Bus - Something Lost, Something Gained

This past weekend, Max was a little bewildered when he walked around the bus.

Here's a hint from picture of the bus taken 17 months prior

We took the bench chairs out!  There was one spare that I took apart.  Right before I set to tear out the 2 other ones, Michael had an idea.  Let's make them into a sofa!  The picture below was just a prop on cement block.  To make use of it as a sofa, I asked Michael if he could take out the arm rests in the middle.  His answer is always, "OF COURSE!"

First I took out the cushions and set them aside.

Then Michael lopped off the armrests with a portable grinder.

Next Michael welded a center leg to which both chairs would bolt.

Then Michael set it up in the bus (without bolting it to the floor yet) and tested it out.

We have to do other things like enclose the air conditioner tubes that are behind the sofa and take off the paint on the very smattered cushion on the end.  After this is done, we can connect it to the floor and have a grand ole time!  We'll be putting storage bins underneath and I'll make a cushion to put in the gap between the two parts where the armrests used to connect to the frame.   The kids came in and tested out the sofa too!

This sofa is a temporary solution.  When we have a better idea of where we'll be stationed next year, we'll either keep the sofa in for a couple of years or buy a captains chair (for Max) which will swivel and recline!