I replaced the floor possibly around 2008 and redid the rear interior wall panels and rear hatch pael at the same time. I can't remember what it looked like and have not been able to dig up any pictures. I think it was just some thin carpet over the metal.
At the time, I couldn't afford real baltic birch so used some sort of pressed board material that I found at Home Depot for the walls. For the floor I used a piece of masonite on which I laid down peel and stick vinyl flooring. When it was done, it looked really nice. After a few summers parked outside though the vinyl started to not stick, crack, and become uneven. It made for a tripping hazard while clambering around in the back. However, I kept it in until this laster winter of 2024.
I planned to replace the floor by removing the rear jump seat and bench seat and simply breaking apart the vinyl and masonite to start again. That part went well but upon getting the masonite out I discovered water on the floor beneath the driver side jalousie window. That water had been there for some time and caused some surface rust. Not ideal. With that discovery, I had to take out the 1/4" plywood that I had the masonite on and discovered on the metal floor a bit more surface rust and pitting in places. What a dissapointment. The plywood I had treated way back when with a water sealant and it held up really well except for a few spots that had more exposure to what was likely standing water.
What I had hoped would be a weekend or less of work was now looking to be several weekends of work. With the plywood out I sanded the metal and prepped it for POR-15. A friend had some extra that he let me use. Luckily, there was nothing that serious it seemed to me, and it cleaned up well and the POR-15 went on without issue. I did have to time the day I applied it because it was betweeen cold snaps and I was working on this outside of the garage. The plywood itself I sanded in areas and reapplied some water sealant.
I thought the water was seeping through the jaulousie frame as the wall panel had some obvious water signs on it but that was not the culprit. After getting the wall panel out, which meant I needed to make a new one, I pulled out the insulation I had put in years ago and found no water issues except on the facing of the insulation. I discard the insulation and decided not to put any back in just in case water does come from the windows one day. The outside electrical hookup was the source of the leak. The gasket material between the electrcial box and the van body while it appears solid I guess had broken down.
I removed a drain plug that was in the body channel below the window to let water escape in the future and sealed the electrcial box with clear silicone. I have done several water tests with no leak but I am still a bit nervous about that. If it leaks, at least now it will have somewhere to go as long as I park on a hill.
I got real 1/8" baltic birch this time, it oddly only comes in 5'x5' sheets. The wall on the driver side is longer than 5'. That meant creating two panels. However, due to the now known potential leak source I was ok with splitting the length as it let me put an "inspection" channel between the two panels. The amazing Type 2 listserv, I wish it still existed, but thanks to the archives, really helped me. The tip about masking tape before running the jigsaw was very helpful. This site was also great, as it has orginal measurements. For the smaller curved panel behind the benchseat I liked using the original measurements rather than the replacement piece I had made years back. After a lot of transfering measurements and cutting with a jigsaw I got two panels that more or less fit. They are not perfect and I would love to know how the factory mounted the bottom edge because there is nothing behind the wall so they do not sit flush against the floor but kind of suck towards the wall. I was able to make some spacer blocks and that helped but it would be neat to know how it was orignally done.
Two years ago while using the table the screws holding it to the wall came out and since that time I have not had a table. There is a metal panel the table actually screws into and I wanted to make sure I used it this time. Before final installation of the panels, I test fit the table and predrilled the holes so that I could have it all aligned at final assembly. With the table screwed into the metal bracket it will not be going anywhere.
I installed the panels prior to the floor but made them short enough so that if I do have to remove a panel in the future my hope is that I can wiggle it past the plywood down to the metal floor and then pull it out without it breaking. The orientation of the grain makes that difficult but ideally I wouldn't have to remove the floor. Installation went well and I was left with a 1.5" gap between the panels. I cut a piece of the baltic birch about 3" wide and used double sided tape to put it over the gap. With the table down no one knows it is there and when the table is up it doesn't look overly out of place. I can take the part off to inspect for any leaking.
Click-Connect vinyl flooring is kind of like magic. It just snaps together and you move on. Since this floor was in an unconditioned space I had to put down the 6mil silicone vapor barrier which just rolled out and cut with a utitlty knife. I applied that over the plywood and then started to lay the floor. The first several boards involved cutting some notches in the flooring which I had a hard time doing. If you have access to a laminate floor cutting tool, use that. Evetually, after much scoring of the material I was able to make clean breaks and often I would use a rat tail file to do the final clearancing.
After getting around the floor mounting bosses for the jump seat and the rear seat most of the floor was laid in a short amount of time. I was even able to slide the final two board widths under the coat closet. Little did I know, I was going to have to take that out anyhow.
I really liked the install process and I like how it looks. I was able to reinstall the steel dirt rail onto the floor. The old vinyl/masonite/plywood combo was somehow two thick for it to sit properly so I hadn't had that in the bus for many years. I shined it up with a wire wheel and some steel wool.
Remember those spacer blocks I wrote about behind the wall panels that I made? Well, they keep the wall from pushing in which makes putting the bench back in with the coat closet installed, not possible. Without those blocks the wall can flex enough to squeeze the bench in. After an aggravating attempt to fit the bench, I took it out, and got the help of another pair of hands to remove the coat closet. That invovles removing the shelf above the rear bed area, the screw on the inside of the coat closet at the very top was vexing for some time. Once I got that out, and removed the two screws at the front of the cabinet, I was able to tilt it and take it out the sliding door.
With the cabinet out, the bench went right in. Turning the bench into a bed was then required after getting the cabinet part way back through the sliding door. With it flat the cabinet was laid nearly on its side before being titled back upright and with a whisker width of space fitting in next to the bench. Then I had to reinstall the rear shelf and KK-Louise was back together.
With the bench now in, it was apparent that while mounted properly it was not quite flush with the new floor. The plywood must flex or something, maybe the brackets are bent on the seat. I cut a piece of trim I had and was experimenting with it but 1/2" backer rod slid nicely into the gap, so I ended up using that. The wall as well with the jump seat installed created a gap as well so I used a bit more backer rod there. Maybe in another 16 years I'll pull the wall again and figure out a better way to set that up. Certainly after 54 years of use, KK-Louise deserves to have some fit and finish issues.
