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 😊
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.
From the no start a couple of weeks ago, there had not been an opportunity to investigate the new electrical issue. Which is a shame since we really were hoping to get a good start on the roof raise with some help from Holland. But that did not happen.
Older brother disconnecting batteries
After a lot of investigation, jump starting battery, recharging battery and having batteries tested, it appeared we needed to replace the batteries that we bought only a few months ago. So, we went to back to the store where we bought them.
Fortunately, they were still under warranty.
It wasn’t just the ones we have
Unfortunately, when they tested the batteries available in store, they showed to have faulty cells as well. They advised us to go to a different store location, which we did, the next day. One more day added to our timeline.
Batteries at Store #2
At that location they tested their batteries… and they showed bad as well! Mind you, these all seemed to be from the same batch and with the same manufacturing date. In any case, I was referred to yet another store.
Batteries at Store #3
That store only had two in stock, again from the same batch and manufacturing date. Also showed to have faulty cells. Rather strange… In any case, we were sent back to the first store to get our money back for the batteries we bought just two months ago. One more day added to our time line.
Batteries Back to store #1
When coming back to the first store one day later, the manager claimed to have found two new batteries that were just low, but would be fine once charged and that the problem was that the employees just had no idea how to correctly test them. (in three different stores ?!? sounds like an educational issue to me) In any case he would charge them but that would take one day… One more day added to our time line.
Trip 3 to store #1 – same batteries
Next day we went back and low and behold they had two charged batteries. However, there was no manager in the store. Being rather weary at this point, we asked them to re-test the batteries in front of us. First battery passed, no issues! We are getting somewhere! Second one.. failed again. So being done with it we asked for our money back again.
Connecting batteries once more
They stated that they had one good battery and they would give money back for one battery and give us the only working one as a replacement for the second battery. Yeah no. Then they claimed we had already turned in one battery so they would only refund one. Right. With the back of our car open showing two batteries sitting there?!?!
Little more hassle but ended up with a full refund. Then went to the competitor down the street who had two batteries in stock, tested in front of us and found in good order. Finally!
With life getting back to normal and being respectful of our HOA, work on the bus is limited to after hours at storage or weekends.
Wiring
The bus we purchased was a handicapped bus with fully functional wheelchair ramp. Though when we purchased it, the wheelchair ramp had been partially removed and fully disconnected, it meant all the wiring for said ramp was still in place as well as various wiring required for the school bus lighting.
The pre-installed bus items we wanted to keep were the dome lights, speakers, door opening/closing, the driver seat fans, the front heater and the air conditioning. All other school (safety) gear, wires, fuses and solenoids were removed. If we were not sure of the function of a wire, we started the bus after disconnecting it. At some point we lost the upper running lights, but fortunately we managed to trace those wires back and get them reconnected.
Luckily, this was something that could be done at the storage yard in the afternoons. Wire removal in this bus is a very long and tedious process. It can be done in two different directions, but we preferred to start from the source and work towards the fuse boxes instead of the other way around.
The removal requires a few simple tools; a box cutter, electrical tape, crimp tool and some connectors. We labeled the wires we wanted to keep with their function, that way we don’t have to search for them when we re-assemble the bus. We cut the wires we did not need and coiled them up for re-use in the future.
Cleaning up the auxiliary fuse panel was a day’s work in itself. Trying not to cut or remove anything that could affect the bus operation was a bit nerve wracking. The cleanup of this fuse panel was completed, but the dashboard to main bus fuse panel cleanup still needs to be done.
All in all, we now have 20 lbs pounds less wire in the bus then before we started.
Flooring
Ivo’s younger brother, Niels, came to town over the weekend with his kids. Originally, we were going to go to Galveston for the day to play on the beach, but he brought the pacific northwest weather down with him. Since it was too cold for the beach, and the kids were having a blast just playing at the house, he offered to help with the next phase of demolition.
Flooring was the plan for the day. The linoleum and plywood were dirty and worn. Even with the current cost of plywood, we decided to pull it all up and discard it to ensure we started with a clean bus.
We were very happy with how easy the floors came up. It required disassembly and re-assembly of the driver’s seat to get the flooring from underneath, but for the rest – two crowbars and some muscle did the trick.
All nails stayed in the floor, so after removing the plywood we still had to get rid of those as well. The first nail we pounded through with a hammer, but that left a nail head which may be in the way when we put the new plywood in place. Instead, we decided to grind off the remainder of the nails. This would leave less holes to fill and a more solid floor.
To make sure the bottom of the nails would not fall out after cutting the tops, with risk of puncturing tires during a drive, we checked if we could push the cut nails through the floor with a hammer and a punch. All that hammering and pounding proved the nails would all nicely stay in the floor after grinding but…. when we looked under the bus, we noticed all the washers that were not removed after the chair removal nicely lay on our driveway….
We also tried to cut the bolts of the last remaining wheelchair track with an oscillating tool. (Advice from up north can very occasionally be taken seriously) It worked like a charm until the cheaper version of the tool we purchased started smoking. Cheap is not always good, but we simply cannot afford all this pretty new DeWalt stuff we see in the do-it yourself videos. Now we need to buy the same tool twice though.
By the end of Saturday, all the flooring had been removed with the flooring smooth.
For the coming week, we have remainder of the wire cleanup and a bus deep clean on the schedule. We’ll see what we can get done.
