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Old 01-09-2021, 07:24 AM   #181
Almost There
 
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 74
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: ISM 10.8L, B400R
Its looking fantastic and making me super excited to start on mine. I have a few more honey do's inside the house over the winter, then it should be game on.

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Old 01-17-2021, 03:30 PM   #182
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Been working on what will be a covered storage compartment between the rear wheel wells. It will have a hinged lid, struts, and flooring planks on it. If I don’t screw it up, it should be pretty stealthy.

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Old 01-17-2021, 07:09 PM   #183
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Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Central PA
Posts: 350
Year: 2002
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International/IC Bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Quote:
Originally Posted by ComfortEagle View Post
Every once in a while Lisa (wife) will come out on the bus and take a selfie of herself “working” so she can post it to Instagram, so cute...



I read thru your build thread; great work so far. Doing the the demo & refurb work is a thankless and not decidedly unsexy job, but the high quality work you are doing is laying such a great foundation for your build.



I see you are in PA and your bus is from Fairfax Co. schools. I am not too far here in southern Maryland (20637). I’m curious, from whom specifically did you buy your bus?

Thanks for the kind comments.

We bought our bus from Colonial Auto Auction in Upper Marlboro. They seem to buy up buses and resell them. There’s also a towing/recovery business operated there too. Somewhat shady place to be honest haha. It’s right next to the parking lot for a bunch (if not all) of the Prince George buses.
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Old 01-20-2021, 08:16 PM   #184
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Quote:
Originally Posted by RamRod4 View Post
We bought our bus from Colonial Auto Auction in Upper Marlboro. They seem to buy up buses and resell them. There’s also a towing/recovery business operated there too. Somewhat shady place to be honest haha. It’s right next to the parking lot for a bunch (if not all) of the Prince George buses.
A shady place in Upper Marlboro? Say it isn’t so.

Although Upper Marlboro is only 30 minutes from me I never made it up there to check out Colonial. We had started looking for a bus locally, but then we came across the Gillig on eBay...

I am still trying to finish up the covered storage compartment; it is getting on my nerves...


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Old 01-26-2021, 07:56 PM   #185
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
The wheel well storage is basically done, or maybe I’m just done with it.


I started installing the flooring planks today and quickly ran out. In the below pic, you can also see our new water heater, and our “new to us” fridge.

The refrigerator is a 10 cu ft Haier 115 VAC fridge similar to this one. As for the water heater, I decided to go with a 12 gallon electric model (link here)
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Old 01-26-2021, 08:10 PM   #186
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Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Near Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 1,951
Year: 1974
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: "Atomic"
Engine: DD 8V71
That all looks so nice and inviting! Beautiful...
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Old 01-28-2021, 06:13 PM   #187
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
The flooring is done.

Initially I was going to install the flooring after installing cabinets and other furniture. But as you can see, I changed my mind (thanks for the advice Justin). The flooring was not free and I realize that more than half (~2/3?) of it will be covered.

However, putting the flooring down first was super easy and eliminates (or at least minimizes) the number of difficult cuts needed to install the flooring. It also minimizes the amount of trim needed where flooring meets furniture.

In any event, I am happy to have it done. Maybe I’ll admire the floor for one more day before I cover it with cardboard and drop cloths to make sure I don’t booger it up...



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Old 01-28-2021, 06:41 PM   #188
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Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Central PA
Posts: 350
Year: 2002
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International/IC Bus
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Looks fantastic
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Old 01-29-2021, 05:41 PM   #189
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Okay, so I lied yesterday about the flooring being done, but today I mean it; it is done.

Initially I was not planning to put flooring around the driver seat. As you can see in the below pics, the floor in the Gillig gets a little funky around the driver area.


This pic was taken after I laid down my (measly) 1/2” subfloor.


I used a couple different thicknesses of rigid foam to get the flooring height mostly even.


Still not sure what I will do about weatherproofing the hole in the floor for the steering linkage.


The original linkage boot was less than elegant and not super effective.
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Old 01-29-2021, 08:01 PM   #190
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
This is pure skoolie porn here.
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Old 01-30-2021, 06:18 AM   #191
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Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
Rated Cap: 65C-43A
That floor looks fantastic! I've always been very anti-vinyl plank, but I realized I just don't like that standard gray-ish color that people always choose. Your planks look like real wood.

The house I grew up in was built in the late 1800s and had incredibly beautiful hardwood floors done in two colors, a light wood for most of it and a dark red wood for trims and highlights. I'm wondering if it's possible to do the same thing with peel and stick tiles (not the click lock variety), cutting them to form trim etc. I think I'm going to experiment with these a bit - your build is making me see how nice this could look.
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Old 01-31-2021, 05:49 AM   #192
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
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Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
That floor looks fantastic! I've always been very anti-vinyl plank, but I realized I just don't like that standard gray-ish color that people always choose. Your planks look like real wood...
Yes, vinyl flooring has come a long way. We love this flooring. Lisa and I (mainly Lisa...) chose that flooring about three years ago; the below post is from March of 2018. Time flies... I really need to get this bus on the road.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ComfortEagle View Post
The rest of the old rubber floor came out this weekend. I continued using the flat pry bar and it came up fairly easily. Don't get me wrong it was a very physical job but it was not mission impossible.

The plywood subfloor itself is in pretty solid shape




This was the only problem area I found; not too bad


We went to Lowes to look into some products to use on the bus. We decided on the below flooring. Its beautiful stuff and completely waterproof.




And finally, we ordered two boat hatches; they are Vetus Libero Escape Hatch LIB6255. We got the two for $600 total delivered, pretty sweet. The required cutout is 24 7/16" so they should fit perfectly with no mods to the hole; fingers crossed. Thanks to Justin for the inspiration.
It is looking like getting the booth laid out may be my next project. So I finally bit the bullet and cut our beloved church pew in half to get us started.


I will, of course, be cutting more off the “benches”, they will end up up coming flush (or close to flush) with the wheel well cover.

Speaking of the wheel well cover, the booth wasn’t part of the design when I covered the wheel wells. Had I known, I would angled the cover to provide more leg/foot room. I am 51% sure I will end end hacking up the wheel well cover and “fixing”. I hate re-doing stuff but...

I do love the way the booth fits perfectly between the two full windows.
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Old 02-03-2021, 06:47 PM   #193
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Quote:
Originally Posted by ComfortEagle View Post
...speaking of the wheel well cover, the booth wasn’t part of the design when I covered the wheel wells. Had I known, I would angled the cover to provide more leg/foot room. I am 51% sure I will end end hacking up the wheel well cover and “fixing”. I hate re-doing stuff but...
I feel much better now.


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Old 02-03-2021, 07:41 PM   #194
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Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 74
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: ISM 10.8L, B400R
Looking fantastic! Thanks for keeping us updated.
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Old 02-03-2021, 09:09 PM   #195
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Location: N.C.
Posts: 1,136
Year: 1997
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: DT466E
Rated Cap: 34
Quote:
Originally Posted by ComfortEagle View Post

I will, of course, be cutting more off the “benches”, they will end up up coming flush (or close to flush) with the wheel well cover.
LOVE that church pew!

If you cut the legs, think about removing the material starting right below the seat attachment, thus saving the bottom of the insert and the bottom molding. I'd rather lose the grain continuity than those details.
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Old 02-04-2021, 04:23 PM   #196
Bus Nut
 
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Quote:
Originally Posted by plfking View Post
LOVE that church pew!

If you cut the legs, think about removing the material starting right below the seat attachment, thus saving the bottom of the insert and the bottom molding. I'd rather lose the grain continuity than those details.
We bought that pew a while back specifically for the bus; I am very happy to finally be getting it out of my house and on the bus where it belongs. I reread my previous post and I wasn’t clear about cutting more off the pews. I won’t be lower them; I will be cutting more off the cut ends of the seating part. Right now they stick out too far.

I got a bunch of entry stair stuff from the UPS guy today. Here is a preview of the future of the stairs.

I installed some Killmat to help reduce the noise of the uninsulated aluminum stair box.


The stair treads, peel and stick tiles, and stair edging are mocked up here. Plank flooring will be glued to the sides, and on the stairs themselves.
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Old 02-12-2021, 03:17 PM   #197
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Here is where I ended up with the stairs. The braided stair treads are an interim solution until the wife finds ones she really likes... whatever. I was good with the rubber stair treads but no... At the top of the stairs is the new stair cover. I’ll throw a few more pics on my doing the stairs thread for the few who may be interested
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Old 02-12-2021, 11:03 PM   #198
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: pa
Posts: 2,498
Year: 98
Coachwork: 1. Corbeil & 2. Thomas
Chassis: 1 ford 1998 e350 4x4 7.3 2 mercedes 2004
Engine: 7.3 powerstroke & MBE906
Your wife is right.
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Old 02-13-2021, 03:58 AM   #199
Bus Nut
 
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Southern Maryland
Posts: 505
Year: 1986
Coachwork: Gillig
Chassis: Phantom
Engine: CAT 3208
Rated Cap: 87, says Gillig...
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeblack5 View Post
Your wife is right.
Always...

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Old 02-13-2021, 06:43 AM   #200
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: pa
Posts: 2,498
Year: 98
Coachwork: 1. Corbeil & 2. Thomas
Chassis: 1 ford 1998 e350 4x4 7.3 2 mercedes 2004
Engine: 7.3 powerstroke & MBE906
Haha. Pretty hardcore that Rodney..
But actually I really meant that her solution looks better then the rubber mats.
On our own bus and even house I prefer simple rubber also ..more practical but something can be said for a more home-like inviting approach.
You do a great job on making it look very nice ..most buses including my own have a bit of " roughness " around the edges.
I like how you build up the inside of the staircase in such a way that you created a better deal for the door.

Johan
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