*Two Birds* - 1992 Bluebird TC2000 - Updated 10/20/14

[dburt]

Jeremy- I went and watched some of your YouTube videos when you play the handpan (I still think it looks like a flying saucer- but then what do I know? ) That is a very interesting musical instrument and a very soothing sound! I had never seen or heard one before. It is really cool!

I just undid all the bolts that hold the seats down in my bus yesterday, I am waiting to pick up a trailer that I bought so I can take the seats out of the bus and load them on the trailer to take to the scrap yard. My wife held a wrench on the bolt heads inside the bus, and I was under the bus with an DeWalt cordless impact driver undoing the nuts. It went fairly well and only took about two hours to undo all the nuts off the bolts and pull the bolts out. Luckily my bus has zero rust, so there were no 'issues'! The last bus I removed the seats from required me to grind the heads off the bolts on most of them since they were 'rust welded' to the nuts underneath. That took a long time- what a drag!

Looking forward to more progress on your bus as you go along! A caution- be sure and wear gloves so you don't cut/slice/mash/get a sliver in/ your hands or fingers. (Ask me how I know- since my hands and fingers are sliver
magnets!)

[White99z]

Originally Posted by dburt

Jeremy- I went and watched some of your YouTube videos when you play the handpan (I still think it looks like a flying saucer- but then what do I know? ) That is a very interesting musical instrument and a very soothing sound! I had never seen or heard one before. It is really cool!

I just undid all the bolts that hold the seats down in my bus yesterday, I am waiting to pick up a trailer that I bought so I can take the seats out of the bus and load them on the trailer to take to the scrap yard. My wife held a wrench on the bolt heads inside the bus, and I was under the bus with an DeWalt cordless impact driver undoing the nuts. It went fairly well and only took about two hours to undo all the nuts off the bolts and pull the bolts out. Luckily my bus has zero rust, so there were no 'issues'! The last bus I removed the seats from required me to grind the heads off the bolts on most of them since they were 'rust welded' to the nuts underneath. That took a long time- what a drag!

Looking forward to more progress on your bus as you go along! A caution- be sure and wear gloves so you don't cut/slice/mash/get a sliver in/ your hands or fingers. (Ask me how I know- since my hands and fingers are sliver
magnets!)

That's how my partner's father and I took out the seats! Me underneath with an impact and him up above with a wrench. Fortunately, we didn't have any issues with rusty bolts. But... there was surface rust under the wood floors from water splashing up from underneath in the bolt holes (I presume) and/or years of wet boots. All surface though with no major issues. I will be taking care of that this week and next as well as laying down a coat of paint over the floor, putting new subfloors down, etc.

Just about to order parts for the veggie oil conversion too!

I am glad you enjoyed the music!!!

[White99z]

Scored a massive aluminum tank for the clean WVO today. It was off an ex-military vehicle! Also the rust converter came in so we can start on the floors next week after the weekend festivities! I'll be out of town or I'd get started tomorrow! I have mapped out most of the design of the WVO system too and we will order parts soon!

[White99z]

I would like to hear some thoughts. I've been doing lots of reading but having trouble choosing.

The bus will be full time living space in ideally warm places. Our income is mostly location independent so we have the freedoms to follow the sun. The ceiling and walls are completely full of rivets.

To remove the ceiling or not to remove? That is the question! I love the look of tongue and groove planks but could also be happy with carpeting the ceiling like (I think) the brown crown.

Walls?

We were settled on keeping the panels and putting foam board insulation over the walls with wood over top like "Jeremy's conversion project" and then carpeting like the "Brown Crown" but now we aren't so sure!

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[M1031]

Well,

On my first bus I sealed the roof and walls from the outside and started building inside. I REGRET doing that, but was time limited..... My next bus, a diesel pusher, I'm removing ALL of the over-head and side wall panels, and reworking the skin to be water tight from the INSIDE. More work, but well worth the effort!!!! Reinsulating with a higher quality insulation (pondering sprayed-in foam now) is SO worth it!!!! No matter the climate, a GREAT insulation barrier will always cut down on your need to use energy to keep warm/cool no matter where you are. My next project will be starting in about two years or so when they retire the bus I'm now driving.

My two cents... For what it's worth.

M1031

[White99z]

Well... My girlfriends uncle just gave us 10 full sheets of 2" thick foam board insulation. It think that means it's time to start pulling panels. I can't pick it up til next week as he is a ways away from us.

Nat_ster... I know you have recommended a chisel with a hand guard and 4 lb hammer. But... I have access to an angle grinder and also air compressor... I don't know anyone that has an air hammer though. So... What's the verdict on busting ceiling and wall panel rivets? What's going to be the most efficient method?

[Docsgsxr]

There are many ways to bust rivets. Remember sparks ruin the windows in the bus.
I opted to drill mine out with a nice titanium dewalt drill bit. You have to get the
remnants off the bit, but no sparks.

just my .02

-Doc

[White99z]

Wow! Air chisel

Found this on youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyKedskpnC8

[White99z]

Picked up an air hammer and chisel today. The demolition starts tomorrow

A question arose in my mind today... where do you guys attach interior wall paneling once the metal skin is off the inner wall? The support ribs?

Also, many conversions I have seen where they attach cabinetry to the ceiling panels. I really like this look for the bus. But... if I remove the ceiling panels, what would be the best place to attach overhead cabinets to that would hold up to the rigors of driving down the road?

[scgwagner]

White~ I am eager to hear more of your WVO part of this build. Your questions are good. I have had the same thoughts and questions. I still have variations on those questions! I find it somewhat difficult to find answers to some specific questions I have. I usually have to vary my search keywords many, many times and SIFT through loads of threads. And, more than once, I finally found what I was looking for, but only when I intentionally misspelled something the way I thought others might!! LOL I have given up and posted a query to the masses when my searching brought back zilch. One thing that may help you, that I do, is copy and paste different ways to do parts of the build and email it to myself with that build part as the subject. You could also create a Pin board for ideas for your build on Pinterest.
This is one that has ideas or ways of doing the build that I liked: http://www.pinterest.com/mamapotato/...rv-conversion/
This is one that has all the builds I though were most helpful for me to refer back to: http://www.pinterest.com/mamapotato/...-photostreams/

Nat ~ Come on man, don't be grumpy, just give the man a link to the thread. We ALL need help! It was only a few days ago after all.

[jazty]

Originally Posted by scgwagner

I find it somewhat difficult to find answers to some specific questions I have. I usually have to vary my search keywords many, many times and SIFT through loads of threads. And, more than once, I finally found what I was looking for, but only when I intentionally misspelled something the way I thought others might!! LOL I have given up and posted a query to the masses when my searching brought back zilch.

For those who aren't aware, there is a 700% better way to search Skoolie.net than to use the search box above: http://www.skoolie.net/forum/viewtop...?f=10&t=467241. It also takes into consideration typos and misspells.

[White99z]

When I get to a computer I'll post some more pics. But... Here are some updates.

Last week and this week, we were donated lots of materials including cabinets and some barrels for collecting WVO that we're given to us by Founder's, our local brewery. We also got countertops, shelving, and more.

During that time, I was getting frustrated because our air hammer wouldn't work with our tiny compressor. After that, we made lots of calls to friends, told them the necessary specs, were told their compressor would work, and drove across town several times to find out it was in fact incapable. I think men are of afraid of admitting their compressor is too small Finally we located a compressor about 40 minutes drive away. I drove the bus down and chiseled off every rivet on the interior wall panels today. It was a long day and I am sore, but the air hammer and chisel made quick work of the rivets. I just used a cheap $20 husky air hammer from Home Depot and it did the trick. I am convinced this is the best way to remove rivets. I removed hundreds today, by myself. There were three different size rivets throughout. I'm so glad I removed the wall panels! Thanks for the tips. Ceiling is coming out Thursday!

I do have a question though. The bottom interior panel, even after removing the big rivets, would not come out. They were I'm there strong! It is a heavier gauge metal and I couldn't bend it to see what's holding it in. I found a couple spot welds hidden under the adhesive that I will grind away. Does anyone know how these panels are held in? They are the interior wall panels that meet the floor. I'll get pics up ASAP.

Thanks!

[wash with gasoline]

Someone else may respond before my post is approved...

Those panels extend past the floor and are structural in my opinion
Nat has a mspaint pic floating around somewhere detailing the construction of the bluebird body's
You could cut the chair rail lip off with a grinder to make the wall flat if you need to

[White99z]

Posted a quick video to Instagram! Note: I put on some protective gloves a couple minutes after this

http://instagram.com/p/nZccpzgcXM/

[orangepeel91]

Thanks for that vid clip. Now I know the next two things on my shopping list. I need a longer air hose and an air hammer. I have a crapload of rivits to remove too.

[White99z]

Interior panels removed. Note the bottom panels that I spoke about in my previous post. All the rivets are removed, but the panels are still solidly fixed to the floor. Any ideas?

[White99z]

Originally Posted by orangepeel91

Thanks for that vid clip. Now I know the next two things on my shopping list. I need a longer air hose and an air hammer. I have a crapload of rivits to remove too.

Make sure you have a BIG compressor. My friend's dad's 80 gallon compressor was cycling pretty consistently throughout the day. The specs of the tool call for 4.0 CFM @ 90 psi and an 8 Gallon tank. I don't think a compressor that size would handle the job. I don't know though as I don't have a lot of experience with that stuff.

Here's the air hammer I used:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Medium ... /203463688

[orangepeel91]

My compressor isn't man enough for that job but I can take lots of breaks to let it refill. Still beats dozens of drill bits or spraying sparks all over the place. The compressor at work IS man enough for the job, but I am not about to drive an uninsured unregistered bus that still says school on it 33 miles one way. Time to see what used compressors I can find......

[ol trunt]

The Neanderthal approach

[White99z]

Just a quick little update! Last week on Thursday I finished removing the rest of the rivets on the interior ceiling panels. It took me about a half a day to remove the ceiling panels and a little longer to do some clean up of tools and things. So... all and all, with an air hammer and chisel it took me (one person, first time using an air hammer) one and a half days of work. Not too shabby for 1000+ rivets. I HIGHLY recommend an air hammer to remove your interior panels.

Today, I cleaned up the bus, scrapped a whole bunch of sheet metal from inside and from my friend's shed, took some pics, and filmed a little intro video about our project for our website!

Ordered all the WVO conversion parts on Friday too, so they should be here this week! We ordered everything from WVO Designs (www.wvodesigns.com). I chose this company to work with because of their centrifuge products for filtering and dewatering the oil. After all my research, they seemed the best for our needs. After speaking with them about our project and tour, they decided to help sponsor us! So, WVO Designs components will be used to do everything from collection, to filtering/dewatering, and getting heated veggie oil to our engine. They do not supply kits, but high quality, individual components. When the time comes, I will do a detailed post about our WVO system!

Here's a quick picture. I will have some videos and things up when I have the time.

PS: I think we are gonna go with spray foam