worried i made a mistake with the school bus..

Vin1 · 03-17-2023, 09:45 AM

so reading some last night and saw farok's build thread etc and am now a little freaked out my bus could look great on the inside panels and floors like his and have mold and rust everywhere underneath

knowing this now i would not have gotten a school bus, unfortunately i committed to the deal so will have to buy it
i do realize you could have the same issue with a fiberglass build but 2 of those i looked at had spray foam insulation not batt

here is my question for this thread

if i were to take one section apart at a time and pull the batt insulation, fix any rust and spray foam ONE section at a time will i be able to get the panels back together like they are now?

problem is i did not buy this to convert, bought it basically FOR the interior panels and all the L track in the floor/walls etc and thought the advantage of a metal interior would be long lasting

musigenesis · 03-17-2023, 11:11 AM

You said you're in Arizona and the bus came from California IIRC. It's pretty doubtful that you actually have anything to worry about as far as rust and mold are concerned.

Vin1 · 03-17-2023, 11:52 AM

I hope so, will keep this updated and i do plan to pull some of the wall panels especially under the windows and see if anything looks like it got wet/leaked

Has anyone replaced the wood floor with one of the plastic plywoods? I am NOT a fan of building stuff with wood but would do that

Honestly even though I want the interior exactly stock like it is, if it was easy to pull all the interior panels etc , remove all the fiberglass batt and spray foam the interior would do that in a heartbeat, the only reason I am not doing that is because everyone said it will not line back up and I won't be able to get it back together...

Tejon7 · 03-17-2023, 12:28 PM

Pulling the interior skin without destroying it is a very tedious task. It took me many months of nights/weekends to pull the ceiling down, remove insulation and clean thoroughly, spray foam, and reinstall. I put in furring strips between the ribs and reinstalled skin, so can't speak to whether or not it's possible to get the original rivet holes to line up. Probably not worth the effort for your use case.

IIRC, you mentioned that you don't plan to live in the bus, and expect to drive it around for a reasonable timeframe (10-ish years or so??). If that's correct, I'd say leave it bone stock and spend your time/money on mechanical issues. Seal the windows maybe... or not, since you're in the southwest.

Vin1 · 03-17-2023, 12:46 PM

Mainly, this will be a daily driver, pulling my RV, for work around the state, but will probably only move the RV every four days- week

I will be in it enough to worry about mold, not quite as worried about rust

When I finally get it here in a week or two, I will pull a panel under the windows here and there, and see how things look, am thinking that I will reseal the windows or at least try to make sure none of them are working leaking right now somehow

If I find any evidence of mold/rust will figure out how to deal with all this
It will be fine, just some more work and money lol

Rwnielsen · 03-17-2023, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vin1

Mainly, this will be a daily driver, pulling my RV, for work around the state, but will probably only move the RV every four days- week

I will be in it enough to worry about mold, not quite as worried about rust

When I finally get it here in a week or two, I will pull a panel under the windows here and there, and see how things look, am thinking that I will reseal the windows or at least try to make sure none of them are working leaking right now somehow

If I find any evidence of mold/rust will figure out how to deal with all this
It will be fine, just some more work and money lol

I think your idea of doing one panel at a time, although time consuming, will work. Get a couple boxes of the right sized rivets or, preferably, screws and go fo it. Respirators are around $20 at Home Depot if you're concerned about mold.

Vin1 · 03-17-2023, 04:52 PM

Will keep you guys up to date

And am intrigued by trying to do it section by section, will have to see how much I can get done before I put it to work

Not sure exactly how much mechanical stuff it needs and it had to be painted

Plan to pull all the lights and reseal those too

musigenesis · 03-17-2023, 05:02 PM

I put one of my removed ceiling panels back up and re-riveted it after I finished my bulkhead wall behind the driver's seat. It was nearly impossible because of the weight and doing it entirely by myself, even with about 1/3 of it having been cut off, but the holes lined up with no problem. To put a normal whole sheet back up, you'd need either a helper or steroids.

Reinstalling the wall panels might not be possible without some extra work, since the panels are usually spot-welded to the bottom lip that holds the windows and they can't be fully removed without cutting them there. You could remove all the rivets/screws, bend the panels up, spray foam underneath and then bend the panels back down in place.

Vin1 · 03-17-2023, 05:58 PM

Well crap, I was so happy to see all those screws and not rivets thinking I could easily undo each panel if needed
Blah

Good to know about the roof, Will definitely schedule help if I have to work on those

Vin1 · 03-17-2023, 10:14 PM

Are the tack welds put on there to keep things from rattling??

Vin1 · 03-19-2023, 12:04 PM

Does this panel just pop off somehow so you have access to the area behind this?

Jolly Roger bus 223 · 03-19-2023, 03:15 PM

if you cant see any fasteners then probably.
if its plastic then it could be held in by spring tension fasteners that will let you pull it out an inch or so and then you squeeze the springs to pull it completely off.
like the cover of a residential bathroom exhaust fan.
wierd my 2004 collins is a hinged and latched metal panel above the dash and was a screwed in place panel to access the rear cap area.
text me at 910-581-7210 and reference skoolie and i can share pics of mine at various stages.
including the massive amount of wiring i saved and cut out including the vandalock and no child left behind.
cant speak about the lift or door controls cause that was done before me.
to tech challenged to share on the computer? sorry.

Vin1 · 03-19-2023, 03:27 PM

Thank you, I sent a text

Will let you guys know how this comes off and take some pictures whenever I get to pick up my bus lol
Very anxious to get it!

Jolly Roger bus 223 · 03-19-2023, 05:30 PM

sorry i forgot you are going toy hauler.
does your bus have the unistrut seat holder on the side walls?
if so you can get unistrut spring nuts and eye hooks to strap things to and forget the l trac stuff and have a good look at your floor.
some rhino coat a few holes in your garage area for drainage and you should be golden.
my personal thoughts and opinions are just that.
my days of playing with most toys are over.
now its just having fun but mechaniching and building is what i know so that is my fun.
some stuff at work and home is not fun but it needs to be addressed. you can complain while you are doing it but it still has to be done.

Vin1 · 03-19-2023, 06:29 PM

I have unistrut and L track in a lot of areas, did not know what that other track-unistrut-was called thanks!
will look up some holders for that- knew I could use it somehow because it had some little slots with bolt holes in them

This will only be bicycles, paddle boards and some work tools and nothing will ever be going into the bus wet

this is just an oversized cargo van for me with L track already installed so I did not have to do it! lol

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