Let The Fun BeginHere we have removed the windows, frames & damaged skins. First the rubber roof seal was removed and then the escape windows. Release the inside latches and then the upper phillips screws and the windows come right off. Next, remove the windows and frames as a unit, by air chiseling off the rivets on the bottom and sides of the fiberglass frames, and then cut above the curve with a saw-zall. The frames are now ready to remove. There is ALOT of chalking so take your time. Next drill out the rivets in the roof channel and pry out the remaining pieces of the fiberglass frames. This methods allows for the removal and re-installation of new steel skins without affecting the seal between the roof frame and roof skin. The entire side took me and a friend about 3 hours. We will be re-installing 3 windows in the front & 2 in the back after re-skinning.
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Removing The Window & Frames
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*WOW* No Rust
The next step was to remove the upper skins. They were damaged, and we plan on replacing all the skins with mirror finish stainless and the No Rivet, smooth sides. The skins were easy to remove with an air chisel. After the window frames were gone, it took only about an hour to remove the skins down to the bay doors. After hearing All the stories about rusty buses, We were extremely happy to find that under the skins, there was NO RUST. |
Scrape, Scape, Scrape
With the overhead bins, wall & roof panels, bathroom, and heat & a/c ducts removed I have about 1000 lbs of scrape. Fortunatly, most of the bins are aluminum and the heating ducts and outer skins are stainless, so some can be re-cycled and the money used elsewhere. |
