Lowering floor on 4106 8"

[Darkspeed]

I started the floor lowering project > http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=24673.msg325547#msg325547

My plan was to add a number of inches of insulation in the shell but this would result in an uncomfortably low ceiling and I did not want to raise the roof of the bus so I decided to lower the floor 8".

I know I am sacrificing some lower bay storage but it is the best solution for my use of the bus.

I am going to fabricate a new firewall. The original engine compartment firewall had a number of cracks , welds, and other repairs.

When I started stripping paint on the firewall I found a large number of bolt heads and rivet heads that were held on by nothing more than the paint.

Most of these were hidden stress failures and I am really glad I found them!

[Tom Y]

Todd, Will this have 2 steps in the floor when done?  Nice work you are doing.  Tom

[Darkspeed]

Todd, Will this have 2 steps in the floor when done?  Nice work you are doing.  Tom

Thank you Tom!

Yes two steps and there is now a dropped isle between the driver and passenger that is level with the rest of the 8" dropped floor.
There is now a step up at the rear of the bus where the suspension boxes begin but the step up is the edge of where the bed box begins so you really wont notice it when it is done.
I laid down some test sheets of plywood and it is amazing how much bigger it feels with the added headroom.
Now you are looking directly out the windows rather than looking down to look out,  feels more like home.
The subframe goes all the way foreword and out of the front of the bus and terminates in a mounting plate for a hydraulic winch.
The subframe also gives me a tie point for some additional driver / passenger protection that will be concealed in the dash - I want it to be able to take a hit and have everyone walk away.
I dont think an OEM 4106 driver side impact would be very survivable, when i took the dash out the only reinforcement was the addition of a 1/4" aluminum panel and the only real resistance to a drivers side crumple would be the plywood floor.. scary to think about..