Stripping the Interior

You've found your bus and you've taken it home - now what? Well, its time to start gutting, stripping and removing everything on the inside to make ready for your interior. The buses are all a little different in their interior make-up so we are going to talk about an MCI 8 and make reference to the different models. However, before you start the stripping on any bus. Purchase, borrow or photocopy a copy of the bus maintenance book. This book will tell and show how all systems and parts were installed, how they work and how to remove them. It's the best $45 to $125 that you will spend. While you're at it, purchase a parts book as well. It gives you all the part numbers you'll need when you're ready to order the parts.First thing out are the seats.
All of the major models have the seats bolted to the floor with a tracking system which lets the commercial operators slide the seats forward or backward to allow for a minimum or maximum number of passenger seats. As a result, the seats come out very easily by removing the two nuts (9/16 hex head) from the bolts mounted in the floor tracking system and then removing the two nuts on each corner of the seat along the wall mounting system. Once the four nuts are removed, the seat can be lifted up and carried out the passenger door. The older coaches have the seats bolted directly to the floor. The newer (around 1978) coaches have what is called a center pedestal seat in which there is one leg in the center of the seat going to the floor It is removed the same way as the aisle mounted seats.

The seats in most of the older coaches have little or no value, depending on the condition. If they are newer seats, with the pedestal seating, they have more value. The older seats might go to Mexico or a Central American country, but you will be lucky just to have them hauled off. On the newer seats you might be able to sell them for $500 to $1,000 or more if they are in great shape. Check with bus dealers or bus operators in your community to see if they have an interest in your used seats. If not, they might still be willing to take them out just to help you get rid of them. The last thing you need is a neighbor complaining about 50 bus seats piled up at the side of your house. So once they're out, get rid of them. You might want to keep one for the passenger side. I found myself actually using it for my co-pilot seat. Some people have used sets for their dinette as well. May not be custom, but they work.

After the seats are out of your way, you want to tackle the luggage racks. The MCI's are the easiest of all coaches because they are bolted on and not riveted in place. As a result, you unbolt them and lower them to the floor of the bus. Once on the floor, you can use a SawsAII to cut them into smaller sizes to remove from the bus. I always found it easiest to open one of the side windows (hinged from the top) and hand them out in larger pieces. Be careful when you come across your wiring looms. You may cut and remove your reading and interior lights, but keep a lookout for the wires that lead to your marker lights. Some of the luggage racks in some models are aluminum and have a scrap value. Check with your local recycler to see what they pay for them, you could be surprised. Also, remove all the reading light bulbs. You may be able to use them in your marker lights, taillights or other area of your bus. If they're 24 Volt, and you have to go buy them, they are hard to find and cost up to $3.50 each!

Once your racks are out of the way, it's time to remove the toilet. First, you remove the forward wall, sidewall and door. All of these pieces come out pretty easy with just a Phillips screwdriver, a hammer and chisel to knock off rivets and a 9/16 box end wrench. After that you can start in on the back wall with the mirror and sink. These come out with a little more work and a lot more time, but you're still working in the somewhat clean area. (Before you bring the bus home, make sure you dump the holding tank and rinse it out. I mean really rinse out the holding tank and restroom area.)

Once these parts are removed, you find a fresh water holding tank, some plumbing and a few other items of interest behind the wall. Take them all out, being careful to close off any air lines you might have had to cut. (Some buses used an air flush system.) You might also come across some electrical wires used for the bathroom light, fan and door lock light. Remove these wires, check your maintenance book wiring diagrams and disconnect the wires in the appropriate fuse or electrical panel.

Your next project in this area is to remove the toilet. My vote is to hire someone to do it. Whatever he charges, it's worth it times two! Different models had the toilets and holding tanks installed in different ways. You're going to have to look in the maintenance or parts book for your model to see how it actually comes out, but it's not easy.In the MCI the hoIding tank can be removed from the engine compartment by taking off the strapping system that holds it in place. But on the GMC buses you have to remove the transmission to get the tank out in some models. If that's the case, you might consider just covering over the tank from the inside of the coach with plywood. (Seal it really tight so you won't have any air seepage.) The tank is really out of the way and won't bother anything by being left in below floor level.You'll want to remove the dump system pipe and valve located in the engine area to give you a cleaner looking engine compartment and surrounding area.

In some of the MCI models the bathroom has a stainless steel floor that has a lip coming up about two inches above the floor line. This lip and stainless steel pan was used to keep the water inside the bathroom and prevent it from running into the passenger area in case of a mishap. Some people resort to cutting this lip out with a torch, but you can get the floor out with the lip by using a pry bar and sliding it under the floor about three inches and prying it forward and up. This might do some damage to the plywood floor, but you're going to have to recover that area anyway.

Another solution is using a circular or skill saw and cutting the floor away around three inches forward of the lip of the pan. By doing this, it'll come out pretty easy, and you'll have to place new flooring in that area anyway. Again, many of the materials you'll be pulling out have a salvage value for their metal content. The MCI's use a lot of stainless steel. You'll find that you'll get even more money for the scrap if it's brought in clean; that is, the aluminum without steel screws in it and stainless with aluminum or steel screws or rivets in it. Don't get too caught up in the recycling side of the project. Remember, you've got a long way to go and you don't want to waste too much time trying to save a dollar.

Moving forward, now that the head is out, we'll start taking out the ceiling panels. They come out real easy. First, pull out the gray rubber seal running down the inside of each trim piece. Then, with an electric screwdriver, remove the Phillips screws and each panel will come down with just a little work. On some of the buses these panels are aluminum and therefore worth taking to a scrap metal dealer for recycling.

Beneath the panels you will find speakers and speaker wire, wires for your marker lights. (You might have two of them in the middle of each side as well as in front and rear.) You also can remove the fiberglass insulation if you're planning to use spray foam or another type of insulation. If not, leave the factory insulation in. It's not the best, but it's not bad either and is better than nothing at all. In fact, if you're planning on a low cost conversion, you might want to keep the bus ceiling in place. By not taking it down, you'll have the bus insulation in place. (This is not my recommendation...but it can be done this way.)

Below the windows you'll find upholstered panels. These panels will be removed and will expose another aluminum panel that is riveted to the bus framework. My recommendation and MCI position is to leave these panels in and put your plywood wall cover on top of them. They are a structural part of the bus, to a degree. I have never heard of anyone having a structural body failure due to the removal of these panels, but I don't want to be the one blamed if it ever does happen.