It’s Friday and I planned on prepping the floors for priming, but the delivery of the chassis builder is delayed until Sunday. So I decided to clean up the ceiling and remove the insulation that is just hanging off the roof.
Thursday I put a tarp over the emergency hatches.
I made quite a good amount of progress today, i made several videos of my adventures…enjoy!
I was able to remove all the screws from the floor, I moved the stock heaters up front out of the way to make it easier to prep the floors. Next I need to wrap up the rust removal, and weld a few problem areas before priming the floors with rust encapsulation.
This was taken by the previous owner of marketplace, not bad progress for a weekend project!
Today I started prepping the steel floors to remove the rust so I can prime them. I discovered several screws that were stuck into the floors that were fasteners for the wooden floors that were already removed. So I grabbed a grinder, and a barrel sander and got to it.
Today I removed all the seats and panels and parts that were sitting inside the bus. I stored the things I am hanging onto, and then I swept the floors and loosened some rust and dust and old wood/screws/brackets and other debris.
The first thing I had to do is invest in some tools. I bought a table saw, jigsaw, an oscillating tool, and various bits/blades. It was Christmas so I put them under the tree for me and the boys.
One of the big reasons I wanted to do this project is to learn and teach my kids how to handle tools and make things. Two of my sons are school aged while the other 3 are grown and in their own careers.
Hoping this will be a great. Bonding journey for all of us.
How does one end up deciding they want to buy a bus and convert it into an RV?
For me it was a combination of boredom, cabin fever, and social media putting other folks adventures in my video feeds.
At the end of 2024 I found myself in Robert Packard Hospital in Sayre PA. I had had complications from an aneurism to my spleen. I was hospitalized from the beginning of October until Thanksgiving.
During this time I was seeing a lot of videos of people giving tours of these converted school busses called Skoolies. I was very interested and ended up buying a school bus.
The Sickler Skoolie Build 