Bus down by the river

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Originally Posted by inhof009

However, best laid plans of mice and men and all that. What would you use to keep the tires from sinking into the ground?

Railroad ties. Use a chainsaw to cut one in half, angle the cut for a beveled end and to act as a "ramp" of sorts to drive up.

[tugboater]

Originally Posted by inhof009

My wife used two sets of 1/2" sockets to remove the seats from the side rails. After that, we worked on the outside. I used a handheld heat gun and a plastic putty knife to remove all of the vinyl lettering, which went really well, and she washed it. We are both aching and in pain, so we're calling it for the day. Tomorrow's weather looks great for painting!

Great story & photos. It made me think about our trip home & the first few days we had it. I wonder how many couples tackle the seats in a similar fashion? I had the grinder & she (and my 10yo) had the sockets as well. Sounds like you guys make a good team. Looking forward to watching your progress...keep up with the pics & have fun!

[inhof009]

First coat of paint is finished! Took most of the day, with interruptions for lunch, chatting with neighbors, and a few people dropping by to grab some of the seats. We still have about half of the seats left, though!

We went for the rustoleum route, and initially I diluted it 50/50, just like on the "$50 paint job" site. Issue there is it takes 5-6 coats, which is a LOT of coats for a bus this big. So after wasting an entire gallon of paint (my idea), we straight rolled on the other gallon of rustoleum. With my wife rolling and me trimming (after prep), the work went quickly!

Pics from throughout today:
Rolling on, with the inspectors watching over:

Rolling on the front:

One side complete:

Note that the ribs/rails aren't painted on that side. We decided to "go back next time" and then I went ahead and painted them anyway, as you'll see in later pictures.
Front at lunch:


All together now:




Soon:


Edit: BTW, this is all 0.5 gallons of Rustoleum white to do the job so far.

[inhof009]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I've used some wide solid boards to park on sugar sand.

One of our neighbors suggested (and offered to help) that we should dig out where the tires will be and then drop down some solid wood and put gravel on top for parking. I've heard that some RVs don't like parking on hard surfaces for long term storage, is that an issue with tires on buses as well?

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Anything will be better than your tires sinking 6" over the next couple months, if the soil is that soft. That'll make even moving it a big challenge ....


Mine's parked on a concrete driveway.

[ol trunt]

First I've got to say that "Bus down by the river" just makes me want to go out and jump into my bus and go camping--too cool!

Second, I've had good luck at keeping heavy vehicles from sinking by digging a foot deep trench between both front and rear wheels (across the vehicle), placing a couple or rebars in "X" fashion and pouring U-cart concrete in the trench. If you went 3" further down and put dirt on top of the cement and planted grass, a few days after you moved the bus no one would be able to tell.
Jack

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by inhof009

One of our neighbors suggested (and offered to help) that we should dig out where the tires will be and then drop down some solid wood and put gravel on top for parking. I've heard that some RVs don't like parking on hard surfaces for long term storage, is that an issue with tires on buses as well?

believe it or not, this type of material is used under gravel on unstable or soft soil for heavy equipment parking lots. driveways etc - comes in various types from several suppliers - basically a heavy duty garden cloth

https://www.amazon.com/ArmorLay-Comm.../dp/B074MDB596

[inhof009]

Landlord dropped by today to renew our lease for another year and he was interested in our project! We got a thumbs up from him to continue parking there with the understanding that when we leave we make his yard whole again. My landlord is awesome.

With that being said, looks like I'm pulling it off of the pallets this weekend (tomorrow or Saturday) and will be putting in a more permanent parking situation that I can easily undo later!

Still trying to get rid of the seats. I have one guy saying he'll take all that's left, but he keeps delaying. I've got other people asking after the seats, but I just don't feel right calling it quits on this guy yet.

Continued demo of the interior this weekend. Remove the underseat heater, then floor, then wall paneling, then ceiling paneling. Hope I find all good things and minimal rust!

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by inhof009

Landlord dropped by today to renew our lease for another year and he was interested in our project! We got a thumbs up from him to continue parking there with the understanding that when we leave we make his yard whole again. My landlord is awesome.

With that being said, looks like I'm pulling it off of the pallets this weekend (tomorrow or Saturday) and will be putting in a more permanent parking situation that I can easily undo later!

Still trying to get rid of the seats. I have one guy saying he'll take all that's left, but he keeps delaying. I've got other people asking after the seats, but I just don't feel right calling it quits on this guy yet.

Continued demo of the interior this weekend. Remove the underseat heater, then floor, then wall paneling, then ceiling paneling. Hope I find all good things and minimal rust!

Good to hear that you have an understanding landlord.

When it came time for me to get rid of seats I didn't have much success. In the end I pulled them and hauled them. It took some negotiating to manage to leave them without paying them to take them...,

[inhof009]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Good to hear that you have an understanding landlord.

When it came time for me to get rid of seats I didn't have much success. In the end I pulled them and hauled them. It took some negotiating to manage to leave them without paying them to take them...,

Steve,

Odd that you had troubles. I put up a CL post Saturday evening, and by Sunday I had about 4 responses, and I got another 5 throughout the week.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by inhof009

Steve,

Odd that you had troubles. I put up a CL post Saturday evening, and by Sunday I had about 4 responses, and I got another 5 throughout the week.

Oh, I got several responses. Just none that actually showed up.

After about a month I hauled them to the local recycler and they wanted me to pay to dump them.

After some haggling I got them to take them without charging me if I separated the cushions.

I have seen a few folks here that have gotten paid for their old seats. I just want to smack them.

[weboughtabus]

Yeah, I got some nibbles but nothing serious, either. I ended up stripping the cushions off the frames, putting aside the 1/8" ply that was inside (it'll probably end up as drawer bottoms) and dragging the frames to my local recycling center. Our town's recycling center doesn't charge, so all it cost me was time. The cushions ended up going on a bulk trash pickup day that our town does once a week.

[o1marc]

took my seat frames to the salvage yard, paid me $68 towards the bus.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by o1marc

took my seat frames to the salvage yard, paid me $68 towards the bus.

Next time you are in WA please stop by for your smack

[Native]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

Next time you are in WA please stop by for your smack

Might as well save a smack for me too ... I think we got $45.00 for the seat frames.

[Ab01ns]

Originally Posted by inhof009

BTW, we found $0.30 while demoing the seats, so I am saying that this will be a professionally built RV because we got paid to do it.

That's positively low income compared to my bus. I made 3.28.

[Native]

Originally Posted by Ab01ns

That's positively low income compared to my bus. I made 3.28.

I found about the same in ours. Funny thing, I found a nickle the other day ... about 2 years after finding the first change. It was behind a piece of the rub rail (inside) which is just below the window. I do think that was the last of it though.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

Note: You will (most likely) go through a lot of those cut-off disks before you are done.

Somebody on /r/Skoolies recommended Walter cutoff discs: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003O9ZJQO

They are indeed fantastic, they last a lot longer and it's easier to steer the grinder with them. My bus got robbed a couple weeks ago and I lost all my power tools (yay heroin!) but the most painful part was the loss of my entire 25-pack of these things - I thought I was set for life.

[musigenesis]

What are your plans for your windows? I'm looking for additional emergency-exit type windows and I have the same bus as you.

[inhof009]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

What are your plans for your windows? I'm looking for additional emergency-exit type windows and I have the same bus as you.

I've not yet decided on the exacts, but we plan to completely rip out all of our windows, raise the roof, and put in new windows. I measured, and the gap right now from the rub rail below the windows to the roof, including space to place rivets, is about 2'. We're considering either 1' or 2' raise, so that we can simply buy 3'x10' or 4'x10' and not have to worry about cutting.

Of course, this is all dependent on what we find from the interior demo this weekend, so we'll see what we decide!

Are you looking to obtain windows? As in, you would want mine after we remove them?