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Old 02-07-2019, 09:40 PM   #1
Bus Nut
 
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Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 375
Year: 2003
Chassis: Chevy cut-away 6-window shortie
Engine: 6.0L Gasser
Five Chime build

I figured I'd start a thread for my bus build, as that's what folks seem to do to keep track of their progress. I've had the bus for a few weeks now, and am well into the demo process (as much as time allows working full time). So far, the seats are out, one of the seatbelt racks above the windows is down (thanks OnTheRoadW/TheLord for the tips!), and the floor is starting to be ripped up.

Tonight I tackled removal of the wheelchair lift, which was a pain, but it's done! I also started to see how bad peeling up the rubber would be. It's not too bad, thankfully. That said, I've elected to leave the L Tracks in the floor, and remove everything else to clean any rust and start over with a new floor. Working around them will be somewhat difficult, but nowhere near as bad as removing the L Tracks, which is proving very difficult, and in my opinion just not worth the effort.

Anyway, here's a picture from tonight's work session. I managed to get the 8 bolts for the lift out without needing to break or cut any of them! Now to just figure out who wants to come get this thing out of the bus...

For reference (mostly mine), some other threads for this bus:
Intro: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f6/hel...sey-25665.html
Bus Background: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/03...ice-25443.html
Floor Fun: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/co...elp-25649.html
Tentative Floor Plans: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/fl...tie-25559.html
Propane Questions: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/wh...ers-25794.html
Lithium Battery Questions: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f49/li...ons-25694.html

Chris
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Old 02-09-2019, 09:22 PM   #2
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Chassis: Chevy cut-away 6-window shortie
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I've been working on the floor the past few nights. I have the wheelchair lift ready to remove when someone comes to pick it up, and tonight I removed the rear heater. I'm likely not going to reinstall the rear heater. If not is there any value in those?

I also got most of the rubber up and took an initial look at getting the torx 30 screws holding the plywood down to see how ugly that's going to be. Thankfully about 80% seemed to come up on the first sheet I tried. Any tips on getting the others out? The torx 30 bit seems like it's going to strip... The screws are just really tight. Looking for ideas before I try drilling them out as I suspect there may be quite a few like this throughout the rest of the bus.

I suppose I could see how much of the plywood I can get up and just saw off the rest...

Thanks again,
Chris
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Old 02-10-2019, 07:59 AM   #3
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when i pulled up my flooring I just used large prybars and popped the sheets up "through" the screws then sheared them off with an air chisel/ angle grinder.
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Old 02-10-2019, 10:21 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChiliChzPoopTart View Post
when i pulled up my flooring I just used large prybars and popped the sheets up "through" the screws then sheared them off with an air chisel/ angle grinder.
We tried a few different methods and tools.

What worked best for us was pretty much what you described. I found that a 4' pry bar with a claw end was the dream tool for the job.

Keep the updats coming.
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Old 02-10-2019, 06:22 PM   #5
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Sounds good - right now I just have a crowbar, but if that's not good enough, I'll see if someone has a bar like you mention. Didn't get any time in the bus today, and they're calling for snow the next two days, so it may be a little while...
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Old 02-19-2019, 08:06 PM   #6
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I started pulling up plywood tonight, and wow it's stuck on the floor steel really well. I accidentally put a hole in the sheet steel under it trying to pry up one piece - just another hole that'll have to be patched, I guess. Any tricks for getting up the plywood any easier without potentially damaging the floor below? I don't know if I'm lucky, but the galvanized is in great shape except along the edges so far! I'm hoping to not destroy it while destroying the plywood, which is coming out in splinters so far. If nothing else, I guess a lot of time and elbow grease... I'm not proficient in metalworking, so the less metal repair/replace I need to do, the better.

Chris
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Old 02-19-2019, 09:15 PM   #7
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Take a circular saw and set it to the depth of the ply wood.Run a line from one end to the other just missing the heads of the screws/nail/bolts holding the ply wood down. Lift up the big pieces of ply and pry whats left from the hardware. You're at one of the funnest parts of the build.
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Old 02-21-2019, 08:25 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
Take a circular saw and set it to the depth of the ply wood.Run a line from one end to the other just missing the heads of the screws/nail/bolts holding the ply wood down. Lift up the big pieces of ply and pry whats left from the hardware. You're at one of the funnest parts of the build.
Wow - I wish I had thought of that myself -- thanks, @o1marc!! I got only about an hour to spend on the bus this evening, and got a good chunk of the floor up using this approach. Hopefully tomorrow or the next day I'll get the rest of the plywood up and start tackling the L tracks (the saws-all is at my dad's place currently).

Chris
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Old 02-22-2019, 07:03 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by o1marc View Post
Take a circular saw and set it to the depth of the ply wood.Run a line from one end to the other just missing the heads of the screws/nail/bolts holding the ply wood down. Lift up the big pieces of ply and pry whats left from the hardware. You're at one of the funnest parts of the build.

This is how I got my floor up. Took about 2 hours. Then just grind the heads off and there are no holes because the screws stay in
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Old 02-23-2019, 08:45 PM   #10
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A couple more hours and the old plywood is out! It's such a confidence boost to see the bare metal floor. Of course the next step is dealing with the L Tracks. The saws-all comes back to my house tomorrow, so the next time I get free time, that's the job.

Anyway, I'm very happy to report the only significant rust so far is near the first two windows on the passenger side. Even then, while it doesn't look pretty, it's just surface rust. The rest of the floor is VERY clean (aside from the few holes I made in it in the back that I need to now patch). It's amazing how thin the sheet metal is in this bus - 18 or 20 gauge I would guess. Anyway, patch patch patch, then clean up the rust. Things seem like they're finally starting to progress. Then again, I've not yet started the L-Tracks, knock on wood...

The wheelchair lift is hopefully going away this coming week - it's on a separate piece of plywood so it doesn't fall through that really thin sheet metal floor.

Chris
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Old 03-05-2019, 08:36 PM   #11
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Just a minor update today as I've had little time to work on the bus lately. My sawzall died (it was on it's last legs anyway), about a quarter of the way through the floor rails. So while waiting for a new one, I started removing inside skin. All the panels have adhesive between them, but a small crowbar pops them out quickly. I also removed the upper handicap rails on each side and some other minor things and cushions. Punch the rivet mandrels out and drill with a 1/4 drill bit... Easy peasy!

When I get the replacement sawzall, I have a diamond tip blade waiting, hoping that'll last longer than the 8-10 bolts the previous Lenox blades were lasting. If anyone has a recommendation on a great blade to cut through 5/16 grade 8 bolts, let me know. Thanks!
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Old 03-05-2019, 08:37 PM   #12
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No I wasn't drunk. My phone appears to be though! I guess I will post from my computer in the future so I can fix images before they are uploaded...
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Old 03-07-2019, 06:28 PM   #13
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No pictures today, but I can say the Lenox 8" diamond blades work great for removing the bolts from those seat tracks!
https://www.lenoxtools.com/pages/dia...aw-blades.aspx

Put a crowbar under the L Track a couple inches before the bolt, then put the blade in and sawzall away. The bolts are popping in under a minute each. I got through 15 tonight before I needed to call it quits for other reasons. The blade is still sharp and going through the bolts as if it was new. The old Lenox bi-metal blades would last 10-15 bolts, but would be noticeably duller after even one or two bolts, so this is a remarkable improvement - worth the $15 for the blade, thankfully. I have high hopes of completing the floor in a few more work sessions. There is light at the end of the tunnel!
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Old 03-13-2019, 06:51 PM   #14
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Keep up the good work! I've been stuck on the floor in mine for awhile. We just had our 3rd child not quite two weeks ago so I haven't been in the bus since Christmas break! The weather is warming up and I plan to get the rest of my plywood pulled up soon as well!! Thanks for all the pictures. It's giving me fuel to work on mine again!
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Old 03-13-2019, 09:22 PM   #15
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Try holding your camera upside down????
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Old 03-14-2019, 08:28 AM   #16
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No... just standing on my head.
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Old 03-17-2019, 06:50 PM   #17
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OK the pictures should be right-side up this time. I'm not posting from my phone again!!

Today was a good day for bus stuff. The wheelchair lift is finally out, the front crossing arm was removed (the one on the bumper), the stop sign from the driver's side was removed, and the two front convex mirrors were removed. That's of course after the FedEx guy backed into one of them and bent it and dented the hood...

Anyone want a working stop light and crossing arm?

I also removed the rest of the ceiling panels (that last one in the front was fun!) to find what I suspected may be a leak in the roof. Well the picture speaks for itself...

The outside roof has a slight rust line down the main seam at the peak that I couldn't inspect when I bout it, and now I know why... better to find it and fix it now, I guess! I'll post separately to ask about that, but any thoughts on the best way to treat the inside?

On the outside, I'm looking at wire wheeling the seam, priming, then applying Dicor self-leveling lap sealant. While I'm up there, I plan to hit any other rivets I can find. I also plan to remove the emergency hatches and butyl tape and lap seal the replacement patches as well (from the ceiling panels).

On the inside, I figured I'd wire brush it (I have a cup brush for the angle grinder I was going to use for the floor), then treat with Ospho, followed by primer. Thoughts?

Chris
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Old 03-23-2019, 07:13 AM   #18
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It's been wet wet wet here, so no progress on the leaks. I do have nearly all the floor rails up, though - 26 bolts to go! This weekend they should all be done!

I was curious if anyone had any thoughts on the Collins body and chair rails, as I'm thinking I'd really like to get the side panels below the windows out to check for water and better insulate. Please see my question over at:
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f10/co...ons-26211.html

Thanks,
Chris
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Old 03-24-2019, 07:12 PM   #19
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The floor rails / L Tracks are out!!! Talk about a pain... but I hope to NEVER do that again.

Anyway, I used an angle grinder with wire wheel cup brush to clean up the seam on the top of the bus, then put Ospho on, and will hopefully paint the seam tomorrow night. The following night, seam sealer. We'll see if there's water in it again the next time it rains.

I had water dripping from the driver's sun visor last time it rained, and that has me a bit concerned, but I'm not losing hope yet, as the seam between the roof and fiberglass front panel was definitely taking on water as it was somewhat rusted out as well. Fingers crossed that it might be addressed!

Pictures are before and after the wire wheel on the roofline seam.

Chris
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Old 03-24-2019, 07:19 PM   #20
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I'm going to insulate around my chair rails. I think they do offer a lot of rigidity to my walls as well as I do not want to mess with all of those rivets! Lol I plan to use them to attach some studs to for cabinets and walls as well as I will attach my pivots for the murphy bed.

Good work on your roof seam! As far as a leak up front by the visor, mine was doing the same thing when I picked mine up. I chased the leak around and it was where the support for the mirror bolts to the top of the cab is where mine was leaking (I think) lol. I put some sealant on it and haven't had any water in months. I still have a few window corners leaking tho....
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