TheCrabsHomestead

5: School Bus Skoolie Rust Removal Process

Stage 5 of Operation Chitty Bang is Sanding and Killing the Rust. We decided to take off the next two days after the night of scrubbing and the day Crab passed his driver’s test for his Class B License. Once we were restored and free of appointments, we decided to tackle the rust on the floor. We had a hand held drill with a wire brush attachment, and a bigger tool with a bigger wire brush on it. I can’t remember the name of the tool, but we also used it for grinding down the rusty nails. We definitely could have benefited from renting a sander, but we stuck with our attachments Crab just purchased to try and do it ourselves with what we had.

I used the hand drill/wire brush and wheel attachment to get in all the cracks where I saw any rust, as well as the sides of the bus. Crab used the bigger sanding tool on the big spots on the floor. In the pic below, you can see what the rust spots looked like after we were done sanding.

After sanding out all of the rust spots as best as we could, we applied a mix of 4 parts Water to 1 part Vinegar on the Rust spots. Let it sit 10 minutes, then wiped it off with a paper towel. We started in the back and worked our way forward.
After sanding out all of the rust spots as best as we could, we applied a mix of 4 parts Water to 1 part Vinegar on the Rust spots. Let it sit 10 minutes, then wiped it off with a paper towel. We started in the back and worked our way forward.

Next, we tried a “car guy” on YouTube’s advice and mixed together a 4 parts water and 1 part vinegar solution. Then we used the “scotch brite” green pads (the rough kind only) and scrubbed the solution into the floor. I showed the girls how to do it, then let them take over that job!

The girls finishing up the water/vinegar application. You can see in the back how the rust
The girls finishing up the water/vinegar application. You can see in the back how the rust “lifted” as it dried.

The final results of all of the back breaking work we all did. Thank goodness we have kids to help:)

After Sanding the floor and wiping up the vinegar solution. It really did
After Sanding the floor and wiping up the vinegar solution. It really did “kill” the rust as it turned it black!

This definitely is not the end of the Rust “removal/conversion” but while we researched what products were best, we took a couple of days off for some appointments we had and then started..

Stage 6: Removing the Ceiling Panels & Insulation. ;D

or

The Editing Our Life Series

One response to “5: School Bus Skoolie Rust Removal Process”

  1. […] On to tackling the Rust in Stage 5: Sanding and Killing the Rust… […]

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