My Bus Journey

Demolition cont. (LOTS of progress)

3/17/2022

For the next phase of demolition (removing AC units and removing bolts on the bottom of the bus) I knew I needed help. I had a few days to myself to work on a few things. Fortunately, Alan's friend Lucie was available for two days to help. Together, we knocked out so much this last trip:

Back heater and coolant line
Ceiling AC units (2)
Wheelchair tracks (tip: 3/4" hole saws through the aluminum tracks if the hex bolts do not budge or are inaccessible in places below the bus)
Ceiling panels
Most of the wall panels
Started removing unnecessary wiring

I am confident we will finish the demolition next trip (rust conversion, welding the couple of bad rust locations, reseal windows, etc.)

Start:

During:

After:

As of now, my build plans look something like this below. I have made some additional adjustments since this arrangement. But it is coming together. I am enjoying demolition and I am thrilled to begin building in the near future.
The far left is the front five feet for the driver's seat (dark red paper) and steps. The yellow paper is storage area, including a 2 foot deep garage at the end. There will be welded loops for a hammock chair and hammocks inside (for those who want to come join me!)

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Let the Demolition Begin

3/4/2022

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I am playing catch up with the process as I already started a little of the demolition after I drove to Asheville a little over a week ago (has it really only been that long?!)

The two days following my arrival, I took final measurements and purchased some tools from the local box store. My demolitions plans are:

1. Easy stuff = small wins

wall divider by steps
padding above doors

2. Remove the flooring, including:

Metal strips on floor
Heater and electrical covers along the floor
Everything on top of the wheel wells
Rubber layer
Subfloor layer

But... it wasn't so straight forward or quick moving. Many of the screws stripped out. Because the bus had been used to secure wheelchairs, it came with extra floor tracks, which are proving to be a huge pain and stalling out the rest of the removal.

So I moved on to removing the walling that I could. I ran into more stripped out and immovable screws. I returned to the store to purchase screw extractor sets, which were helpful except when they broke off in the screws.

By the end of the two days, I had a better idea of what I needed. So I returned to Detroit to research and adjust my plan. I have been doing all this alone besides a couple screws that had bolts underneath that Alan helped me with. I do need some assistance, especially during demolition of the floor tracks (also attached underneath) and the heavy ceiling AC units.

All in all, I am glad to have things moving along. I return March 9-15, which will allow me a solid week to make a dent in demolition. I can't wait to finish demo and start building up my new home. This is certainly a practice in patience and incremental learning. Here are the before and after photos, which I will try to remember to complete each time to track my progress.