Back in the Bus: Building our Floor Extension – S03E07

Coming back to the bus build post honeymoon, we had to attack the problem we left behind.  We had to complete the floors in the back, leaving the hatch to the engine accessible, and building up the floor in the front of the bus so it was all one level.

Before we left for honeymoon we had cut a hole in the plywood for the back of the bus, but the hatch cover didn’t sit perfectly in it.  We realized we needed to bolt down the hatch in place to get the correct measurements as the hatch could move around inside the floor frame if it wasn’t. Most of the bolts were rusted out and broke off inside the hatch.  We bought some new bolts and using a combination of Blaster Penetrating Spray, a Tapping Thread Tool, brute force and a drill we were able to get the old rusted ones out. Now that we were able to bolt down the hatch cover, we changed our approach and cut 3 separate pieces of plywood to cover the back of the bus around the engine hatch and it all fitted perfectly this time.

Our bus had a ramp down the center isle of the bus and the front 2 chairs were on a lower level. We wanted to level all this out so we built a wooden frame to attach our plywood floors to.  We used metal joists hangers to fasten our new wood frame in place. This was definitely the most challenging part of our floors as there were a lot of different angles to deal with.

 

Up Next
We clean and paint the roof with a sealant.

By Mela & Don

Mela and Don are sharing their journey as they make conscious decisions to live a more healthy, environmentally friendly life together.

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