Big Betty found a home!

[witchywoman]

Well, I made the leap and found my bus. Big Betty is a 2006 International with a DT466 and an Allison transmission.

This week we will start tearing out the seats. Was planning to paint her first do the neighbors don’t throw a fit but the weather won’t cooperate.

[CHEESE_WAGON]

Neighbors... Meh. I remember being proud of the old Cheese Wagon ruffling some feathers...

[Jocelyn]

She looks like a big strong girl. Congrats!

[witchywoman]

Well, today I walked through her, pulled out the trash, and planned out what I want to tackle first. Sears are gonna come out now . I wanted to paint but rain is expected all week. I also want to find new lamp covers to put where the salvage yard had pulled off the old ones.

Oh and fun times, found a wasp nest inside her. Yeah that was fun to get rid of!

Went to Lowes to get some supplies. Because if coronavirus there are no masks to be found for working inside. Lovely!

[EastCoastCB]

you could make some masks. They're nice not just for bus work, but for social responsibility.

[magnakansas]

Good purchase..... I hope this all goes the way you want it to go.

william

[witchywoman]

Good point on the homemade masks, I’ll have to get on that before we get too into it.

[musigenesis]

Those seats are nice with the built-in shoulder belts. I paid $200 for a ford transit van double seat; one of yours would have worked a lot better. Might be worth leaving one or two benches in places for rider seats.

Welcome to skoolie.net. If you go to User CP in the upper left, you can edit your details and then everybody here will know where you are and what sort of bus you have.

BTW pretty much all transmissions are made by Allison. Your bus probably has a 2000-series transmission (which is very good) or an MD3060 (which is as good as it gets).

[witchywoman]

I though about leaving in a couple seats. They are in great condition. No tears at all. It will depend on how much space I gave for the rest of the things I want to put in. Plus I’m not sure if that will complicate floor removal. I am definitely not skilled in any of this. It is going to be quite the challenge.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by witchywoman

I though about leaving in a couple seats. They are in great condition. No tears at all. It will depend on how much space I gave for the rest of the things I want to put in. Plus I’m not sure if that will complicate floor removal. I am definitely not skilled in any of this. It is going to be quite the challenge.

Yeah, leaving the seats in means you can't remove the plywood underneath them. Sorry, what I meant by "leave them in" was "put them back after you're done gutting the bus".

[witchywoman]

Ah. I should have realized that.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by witchywoman

Ah. I should have realized that.

Not at all - I should have been more clear.

[ol trunt]

Enough politically politeness! Tear up that bus-- it's all good.
Jack

[witchywoman]

Covered up the openings where the lamps were until I can get some replacement covers. Don’t need bugs or birds making a home in there while I’m working on the inside.

[witchywoman]

Seat removal has begun. It was a HUGE learning curve. Never used power tools before. Also broke a hand ratchet so I gad to go get a battery powered one. Once we figured out how to get the bench seats off it was much easier.

Should be easier going the next few days.

[Native]

I see you have friends helping! That is a great benefit. Makes the work goso very much faster and with a whole lot more fun.

[witchywoman]

My oldest two kids are helping with demolition. Makes it a fun family project!

Frustrating demo day today. My angle grinder batteries die after 20 minutes. It’s a craftsman. I am wondering if I should return it and get a Kobalt. Finally gas to give up on grinding off bolts and instead we removed seat benches and bolts in the seat rails. We will tackle the seats again next demo day.

[Meathead]

Just a thought. I wear a hat when grinding/ cutting. A stray spark can burn thru a hair or two. Then they don’t go into a ponytail for months. Eh, maybe it’s just me.
You will use the grinder a lot in the future. Buy cut off wheels in bulk if you can get a better price.
Luck to ya.

[EastCoastCB]

20 mins is actually impressive for batteries.
A $20 corded one will cut much better and will keep cutting/grinding till the disc needs to be replaced.

[witchywoman]

Good call on the hat. Though I have had minimal hair before so it wouldn’t shock me much. Ha!

I cannot for the life of me find a corded grinder anywhere. Of course, I live in the boonies and we only have Walmart and Lowe’s. Walmart has nothing and our Lowe’s only had battery powered. I should count myself lucky I get a combined 40 minutes grinding with the 2 batteries.