How to do the flooring.

[bbeenn88]

Hi,

Today I started to tear out the rubber matting and then the plywood underneath so I can replace it. Any tips on doing this?
I removed the seats using an angle grinder to cut the bolts.

What does everyone do with the holes from the bolts in the floor? Would caulking be good enough to seal the holes?

Also what does everyone do with the radiator hoses going to the internal heating unit? I do not want the heating unit in the bus anymore and Im not sure what to do about the hoses that are bringing hot coolant to the heat unit.

Any tips on this stuff would be a help. Thanks.

[aaronsb]

Pulling up the vinyl and plywood is hard work. I suggest a long pry bar, like a 48" one. Get it under one corner and start yanking up the vinyl, then after the vinyl is gone, start the same process with the plywood.

You can help it along if you've got a circular saw, set the depth just slightly less than the plywood, and slice it into smaller squares for prying up. It's not easy.

As for the bolt holes, I suggest some caulking that you can paint over. Draw a little ring around the hole and smear it across with a spatula.

I recommend keeping those heater lines to the front of the bus, even if you want to take out the cabin heaters. The reason is that they supply hot water to the heater up front where the defroster is at. Some folks re-route them under the bus so they're not in the cabin. I'm leaving mine in the vehicle, because I might want to use that later for some heaters that are smaller in the future.

Originally Posted by bbeenn88

Hi,

Today I started to tear out the rubber matting and then the plywood underneath so I can replace it. Any tips on doing this?
I removed the seats using an angle grinder to cut the bolts.

What does everyone do with the holes from the bolts in the floor? Would caulking be good enough to seal the holes?

Also what does everyone do with the radiator hoses going to the internal heating unit? I do not want the heating unit in the bus anymore and Im not sure what to do about the hoses that are bringing hot coolant to the heat unit.

Any tips on this stuff would be a help. Thanks.

[r_w]

Find a heavy duty scraper. Depending where you live, it could be called an ice, linoleum, flooring, or roofing scraper or possibly even a bark spud, mutt, or root cutter. About 4-6 inch wide blade on a long handle, you need one heavy enough to pry. Link for an idea/picture: http://www.amazon.com/Root-Cutter-Mutt- ... oot+cutter

Welding or using elevator bolts (large flat heads) are best for the floor, but paintable sealant is fine. Last time we put down the sealer, then a scrap of galvanized flashing pressed into it to cover the hole with metal but not leave a lump. You want metal in that hole if you are putting down foam first.

[bbeenn88]

Great, thanks for the help guys.
One more thing, do you think it would be ok to cut the cabin heater out and cut the hoses short so I can get a coupler fitting and hose clamp them togather so they are not in my way but they also can still circulate the fluid.

Originally Posted by aaronsb

Pulling up the vinyl and plywood is hard work. I suggest a long pry bar, like a 48" one. Get it under one corner and start yanking up the vinyl, then after the vinyl is gone, start the same process with the plywood.

You can help it along if you've got a circular saw, set the depth just slightly less than the plywood, and slice it into smaller squares for prying up. It's not easy.

As for the bolt holes, I suggest some caulking that you can paint over. Draw a little ring around the hole and smear it across with a spatula.

I recommend keeping those heater lines to the front of the bus, even if you want to take out the cabin heaters. The reason is that they supply hot water to the heater up front where the defroster is at. Some folks re-route them under the bus so they're not in the cabin. I'm leaving mine in the vehicle, because I might want to use that later for some heaters that are smaller in the future.

[noblesavage.us]

Hey guys,

We're at about the exact same stage in our conversion.
Our bus also has the two heat lines - they run from the rear engine to the two heaters (one in back, one in front for defrost).

We will definitely be removing the rear heat unit, but want to keep the front unit for defrost, as mentioned.
We plan on running the heat line up to the front unit, on the outside, underneath the bus.

Here's my biggest question before moving forward - will we run into any heat-loss problems when using the defroster during the winter if the line is outside/exposed instead of inside? We are completely OK with it taking a little extra time to heat up and defrost the front windshield - could always insulate the lines a bit on the outside - just want to make sure everything still work!

Anyone have experience with heat lines on the outside, in the winter?

Thanks!

[EastCoastCB]

I just took out the two heaters in the back of my Ward. I used one of the brass fittings off the back one to loop the lines together where I took off the lines and heaters.

[timbrass]

I used this to connect the two pipes from the rear heater together
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1909518612...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

When removing the floor I ended up leaving the existing plywood under the front heater because it looked like too much hassle to try and remove and refit.
A hot air gun helped soften the lino before removing with a long garden hoe.

I used the circular saw trick to cut into chunks which were easier to jemmy up. When removing the screws I used a fine point to clear out the head and a squirt of WD40 then screwed them IN a few turns and then back out. The other option is to grind them off and then you don't have a hole problem!

Re the holes I was going to fill with a mix of epoxy and wood flour and then put a small square of glass cloth and epoxy resin on top.

I also ground off the bolts on the drivers seat (and replace them with new bolts and plates). I had to use one of these to get to bolt heads inaccessible by the grinder
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Deck...item5b0014abb6

[jazty]

If you're rear heater hoses are coming out of the front heater I would advise to pop open the front heater cover and see if you even need to loop them back. In my bus the rear heaters were essentially teeing off of the front heater, so no loop was necessary. In fact, if I were to loop the heater lines I would likely have had a drop in the heat output of the main heater since the majority of the coolant will follow the path of least resistance.

Here's a diagram of how my main heater and rear heater were plumbed:

[noblesavage.us]

[quote="aaronsb"]

I recommend keeping those heater lines to the front of the bus, even if you want to take out the cabin heaters. The reason is that they supply hot water to the heater up front where the defroster is at. Some folks re-route them under the bus so they're not in the cabin. I'm leaving mine in the vehicle, because I might want to use that later for some heaters that are smaller in the future.

[quote="bbeenn88"]Hi,

Hey aaronsb, you mentioned running the lines outside of the bus to keep them out of the way.
Are their any con's of doing this, other than maybe it taking longer to heat/defrost the windshield?