1960 SO-23 A.K.A. Gunther

[SlashKirk]

Very nice

[Ken]

Looks great. Can't wait to to see it after the finish coat.

Edit,
BTW, Have you decided what type of finish you are going to use.

[Marla]

I am sticking with my original plan and going to use brushing lacquer - 3 Coats. I decided to go with a satin finish. Semi-gloss was a bit too glossy for my liking. Then finish it with the paste finishing wax to buff it out.

[obsoleteman]

Truly a labor of love on your part.
Awesome results.

[Marla]

Here's an update on work that has been done...

After 2 months of evenings and weekends, the cabinets are done. Stripped, sanded, 3 coats of lacquer, wet sanded, waxed and buffed. There are still quite a few imperfections to them, but for 55 year old wood, they look pretty good. It adds character.

Now that the cabinets are done and stored in the basement, I moved onto the interior of the bus. The original wood floor is still in place. There was a laminate floor laid over the top of it, I removed that laminate and started working on the wood underneath. So far I have scraped, sanded and glued some of the wood laminate where it was popping or cracked. I had to use wood filler in a couple of small areas. Some of the panels needed repair, so those were removed, scraped and sanded.

I decided to leave the roof alone. There was an awful black water stain where the sub-hatch comes down just above the cargo doors. My inital thought was just to replace the panel, but trying to keep the original in place has been my goal for everything else, why not this. So, I started to work on it and was surprised by the results. I removed the clear coat by lightly sanding, this area is very delicate because the wood is pretty damaged. Then I used oxaclic acid (wood bleach) to get the water mark out. The stain is almost unnoticeable. I think it will do for my bus.

Here are some pictures of work done...

[toolbox]

I think the laminate you pulled out was the original floor surface and the wood is just an underlayment. The trade name of the laminate is Marmoleum.

[Mike Kever Kombi]

No, the sh1t she pulled out was Armstrong snap lock, not the marmoleum. And don't quote me on this but I do not believe the so23s had marmoleum in passenger area, that didn't come along till so42 (I think). The 23s had a marmoleum type mat in the rear cargo area (above engine).

[21window]

I think Mike's right. The 60 I had was just the wood flooring with the sisal? mat on top.

There was some marbled linoleum stuff on the back deck area though.

[toolbox]

You guys are probably right that it was wood with a mat. Damn early fancy buses...

[Marla]

Yes, the snaps for the sisal mat are mounted right to the wood floor. So is the "nub" that holds the table leg in place. You can see that in the pictures.