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MCI 102-C3 coach to RV - General/Floorplan
- Thread starter JNHEscher
- Start date
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
lunacy said:
If that fitted foam came out in one piece, I'd probably save some money and put it back in. Looks like Polyiso, should be pretty close to the same R value as the spray foam. You can foam around the edges to seal it.
Unfortunately, it didn't. Most of the foam panels have broken. I'm pulling them out anyway to make rust repairs. The fiberglass batting in between the wall panels held water and made a mess.If that fitted foam came out in one piece, I'd probably save some money and put it back in. Looks like Polyiso, should be pretty close to the same R value as the spray foam. You can foam around the edges to seal it.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
PAToyota said:
Man! Looking at how this started out and then how it looks opened up really makes me think about riding in one of those things. The surface condition really doesn’t tell you anything about what’s underneath.
Right? So many people have said it's a beautiful bus. I knew damn well there would be work to do underneath all that gloss.Man! Looking at how this started out and then how it looks opened up really makes me think about riding in one of those things. The surface condition really doesn’t tell you anything about what’s underneath.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Standing where the black tank would be makes for excellent access to rip out the last of the floor sheet metal. Rusty, eh? I removed the aluminum sheets over top of the tag axle, as well. They came out without too much effort. Aluminum rivets in steel. The rivets were non-existent. Electrolysis helped me out.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Not much left to cut out. I'm recessing the rear step by about ten inches to extend the floor a little. Once I get a few more measurements tomorrow, I'll lay them up in SketchUp to figure out where and how I want to rebuild engine bay access from the interior. Pulling all of this apart brought us to realize that there's quite a bit more space to utilize.
I pulled the turbo inlet pipe out, along with the filter canister and some of the associated piping today. The turbo inlet is getting rerouted to either the right side or upward where the radiator fans and motor currently reside. Removing all that opened up a hell of a lot of room in the engine bay. I can comfortably sit on either side of the engine to work on it. Yanking the AC compressor tomorrow.
This post is where the thread splits. A duplicate of this is found here - https://irate4x4.com/tow-rigs-and-tr...-rv-engine-bay - where the subtopic of the engine bay begins.
I pulled the turbo inlet pipe out, along with the filter canister and some of the associated piping today. The turbo inlet is getting rerouted to either the right side or upward where the radiator fans and motor currently reside. Removing all that opened up a hell of a lot of room in the engine bay. I can comfortably sit on either side of the engine to work on it. Yanking the AC compressor tomorrow.
This post is where the thread splits. A duplicate of this is found here - https://irate4x4.com/tow-rigs-and-tr...-rv-engine-bay - where the subtopic of the engine bay begins.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
This post is another where the thread splits. A duplicate of this is found here - https://irate4x4.com/tow-rigs-and-tr...ctrical-system - where the subtopic of the electrical system begins.
Our progress was delayed by a couple days when low temps and high winds arrived. Today was better, so we headed to the bus. Got a number of tasks completed.
The rear electrical box is held up by only four bolts. Quite easy to take loose and set aside. The very last of the flooring sheet metal was sandwiched between the box and floor framework.
Our progress was delayed by a couple days when low temps and high winds arrived. Today was better, so we headed to the bus. Got a number of tasks completed.
The rear electrical box is held up by only four bolts. Quite easy to take loose and set aside. The very last of the flooring sheet metal was sandwiched between the box and floor framework.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Rather than spend the time and effort to scrape all the rust scale loose and lather the overly rusted portion of the framing over the transmission/engine with rust converter, we've opted to cut it all out and weld in new steel in the formation that suits us for a bedroom floor plan and easy access to the engine bay.
The rusted portion of the frame was subject to bathroom leaks and road spray coming up through engine bay. These events took a huge toll on the steel, as you've seen. What we have in mind to put in place, is a frame for the bed and under bed storage that is hinged so that it may be articulated upwards to give way to parts such as the forced induction system and the alternator. What I currently have in mind will offer more access than the original hatch and still retain the coolant channels for the radiant heat floor.
The rusted portion of the frame was subject to bathroom leaks and road spray coming up through engine bay. These events took a huge toll on the steel, as you've seen. What we have in mind to put in place, is a frame for the bed and under bed storage that is hinged so that it may be articulated upwards to give way to parts such as the forced induction system and the alternator. What I currently have in mind will offer more access than the original hatch and still retain the coolant channels for the radiant heat floor.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
grimmwerks said,
Just signed up to follow this; we just bought a 1990 MCI 102 C. This is our first bus, our first conversion. And now that I've seen all this I am deathly afraid. Following so I can see the beauty that follows as a carrot.
Just signed up to follow this; we just bought a 1990 MCI 102 C. This is our first bus, our first conversion. And now that I've seen all this I am deathly afraid. Following so I can see the beauty that follows as a carrot.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
grimmwerks said:
Just signed up to follow this; we just bought a 1990 MCI 102 C. This is our first bus, our first conversion. And now that I've seen all this I am deathly afraid. Following so I can see the beauty that follows as a carrot.
It's most certainly an undertaking. Tackle it a step at a time. I have never been and never will be the kind of person to "Band-Aid" my projects. Since watching the skoolie and coach conversion processes taken on by many others, I've found that most prefer to just cover up everything because it's cheap, quick, and easy. I dig into every layer. Just feels better to me.Just signed up to follow this; we just bought a 1990 MCI 102 C. This is our first bus, our first conversion. And now that I've seen all this I am deathly afraid. Following so I can see the beauty that follows as a carrot.
I don't know everything about these buses, yet, but feel free to shoot me any questions. With our bus opened up this far, I can get pretty darned specific.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
The subfloor sheet steel has been purchased and delivered at the bus. Went with 14 gauge top and bottom. Half of the washers arrived yesterday. Ordered in a 4-1/2" diamond grinder wheel and a new trigger switch for my Rigid grinder. Hope that strips all the mill scale off in a decent amount of time.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
With the fuel being relocated, the OTR air conditioning system removed, and the heating system being entirely replaced with the radiant heat, we started digging out spray foam and cutting out the copper pipes associated with the aforementioned fluid systems.
Upon scraping away the foam in one of the braces, I discovered that the foam had been retaining a coolant leak at a solder joint. Quite impressive, I must say, that the spray foam had completely blocked the leak from showing.
The red cable is our shifter cable for the Allison HT740. This is one of several pictures that I have passed on to a few other MCI owners to discuss what might have gone on with our bus in its earlier years. It started out with a manual transmission from the factory. There's a clutch pedal with cable intact, stick shifter baseplate, shifter shaft complete from under the shifter to above the current transmission tail housing. The auto swap was obviously not done at an MCI factory, as displayed by the shifter cable being squeezed in against the manual shifter shaft. All the VINs show our bus as having the Allison auto. I'll call MCI at some point to see what they know about this.
Upon scraping away the foam in one of the braces, I discovered that the foam had been retaining a coolant leak at a solder joint. Quite impressive, I must say, that the spray foam had completely blocked the leak from showing.
The red cable is our shifter cable for the Allison HT740. This is one of several pictures that I have passed on to a few other MCI owners to discuss what might have gone on with our bus in its earlier years. It started out with a manual transmission from the factory. There's a clutch pedal with cable intact, stick shifter baseplate, shifter shaft complete from under the shifter to above the current transmission tail housing. The auto swap was obviously not done at an MCI factory, as displayed by the shifter cable being squeezed in against the manual shifter shaft. All the VINs show our bus as having the Allison auto. I'll call MCI at some point to see what they know about this.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
These are from yesterday. Starting to get the whole family inside to pick away at whatever we can. The wind can suddenly run up to 40mph and bring the frozen air down from the mountain caps, which makes the inside of the bus the best place to be. Even better when the first layer of floor get laid down and blocks the air that comes up from the openings from below.
I'll try to get more pictures over the next few days. The center chase has been opened up so much with the absence of six pipes. All remaining pipe with be raised to just beneath the floor so what used to be the cold air return is utilized rather than wasted space.
And, a measurement that may only be useful to me. Regardless, now you know the distance in that location.
I'll try to get more pictures over the next few days. The center chase has been opened up so much with the absence of six pipes. All remaining pipe with be raised to just beneath the floor so what used to be the cold air return is utilized rather than wasted space.
And, a measurement that may only be useful to me. Regardless, now you know the distance in that location.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Went after the driver's area yesterday. Fought to remove the stiffest air duct hoses I've ever dealt with so that I could get the driver's heater core/evaporator out. Went fairly smooth after that. Then came tracing wires and air lines that I wanted to get rid of.
Somebody had a MIG and didn't know how to use it. The pics say enough.
The door now swings freely. No air operation at all. We'll be installing something like an RV door latch and deadbolt. Every accessory that ran on air has been disconnect, aside from the parking brake release.
Somebody had a MIG and didn't know how to use it. The pics say enough.
The door now swings freely. No air operation at all. We'll be installing something like an RV door latch and deadbolt. Every accessory that ran on air has been disconnect, aside from the parking brake release.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Couple more shots
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Spent all of today tracing and pulling air lines that operated all accessories. Bay door locks, entry door, entry door latch, curb step, curb step lock, wipers, and washer fluid. All of those ran through their respective control valves and then converged at a steel manifold under the floor. That manifold also has a couple copper lines on it, along with the 3/8" line coming from the emergency bay door tank. I disconnected every line from the manifold and will be picking up a tee flare tomorrow to reconnect the two copper lines with the line from the emergency fill.
Ended the day rerouting the main positive cable between the bay junction box and the driver junction box. Began pulling circuits that won't be needed. The vast majority of it is passenger lighting that already got cut during the initial interior teardown.
Ended the day rerouting the main positive cable between the bay junction box and the driver junction box. Began pulling circuits that won't be needed. The vast majority of it is passenger lighting that already got cut during the initial interior teardown.
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JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
Java said:
Awesome progress! All those wiring pictures give me the shivers..... So much squirrel nest of unlabeled wires..... UGH.
Why are you doing away with all the air accessories? I can see the door, but bay locks seem handy.
Handy, they are. And really cool feature. Couple reasons they're going away:Awesome progress! All those wiring pictures give me the shivers..... So much squirrel nest of unlabeled wires..... UGH.
Why are you doing away with all the air accessories? I can see the door, but bay locks seem handy.
If we park for a few weeks without running the engine, we may very well have to fire the engine up or run another compressor to build air to open the bays if they leak down. They already leak a ton. Fixable, but meh.
Don't really have a need to unlock all eight at once since I won't be unloading 40+ passengers and their luggage. Kind of a security reason. If I'm busy tinkering on one side of the bus, running a power tool, somebody could run up on the other side, open a door and snatch something quick. It happens, so I'll make each door keyed and just open one as I need to.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said,
PS I agree with the fans. Flexalite fans cant keep most v8 swapped hot rods cool.
You're in heavy duty territory with poor air flow. You'll have to aim misters at your rads and keep 50 gallon drums of alcohol on board for evaporative cooling if you don't run enough fan.
JNHEscher said:
Ordered in a 4-1/2" diamond grinder wheel and a new trigger switch for my Rigid grinder. Hope that strips all the mill scale off in a decent amount of time.
ALL the millscale?? You don't plan to mechanically remove millscale from all those sheets do you??? All of it?Ordered in a 4-1/2" diamond grinder wheel and a new trigger switch for my Rigid grinder. Hope that strips all the mill scale off in a decent amount of time.
PS I agree with the fans. Flexalite fans cant keep most v8 swapped hot rods cool.
You're in heavy duty territory with poor air flow. You'll have to aim misters at your rads and keep 50 gallon drums of alcohol on board for evaporative cooling if you don't run enough fan.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said:
ALL the millscale?? You don't plan to mechanically remove millscale from all those sheets do you??? All of it?
PS I agree with the fans. Flexalite fans cant keep most v8 swapped hot rods cool. You're in heavy duty territory with poor air flow. You'll have to aim misters at your rads and keep 50 gallon drums of alcohol on board for evaporative cooling if you don't run enough fan.
Yep. All of it. The project requires about 70% of the mill scale to removed for welding, so stripping it all at once will be much quicker than marking location to grind and double-checking that I hit the right spots. I was going to do the muriatic acid thing, but high winds make it near impossible to play with water without getting soaked. Acid waves aren't friendly. Coming up with some kind of containment to submerge each sheet wasn't working out, either.ALL the millscale?? You don't plan to mechanically remove millscale from all those sheets do you??? All of it?
PS I agree with the fans. Flexalite fans cant keep most v8 swapped hot rods cool.
You're in heavy duty territory with poor air flow. You'll have to aim misters at your rads and keep 50 gallon drums of alcohol on board for evaporative cooling if you don't run enough fan.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said,
JNHEscher said:
Yep. All of it.
You're nuts. I hate my life mechanically removing millscale even over 1sq ft. You couldn't get pre pickled or cold rolled sheets?Yep. All of it.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said:
You're nuts. I hate my life mechanically removing millscale even over 1sq ft. You couldn't get pre pickled or cold rolled sheets?
Could, but for a much higher price. We're in such a rural area that products are marked up 2-4 times higher than anywhere else if the items have to be brought in from afar. I didn't have any that could haul that much steel, otherwise we would have gone to Colorado Springs or Denver like usual. We literally save money by driving over a 10k foot high mountain pass to a city two hours away for lumber at a big box store. Costs more to buy it here just a few minutes away.You're nuts. I hate my life mechanically removing millscale even over 1sq ft. You couldn't get pre pickled or cold rolled sheets?
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
bigun said,
DIY sandblaster. Not sure if you follow the SVSeeker build in Oklahoma but he also needed to clean up a bunch of steel to build his boat and built a large sand blaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZnUim-gNMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7tGlXXQ6Gs
Then he added water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdkoDzUOUsw
JNHEscher said:
Yep. All of it. The project requires about 70% of the mill scale to removed for welding, so stripping it all at once will be much quicker than marking location to grind and double-checking that I hit the right spots. I was going to do the muriatic acid thing, but high winds make it near impossible to play with water without getting soaked. Acid waves aren't friendly. Coming up with some kind of containment to submerge each sheet wasn't working out, either.
https://www.youtube.com/user/submarineboat/videosYep. All of it. The project requires about 70% of the mill scale to removed for welding, so stripping it all at once will be much quicker than marking location to grind and double-checking that I hit the right spots. I was going to do the muriatic acid thing, but high winds make it near impossible to play with water without getting soaked. Acid waves aren't friendly. Coming up with some kind of containment to submerge each sheet wasn't working out, either.
DIY sandblaster. Not sure if you follow the SVSeeker build in Oklahoma but he also needed to clean up a bunch of steel to build his boat and built a large sand blaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZnUim-gNMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7tGlXXQ6Gs
Then he added water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdkoDzUOUsw
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
parkers30 said,
bigun said:
https://www.youtube.com/user/submarineboat/videos
DIY sandblaster. Not sure if you follow the SVSeeker build in Oklahoma but he also needed to clean up a bunch of steel to build his boat and built a large sand blaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZnUim-gNMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7tGlXXQ6Gs
Then he added water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdkoDzUOUsw
Click to expand...
he's actually been using a Dewalt pressure washer with a blaster add on in his newer videos. That would be more practical for most people it seems.https://www.youtube.com/user/submarineboat/videos
DIY sandblaster. Not sure if you follow the SVSeeker build in Oklahoma but he also needed to clean up a bunch of steel to build his boat and built a large sand blaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZnUim-gNMI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7tGlXXQ6Gs
Then he added water
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdkoDzUOUsw
Click to expand...
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said,
parkers30 said:
he's actually been using a Dewalt pressure washer with a blaster add on in his newer videos. That would be more practical for most people it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYtbPG1RKgY
He was $55 in sand to blast that tank but the results look pretty sweet. I think the guys who do that water sand blasting use an additive in the water to prevent flash rusting.he's actually been using a Dewalt pressure washer with a blaster add on in his newer videos. That would be more practical for most people it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYtbPG1RKgY
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
I'm envious of his tool selection and workspace. For the $20ish to get the diamond wheel, I'm gonna have to stick with it as long as it works. We have one sandblaster guy here that uses a pull-behind. His fee is high and his work sucks. Had him do some Corvette parts and was thoroughly disappointed. I was joking a few weeks ago about chaining up each sheet to the Pathfinder and dragging them through the valley. It's all desert here. The sand is coarse and sharp.
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said,
I bet that diamond wheel loads right up and becomes ineffective. Hope I'm wrong.
Have you seen these walter flexcut? I haven't tried them.
https://www.walter.com/en_CA/product...cut-mill-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH4hs0wWdQ
I bet that diamond wheel loads right up and becomes ineffective. Hope I'm wrong.
Have you seen these walter flexcut? I haven't tried them.
https://www.walter.com/en_CA/product...cut-mill-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH4hs0wWdQ
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
SkZuk said:
I bet that diamond wheel loads right up and becomes ineffective. Hope I'm wrong.
Have you seen these walter flexcut? I haven't tried them.
https://www.walter.com/en_CA/product...cut-mill-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH4hs0wWdQ
I hadn't. Those are gnarly. Little worried about them eating too much of the good steel away, but definitely worth a try. Those Germans build some solid stuff. Especially dig that since both sides of my family are German. I'll work with the diamond and Flexcut and report back. Thanks for the suggestion!I bet that diamond wheel loads right up and becomes ineffective. Hope I'm wrong.
Have you seen these walter flexcut? I haven't tried them.
https://www.walter.com/en_CA/product...cut-mill-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH4hs0wWdQ
JNHEscher
Red Skull Member
bggrnchvy said,
SkZuk said:
I bet that diamond wheel loads right up and becomes ineffective. Hope I'm wrong.
Have you seen these walter flexcut? I haven't tried them.
https://www.walter.com/en_CA/product...cut-mill-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH4hs0wWdQ
We use them on 304ss alot, mostly for rework, they take a weld down fast. They're a good in-between of a hard wheel and a flap disc. Longevity is there too, but with all things Walter, you pay for it.I bet that diamond wheel loads right up and becomes ineffective. Hope I'm wrong.
Have you seen these walter flexcut? I haven't tried them.
https://www.walter.com/en_CA/product...cut-mill-scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBH4hs0wWdQ