ezrablu - 1991 Bluebird of Happiness

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

You go girl

[ezrablu]

I think I'll posts a few photos of the inside now...starting with original condition before I did anything except remove one seat just behind the driver's seat and one little half seat which was in the very back. It's the seat I'm going to reinstall up front for Kitty. Other than that, all the seats were already removed (LUCKY ME!) Half the rubber was removed from the floor and the center isle.



I just removed the other half of the rubber flooring...came up pretty easy. You can also see I have a couple gallons of waterproofer/watersealer sitting there ready for me to use next....I painted the whole floor with it.


I caulked around all the seams and filled all screw holes, etc. with 50 yr silicone. I don't know if that it was necessary, but hey, I don't know what I'm doing EVERYTHING I've done and still have to do is what I got from photos and info off the internet.

[Rudy]

Very appropriate graphics for the bus. You are pretty good with that Photoshop program.

[ezrablu]

Thank you Rudy! Computers used to be my gig. I was lucky to have gone to college for computer programming/systems analyst before Windows was even invented. Then I went back and got a degree Microcomputer Specialist. I used to design web ads for a business in Philadephia. I haven't really messed with many programs the past 6 or 8 yrs but I used to design Flash stuff too. I was one of the original beta testers for the very first Playstations. I was hired because of my hacking skills

[ezrablu]

Rudy, it's black paint. I bought it from a farm store here called Fleet Farm. It's oil based Tractor Implement paint. I rolled it on with a regular house roller and used a brush where the roller couldn't go. It's tough and made to last plus take abuse from the weather.

I have a paint sprayer and air compressor so I should have taken the time to do it right BUT I didn't have a place to park it inside and with the wind not cooperating...I just needed to get a coat of paint on it before winter. It doesn't look too bad...the paint self levels when you roll it on it. It cost about $28 a gallon and it took about 2 gallons of black for the bottom half. The roof is a rubberized paint that took about 3 gallons at $75 for 5 gallons. I rolled it on per instructions.

[ezrablu]

Thanks Stan and Rudy for those answers. I'll have another look at that thing on the air filter to see if I can seal it.

And that thing you say is a blower is located along the floor on the drivers side just about 4-5 seats back. Then are a couple of hoses that come out beside that blower thing and continue waaaaay to the rear of the bus with a huge rectangle thing that looks like it's a heater of some sort. I left it all connected and ran the hoses up against the wall and framed the floor around them so they have their own little space they sit down in. Hard to explain but I'll try to post photos of it soon.

[ezrablu]

Here I've removed the driver's seat, the bumber and seat behind the driver's seat...




With the rubber and seats all removed, the floor waterproofed, I began to lay plastic. I know this might be overkill, BUT again, not really knowing what I'm doing, I put two layers of plastic. One over the original floor, then another once I laid the insulation. This is the first layer over the original flooring...


Here is a closeup of one of the wheel humps. Covered in plastic, framed with 2x2, insulation board. (After this, not shown yet, I put another layer of plastic, then the floor boards).

[ezrablu]

View from front looking to the back of the bus. The floor insulation process. My step were: Waterproof sealer over original flooring, caulk holes, plastic, framed with 2x2's and 2x4's, insulation laid between framing, another layer of plastic then the final floor boards laid. Then silicone caulked the crap out of all seams



Here you can see three of the steps at one time: insulation and framing, covered with very heavy black plastic, then the final floor boards toward the back. I used 3/4" OSB for the final floor because it was a lot cheaper than plywood. I figure it will be fine because I never removed the original plywood floor of the bus, plus with that waterproofed, double plastic and I waterproofed the OSB...I think it will be ok???

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

Insulation is one of the most importent parts cuz once your walls and floor are done there's no goin back

[ezrablu]

Another floor laying view...


Note to myself so I wouldn't drill a screw through those long hoses to the heater in the back


Here the top OSB floor is laid and tons of caulk. My first ever floor


The driver's seat area....I had to do it in a few sections because I wasn't sure really what in the world I was doing

[ezrablu]

Dennis, you know it...and that makes me nervous because I sure hope I have warm enough insulation. Money being the biggest factor as to what I'm able to afford to put in there. I bought carpeting with foam backing. I was gonna use...then decided I'll put a wood floor instead. But now I think I'll go ahead and lay the carpet. When I wanna put the wood floor in, I'll just clean the carpet real good and put it right over the top of the carpet. That should help with insulation, too. It would be like using extra thick underlayment?

[Rudy]

Blu, I put 3/4 inch prefinished oak floor boards in my bus. It looked great when new. After a year of dog's feet and nails, my muddy boots and sand being tracked in, the floor looks like it's been in a school for fifty years.

I could refinish it some day, but I actually do not mind the worn look.

The biggest problem I have is that the wood is cold on the feet during the winter.

The carpet in the back of the bus is a lot warmer.

As long as you have a good vacuum cleaner, I think carpet is a good idea.

Of course, you always have to worry about stains. Linoleum is the best for clean up and durability. The linoleum I had in the Dodge motorhome never showed any wear from two years on dog travel.

[ezrablu]

This photo isn't so great. It was getting dark outside. Well, here is how I did the driver's area floor. I wasn't able to remove the seatbelts from the floor...I TRIED and TRIED. I just wasn't strong enough. So, after hours of struggling, lots of bloody knuckles and some tears, this is what I ended up with. Again...craploads of caulk



Ok, here is a photo that you can kind of of see what I did with the long hoses. On the right of the photo you can see the long black hoses laying right up against the bus wall. Then, I framed the floor with a 2x4 right along them, then laid the OSB over the entire floor. They are in their own little compartment now. If you compare both sides of the bus floor you can see the difference of where the 2x4's are. On the left they are ran right against the wall...on the right, they are ran about 4-5 inches away from the wall and the hoses sit inside that area between them and the wall. I ran them up out of that over the wheel hump, then I'll secure the heater thing under my bed or something.
Now they are hidden and I don't have to build walls or cabinets around them.

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

So the foam board is 1 1/2" on the floor?

[ezrablu]

Rudy, I think I would like the "worn" look of the wood. Wood is beautiful now matter what Since I already purchased the carpet last summer, I was torn between just selling it or go ahead and install it. I think I'll go ahead and install it since I have it already. I'll use throw rugs down at the doors and make Kitty wipe her feet before she comes in

It's a matter of finances on what I do with my bus from this point forward. To keep my project moving along, I guessed at what I might need and I purchased materials and supplies in advance last year when I had the extra money knowing I would be strapped the following year (now).