After removing the seats, I had removed the heaters in the back of the bus, and had looped the coolant hoses together just to the rear of the driver’s heater.
I had then gone on to other projects like removing the floor, the wiring, patching rust holes and so on.
A this point, however, I had to get the school bus driver heater removed for a couple of reasons.
First, I needed to get underneath it so that I can get some rust-inhibiting paint under there.
Second, also want to get insulation and new subfloor under it as well. I need to figure out exactly how it will sit so that I can begin exploring how to rebuild that entire console.
I suppose in any skoolie conversion project, you have to make decisions. So I need to decide whether I’ll keep the original school bus console or fabricate some sort of more tiny home custom look.
Either way, I needed to establish it’s final spot. In addition, I had removed a bunch of wires and switches that I won’t need.
However, I also wanted to hook up everything I did plan on using to make sure it worked.
Repairing Heater Console Wiring
Mice had chewed the wires leading to the defrost and fresh air plugs, so I needed to repair them. I had tried snipping them and using a regular pair of pliers to put on a spade crimp connector.
I plugged it in and it worked but as soon as I tried unplugging it, the connectors came right out.
Repairing Wires with a Crimping Tool
So I ordered a real crimp tool which worked much better.
Imagine that, proper tools make the work better!
I also ordered a large connector kit. I plan on pulling off all the wires leading to the lights at the back of the bus and running them through conduit, so I wanted to be stocked up!
Be sure to close and latch the lid after getting your selected connector. I left mine open on the floor and ended up picking up 477 connectors…
Removing the Driver’s Heater
To preserve as much coolant as possible, I closed the valves to the heater hoses in the engine compartment and on the heater itself.
When I had removed the lines before to pull out the rear heaters, I had to cut the hoses because they felt like they had cemented themselves to the brass fittings they were attached to.
Here, though, I was able to loosen the clamps, pull the hoses off and drain the half a gallon or so of coolant into a plastic bin. Since the coolant looked clear, I poured it back into the reservoir in the engine compartment.
Then, I pushed the heater to where it would finally sit, measured where the hoses would connect to it, and cut them to the appropriate length.
Now I could pull the heater out completely.
Finally, I looped the coolant hoses back together so that I could run the bus without spewing antifreeze all over the place using a brass connector from the rear heaters.
All I need now is some warmer weather so I can get some paint down!
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