Think, then Do

Quick post. I cleaned the garage and started exposing the interior of the bus. Today goes through some of that.

Think Once
I hadn't realized just how much think time I waste on some projects. Take cleaning the garage as an example. Usually, I'll just start at one end picking things up and putting them away until I'm either done or sick or doing it. Then, I'll sweep whatever I find and call it good. Net-net, its a crappy job of cleaning, but it looks better than before, so I'll call it clean. This takes a long time. I realized this past weekend why, I think. For each item I pick up, I have to think about where it goes or should go. I'll take it over to that spot, and then have to figure out whether there's room, etc. Lots of standing there thinking time. This weekend I tried a different approach: think once.

I went into my garage with no intention of starting anything cleaning-ish. I had my coffee in my hands and wool socks on my feet. I just surveyed. Sports equipment over there. Christmas decorations over there and there. Skateboards and snow equipment in little piles. And, of course, lots of bus parts. I took mental notes of what needed to go where and considered what-would-fit-where all at once.

Then Do
Like anything else, once a plan is set, just execute the plan. All this sounds simple and obvious, I'm sure, but I'd never gone after cleaning a garage that way. I had it organized in half the time. Following a quick sweep, I was able to shift focus onto the bus. First, there was the not-so-small matter of all the exterior parts. Since I'd planned for where all those parts were going to go, it took 15 minutes to empty the bus of stuff. Then, I simply removed the rest of the interior of the bus.

Removing the Interior

interior strip in progress

I started with the wall panel. It popped off with light tugging with my fingers. Choosing to use standard fasteners rather than bolts pays off in the removal step here. Once the MDF is covered with thin foam and vinyl, it will appear as an even better decision.
The Vanagon middle sliding bench that I installed a couple of years ago is held in place with 4 13mm bolts. Remove them and the seat easily slides out. So I don't lose the bolts, I fingered them back into their original holes.
I discovered that the refer cabinet that I converted into a storage cabinet (see: From Fridge to Storage) is not actually held down. Neat. The cabinet pulled out very easily (obviously), but I'll have to consider how to actually mount it to the bus. There is a bolt that should pass between it and the rock'n'roll bed that is missing. That's a start, but it will need something else at one end or the other... or both.
Next is the rock'n'roll bed. It is held to the bus with 4 different fasteners. Two are obvious: they are the 2 Phillips head bolts holding the upper back to the section on top of the fuel tank. One the right side (facing forward), under the seat there are 2 small (8mm) nuts which hold the folding bracket to the right wheel well. Last, there is a 13mm bolt under the front-center of the seat, bolting the floor of the seat to the floor of the bus.
Last, I removed some of the thin sections of the wood floor that is used to keep the floor level. I chose not to remove everything just yet. I left the middle seat rails, the rock'n'roll bed and some of the wood in place at this point. I'm not sure if I need to paint the steel floor, but I'd like to at least inspect it for rust. Frankly, if I'm going that far, I might as well fill any little holes and paint it too.

Rear Window
Great movie, not a good seal. I replaced the rear (as in the window pointing to the rear) window seal a few years ago with a BusDepot seal. Usually their seals are pretty good, but this one separated at the upper right corner a while ago. I should have replaced it when that happened, but there's lots of shoulda's out there. Anyway, I had rust under the old seal, but when I cut this seal off, there was water under it. Since the bus has been in the garage for quite some time, that water was quite alarming. Once I had the seal off and the window out (don't forget to unplug the defroster wires from your window before you start cutting your seal), I could see some new rust. Drat. More to fix. I'll just add that to the list of rust repairs I need to make before I paint anything. That list isn't too bad, but it is growing...

That's it for today. One last thing: I taped a piece of paper to the side of the bus for me to write down any parts that I need to replace. The list is too long for just having a pile of "replace these" parts. When many of the parts are seals that I need to cut off, there's nothing to throw into the pile that I could reference anyway. This week, when there's time, I'll be repairing small holes in the interior and getting the rock'n'roll bed and wood floor out so I can make steel floor decisions.

Thanks for following along...