Partial Roof Raising

[Hawkcreek]

Hi,
This is my first serious post so please let me know if the answer to my question exists somewhere in a place I didn't search properly for.
I was wondering if anyone has ever done a partial roof raise - ie - cutting the roof down the middle, using screw jacks and beams to force the split roof up on both sides, and then using angle welded in, and skinned to fill the resulting gap?
I don't feel the need to retain the roll-over capability of my bus, and was thinking of just trying to get about 6 inches more headroom in the middle aisle to allow me to insulate on top of the floor. My bus is presently exactly 6 feet from steel floor to roof on the inside and I also am 6 feet tall.
I have been watching some of your builds and am constantly amazed at the quality and well thought techniques used to fabricate a quality motor home out of a cheap bus.
Thanks in advance.

 

[lornaschinske]

How about cutting out the center and adding a "clerestory" (clear story) similar to what you see on trolley cars. I think you could add just enough for head room with out risking too much weakening to the structure. Or is that what you said (sorta sounds like it... but not??? :? )
http://architecture.about.com/od/structural/g/clerestory.htm

 

[Hawkcreek]

Actually that is not exactly what I had in mind, but I do like the looks of the one you showed. I think that would be easier than a full roof raise, also.

 

[bus-bro]

I really like the rail car picture & thanks, Lorna, for the dimensional diagram too!

 

[lornaschinske]

I really like the rail car picture & thanks, Lorna, for the dimensional diagram too!

The dimensional diagram is for a model (Ho scale?) train... but you can extrapolate the dimensions up to your bus since it is a scaled model. Just find out what you would need to multiply the base dimension by to match your roof width, then multiply all other measurements by the same number.


I'm all for easier...

 

[The_Stuff]

hawk, you got a picture of what you have in mind?

 

[Hawkcreek]

Nope, and after seeing the clerestory thing that Lorna sent, that looks more suited to my bus rather than trying to cut and bend whole sections of the roof. I am going to go with her idea. Thanks, Lorna.
I intend to have this done by summer, and I will send pictures after I get started. Too cold to work right now.