem1974

Did it come from Pulaski County?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

We bought it in London, KY, but the faded letters say Clark County which ain't much further (probably an hour drive) from where we picked it up.

Santa · 02-28-2018, 12:22 PM

Update #1 - Seat Removal

The very next day of us getting back from a long and cold road trip, we were anxiously excited to work on the bus.

Weather was not in our favor, it was another cold and wet Sunday. This didn't stop us from removing the seats. Instead of tackling the seats from underneath and having another person inside the bus ratchet them out we went with the angle grinder method.

I ended up going to Harbor Freight and buying the Hercules 4 1/2" angle grinder and a few 24 grit blades. Used the first one that came with the box and the 2nd one is holding up so far. In total we'll just use two blades to get all the floor bolts grind out.

So while we didn't spend all day getting the seats removed, we were happy on getting about 8-9 of them out.

Monday (Feb-26) and Tuesday (Feb-27) I spent an hour after work in the bus to get more out. Progress is progress. Figured if we can spend 1-2 hours a day on the day Monday through Friday and 6-8 hours on the weekends we'll see some nice results in a few months time.

We really can't wait to get these seats out of the there and see all the open space that was made. We're deciding to keep the seats in the bus and kind of just pile them together. This will allow us to drive up the road and use one of the transfer station passes (3 passes which allow up to 500lbs per visit) to throw the seats away.

Question - Does any know the weight of the seat without the cushions? How about the entire seat itself? I'm guessing around 25-30lbs per seat. We figure maybe strip the cushions, scrap the metal frame for free elsewhere, and then throw the cushions away using our passes.

Robin97396 · 02-28-2018, 02:10 PM

You know you can stack those seats out front and put a free sign on them. They usually disappear within a day or two.

oredigger · 03-01-2018, 05:49 AM

We took ours to a scrapyard and got about $55 for them.

Santa · 03-01-2018, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robin97396

You know you can stack those seats out front and put a free sign on them. They usually disappear within a day or two.

That's what I was figuring. Throw a few up front at a time so the neighbors don't say anything since we don't have trash pickup in our town.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oredigger

We took ours to a scrapyard and got about $55 for them.

I was quoted about $0.04 per lbs without the cushions. Other places said that I would need to take them seat cushions apart and they would take the scrap no charge. I'll have to do more calling around then

oredigger · 03-01-2018, 08:02 AM

yeah, it was some work. We took the cushions off. I use the covers to sit on when I'm under the bus.

Tango · 03-01-2018, 09:51 AM

Instead of a "FREE" sign...put one that says $25.00 each. That way someone is sure to steal them all overnight.

ol trunt · 03-01-2018, 11:08 AM

Ditto that Tango. I used that ploy to get rid of a set of shower doors and a BIG roll of used carpet! Both items sat for a week as free but were gone overnight with a price tag. My guess is that it was a budding politician practicing his craft.
Jack

Santa · 03-01-2018, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tango

Instead of a "FREE" sign...put one that says $25.00 each. That way someone is sure to steal them all overnight.

This logic makes sense! Genius! Luckily being on a trafficked area will help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oredigger

yeah, it was some work. We took the cushions off. I use the covers to sit on when I'm under the bus.

This is a good idea too. I know I'll be getting under the bus in the weeks to come.

Santa · 03-19-2018, 10:03 AM

Well the cold weather never helps to make progress. This weekend wasn't an exception, but the sun was out and we needed to move along.

Friday (3-16-18 ) night we took the seats, cushions and wall panels out the bus to get hauled away the next day.

Saturday (3-17-18 ) we haul everything away! Finally we have a open space with nothing really in the way. We cleaned up and picked up any screws that were left on the floor.

Sunday (3-18-18 ) starting to rip up the "puke mat" and find that we were about to have a 3-course meal. Rust! One of the areas is very soft. So this will be taken out and replaced with a new patch.

Question: While I know everyone leans towards using a wire brush/cup to remove the rust and then apply a rust convertor and etc. Does anyone ever go with replacing the floors entirely with new sheets? I understand cost is a factor. IF you had the ability to do this, would you? OR would spending the time getting the rust removed as much as possible worth it?

Twigg · 03-19-2018, 11:08 AM

The problem with simply skinning over the floor is that the rust under it still has to be dealt with first, and once you've done that the original floor will be plenty strong enough to support what you build above it.

Cutting out the worst bits will give you access to the cross-members below. Any rust on them needs fixing too.

Santa · 03-19-2018, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twigg

The problem with simply skinning over the floor is that the rust under it still has to be dealt with first, and once you've done that the original floor will be plenty strong enough to support what you build above it.

Cutting out the worst bits will give you access to the cross-members below. Any rust on them needs fixing too.

I hope my earlier post didn't imply that I wanted to skin over the existing floors with no prior rust removal.

It was more asking, what if I removed the rusted floor skins out entirely and lay new ones in their place. This also gives me an entire overview of the cross members from above that I can give attention to if needed.

Tango · 03-19-2018, 11:23 AM

Really comes down to just how bad the rust situation might be. Replacing floor panels is definitely a chore, but if they are too thin or the support members weak, then it makes sense. Most of the buses I have seen here were easily salvageable with refurbishing except for one. And in that case, the whole bus was a total loss...frame and all.

Twigg · 03-19-2018, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santa

I hope my earlier post didn't imply that I wanted to skin over the existing floors with no prior rust removal.

It was more asking, what if I removed the rusted floor skins out entirely and lay new ones in their place. This also gives me an entire overview of the cross members from above that I can give attention to if needed.

Yes. You could do that.

It wouldn't be particularly cheap and it is a lot of work. You would end up with a very strong floor, probably over-engineered for what you need.

It's worth remembering that many "million-mile" coaches don't have a steel floor at all. Their floors are often wood on a steel substructure.

Santa · 03-19-2018, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tango

Really comes down to just how bad the rust situation might be. Replacing floor panels is definitely a chore, but if they are too thin or the support members weak, then it makes sense.

I wasn't sure how thin the panels will be after I take a wire brush to them. I won't know until I finish.

I'll spend the effort at least in doing this step before going ahead and spending the funds on all new panels.

cadillackid · 03-19-2018, 11:52 AM

if you stop the rust in its tracks and patch the panels where they are thinnest or through. then a new plywood floor is installed, that will take up more of the structural for you.. if I was putting my foot through the metal id have concern. esp if the ribs below were crumbling..

i remember the bus tango was mentioning... that one had serious issues in the sides as well ..if my floor was super rusty id be inclined to pull the sides and see what the inside structurals look like in the walls..
-Christopher

Santa · 03-20-2018, 02:28 PM

Spent some time after work with the limited lighting I had. Probably an hours worth of work.

Pulled more of the flooring up, cleaned up the floor with shop vac and just inspected the floors.

Looks like some work was done in the past based on the plates placed around the wheel well. I can't wait to have this up to date!

Question: What is the plate in the middle of the aisle? Not sure what it's called, but if I did I would of used the search feature to figure it out.

I'm sure it's an "access door" to something important. I could be wrong since most of the rebuilds you see people lay new flooring.

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