Category: Stage 1 rebuild

First stage of the rebuild including the flooring, walls, and ceiling

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Stage 1 rebuild

It’s been a busy spring!

With three girls and both of us serving as leaders in multiple activities, spring is always a busy time in our house with camping, soccer, and awards. However, slowly but surely, we are making progress. Here’s what’s been going on:

February

It was time to start working on the inside of the bus now that the outside was complete. We can do a lot of things on our own, but one thing we cannot do is a/c work! We brought it to Saviors Repair in Pearland (www.saviorsrepair.com) to raise the evaporator unit at the back of the bus. Once raised, they would also install new hoses that are long enough to bridge the additional distance of the roof raise.

Shortly after we dropped it off, we got a call that there was no Freon inside the unit. It must have leaked out somewhere. Besides that, this will cost quite a bit of money since Freon is expensive. It also means we could have done the actual evaporator raise ourselves. But at Saviors, they not only supplied brand new hoses, but they also did trouble shooting for the leak. Within a week we had the bus back in our storage. We were very happy with the service!!

From there we spent a lot of time preparing for spray insulation. Taping everything off and putting plastic down to cover every square inch, because spray insulation does leave a mess. 

March

This month we installed the spray foam. We started at the back and worked our way to the front. Spraying the foam itself goes fairly quick. We just ran out too quickly resulting in time lost while waiting for the next order to come in. The worst part of using this type of insulation is the very messy shave down. Some spots expanded too much and had to be shaved flat to allow the walls to be installed. After all was cleaned up it looked pretty good!

After spray foam
After shaving of insulation
Cleans up nicely
Brother helping

April

In April, the brother came for another visit. We had two 100-gallon water tanks sitting in the dining room waiting for his arrival. Due to the type of water tank we could afford, we had to change the layout of the bus a little and place one tank burden. This will affect the location of the bunks for the girls. With the tank burden, there will be a bit of free surface movement during the drive when the tank is half full. We will have to wait and see how that works out, but I think because the bus is 32000lbs and the tank filled with water will be 834 pounds, it will not affect the driving conditions too much.

We opted for the convenience of PEX fittings for the installation, as they are simple “slip-on” couplings that streamline the process. After investing considerable time at Home Depot to determine our requirements, we had to make two additional trips for extra fittings. Our initial task involved cutting a hole in the side of the bus for the fill port and assemble the various components (such as pumps).

Pumps with Pex fittings
water connections
Hole cut in side
Hole cut in side
Water port with lockable door

We then secured the water tank with a wooden 2″ x 4″ frame to ensure it would not move while we were driving. 

Water tank framed in

May

With the water tank in place, it was a matter of having a long weekend to start building out the inside. Some things can be done in storage, but building frames and cubbies just works easier with the bus in the driveway. As soon as we had the bus at home, we filled up the water tank and fixed the one hose we had forgotten to connect 😊 The remainder of the pressure test went without issues.

Starting at the back of the bus – the evaporator filter frame was re-painted and hung, more R24 insulation was added around the unit before closing it up with finished plywood, the bench was built up with plywood and the air conditioning control unit was encased.

building out the back

This took a lot longer than anticipated! Due to travel, we had to return the bus to storage early. We will continue in June when we have our next weekend available.

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Stage 1 rebuild

Week 9 of 2023

Small updates

We had a slow week this week. We are trying to get the transition covered, but to do that, we had to put the driver window back. During our trip from California there was a lot of draft coming from that window and it kept sliding open. It started leaking as we drove through rain in Houston. After some discussion, we agreed that it was best to replace this window with an RV window. They are much more solid and leak free then bus windows. Hence, we ordered one and had to wait for it to come in before we could continue.

We did start putting a transition piece in on the door side of the bus. We still have to finish it but did not get to it this week.

Once the RV window came in, we closed the opening with a full sheet of metal.

Once the metal was in place, we cut the hole out of it for the window. The top and bottom supports were welded into place. After setting our steering wheel and blinker on fire, extreme caution and concern was used welding in this area but we had no choice.

Once we had the hole cut we noticed since we overlapped two sheets at the top of the window, that things just did not fit right. So we ended up removing the screws, cutting the sheets and welding them together.

New driver window

It’s starting to look good, but we are not finished yet! More to follow next week

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Stage 1 rebuild

End of Year Update

Another week of roof raising prep.

After the removal of a portion of the roof last week, we started to cut the front part that will stay where it is, from the back that is getting raised. We removed window bracket coverings and then cut the horizontal roof support bracket on the driver’s side. Once it came loose, the front windshield compartment moved forward about 1/8 of an inch. Oopsy! We realized that the front window, as well as the entry door, would stand all by itself if we would cut the other side the same way. This is not a good situation since worst case the entire windshield and door could fall forward without being able to stop it!

So we installed two braces. One in the center of the bus, holding the front window compartment from falling further forward and one brace on the side to keep the door in place.

With that all secured, we figured that we might run into another issue with the roof buckling once we raise because there will be no support underneath the side door openings. So, with help from R and N, we shored these up with 2×4’s and connected the door frames. Problem solved.

Now to the back of the bus

We proceeded to the back and unfastened many more screws to take off the side support rails at top and bottom. Next up was removing the back windowsills. We did a little extra useless work removing door screws before realizing they should stay. We want to keep as much of the structural integrity of the bus intact as possible when we raise. Fortunately, R has been helping out at the bus a lot. Otherwise there was surely no way to make the roof raise deadline.

Christmas surprises

And then Christmas happened. Lo and behold what a treat! The one thing that all internet skoolie converters seem to have that we did not have – shiny DeWalt tools that you don’t have to fix twice a day! We have been messing around with screwdrivers that had insufficient power, saws that stop halfway during the job due to overheating, oscillating tools that start smoking after cutting one bolt and drills that don’t have enough punch to make a hole in a sheet of steel.

Santa surely pulled her magic! Ho, Ho, Ho, we have just become professional bus converters! Thanks Santa!!

Sides of the bus

After all that excitement, we measured the bus to see how much steel we need to order to re-skin the 24 inch gap we are about to create.

Two quotes later, we seem to be able to do it all for about $500. All we need is a fire blanket, steel snips and a steel bender and we are good to go. Fortunately, that can all be bought at harbor freight as rental cost more than the tool.

A few more cuts to make and roof raise here we go!!

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Stage 1 rebuild

Week #20

Finally tackling the little things

Last week we finally managed to get all the remaining chairs disassembled so we could get some of the inside roofing and chair frames to the scrap yard. A small trailer load of 500lbs of steel gave us a whapping $30.- of income…

The last of the scraps from the back yard

Final driveway prep

Later that week we brought the bus into the driveway to pressure wash it for storage. We also grinded some of the roof rivets off. We then marked the cutting line so we can determine what exactly needs to be dismantled for the roof raise.

Sunday was finally the day we have been waiting for; our enclosed storage unit was ready! Now we have two months to get the roof raise as well as the skinning done before storage get too expensive. We loaded the bus up with all the tools and material we will need, including the raise insets and raise supports that have been in our bedroom for the past six months.

Prep work is underway

We had some happy helpers this week. R started to take out the windows while N collected all the screws, bagged them and marked them. The driver side window took us a while to take out since we have not done that before. In the end, we did get it out

We took off the doors, which were much heavier than anticipated. After that, the door jams were removed.

Then we removed the emergency roof hatches and dismantled the air conditioning from the roof.

Learning all sorts of new skills

We placed the floor jacks with the premade frames to make sure they will work.

Cutting has started

Then it was time to take out the front section of the roof. This will become a transition section. Even though we measured, once we started cutting, we noticed we had hit the fiberglass of the front roof cover. Can’t really change our minds at that point so we completed the entire cut. Now we have a little less than two months to figure out how to mount the transition piece without creating leaks. It’s a future problem.

Transition panel at the front of the bus

We figured that when the rivets were grinded off and the front cut was made, we could just easily lift the top section off. That was not the case. It took hammers and crowbars to get the roof section parted from the glue.

Now at least we are sure that any leaks we had were all related to the rivets and not the caulking cracks of the adjacent roof sections. It will take a while to clean all the glue remains off so we will have a proper welding surface…

For the coming days we have more dismantling to do, followed by measurements so we can get the skinning steel.

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Stage 1 rebuild

Week #19

Banner

As mentioned in the last post, we thought it might be a fun idea to hang a banner on the bus with the website information as we get asked all the time about our project. The new banner arrived since our last posting and looks great on the bus

Progress

After a few work trips, we got some more basic work was done. We caulked the gap between the plywood and the steel side of the bus. This was done so that when we start welding during the roof raise, no sparks will fall between the steel and floor. Even though the floor will be covered, we want to err on the side of caution. We also used plastic wood to fill the gaps in the plywood to ensure the floor is as smooth and level as possible.

Prep work

Next up – marking the cut for the bus and getting to a covered storage area so we can raise the roof in January.

Before that point, we still have to:

  • pressure wash the roof and bus
  • load up the roof raise cradles that were built earlier
  • take out all the windows (again)
  • take off the emergency escape hatches
  • take off the doors
  • unscrew the door posts
  • remove two of the window posts
  • grind off all the rivets on the back off the bus
  • unscrew the AC
  • drop all the wiring and protect it
  • get the filler steel ready
  • pre-cut the front roof of the bus
  • get the side of the bus sheet metal precut.

A lot of work in the next few weeks! But it will be a fun part of the project! Especially since we are merely a bunch of amateurs doing this 😊

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Stage 1 rebuild

Week #18

Prepping the outside

Converting a bus is a slow process. This week we spent cleaning the remaining reflective tape and signage off the side of the bus. After having tried several different methods, using the heat gun and an oak wood wedge seemed to be the only way to easily scrape the tape without damaging the paint. After having the tape removed, we used goo-gone and the plastic scraper to get the glue remains off. Then a bucket with soapy water to clean up the rest. The bus looks a lot less trashy now!

Removing all the gunk
Reflective tape / all Clean

Raising Prep

In addition, we have been pondering how to raise the roof with heavy air-conditioning unit attached to the roof in the back. The coolant lines do not seem to have enough flex to be able to raise the unit 18 inches. To prevent this from hampering the roof raise, we have decided to unbolt the unit from the roof. We built a frame where the unit can rest once we are in the roof-raise storage location.


Always frustrating

Sunday it was time to put the bus back in storage. Lo and behold, the thing would not start. AGAIN! This time it was because we forgot to flip the main breaker after having it parked so the batteries had slowly drained. Sigh. The battery-on-the-side-of-the-bus-jump-start did the trick.

We also removed the remaining rain guards from above the window so it will be easier to undo the screws and make the roof cut in the near future. We will paint them and put them back after the raise.

Next step is putting a bead of caulk between the plywood and the steel side of the bus so when we cut and grind no sparks will fall underneath the plywood and set the thing on fire.

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Stage 1 rebuild

Week #17

Picking up where we left off

Work has resumed and we are back making progress. We kept the bus in the driveway for the week to allow us to put back the various components removed for the engine repairs. The bump guard was cleaned up and put back and fan coil spindle re-installed.

Welding practice

We also had to replace/repair the engine hatch. This took some time to weld together. Part of that was because of a malfunction of the weld spool and part of it was figuring out the correct weld settings. But at the last few inches, we finally managed to get a good bead. Good practice for when we raise the roof. A little paint and some insulation and it is ready to go for next time we need engine access.

On Halloween, Cindy came up with a few good ideas; first one was to put some lights in the bus during trick-or-treat time. Once it was lit up, we suddenly had a lot of visitors who wanted to see the inside.

Our own version of a haunted house

Which led to the idea of making a banner that we can put on the front or back of the bus that has this website on it, making it easier for people to follow along in the adventure. The banner should be ready next week.  

Meanwhile, a lot of time is spent watching the various roof raises to figure out what the best way for us is to accomplish the raise. So many options, we just have to find the most convenient and safe way for us to do it. We also started looking at solar panels and roof decks, since we want to make sure we have those brackets in place before we start on insulation.

Next up is cleaning off more of the reflective tape so we can mark the cut for the roof raise.

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Stage 1 rebuild

A tiny wire…

So much support

The amount of calls and tips we received after the last blog was amazing and very heartwarming! Several people helped us with tools or pointed us into the right direction to get the information we needed.

We got in touch with someone who used to work on Cat engines and someone who used to work at the Pearland bus barn. They helped eliminate some of the potential problems and gave advice on how to start the engine directly from the starter without hurting ourselves. We followed the advice and …

IT STARTED!!!

The sound of success

Yes, indeed the bus started! We drove around the storage lot just to have the engine running and the tires rotating. Even though starting via a loose battery on the side of the bus is not how we want to keep starting the engine, it finally felt like we were getting somewhere! Plus, this confirmed that the engine faults were indeed fixed.

Drawings

From another direction we received the electrical drawings for our specific bus we so desperately needed. We traced and traced and traced wires some more. We noticed a “door open” LED that had appeared during all this tracing and we knew there should be a way to bypass all the door safeties. Door safeties are not necessary on an RV.

Wires, safety, and not all freightliners are built alike

From the very get-go, we have suspected that the lack of starting must be a problem with either a wire or solenoid. We did not want to spend thousands of dollars fixing things that do not to be fixed. After tracing all the wires using the drawings, we finally came to the solenoid we needed to bridge to get the bus started by ignition key at the driver seat. And that without impeding any of the other bus operational circuits!

Any freightliner that is not designed as a school bus does not have the door safety circuits so it was merely a matter of figuring out which wires to connect. (or solenoid to bridge)

The red jumper wire did the trick

We took out the interlock solenoid, put in a jumper wire and – praise the Lord – THE BUS STARTED BY TURNING THE KEY UP FRONT!!!!

We drove it home right away. Now it is a matter of closing the engine access hatch we created, putting back the bump guard underneath the engine and fan coil spindle that we had removed for easy engine access. Then we will be back on track so we can continue to prepare for the raising of the roof. And that’s how one little wire stopped us in our tracks for months on end…

Bottom hatch already installed

Onward we go!!

Categories
Stage 1 rebuild

Summer Update

July / August / September 2022

Where have the updates been?

We have had quite a few requests for a bus update. Why has it taken us so long to get back on track? Unfortunately, in a very short time span we had several tragic losses in our extended family and circle of friends. We never experienced this much grief and sadness on a weekly basis during a two-month period. Even living in the comfort that they are now all rejoicing with the hosts of Heaven, the mental impact for those left behind takes huge amounts of energy and does not leave much room for anything other than keeping the girls and ourselves moving forward. Add to that: camps, COVID, and AHG, and any free time we might have had was claimed by activities.

Getting back to life

Now that things are calming down, we are resuming our quest. Once we finally managed to get back to the bus, we tried once more to start it. Of course, it did not turn over. Instead, flash codes 25, 63 and 49 showed up. We are working with the flash codes since we do not have a reader that we can plug in.

Flash code 25 is a boost pressure sensor or intake manifold sensor issue.

Flash code 63 is a Fuel pressure warning

Flash code 49 is an inlet heater relay issue

We wanted to work on the boost pressure sensor code first. Unfortunately, it is impossible to access it from behind or side of the engine. We had to cut a hole in the bench. Always nice to do something like that AFTER having insulated and covered it with plywood…

Plywood, insulation, steel bench and sheet aluminum layers

Not an easy fix

Cutting the hole was not as easy as it sounds and due to limited time availability, it took about three weeks to have the individual cuts complete without destroying anything below the bench. Then we pulled out the sensor from the top of the engine and discovered that the replacement we had purchased was not the same as the sensor we had on the engine. It took two weeks to get the correct part. After that the engine still did not turn over so we proceeded to work on flash code 63.

Next code – fuel pressure regulator

This code can normally be resolved by replacing the fuel pressure regulator. This regulator is placed in another very convenient location: at the back of the engine. Hoping not to have to cut another hole in the bench, we decided to move the air intake line. This was much easier than expected. Even though access was difficult, we could see the front side of the engine clearly. The front of the engine was so caked in dirt and grime that it took us a while to find the regulator. It involved a few more days of research to make sure we would pull off the correct part.

With help from Oma, who had arrived for a two-week visit, we managed to get the grime off and find the problem location.

Ecstatic to be making some headway, we started to undo it (two more trips home for the correct tools). Lo and behold, the part came loose…. after breaking off the attached fuel pressure sensor… AAARGH!! Fortunately, Oma was sitting beside me to hold open the access hatch, which prevented the explicits from coming out of my mouth.

Oma helping to keep the calm, shine her light, hold the hatch, clean and preserve

Perseverance pays off

A few frustrated deep breaths and onward we went, unbolting the entire system. After blocking off and covering the now open fuel line, we took the section home. A little cleanup and reassembly, then back online to order a new fuel sensor. These have changed since this Cat was built so we hope the new version works the same way.

The old and new fuel pressure regulator and fuel pressure sensor

We did spot fuel in the electronic part of the sensor, a common issue with the Cat C7, so a replacement was due but still more money and time spent. We remounted the assembly and put back the air intake line. Re-strapped all the electronic cables and re-tightened all the bolts we had loosened for the easy access.

More delays

We spent a day replacing the batteries in the bus with fully charged ones. Then a day to figure out how to reset engine error codes. And of course, the latter did not work. Meaning we now have run all electrical possibilities and replaced:

  • Batteries
  • Starter
  • Boost pressure sensor
  • Fuel sensor
  • Fuel regulator

All of this, plus a lot of prayers and we are still stopped dead in our tracks. And we have not made one step of progress since May. We now officially have reached the point where we need to call in assistance. Frustrating, but we look forward to the moment where we have a purring engine again…

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Stage 1 rebuild

June 2022 Update

Electrical trouble shooting

Unfortunately, we don’t have much to report since we are still trouble shooting. We did figure out that while we see many advantages of having a pusher bus, one major disadvantage is that a pusher has extremely difficult engine access. Still, even though we didn’t expect the starter to be the issue, we decided to take it off just to rule it out.

In order to fit between the cooling fan and the engine, we first had to remove one of the fan supports. The only way to do that was by cutting part of the support spindle and push the rod out. We unbolted the bump plate from underneath the engine once the rod was removed. This is a thick steel plate that prevents the engine from getting hit when the bus drives over a big rock, or highway hazard. Clearly that had happened before because three of the bolts that hold the bump plate in place were completely flattened.

Dismantling problems

With those two items removed (this was a two-day process) we gained enough space to be able to disconnect the hot and neutral wires from the starter. That said, since I am right-handed and can I only can fit my left hand in the area we need to reach, so it took several hours to get it done. Then it was time to get underneath and remove the two bolts that hold the starter onto the engine.

Having the bus in a storage space with a gravel and dirt lot slows down the process. Between the wind and other vehicles driving through the lot, dust in the eyes in an issue. Safety glasses do not help and goggles won’t work with the limited space we are working in plus we are dealing with the excessive outside temperature. So in short; are we having fun? No, most certainly we are not. That said, if we get the bus running before we hit the 20 year mark the satisfaction would be tremendous!!

Never give up

Laying on the gravel and dust to remove the bottom bolt from the starter was easy. Fairly decent access and space to move the ratchet. Getting to the top bolt, which is hidden into an inaccessible space above the starter, was a whole different challenge. Eventually we managed to get it off. We used a ratchet with a 3ft extension and loosened the bolt while standing behind the bus and ratcheting inside the engine compartment. It is amazing that getting a bolt loose of a bus part that has no issue, still feels like a victory. How deep we have sunk…

Once the starter bolts were loose, we had to get back under the bus and slide the starter over hydraulic and fuel lines all the way aft. From there we could maneuver it between engine and aft hatch to pull it out. On the bright side: the teeth on the flywheel look excellent end we didn’t see any rust.

The only thing we did notice to be wrong is that the little starter wire clearly had a break in the connection because it did not have to be unscrewed but pulled right off. Could this really be the cause of the problems? We doubt it, but it would be great if it was. And as mentioned earlier, it would not be the first time that a simple connection break is the reason of a skoolie no-start.

Now that the starter is off…

We took the starter home and put it on the work bench for a test start. It runs with light noise, but not sufficient to be an issue. Some of the teeth are slightly warn and so is the core. But all in all it is not a bad starter for the amount of mileage that is on this bus. So we will clean it up some more and then put it back.

We also still have to replace the boost pressure sensor. Problem is that we simply cannot reach it. I am afraid we actually have to cut the bench inside the bus to get access to the top of the engine where this sensor is located. That is a problem for later this week after we put back the starter…