The As Of Yet Unnamed bus

[AbuelaLoca]

I would so be there for moral support!! I know that feeling very well right now!

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

I would so be there for moral support!! I know that feeling very well right now!

I've got some help coming by tomorrow. One from these forums and another local I met. I've got a buddy that's interested in helping install the tongue and groove on the ceiling.

Been pulling eletrical all day. The electrical box above the drivers seat is GONE and I've been pulling ground wires off of the chassis. I keep finding all maner of junction boxes and big tubular electrical things. I don't know what they are. Maybe diodes. Maybe capacitors. I just don't know.

So far nothing has exploded ... after I disconnectes the negative battery poles ... some of the magic smoke escaped by accident.

There are two starter batteries and large cables that go to the engine compartmemt and smaller ones that go to ??? Maybe to the wheel chair lift.

I am collecting some VERY nice thick cabling though.

The other thing I have learned is that it is nice and cool under the bus.

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[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Had a good day with the build yesterday. Had some awesome help, a visitor from the CRVL ... sup Cory350!, a moment of serindipity, and got a bunch done.

Foumd and sealed the leak that caused some rot in the floor. I LOVE 3M 5200 Marine Sealant! I put that shit on everything! Ripped up and replaces the rotten wood and prepped to start laying the floor.

Touched up the Maxxair fan seals.

Drilled holes in the roof, installed the water tight cable housing for the solar, and ran the cables from the panels to the interior.

While working on the floor my buddy got a call from a friend in Idaho asking him about electrical work. Turns out she is in the process of retrofitting a TT and wanted help with her solar build. After a few minutes of "OMG's" and "you're doing that RIGHT NOW's" we had a chance to chat about CRVL and basic solar set ups. I gave her resources and encouraged her to join the forum.

All together now ... It's a small world after / It's a small world after / it's a small small world!

Today I am recouperating from chasing a much younger much more fit assistant around yesterday. Gotta tidy the house up for more showing. 13 showings in 5 days and the place needs a vaccum and a mop.

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[AbuelaLoca]

Great progress! No one can argue that the nomad tribe is pretty darned awesome!!!

 

[SoulRaven]

... after I disconnectes the negative battery poles ... some of the magic smoke escaped by accident.

Got whatcha need right here: (see attached photo) Oh, never mind, that model is for motorcycles......

Happy Trails!
Chuck

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Nice thing about rain is it helps fins the leaks.

Better now when everything is ripped out.

Most of the sealing I did the other day is holding! Just a few little drips to shore up.

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[AbuelaLoca]

Gonna go check my sealing job this evening!! I'm hopeful! LOL

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

All lights on rear are not working. Interlock is engaged and rig will not start. I am sas to say it is all my fault. I was a bit overzelouse with removing wireing. My mechanic is om his way.

Fuel filter cap has snapped it's nut AND I can not figure out how to even reach the damn thing without removing the air intake and the power stearing fluod resevoir AND the coolant hose going to the block.

The petcock on the radiator has snapped off. It's holding fluid but needs to be replaced. Currently radiator has only diatilled water in it.

My mechanic is on the way.

Sealing eaks has gone well. We'll know more the next time it rains. 2 feet of Endurabond, three tubes of 3M 5200 and two tubes ofself leveling roof sealent, and a tune of silicone caulk ans this baby better be ready for conversion to submarine.

The floor is planned out and ready to be installed.

I have help installing the tongue ans groove for the ceilig and insulating the roof. This will wait until ALL leaks ans drips are found.

Still collecting bits and pices for the electrical. 1500watt inverter plus several very nice fused 6 foot long 4awg cables imcluded for $50! Modified sine wave but with my smaller PSW I shouls be good.

Have canabalized a solanoid and a bunch of wirea from the bus that should prove uaeful.

More clean up and getting the yard pretty for showings.

Long term disability is stalled so I can get poked and prodded by more doctors. Mayby we will fimd some physical cause for some or all of my issues. Too many punk rock shows, fist fights, skate board accidents leading to many eye and ear bleeding concussions than could possibly be the root of many of my problems. We'll see.

Solar shower is complete.

15 more gallons of water storage acquired.

Lesson about voltage drop learned.

Bucket toilet complete. Will work on next model later.

Fridge has been sold and living out of my Engel freezer and a Yeti.

Still curiose about a CB radio. I have the antenna on the roof so why not. It could be useful.

Time to get back at it.

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[AbuelaLoca]

A CB is definitely on my list of wants!! I used to have a portable one many years ago and it was great for highway information! I don't think truck drivers use them near as much anymore, but I want one anyway!

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Today, with some help, I managed to get the tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals to work again. Tomorrow we tackle the interlock and try to figure out a few other mystery wires that have power.

Using a circuit tester we were able to identify the wires with power then we were able to match them up via color and tested them to make sure the right lights came on. There are 4 more wire bundles that I THINK can be removed. I will be taking my time with these so as not to have to rebuild required for legal use.

There are 5 small red lights across the top of the back of the bus. The three in the center over the rear door I want to wire to the brake lights and the single lights on the right and left to the turn signals. The running lights on the sides will forever remain dark ... but some of them could be turn signals. Hmmm ...

Once the wiring is done we'll replace the fuel filter cap and the petcock on the radiator. Then I can finish the radiator flush and actually put coolant in. This should finish the major maintenance. 30,000 miles early for some of it but better too soon than too late. Tires, brakes, exhaust, and engine otherwise seem sound. Compression is good and no dripping leaks.

The framing for the floor is cut and laid out. As soon as I finish rebuilding the wire harness I will caulk and screw down the framing, fill in the holes in the floor, and then down goes down the insulation and flooring. I'm just leaving the bus floor and the seat runners. They were too much work to removed. I'm going to put two benches back in affixed to the seat rails and cut around the legs for the insulation and the flooring.

Pictures. Must take pictures.

 

[highdesertranger]

some states mandate that if the light is there it must work. just a thought. highdesertranger

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

some states mandate that if the light is there it must work.  just a thought.  highdesertranger

I've never heard that. Push comes to shove I will simply remove the running lights and cover with Endurabond tape and be done. I'm liking the idea of the higher up brake lights and turn signals. Now that I've figurted out which wires make the turn signals flash I should be able to simple splice in the other ones and make them work.

I'll try to post some pics tomorrow to better explain what I'm talking about.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Sometimes circumstances dictate the order in which things get done.

It was hot and the rolls of Reflectix were in the way. The side of the bus that faces away from the side of the house is now well encased in the stuff as well as the windshield. I even managed two rows of the ceiling. Cutting the stuff to size was part of the overall plan but NOT what I had intended to get done today. Finishing the temporary reflectix install is priority #1.

It looks like I'm going to have some company later this week and we're going to install 12v systems. There is about to be another thread about that. Maintaining those threads and getting the last of everything together should be a chore. I will be adding pictures along the way.

Mechanical issues will need to be addressed soon but they take a back seat for a little while.

 

[masterplumber]

Those red lights across the top of the rear, and probably some of the running lights on the sides, are required by DOT due to the size of the vehicle. They are generally called clearance lights. Since you're converting the bus to private use I'm not sure if they are required, but I suspect they are as even large motorhomes have them. My dually pickup actually has them also. Something you might want to check on before rewiring them to other purposes as it may be hard to change back after you complete the build.

 

[tx2sturgis]

In every state that I know of, high mount clearance lights are required on the rear if the vehicle is over a certain WIDTH. Usually 80 inches (not including mirrors). This tends to follow the federal standards. (Over a certain length will also trigger the requirement even of the vehicle is narrow, like an irrigation pipe trailer)

This could vary when it becomes an RV in certain states...that should be checked.

As far as the CB antenna, many school buses were equipped with business radios, if so, that antenna wont work for CB, it would need to be changed. Post a close-up picture of it and we might be able to tell.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

Have you ever seen Terminator? You know that scene where Arnold is playing with the mechanical tendons in her hand? Yeah ... like that. I'm looking at the inside of those mounted lights and the wires that do and don't connect to anything. I have rebuilt the wire harness to the back of the bus and can easily enough make those lights do what ever I want them to do. The red lights above the door brake lights. The two lights high up on the back corners for turn signals. If I can make it happen should they also come on dimly just as tail lights/running lights?

I have wire wrap and conduit to run electrical front to back. I will need to clean up, run new wire, re-crimp, remove pointless splits, etc. I'm going to need wire, crimps, and a decent crimping tool. I have a multimeter, a circuit tester, and a label maker. 

Maintaining the electrical build thread has been productive. Tools. I'm gonna need tools and consumables.

It was hot so I started putting up Reflectix. I started with the windows in the South West corner and the East facing windshield. I have now cut the material for either way I go forward with insulating the roof. For now it's way better than nothing and a semi test for doing less.

 

[Zizzer_Zazzer_Zuz]

It's been a while but big things have been afoot.

Not to jinx it but I have an offer on the house. Inspections start next week. I met the couple who made the offer and they seem a good fit and should make good stewards of this land.

The clock has started to tic.

I found a mechanic willing to help me out some. He started his carreer as a mobile mechanic and now does fleet maintenance on mostly gassers, like medium and large work trucks and ... drum roll please ... SCHOOL BUSES!

ISYN ten minutes from the moment he arrived my rig was running. We fixed the minor stuff that had me so freaked out and we have a plan to fix the wiring harness.

The roof is insulated with 1 1/2 polyiso. It mostly held in place with tension. Even with the tungue and groove installed there will be something of an air gap around the insulation.

I didn't do a lot of testing but in direct sunlight the polyiso did just a tad better than reflectix sealed with metal tape and 1 1/2 inch air gap between the aluminum skin of the bus.

I left the original flooring in place and covered it. I laid down a simple frame 3/4 board then 3/4 polyiso and 1/3 inch plywood. A few passes with a sander and polyeurothain and I have a servicable floor. I also have access to the frame mounted modular seating rails. I have to cut through the floor but I have SAFE legal belted seating for as many as 6 passengars. 2-4 comfortably.

I have updates for other threads but I just don't have time to maintain much other than trying to get out of the house and on my way to further anventures.

The solar is ready to go in. I have much of what I need but will be making some more hardware purchases here in the near future. Since I always have multiple projects going it starts to seem endless so I'm focusing on some.basics and wrapping up what I have on hand.

I bought a highly rated and good quality crimp tool with interchangable dies for different kinds of crimps. So far I have had good luck with genuinedealz.com for much of my hardware and wire. I will be ordering some wires premade however for anything to about 8awg I am confident that I can manage well. Adhesive lined heat shrink butt crimps and a wire stripping tool make short work of most of what I've needed.

I have some BIG decisions to make. When my house sells my insurance company will know and my RV, car, and home owners are tied together. I have some options. I have a friend in FL with land and is willing to let me use his address for residency. SD is an option but I don't know when I could get out there for residency. MD is out due to registration and insurance costs. Vermont seems to be the current go to mail in license plate for Skoolie conversions. I would still need residency somewhere.

If you have seen my other thread about the medical transport coolers I went back and bought one for $100. I have not started any testing on it but having seen them run it seems an interesting gamble. My thought is to reengineer it as an undercounter fridge sitting above my freezer on a draw or casters below it. I have additional sheer insulation and should be able to build and insulate a cabinet with a countertop to house both.

Time to run to the harware store.


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[jimindenver]

Great to hear the update, Congrats on the house.

 

[Putts]

*whisshhh* ...and he's off and running.

Sounds damned good to me. Interested to see what you come up with for that medical cooler.

 

[rvpopeye]

It's coming togetherzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!