Our Second Bus

[Wannabe]

Well, we have bought a bus and starting renovations. First, we took out the seats. Sold 4 for $40. Not bad, but I have 16 more to go. UGH! We then took up the flooring. Another UGH I don't believe I have ever seen so much dirt. Then it was cleaning time. A lot of bleach and we found out the bus was not gray inside, it was kind of a creamy beige! Some questions though. I need to post some pictures of our conversion and I don't know how to do it. We need to cover the seat holes, then paint. We bought silicone for the holes. Also, we bought paint for the floor and have also purchased Nansulate. Which goes down first, or do we mix it together? We are planning on rolling both of them on, but don't know the order to do it. The Nansulate says it is for mold and insulation purposes. So which goes first??

[Wannabe]

Thanks Smitty for the info. I got the nansulate for $1.00 a gallon at the local Restore (probably will apply to the outside when it gets warmer).

[Wannabe]

Here are some pics of the rubber floor being removed.

[Wannabe]

Well, I tried to send a decent photo but........

[Wannabe]

Well, here I go again. Going to try to post a picture of seats out and floor out, too.

[Wannabe]

We have yet to name the big yellow thing sitting in the driveway. Hubby is waiting to see if bus will name itself. I am partial to Blue Bird of Paradise or Second Home, but we will see.

[Wannabe]

After sanding the floor for the rust (not that bad, considering our bus is over 20 years old and lives in the south), we cleaned the floor and then used rust reformer. Sunday afternoon, Valentine's day, we painted the bus floor a nice shade of gray Rustoleum. This next weekend, we have to fix our fence (turn it into a VERY BIG GATE) so we can put the bus in the yard instead of in the driveway. We are also going to put on 6 new tires for the big thing in my driveway before we put it in the yard. It will be easier to work on in the yard. We have priced showers, but are considering building one ourselves. Doesn't seem too hard for two people that built their own house, does it? BTW, anybody know of a good use for approximately 16 recovered bus seats in great condition!

[Wannabe]

Question????? We had wanted to skin over some windows (bathroom and closet). Our bus has little eyebrow covers over each and every window and we can't get to all the window without removing a hundred rivets for each window. How can we go about covering the windows otherwise. Hubby is suggesting paint or tinting windows very, very dark then covering with curtains or walls, but I really don't like the idea. I have figured out no other way around this, though. Any ideas?

[jkindt]

The windows are put in from the inside of the bus.

[Wannabe]

The windows appear to have little visors over them. Each window has its own little visor.

[busdriver_phil]

The visors are part of the roof sheets, and are not attached to the actual window frames. If you remove the 4 inside screws, you can pull the window frame out. You won't have to touch the visors.

[Wannabe]

How do you attach sheet metal from the outside then? Hubby still says cover with tint and wall, but I think it should have something solid there instead.

[busdriver_phil]

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3981

You can do individual sheets for each window and screw them in at each side. The other option is to cut off the rivets holding the skin on each window post and attach the skin using the old rivet holes.

I'm not an expert on this, I'm just going by what other people have posted and what I've seen from working around unconverted skoolies for 7 years. When I get a bus, I'll probably leave all the windows in place, paint a few of them black and put an insulated wall on the inside, but I like the bus look better than skinned windows. Functionally, skinning the windows makes more sense.

[Wannabe]

I will show the message to hubby, but I think he has heart set on leaving the windows. Oh well, I did get my way for the paint on the inside. I just got back from a $200.00 trip to Lowe's. Rustoleum in quart cans adds up quick, but I got a color I can live with. Fencing also ( so bus can go in yard, yeah ) I want my driveway back. Hubby called from work, and he called a guy that's going to come by today to change all 6 tires out.

[Wannabe]

Well, an interesting weekend. We fixed our fence ( made gates, wo could put big thing in the yard ). Moved bus into yard and promptly got the bus stuck We went ahead and painted interior anyway. It came out nice - Almond rustoleum. We went to Wallyworld and got a 12 ton bottlejack. After jacking up back of bus and putting boards under it, then moved to front of bus, repeat with more boards, hooked chain to truck, the bus is now back in the driveway We need a load of gravel before we do that again!!! Number one rule--- NEVER ASSUME THAT SINCE EVERYBODY DOES IT, IT WILL WORK FOR YOU!!!!!! Everybody in our area parks their schoolbuses in their yards, so we assumed we could too. We now know better. Will post pictures soon as I figure out how to do it better.

[grnthmb55]

It's better to park it over gravel or pavement anyway. Park it over grass and you're asking for a rusty undercarriage. The moisture from the grass will rust things right out. I learned this the hard way .

[Wannabe]

Well, it was an interesting weekend for sure. We worked on the bus. We found we had some leaking windows, so hubby decides to take out windows, seal them, recaulk them and put them back in. Here's the thing, though, they were so easy to take out; he decided to leave four of them out. He has decided to replace some of them with FRP bonded to treated plywood and then inset it into where the window was. Looks pretty good, if I say so myself. He left back two windows, took out the next four, and then left the front four. While the windows were out, we decided to tint them. We did one whole side. Add in another trip to Lowe's - $500 for supplies. He also bought a toilet last week and a table leg. We also purchased a shower pan while at Lowe's. We are such favored customers at Lowe's, they sent us coupons in the mail! We also have started installing supports for the walls.

[Wannabe]

We have Installed flooring (tongue and grooved plywood) over underlayment. Couldn't find resin paper at the time, oh well.

[Seeria]

Pics!!!

[Wannabe]

I would love to show new pictures, but I have little knowledge on how to get them from my picture program (Corel) to here on this sight. Please explain (in detail) how I can go about this. I have tried before but not successful