Bus Dashboard Removal – Paradise by the Dashboard Light: Pt 1

This is the first of a four-part series focusing on the Wanderlust Bus dashboard. Part 1 is all about the bus dashboard removal.

When you first look at the dash of a highway coach, it’s a lot to take in. Frankly, it’s downright frightening; but understand that assessment of your situation will help make your bus dash removal a much easier process.

First, take an inventory of what your existing dash looks like. Diagram it, label it, and, only then, can you get ready to start pulling out screws. Once you’ve got the dash all marked out, you can start the process of removal. Carefully remove ALL the screws you can find. Some of these screws will be hidden so look around thoroughly to find them all.

Once you’ve taken out all of your screws/bolts/rivets you’ll be left with these individual gauge pods. Set each off to the side in a safe place. You’ll need them later when you go to put all of this back together. Once again, label everything as best you can and diagram it all clearly.

We elected to leave everything that was connected to our air system intact to avoid potential problems. Seeing as our brakes are connected to the air system, screwing something up just was not an option. You may elect to change these out and relocate, but a word of caution comes with that choice. If you change any connections or add any length to your existing lines, you MUST get lines and fittings that can handle the extreme conditions and pressures that these things take.

Once you get all the “vital organs” pulled during you bus dashboard removal you can then address any plastics and compartments that you may want to get rid of. We also dumped all of the original in-dash HVAC ducting because it was just so brittle it fell apart if you touched it. We’ve got a pretty interesting idea on how we’re going to solve the windshield defrost conundrum we created by doing this. It’s in part 4 of the series (here), so go check it out.

The thing is, you need to think long and hard about whether it’s worth it to get this in depth or if you just want to paint or cover it in some other way. The former, which we chose because of the organic requirement of our bus, is A METRIC TON of work. It’s fullfilling work though. It really gives you a sense of pride to look at something that you made in all it’s gleaming epoxy-covered glory!

Check out the  video of part one, the bus dashboard removal and make sure you subscribe to get the next 3 episodes in the series as soon as they come out. Thanks for watching folks!