Cockpit Removal and Upgrade

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Deb went off for the day and it gave me some time to look around a little

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The forward crusair evap and blower behind the pass. seat . It is going to be moved 1 foot rear. If that thing ever needed to come out of there for any reason Hickox built this conversion so that it could be accessed. Everything I have removed to now took a couple hours. Replacement would be slightly quicker.
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Out with the old. This bulkhead and door and closets and drawers that divided the cockpit from the rest of the bus will be history very soon. Thru that door is the cockpit, no good no good Mr. bus driver.
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Sawdust and Alek and Lucia have volunteered there help and expertise

More to come

[Darrell and Linda]

Joe, After you remove that bulk head and open it up, it will make a big, big difference. Great project...... It will be all worth it.

lol... My wife was looking over my shoulder.........
She said; Is that the guy with the dirty arms. I said, Yeah..... That's Joe
She said; His wife leaves to town for the day and he takes on the project, I said, Yeah.... That's Joe

I just laugh......... They just don't understand do they

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Darrell that was tongue in cheek she knows what is going on.

Her ISRI seat is being replaced with a swivel recliner. The step well cover that now comes out from under her seat and goes forward will be moved to slide toward the door like most others.
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My ISRI seat will be reupholstered to match her recliner. We are going to build the two cabinets most have behind the seats in the cockpit. I am going to duplicate this size and style cabinets behind the seats, just like below. The tops will be Cherry to match what is around the windows and the carcases will be laminated to match what is already all about the bus.
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A pergo floor. A new ceiling, ultra suede. Upgraded ceiling lighting. New front room furniture. The dash is being reupholstered. New tile up the stairs and lower dash. I will add a second house control panel above the driver where I can control things while driving and put a LCD TV up there as well.

We have a bunk up above the driver that we have decided to keep. The exposed part will be redone in ultra suede to match the rest of the ceiling.
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With it down there is more than enough head room to drive and it has a great mattress and it is strong, very well engineered and built. When down it stops right at the top of the windows.
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More to come

[dreamchasers]

Joe,

What a project!!

If I lived local to you, I would gladly offer two hands for the great learning experience.

As part of your project, I see you are going to re-upholstery you dash. Mine needs that treatment as well. The plan I see is for me is to disassemble the dash, remove the existing upholstery, then have it remade by a upholstery shop using mine as a pattern. I will then re install the upholstery.

What is your plan for the dash??

My ISRI seat and Flexsteel passenger seat could offer a fresher look with new upholstery also . Are you getting your new upholstery from ISRI (an ISRI upholstery kit?) or from a local upholstery shop?

I am planning for next winter's project.


Hector

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Ed you are a riot, keep that stuff coming!

Hector we knew we would do this when we bought our bus, it being a VIP charter floor plan as originally converted.

This is about 10 different upgrades combined. Our camper has been a work in progress since we bought it and it looks like things wont be changing much anytime soon

My recent flurry started with inspiration I got from viewing that Silver 85 for sale on prevost-stuff I am convinced more that ever these vintage (mid-80's)conversions, done well, are a real bargin.

One potential benefit of the XL over the H is the opportunity to add the drivers seat into the front room picture, but only achieved if done correctly. On many that little finger of the table behind the seat that comes forward along side the seat, prohibits that. I want to have that drivers seat both just as comfortable and appropriate as a living room recliner as it is a drivers seat now. I have an idea. It will be unique. Time will tell.

More to come

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Joe,

Maybe I am missing something, but I think our coaches are a compromise. It would be nice to make the driver's and passenger seats part of the living room (salon, excuse me) but not at the expense of giving up my side cabinet.

Besides being a place to place a drink and a sandwich, it is where my CB is mounted, the drawer has my sunglasses and stuff I refer to while driving such as maps and my little handheld device that tells me how far to the next rest area or state line or truck stop.

Removing that I would have to create some other way to keep those features or things I use close at hand and it can't be in front of me, and probably not in the limited space to my left.

If I did remove my side cabinet, I would definitely want the shift lever for my 10 speed Road Ranger put in its place.

[tdelorme]

I can see it now

Cannarozzi Conversions

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Ted I like Eds idea better. He could be my marketing guy if he wanted to.

Jon I have considered that and I have a solution. Each and every one of the items you listed. Vital. I need to refine it some before more details are released

It looks like there is going to be a significant amount of the radiused edged laminated 3/4 plywood removed that all the cabinets and closets are constructed out of. I have enough to build upper drawers, forward bay, 3 across the top both sides.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

EDDIE come on, you can do better than that.

POG what a place.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Here is what is left of the potty room behind the drivers seat
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You can see the water supply on the left, the drain complete with trap and clean out and the 12 volt solenoid. The macerator toilet that was in there was using a starter motor, hence that solenoid.
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The beveled mirror strips all came off, none broken
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