<table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFC0"><tr><td>
Continuing from were we left off...
Another of the reasons for choosing a Crown instead of many other bus chassis that were available was the "trunk" at the rear of the bus:
<center>
</center>The inverse stair steps you see are actually the underside of the rear bench seat. The frame rails end at the lowest "riser", and the floor was cantilevered out over the cargo area, supported by the two diagonal braces made from round stock that you see.
The school district had been kind enough to supply a spare tire, nearly worn out and without a rim. It was stuffed into the trunk instead of placed on the spare tire rack under the bus. It was a real effort to dig it out of this area, being down in a well and weighing about 200 pounds...
<center>
</center>An hour or so with the Sawzall opened this area up. The contour of the bench seat can still be seen by the remaining metal on the far wall. The next step in preparing the bus is to remove the step you see against the wall. It contains the engine muffler, which is about five feet long and exits through the rear bumper. I need this area cleared down to floor level to make this area of the bus useful living space.
<center>
</center>Unbolting the diagonal supports and removing the plywood flooring opened the trunk area up to the inside of the bus. I have one more section of flooring to remove after cutting out more of the trunk framing.
<center>
</center>Finally, the last of the demolition is complete in the trunk area. I've cut through the wall at the end of the frame rails, removed the muffler box and stripped the louvers off of the exterior of the bus. The floor of the former trunk can now be extended forward and a stairs installed to make access from the main level possible.
The engine muffler has been replaced with a more compact unit from the big truck wrecking yard and moved forward into the engine compartment.
<center>
</center>Pieces of the old trunk framing were rewelded in new and better shapes to enclose the area and make a flat floor. All of this was necessary to allow a stand-up height under the rear sleeping loft, and to allow the installation of a full-height rear door.
From the very beginning, the Crown construction style appealed to me because there was no 'pusher' engine in the way of accessing the rear of the bus, and the trunk area made having a door almost at curb level possible in the back of the bus. I wanted a easy and pleasing rear entrance, one that didn't require a step ladder to use.
<center>
</center>After the lower level construction was complete, I moved the bus to the larger forward area that was now leveled with fill, and erected a long, thin shed on the ground where the bus had been parked. The roof trusses for this shed are Rohn 25 radio tower sections laid on their sides, the roof joists are scrap wood, and the corrugated aluminum roofing recycled from an ancient battery shed in Portland. It's all put together with drywall screws. The purpose of the 8 x 30 foot shed is to give me a place to store the 20 foot long sections of steel that will be used in the construction of the Crown's roof raise.
<center>Continue to Volume Three</center>
</td></tr></table>