Should I grind out the seat rails?

[ChrisLifts]

Hey everyone,

Just curious to know when framing your interior walls in your bus if you left the seat rails in place? It is a solid piece of sheet that is riveted to the lower half of the bus and behind the wheel wells. The seat rails jut out a good inch or so on either side which is honestly quite a bit of space that is lost if you frame to the outside of the rail and put your wall material (sheetrock, planking, etc) outside of that. You'll lose a good 1-2" per side of the bus once it's framed in compared to just sheathing over the original sheet wall after new insulation is put in. I guess the bonus would be having thicker insulated walls. I'm stuck.

Thank you,
Chris

 

[Meathead]

***WARNING***
Do not remove chair rail.
******************

We’re glad you asked tho! It is structural. U just going to have to work around it.

[emoji3522]

 

[jimmythomas]

They are an important structural element of the Bus. They are basically a brace to connect the wall to the floor, and with the rib for the seats as another longitudinal girder front to rear on the bus body. They are one of the best places to secure the inner structure/ furniture in your bus.
Insulation is good!

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

lets back up and ask what bus body and what bus?
i have a full size that it is definetly structural and i have a short bus that it is not.
it was added after the interior skin.

 

[HamSkoolie]

lets back up and ask what bus body and what bus?
I have a full size that it is definetly structural and i have a short bus that it is not.
It was added after the interior skin.

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that right there
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[ChrisLifts]

lets back up and ask what bus body and what bus?
i have a full size that it is definetly structural and i have a short bus that it is not.
it was added after the interior skin.

It's a 2004 International CE200. But judging from everyone's comments I'll probably just leave them in. It's not the end of the world. I'll just have to make sure my plans are adjusted. The wheel wells are really causing a pain. They fall right where the bathroom would go so I'm having to build over them in some way and the space inbetween them where a hallway would go to the back bedroom is already narrow. I think I can make it work though!

 

[nixon186]

lets back up and ask what bus body and what bus?
i have a full size that it is definetly structural and i have a short bus that it is not.
it was added after the interior skin.

Same here. I agree.

 

[musigenesis]

It's a 2004 International CE200.

The chair rail is definitely structural in this bus. The walls and the floor are not directly attached to each other; both are attached to the chair rail.

 

[peakbus]

I don't think sheetrock and bus conversion belong in the same sentence

 

[gabrielah77]

Drywall?

It's not that hard to notch each 2x4 right where the chair rail goes if you don't want to make your walls deeper.

But... drywall? Really? it's heavy and it's sure to crack with all the motion in a bus. A bus is not a still, solid cage, it has some flex, so heavy, brittle things like drywall and tile are not that great in skoolies.

Consider some lightweight paneling. In our first build, we used the nice 5mm luan plywood from Lowe's (better than Home Depot for this particular thing), it was only about $11 for a 4x8 sheet back then. We finished it with a coat of mineral oil and it looked nice and provided sufficient rigidity.

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

It's a 2004 International CE200. But judging from everyone's comments I'll probably just leave them in. It's not the end of the world. I'll just have to make sure my plans are adjusted. The wheel wells are really causing a pain. They fall right where the bathroom would go so I'm having to build over them in some way and the space inbetween them where a hallway would go to the back bedroom is already narrow. I think I can make it work though!

just go to to your local stores and get there cardboard boxes and mok up what your idea is?
including walls with cardboard.
masking tape on the floor for couch bed idea full cardboard wall before you ever buy the real lumber/framing material.
free cardboard and a few dollars in masking tape to make templates will save you tons.
i had templates for the full height walls and i had templates for overhead cabinets.
i was experienced enough at the time. but the cardboard box idea help my wife visualise it for her.
that was years ago?
now i am building her a shortie.

 

[Salvador]

Hi there, I just framed around them and I even used them in some instances to support my frame.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Yes, you should not grind out your seat rails.