First step in taking out the floors was to roll off the laminate. It was surprisingly easy. We had seen other people’s videos where they needed to use a heat gun to melt the glue first, but it just rolled off really easy for us. Only the ends or corners were still glued down and required a little more convincing.
We removed the ramp at the front of the bus. Once we figured out how to get the bolts and screws out which were stripped down, we used a couple crow bars on either side to pull the metal frame for the ramp out. Under the ramp are a bunch of pipes that are wrapped in foam covers. We don’t know what these do but we are sure this is something very important and we got a little nervous. We have just exposed a part of the bus that we really don’t want to accidentally damage, we are going to have to be extra careful now.
This job is overwhelming us at the moment, and we are only at the very beginning. While we were eager to build our bus in a short amount of time, we are realizing this pace of working is too tiring on our bodies and we are going to have to slow down and take more days off to rest in the week. We pulled out the good old ShopVac again and vacuumed up the dust and random crap that fell out of the walls - pennies, wrappers, chewing gum and screws. We started to think of what order we want/need to do things in as we begin to build the bus. We are not quite done with the floors yet, however we were done with this day and ready to rest.
Up Next
We start removing the plywood floors and as usual…..obstacles arise.
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This has been our "Hero" tool. With the bus as filthy as it is, we needed a work horse shop vac. The one we are using is an older version of this one here.
Hi Mela and Don,
Regarding the pipes insulated with foam, these are the for the front defrost (antifreeze from the engine, supply & return), A/C for the driver (ducts under windshield, again a supply and a return hose))and power steering hoses.
There should be a big A/C system between second and third bay. Since you removed the inside duct at the base of both walls, that big A/C is of no use anymore ( it is called over the road(OTR) A/C, only running when the engine is running). You can remove that system to free up some space and remove a lot of weight. There is a big compressor in the engine compartment driven by belts. More metal scrap !!!
Hey Dennis, Thank you. Yes planning on removing that A/C system and use that space under the bus for something.
I was wondering if we could just yank that compressor out of the back or not. thanks for the tip. might get a few dollars for that one 🙂
Yes, just remove the belts and unbolt that big compressor. (Ideally the refrigerant should be recovered by a professional in order to not pollute the atmosphere).