Skoolie: Seat removal is not fun

Written by Bruce

Day 2 of seat removal was a bit (as in very very) harder than day one. 99 degrees outside and no telling how hot inside of the bus.  Removing the seats began with getting all the seat cushions off, and they came out with ease after I bought the correct ⅜  attachment for the impact drill.  No issues and I tossed them out the door, a little puffed up with my success. 

Then I went after the seat frames. 

I sat on the floor and fit the impact drill to the bolt on the back frame. Nothing. The bolt just spun in place. I tried the next one. Same thing. And the next. And the next.

Clearly, I needed a new approach. I grabbed a wrench and shimmied under the bus on my back. The plan was for me to hold the bolt in place while Cheryl used the impact drill. We actually cheered when bolts lifted, and we could toss another seat frame out the back. 

But even with our pretty brilliant wrench/impact drill system and my best, fiercest, muscle popping strength, I couldn’t budge some of the bolts. Now what?

Time for an Incredible Hulk moment. I stood at the end of the seat, put my back into it, and lifted as hard as I could while Cheryl attacked the bolt with the drill. Believe it or not, it worked! Except for a few that broke at the legs and another few that still just wouldn’t move. It was stupidly hard and exhausting–and we were both a sweaty mess–but we had all but a few of the seats out in a heap on the driveway. When there’s a will, there’s a way, right?

For those last impossible ones, I went Last Resort. I cut them out. Three cutting disks. More brute force. More sweat. 

But the seats were out!!

I just keep thinking about those long open roads ahead. . . . . .