An Ohio school district's transportation department restored a 1992 model year school bus over a two-month period in 2001 as part of the operation's bus refurbishing program. The bus is still being used to transport students.
School Bus Refurbishment Project
After nearly two months, the bus was ready to roll. "This bus would not have passed the 2002 state highway patrol inspection if we had not refurbished it," Carney reveals. "It will still be in use for the 2009-10 school year." In August 2009, the department began refurbishing a 1993 model year bus. It is the 16th bus the department has restored.
By mid-December, the bus was well on its way to looking brand new. The remaining steps in the renovation process included painting district lettering on the bus.
Bedford (Ohio) City School District's mechanics began restoring this 1992 Ford/Carpenter school bus in November 2001 as part of the transportation department's bus refurbishing program. Transportation Supervisor Patrick Carney says all refurbishment work is performed onsite at the department. One of the first steps in renovating the bus was to remove the exterior panels and rub rails.
After laying down new wood for the floor, the mechanics replaced the bus' interior side panels, kick panels and wheel wells. They also installed new flooring, aisle molding, cove molding, threshold molding and step wells.
The bus had to be primed before it could be painted the iconic "school bus yellow."
The mechanics then tore out the wood base for the floor and replaced it with a new one. Carney says the refurbishing program has been vital to his operation because a tight budget has prevented department administrators from purchasing new buses in the timeframe that they'd like.