BIG PILE OF SEATS !

EMPTY BUS

SHEET METAL PANEL

TOO BLOODY COLD !

Here's Some Info & Ideas on how  we planned the Interior floor plan and exterior set-up on our new Bus 'Latcho Drom' .
When I converted our last two buses I drew out on paper the basic set-up we were looking for ... then did the interior setup ( walls ,floor , cabinets ETC. ) first before adding the water lines , electrical lines and all the other important bits . BIG MISTAKE ! I ran into many situations where I had terrible problems making things fit right . Convoluted Wiring runs ...more twists and turns to my propane and water lines then were necessary . And a bunch of other little problems . Everything worked fine and was safe when I got done ...But, it was definitely an inefficient way to go about building something . 
Do yourself a big favor and don't convert your Bus this way ! It's Much easier and more efficient in the long run to plan out your basic floor plan ... then install all the exterior inlets & outlets ( water fills , electrical ports etc. ) , roof vents , air-conditioner , TV/Satellite antennas , Ladder etc. .Plus you'll want to cut your 'Holes' for the hot-water heater, generator compartment and any other inlets/access ports you'll need . It's a good idea to plan out your LP/propane system first too.

Here's another thing I'm doing before I put in any flooring.
For our new Bus we ordered Heavy-Duty underbody truck boxes to carry our horizontal Propane tanks in ...so I'll install them before putting any flooring in ....here's why .
If you look underneath a School Bus you'll see a bunch of steel reinforcement beams that run laterally ( width-wise ) across the bus.
Here's a pic of what I'm talking about


Each of these beams extend 3 inches from the steel floor sheeting . The Beams are hollow , but there's no way to safely run a Bolt through them that would carry the load of the steel boxes with a full 7 gallon propane tank in them . Theoretically you could cut out a section on the side of each beam that you could drop a bolt down through ...but I'd worry about that section being weakened if I did that . 
If you know how to weld or have a friend who does, you could weld steel bars across the tops of the Ribs that were pre-drilled to hold the bolts to hang the boxes instead of doing the process the way were doing . Unfortunately I don't know how to weld ...and where I live Welders charge around $75.00-$100.00 an hour...So we'll 'Hang' the boxes ( we're also using this method to hang our Black & Gray-water Holding tanks ) ...by drilling holes in between the reinforcement beams/ribs through the steel sheeting and all the way up through the plywood sub-floor .

Because the Floor of a School Bus is only made out of 1" plywood laid down over thin sheet metal ...you'd run into problems if you just drilled a hole down through the plywood and the thin steel under-flooring , and used a washer & bolt set to hang the boxes . Eventually all the weight and jiggling about from driving would crush the plywood floor and the washer & bolt head would 'eat' it's way down to the very thin steel under sheeting . That steel sheeting doesn't have any real loading bearing characteristics .

 So to deal with that problem we'll use 1/8 "thick steel bars sized for the width of the boxes that we'll drill holes through for the bolts to help spread out the Load on the interior floor, then we'll drop bolts through the holes in the floor that will hold the boxes . I'll have a welder spot-weld the head of each bolt to the steel reinforcement bar to keep them from spinning when I tighten the nuts . This shouldn't cost us too much to have done ... where having bars welded to the underside for the 4 boxes & 2 holding tanks would cost us a fortune here .
Later when we lay down our plywood floor I'll cut recesses in the underside of the plywood to fit the height and width of the steel bars ...so everything should lay nice and flat .With a set-up like this we'll be able to take the boxes and holding tanks off easily for repairs , and it will be plenty strong enough to carry the load.

But if we didn't live on an Island where everything costs a immense amount of money to have done ...I'd just have a professional welder weld bars onto the Ribs to hang the Boxes and Holding tanks. 

 

ONE SIDE FINISHED

RIVET PROBLEM

Here's how I installed the galvanized metal panels
Because of the big Bus Rivets I mentioned earlier...I had to drill out holes to allow the panel to fit flush with the exterior Bus body. Rather then measure every rivet placement , I put a dab of Black enamel paint on each rivet . Then I carefully placed the panels where I wanted them , and pressed down . Then I took the panels down ...and 99% of the time the enamel paint had put little paint marks on the back of the panel where the rivets were located . Now I had a good idea where to drill out the holes . I used a metal punch to start the hole and then drilled out each one . Then I held each panel back up to check that the holes would fit correctly . Most of the time it worked great . But some of the holes were a bit off ... but that wasn't a problem . 
Now I measured down each side of the panel and drew a line approx. 1/2" in from the outside . Along that line I put a mark every 1-1/2" and drilled out holes where my 1/8" rivets would go. After all the holes were drilled out , I put beads of "Liquid Nails " where the panel would lay on the buses exterior. 
( This Idea came from The Blackman Family , They used this idea on their Bus conversion to make a good seal and to deaden some of the noise problems that can come from steel panels .Thanks for your help Blackman Family ) . 
Next I held the panel securely to the bus and drilled carefully through the panels 1/8" holes into the bus body . I started at the top of each panel and drilled one hole on each side ...and then pop-riveted it into place . I then worked my way down the sides riveting it securely to the bus . As I worked my way down each panel ...sometimes a Rivet hole that I had cut out earlier ( The original big Bus rivets ) was off a bit .
 To fix this I found a Socket that would match the rivets size and using Vice-Grips to hold the socket securely... I held the sockets head over the Rivet , and hit it with a hammer until it compressed the sheet metal over the rivet . Some of the exterior holes look a bit rough right now because of having to whack on the rivet holes a bit .... but once I'm done with the interior reinforcements on the panels . I'll go outside and smooth down the edges with a small hammer ,then use auto-body filler material to make the whole thing look nice .
 

OTHER SIDE DONE

INSIDE

INSIDE

ANGLE IRON & BOLTS

ANGLE IRON DETAIL

Cutting Holes in the exterior of your Rig can be a bit intimidating for sure. But it has to be done sometimes ...so try not to get too stressed out about it . Just do your best to keep your Cuts straight . If you Mess up your cut , it's not The End of the World . You can always make things look nice & tidy by covering the cut with metal or aluminum moldings & edgings . Which you would have to do anyway if the hole is made for a Compartment door .

Here's how I went about installing the vents 
... first I climbed up on top and found 'Center' using a measuring tape and carpenters square . Then using the Template that came with the Vents ( the back of the vent box had a cut-out to use for this ) ...I traced around the template . I was tempted to use the Sawzall to cut through the exterior Roof and the interior ceiling steel paneling at the same time . But , I was afraid I might screw it up , and wouldn't get a true square cut .So instead I used a Jigsaw to first cut out the Exterior section ... then went inside and cut out the interior section . Before I used the Jigsaw , I used a 3/4 hole-saw attachment on my drill and cut out a hole approx. 1/2 inch in from the outside line I had drawn on the roof . That hole gives you plenty of room to insert the jigsaws blade into without binding it up . After I had cut out the section where the vent would go on the top of the roof ...using a small carpenters square to get a nice straight vertical angle ...I drilled out a hole at each corner of the interior ceiling panel ( which was now visible through the hole in the roof ) . Inside the bus I taped the Vents template to the ceiling ... using the 4 holes as a guide to make sure it was in the right spot and traced around the template . Then I cut that out with the jigsaw . 
I probably could have used the Sawzall to do the whole thing at once...but a Sawzall , for me anyway ...just doesn't have the ability to do a really fine cut . I imagine folks who use them a lot would have no problem cutting through both layers and making it look good .
The Vents we installed have 12 volt fans ...so next , using a Hole-saw attachment I drilled out a 3/4 inch hole where the 12 volt wiring would run through the interior ceiling panels to the vents . I always use marine quality shielded ( encased ) 12 volt wiring in our buses instead of typical standard Auto wiring ...so I threaded the wire through the hole and fed it to the vent hole . Next I connected the positive & negative wires to the Vents fan wiring ...using wire nuts and wrapping each one in Black electricians tape for added safety .
Back up on the roof again ...I applied the flexible water-proofing putty that came with the vent to the bottom edges of the vent and pushed the vent down firmly into the hole in the roof 
( NOTE : always install the vent with the back hinged portion facing the front of the vehicle )
 Then using a 1/8 drill bit I drilled out ...using the vents predrilled holes as a guide a hole at the center of the front and rear of the vent . Motor Homes and trailers roofs are mostly flat so you would start screwing the vent down at its corners . 
But a School Bus roof is curved so you have to start at the center of the vent working outward in each direction so the vent will conform to the roofs curve . We bought the Vents with metal body's instead of plastic ones for just this reason ( they'll bend a little without cracking ). After I screwed the vent down securely . I applied a dab of exterior Caulking over each screws head ...and for an added measure of safety , ran a bead of caulking around the vents edges .
 
All vents have an interior ceiling garnish cover . They cover up all the nasty looking edges and such . I'm pretty sure Motor Home folks have to do the same here as I did ...but since I've only installed new Vent units in Buses I cant be sure . The Garnish piece was Way too large ( depth wise) to fit flush against the interior ceiling panel of our bus . So using a Hacksaw Blade , I cut off approx. 1-1/2 inches of the portion of the garnish that fits into the vent . I thought about using my jig-saw for this , but decided that I'd probably crack the plastic... So , I used the hacksaw blade instead .
Once again the inside ceiling has a slight curvature , So in the center of the cover I drilled out a 1/8 inch hole ( facing front & rearward of the rig ) . Then starting at the center holes screwed the garnish down . They bent nicely to conform with the bus ceilings curvature .
That's it ...I think they look great inside . Nice and flush ..no nasty edges to scrape your head on.

Here's some info on the 'Maxx-Air' vent covers we installed .    
These are really ingenious things ! Someone had their 'thinkin' cap' on when they came up with the idea for these .
The Maxx-Air Units are designed to be placed over your existing Roofs vent . They allow you to keep your vents open when its raining. Plus you can leave the vents open when you're driving without worrying that you'll lose the vents cap from wind . The rear portion of the Maxx-Air has louvered vents and a screen to keep 'Creepy Crawlers' out .
Here's how you install them . The Maxx-Air comes with 4 brackets designed to attach the Maxx-air Cover to your existing vent. You'll want to make sure you locate these brackets as far out toward the ends of the vent as possible . Hold the Bracket against your Roof vent and make a mark through the brackets hole where you'll want to drill a hole . Next you'll drill a hole through the roof vents body and use the Nut/Bolt set that came with the bracket to secure it to the roof vent . Attach the brackets to all 4 corners of the Vent ( Note ! Make sure you feed the bolts that will hold the Maxx-air cover into the bottom portion of the brackets first , before attaching the brackets to the roof vent body . It would be a real pain in the you know what to try to squeeze the bolt under the gap that's left afterward ) Now place the Maxx-Air cover over the bolts that are pointing upward and use the lock washers and nuts to lock the cover down securely .
That's not a very good explanation I'm afraid ... but don't worry about it .The Maxx-Air comes with an easily understood installation sheet 

 

The Winegard TV Antenna was pretty easy to install ... just follow the Great instructions that come with the antenna and you'll have no problems .
Here's a short run-down on how you install it . In the Directions is a template that you use to cut your hole for the antennas crank-arm rod  that extends down into the rigs interior. You'll use a hole-saw attachment on your drill to cut out the appropriate sized hole through the roof . Every Roof has a different thickness ...so you measure the depth from the outside roof to the interior ceiling ...If I remember right ours was 2-1/2 thick . Then you'll cut the antennas crank-rod to fit the roofs thickness .The instructions have a chart that will tell you how much of the rod needs to be cut off to fit your particular roofs thickness . After you cut the rod to the right size ...you'll attach the antenna to the roof using the metal screws that come with the antenna . We laid down strips of pliable Butyl water-proofing tape underneath the antenna base before screwing it down .
Then you go back inside and screw the interior Roof plate section to your ceiling ( Just follow the directions it's easy ) . Next you'll hold another circular piece of the set-up against the roofs plate  ... and insert a Spring . Then ..while you're holding the spring and rotating plastic section up  , you'll push the handle onto the rod that you cut to fit earlier ...and screw in the tiny Hex set-screw in the handle to hold the whole thing up securely . That's it . It was surprisingly easy to do .

One modification I made to the installation process was to drill a hole into the Rod where the Set-Screw would go . The handle on this antenna is made of pretty flimsy looking plastic ... I don't trust plastic handles to hold up for any length of time . By drilling into the rod ... and letting the set screw protrude into it versus just having it touch the rod , the holding power of the Plastic handle will probably last a really long time . It shouldn't Slip .