July 8th 2007

Another day bites the dust...

This is what we've got at the end of Serious Day 2, and then some. the black flooring is out and ALL of the side walls are out. We're leaving the back wall.

Looks like, the sky is the limit. Ten steps backward it seems....but just watch what'll happen in the next few months (or years)!

Marc, tearing out the covering on the steps. Rusty.

The plan as of 7/8/07

The plan....

Floors - Put in a new 1/2 in. layer of sub floor on top of the existing floor for added stability.

Walls and Windows -
Remove some windows and patch them in with fiberglass and metal studs. Our friend Danny can take care of this part for us, but first we'll chalk in the floor plan and see which windows will need to be removed. We do not want to build OVER the windows, because this is for the long haul, baby.

After the windows are patched, we will insulated the walls, cover them with luon (a thin plywood), cover the luon with carpet and cut in new smaller windows...and vents for the stove, microwave and hood. (update: we did patch four side windows, but left the other four as is - no new windows - although it still technically could be done if needed).


Propane -
Weld in a box for the propane tank and water tanks. We are brainstorming the best location for these things. Can we build storage under the bus??? Everything is an option, when nothing is what you've got.

Rust

Lots of this....

means lots of this....

and, also, black snot.

July 7th, 2007

The sun setting on our work.

I am so proud of us today. A Saturday. And we busted what we came to bust.
A wall and a half, gone.
Half the flooring, also gone.

Wanna convert a bus? A whole lot of this going on.....zzzt, zzzzzzt, zzzzzztt. Some of the screws were stripped out and a few were rusty. We're likely to toss the whole bunch and start fresh. (update: we filled in four side windows and had enough screws to screw the other four back together)

Whew, one day down!

Floors Step 1

Bye, bye black floors.


We made a monumental decision to GUT THE THING. Everything that can go, must go.
A little more work, but in the long run...it'll be well worth it.

I was very happy to see the yucky, dirty black floors go. It feels like throwing away bad memories - very cleansing. I think this must be part of Conversion Feng Shui - rid Maybelle of her past.

Kudos to the WONDERBAR crowbar!
Now, we can put down a new layer of subfloor on which to build our dream machine.

Walls

Ever wanted to see the inside of the wall of a shuttle bus?????

These walls are an exterior fiberglass with some sort of insulation sprayed on them. We found some rusty studs which leads us to the source of any sealing problems.

Bye, bye walls.

Step 1. Send the kids far, far away.
Step 2. Look at other conversions to make sure we can't buy our way out of this project.
Step 3. Unscrew all screws around each and every window and remove inner window frames (luckily, we did not have to remove the entire windows...yet).
Step 4. Unscrew all other things holding the walls to anything else.
Step 5. Rip out the walls and the plywood.