Day #2: Journey’s Conversion (Panel & Metal Bar Removal; Begin Pulling Up Flooring)
Total Work Time: 3 hours
Crockett helping us!
Happy Friday! What a beautiful day in South Texas! A wonderful nip in the air and blue skies that seemed to go on forever! After a great homeschool field trip to the Alamo downtown, I couldn’t wait to get home and start working on Journey before it got dark. I love the cooler weather but don’t like that it is dark by 6pm! Ugh! But, no fear…we have great work lights that can practically light up our 5 acres so I knew the darkness wouldn’t stop progress.
A huge win happened today as I went and transferred the title of the van from the previous owner into my name today!! Yippee! She is officially mine! Thanks hubby!
Today’s goals:
Pics below show the before views of the targeted area and then after the task was completed. 🙂
- Remove the huge metal storage unit that runs the length of the cargo space behind the drivers seat. It is welded in 5 places to the frame of the van.
2. Remove the driver’s side bar that was in place originally when Journey was a handicap transport bus. We want our cab seats to swivel to face the rear of the van when we buy the new seats so I need that bar gone.
3. Remove the stubborn wooden structure over the driver’s side wheel well.
4. Begin removing the window metal panels to reveal the windows. All windows will be removed and replaced even if not broken. This will require learning how to use the grinder to break the weld.
5. Remove the inner side door lower panels to reveal the space that will eventually soundproofed and insulated.
Left Door Panel (Reveals rust but wipes clean with damp cloth)
Right Door Panel (much less rust)
6. Remove the carpet, linoleum and plywood layers on the floor in the cab section to see how extensive the rust is for future repair.
Passenger Cab Flooring:
Driver Cab Flooring:
7. Remove the carpet, linoleum and plywood layers on the floor in the cargo section to see how extensive the rust is for future repair.
Today’s Summary:
Boy, did Brian and I get done a lot in the 3 hours we had to spare! The cargo space looks even bigger now without the metal storage unit and the pole that was there, plus we are not hitting our heads as much thankfully as flesh to rusty metal isn’t pleasant. Ha!
Using the grinder to remove the window panels was more time consuming than I expected so we actually only got one window panel removed before we moved onto getting the metal bar out. Thanks Brian for the grinder lesson!
Sam came outside and helped removed the flooring in the cab portion of the van. He did a great job. The passenger side looks fine and the metal flooring is in pretty good shape but the driver’s side is a little more damaged. There is a quarter size hole in the flooring and the rust is significant so we will have to cut those pieces out and rebuild it up with new metal when we are ready to seal everything up.
While Sam was working on the cab flooring, I began pulling up the flooring in the cargo space…original 40 year old linoleum cracked easily and came up after unscrewing the metal strips that kept it tacked down. Then there is the 3/4 inch plywood underneath that and there are parts that were rotten from being wet over time, but the white metal flooring looks ok so far. I only got about a 2X3 section removed and then decided to stop for the night. That is going to be some work as much of the plywood is coming up in slivers or broken small pieces! I am praying that there isn’t any rust but we will see tomorrow as I continue to pull up the plywood.
Tomorrow we are heading to a few junk yards in downtown San Antonio to see what we can find that we can use so wish us luck! Off to bed to dream more about Journey’s potential. 🙂 Thank you soo much for coming along side of us during this adventure…it’s going to be a long and crazy one for sure!
— Owl, Hi-Five, Joshy & hubby
❤️🦉✌️
Wandering with Owl 