Well, after a 4 hour wait, some confusion about whether my bus came from a different state, suggestions that I play detective to find my bus's paper trail, and a hefty chunk of cash:
Temporary permit obtained! Got 30 days to get her smogged. But, it looks like I am finally the owner on paper. And if I can pass smog, I get my plates. Was considering filing for non-op while I work on it, but the temptation to take some mini-road trips while I work was too high.
Got it on the freeway for the first time and while careening around on a 6 lane Southern California freeway was a bit nerve-wracking for someone who usually drives a vehicle the size of a scooter, I only seemed to piss one person off enough to honk at me. Bus popped up to freeway speed right quick and maintained. Lots of shake from the engine, but I didn't explode or break down. A day of success!
And now the catch up. Work I've managed to complete despite weekend after weekend of 90+ degree weather, and too much of the kind of work that pays money. I'll spare you a lot of the work in progress pics I've got here.
1: All the damn ceiling panels off and every bit of cruddy, crummy, insulation removed. In fact, I think I've got every stinking panel off at this point.
2: Putting insulation down. Used 1.5" Rmax. Sealed everything with that foil tape.
3: Plywood down (3/4"), subflooring complete aside from the stairs. Plywood is drilled into 3" squares that are set into the insulation to connect it all together.
4: Prepping all those interior panels. I went a little wild with the spray foam here, just jamming it into any little crack I could find that might let air in. Oh, and then I spray painted over everything that I cleaned/scraped/chemical-ed the rust off of and then cleaned again. Since it's all going to be covered up anyway, why not have fun with it, you ask? Oh, I did.
5: I've also been pulling out the old weather strips from under my windows, as they're crumbling away and everywhere that they are in bad shape there was tons of rust underneath. You can see a couple holes in the above pic. Big effing gaps. I plan to spray foam in here if I'm keeping these windows, but gotta think about it.
6: My seats back in! Climbing under the bus is always fun. Especially when it's night, and all the widows who hide during the day are out. Some idiot re-installed this seat through some of the railings underneath, so aside from it being generally tricky, say when there was a 1" hole through the bottom of the rail that I couldn't get a couples fingers through, but could get a socket into... there was also a part where there was no hole through the bottom. Tape on the bottom of a ratchet to hold my washer and lock nut, sticking it 4 inches into a railing without being able to see what I was doing, surrounded by creepy crawlies. Nailed it.
Planning on insulating around it in case I ever need to switch out my chair.
And for good measure, from another angle.
So, that's pretty much it. I said I'd spare you the work in progress pics, but I lied, I'll just dump them here. Doot, doot, doot, don't mind me.
Excellent insulation
Panel and railings holding the wires along the sides off. Speakers and lights removed.
Insulation/Plywood Stairs
Panels and insulation coming down, pre flooring.
Oh, but, it wouldn't be a proper me post if I didn't mention all the dummy stuff that I did. Since I had to grind the rivets off that were holding the lip of my interior panels under the windows, I managed to pick up a red hot rivet with a glove that is not meant to pick up a red hot rivet, successfully burning through my glove and into my thumb. Since I don't learn my lesson well, I did it again to another finger. I also smashed my finger in the door that day, leaving me very bandaged up.
And that's it. Onward and upwards. Time to insulate the rest of my dear Penelope.