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Old 04-17-2015, 04:18 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: MA USA
Posts: 17
Year: 1978
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: SuperCoach
Engine: Detroit 6-71
Removing Crown interior skin/windows/ceiling

Hi guys,

I've been working on my dirty crown and have bumped up against my first big "how do I deal with this" issue.

Leaving the bus's mechanical health up to the local truck garage (brakes, fluids, etc), I've been working on removing the interior skin and floor for insulation and window access purposes.

I've dealt now with the gulmite screws and the rubber over-flooring and I started removing some of the smaller side-panel rivets but I'm finding it nigh impossible to remove the panel. It seems to be glued on with a grey rubber cement type stuff. And here I was hoping I'd be able to remove the beautiful silvery lining without wrecking it *sigh* Photos are after 40 minutes of effort with (mostly) a crowbar.

PANELS
How can I effectively remove the panels? I can't even reach under the panel any further with the crowbar to loosen it any more. Is there a way to best deal with the grey glue tack rubber cement stuff? Must I say goodbye to the lovely textured aluminum paneling?

WINDOWS
I thought being able to see under the panels would give clues as to how to remove the windows (I'll be blasting the bus later to get rid of that surface rust, also some are broken) but no. I'm at a loss. How does one remove windows on a Crown?

CEILING SKIN
It takes me about 40-60 seconds to drill out a single ceiling rivet using a cobalt bit. There are 1500+ rivets. That's over 24 hours of drilling! There has to be a better way. What am I missing here?

STRUCTURAL QUESTION
I can't imagine that removing the internal skin -side and ceiling panels that are riveted and glued in place- will be good for the structural integrity of the bus. I'll be putting in solid foam and spray foam later but I am concerned: how much integrity will I be loosing from removing/decoupling the interior skin from the vehicle?
Attached Thumbnails
IMG_20150416_184752102.jpg   IMG_20150416_180908951.jpg   IMG_20150416_180930142.jpg   1428790468259.jpg  

SquidBat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-17-2015, 04:54 PM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Winlcok, WA
Posts: 2,233
Several things to consider:

First, the Crown Supercoach has dry wall construction in the side walls. The windows slide down into a pocket between the exterior panel and the interior panel that is open at the bottom. In that way the water passes on through and can't get trapped and cause rust (unless the bottom gets plugged up with crud and corruption).

Second, unlike most other buses, Crown didn't put their plywood floors over a metal floor. If you take up the wood you will be left with the frame and stringers. If the wood isn't in bad shape I would leave it alone.

Third, unlike most other buses, the Crown's engine is in the middle of the bus. When you make your conversion you need to make allowances to be able to still access the engine compartment from the passenger compartment. There isn't much to access but if you close it off the only other way to swap things like a water pump or a starter on a DD 6-71 would be to drop the engine.

Fourth, when Crown assembled everything they used different materials between the frame and body panels. This was done to eliminate any electrolysis caused by having dissimilar metals in contact with each other. One of the materials used was like liquid nails that not only kept dissimilar metals apart but it would hold things in place until the fastners were put in place. Getting some of those panels apart is going to be a real challenge.

Since the interior panel is the inside of the pocket into which the window slides I have to wonder why you are wanting to remove that panel. If you plan on keeping the windows you won't be able to use that space for insulation. If you don't plan on keeping the windows it would be easier to remove the exterior panel to install insulation and then replace the exterior panel.

As far as removing the windows are concerned, the window latches hold the glass to the frame that moves up and down. Remove the latches, take the top piece of the frame off and then the window will come out by tilting in while pulling it out.

Contact me if you have any specific questions. I have owned and operated two different Crowns and our church still owns a thrid.

Good luck and happy trails.
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Old 04-17-2015, 05:20 PM   #3
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
I am so sorry you made the mistake of buying a crown. With your skill level You would have been much farther ahead with a BlueBird or a Thomas.

Others here that are Passionate about the curved panels will chime in and stroke how great they are. I have no use for the extra trouble they are to convert.

Nat
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Old 04-17-2015, 05:25 PM   #4
Bus Crazy
 
Stu & Filo. T's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Vacaville, Ca
Posts: 1,634
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Crown / Pusher
Engine: 8.3 Cummins
If your talking about the curved panel at the bottom theres sheetmetal screws holding them in place, with the panel off above them you can see where there located & just pull the rubber back in that area
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Old 04-18-2015, 11:00 AM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: MA USA
Posts: 17
Year: 1978
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: SuperCoach
Engine: Detroit 6-71
cowlitz, thanks for your input!

I was indeed puzzling about how I'd insulate around the pocket the windows slide down into but knowing that they drain down from the pocket and that they are kinda drafty anyways makes me realize I'm going to have to reconsider. I'll have to come up with a different opening/closing mechanism. I did engineering for school, I should be able to figure this out. I'm keeping most of the windows. I like light and I like the look. Knowing that they come out via their latch mechanism's obvious once mentioned. Thanks.

Conceptually it makes more sense to me to take out the interior panels/ceiling for insulation but I'll take a good look and consider doing it from the outside too. I'm going to try more approaches vs. the liquid nails issue first though (like heat or petroleum jelly).

As for the floor, eehhh it's in medium shape. It's got some soft(er) spots and pulling up the rubber's pulled up some of top laminate layer of the wood. I knew (from looking underneath) that the floor was solid wood w/o metal. It looks like only some wires are fastened/routed to the wood so shouldn't be a big issue to pull it up once they're dealt with. I was planning on putting down my own metal sheeting and insulating/flooring up from there. Of course I'd keep the motor access panel areas accessible =)

nat, I understand there's overhead to breaking down and building up a bus that's reputed to be built like a tank. It's a lot... but I'm up for the challenge! Besides, I've got you guys and can pick your brains as needed.

allweatherrider, you can see in the first image where I pulled up that wall-to-floor-curve sheet metal. Compared to the rest, it pulls up rather easily.
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Old 04-18-2015, 11:25 AM   #6
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
You bet, we are here to help.

Nat
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