Help! Multi layer Metal floor

[Markusbc]

I just took out the vinyl and plywood from my international 3800 corbeil 72 seater school bus. And I found some rust but not that bad. What I am struggling with is, it seems there are metal strips lengthwise about 6 inch wide the entire bus where the seats are bolted through the floor. I assume it is to provide reenforcement for the seats. The strips are only tack welded so there are gaps in between the tack welds.

I am worried about moisture being trapped between the two layers also how to seal the holes where the seats have been mounted.

Should I cut them out?

I have not found any pictures online of a similar floor. Also there are strips of metal going across infront and behind the rear wheel well.

Any ideas?

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

i wouldnt worry.
treat everything with a rust converter clean and wire wheel everything and use a seam sealer or caulking to seal the seams and bolt holes or seal the bolt holes and put a extra heavy layer of paint on the seams of the flat bar to the floor if they are buckling/bowing real bad then after you treat everything then run a self tapper in them to pull them down tighter.
unless you want to pull them and grind the tacks down just to check under them or delete them to make a smoother insulated flooring job.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

and if ? i remember correctly joeblack has a corbeil so reach out to him and see what he did with his.
good luck

[DawgBüs]

I have the same strips in my MUCH smaller bus. In my case it holds the three sections of the body together. Like segments, all tied into one. I'm opting for a good layer of POR15 to seal any moisture out. Unless they're severely rusted, I wouldn't cut them out without first welding something else in place to prevent warping. Yours may have a different purpose but, just throwing that out there.

[Markusbc]

I just went into the bus to take a couple of pictures

[Markusbc]

Wire wheel, rust killed and then self tapping screws and then pain over them? Or weld them on proper.

[Markusbc]

Originally Posted by DawgBüs

I have the same strips in my MUCH smaller bus. In my case it holds the three sections of the body together. Like segments, all tied into one. I'm opting for a good layer of POR15 to seal any moisture out. Unless they're severely rusted, I wouldn't cut them out without first welding something else in place to prevent warping. Yours may have a different purpose but, just throwing that out there.

Do yours run lengthwise or across?

[DawgBüs]

Originally Posted by Markusbc

Do yours run lengthwise or across?

Length wise. They look just like yours. Let me find the pic I have. Why do you want to screw/weld them? If they're already tacked in, I'd leave em except for rust treatment, paint or coating and such.

[DawgBüs]

Ok, only picture I have that's clear'ish. I can maybe get more tonight but, it should be a good reference anyway. In the second pic (one without the girls) you can see a clean third strip all the way to the right. I bought two strips to replace the old but decided just to add a third center strip in the end. Tacked in, just like original two.

[musigenesis]

Those strips look like a post-factory fix for heavily rusted seat bolts (and rust on the sheet metal around each bolt). Basic school bus design does not mess around with the way in which children are attached, so this is almost certainly not original; the funky stuff seems to happen once they get in the hands of fleet mechanics.

Can you get some pics of the underside of the bus where these strips run? What you will likely see is some very badly rusted sheet metal around where the original holes were, through which you'll be able to see the new holes in these strips. Or there may be some significant new bracketing attached on the underside - otherwise this fix could have been massively unsafe.

How to deal with this properly will probably depend on what shape the metal underneath these is in.

[Markusbc]

I went under the bus and there is no rust at all where the bolt holes for the seats are. Also no seam of sheet metal coming together.

I also lifted one of the strips a bit where the tack welds where further apart and yes there is some surface rust but nothing severe.

Here some more pictures.

The reason I want to either get rid of them or figure out a way to seal them is that I am worried if I patch the bolt holes on the top the water will still come in and sit between the layers and that would become a rust issue.

[Markusbc]

Originally Posted by DawgBüs

Ok, only picture I have that's clear'ish. I can maybe get more tonight but, it should be a good reference anyway. In the second pic (one without the girls) you can see a clean third strip all the way to the right. I bought two strips to replace the old but decided just to add a third center strip in the end. Tacked in, just like original two. Attachment 47419Attachment 47420

Interesting. Yours look a lot more heavy duty. On mine they are pretty much the same thickness as the rest of the sheet metal.

[DawgBüs]

They're 1/8"x8" cold rolled. Like I said yours may not be structural at all. My bus is a cutaway so half van body half bus. They just cut the center out of the van and melded the bus body into it. Kind of crazy actually.

[Markusbc]

That seems crazy! But inventive.

Mine are not even a 1/16 thick. Feels more like a send layer to reenforce the area for the bolts.

I would contact the manufacturer but they got bought by Collins in 2007 I believe and shut down building busses up here.

[musigenesis]

Huh, I guess those strips are probably factory after all, then. If you seal the hole by plug welding, that would take care of the underside of the hole as well. If you're going to glue patches over the holes on the inside, a dab of seam sealer will seal up the underside of the hole.

[Markusbc]

So pulled a couple feet of the strip up to see what is under it. Curiosity got the better of me.

If they are not structural I will pull them up. It’s fast and would make sealing the holes a lit easier.

Some pictures of how it looks under them.

The tacks are about a 1 1/4 long with about 12 inches spacing offset by 6 on the other sides. Steel is about 1/16 thick. (If Someone ever finds this thread trying to figure out what is underneath them)

The only real thing is that the tacks that connect the big panels are stopped under the strips. Wonder if I need to place a tack in there for good measure.

[musigenesis]

I was going to suggest not trying to pull up these strips since it would be too difficult, but if you've already got them most of the way up, keep going. These wouldn't be structural in any sense other than to reinforce the attachments of the seats, and since you don't have seats any more they're of no use to you.

[Markusbc]

Thank you for your input. I will. I can use part of a strip to fix a rust spot near the rear wheel well.

Looking forward to having that part done. And then focus on the steel rivets of the walls and ceiling. Yeah lol

I will post some pictures when the strips are removed. Hopefully this will help Someone in the future.

Can a thread be renamed or tags added after it has been created? Just wondering so that it can be found later on easier.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Markusbc

I will post some pictures when the strips are removed. Hopefully this will help Someone in the future.

Can a thread be renamed or tags added after it has been created? Just wondering so that it can be found later on easier.

I can't even find stuff in my own build thread, lol. Props to you for trying to help others.

[Markusbc]

If anyone has these strips in their bus, between the layers was a bit of rust especially around the holes.

Hope that helps someone in the future.