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Old 02-19-2014, 09:43 PM   #1
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this is Black Sunshine

This is my shorty, Black Sunshine.

Ive been lurking this site for quite some time and ive noticed that most of these threads are started by people with high hopes that are usually abandoned when the reality of the work involved sets in.. ive avoided posting my project for fear of jinxing it but im far enough along to share now.

Hopefully the pics show up as that seems to be a problem that plagues a lot of people..

So this is my test post.

More pics and a rundown of what ive done to follow..
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Old 02-20-2014, 01:43 AM   #2
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

Welcome.

Wood stove and a bed. I like it.

Nat
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Old 02-20-2014, 01:55 AM   #3
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cool it worked

Alright. Pics are a go.

Ive unfortunately erased all the pics of the conversion process up to this point and i know how you all are about pics..lol. hopefully the back story will fill in some blanks, so here goes;
I aquired the bus about a year ago from a friend who needed help with awrecking yard that had been passed onto him when his dad died..the bank was taking the land back and he needed to make what he could off of the 150 or so wrecked cars that remained.. he worked out of town so he needed someone to watch the yard, feed the dogs, overseethe crush and sell whatever possible.. it was pretty time consuming so i ended up looking for stuff to take in trade instead, thats when the bus caught my eye..

It had been left at the yard by a guy who got caught driving with no insurance and decided to just leave it.. fast forward acouple years and it was sunken into the ground where it sat and ready to be claimed by me..

The previous owner had begun a conversion by taking a couple seats out and filling it with camping and fishing gear.. a couple uears outside with broken windows filled the rest with dirt..

After a lengthy cleaning out process i had an empty vessel to convert.. fortunately i found this site around then and got to see what other people had built..that was a definiteadvantage.. another advantage i had was an entire wrecking yard to pick conversion stuff from, most importantly a2004 ambulance that had crashed just hard enough to bend the frame after only a year or so of service.. it was easily the most well-built vehicle in the whole yard.

After finding some Allure Trafficmaster flooring sitting in the office i laid a nice floor down and got to work on a layout, which, as you all know, is completly different on paper than it is on the bus.. my layout ended up being dictated by the fact that im a pretty big guy with two old cats.. theres two areas that just require as much room as they require and cant be scaled down; where you take your boots off and where the litter box is. I also need at least a double bed, and a real bed at that..oh and a wood heater...

My sink\icebox combo is from a '68 vw westfalia, oven/stove out of a little trailor, kitchen counter from a winnebego, bed platform and large plastic water tank under bed from a bounder motorhome.. pretty much everything else is out of the ambulance.

Drivers captains chair, aluminum divider and shelf, numerous aluminum cabinets, leather trim\seats, rear bumper/step, variousinterior and exterior lights, 1000 watt fleet power inverter/charger... needless to say the ambulance was a big help
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Old 02-20-2014, 03:10 AM   #4
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

Looks like fun...but you may want to add a snow plow to the list...I feel chilly just looking at the picture.
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Old 02-20-2014, 09:59 AM   #5
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

Hello from the snowy east coast !!
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Old 02-22-2014, 11:24 AM   #6
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

thanks guys.. the snow looks deeper than it really is because i built a snow skirt around the bus after a big snowfall and a few beer.

now that i have some brains to pick ive got a couple questions, the first one being what the hell is this little computer box under my seat..??
im figuring out my 12 volt system right now and have noticed some extra wiring related to the propane conversion that was done as well as a few wires thar were for warning lights whenever the door is open..

the plan is to use the exsisting fuse box to run my house lights and what not..all the wiring is already there so i figured why not, its just a matter of changing the lights.

so what is this mystery box?? the old school 80's computer font scares me to be honest, as computers werent quite so far along in the 1980's and i once had a caddy that era that was laughable in it attempt to use digital tech.
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Old 03-04-2014, 09:56 PM   #7
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

So i figured out that the mystery computer box is part of an emmission control system that chevy put on canadian p30 chassis.. which leads me to wonder if it does anything at all seeing as this motor was converted to ppropane about 4 years into its tour of duty.

Another problem im having is with the secondary "house" fuse box..the previous owner seems to have disconnected the warning lights by removing the flasher and any relays connected to it.. im trying run some interior lights through this box and possibly some exterior scene lights.. i cant seem to get any power to this panel despite a red wire going straight to the battery.. i can here the solinoid click when i turn the ignition but thats all i get.. the panel is bolted directly to one of the ribs in a box above the drivers seat.. is that enough to ground it or is should i be running a ground wire from the panel to something else ... are the ribs grounded???
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Old 03-04-2014, 10:32 PM   #8
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

Quote:
Originally Posted by anarkeen
So i figured out that the mystery computer box is part of an emmission control system that chevy put on canadian p30 chassis.. which leads me to wonder if it does anything at all seeing as this motor was converted to ppropane about 4 years into its tour of duty.

Another problem im having is with the secondary "house" fuse box..the previous owner seems to have disconnected the warning lights by removing the flasher and any relays connected to it.. im trying run some interior lights through this box and possibly some exterior scene lights.. i cant seem to get any power to this panel despite a red wire going straight to the battery.. i can here the solinoid click when i turn the ignition but thats all i get.. the panel is bolted directly to one of the ribs in a box above the drivers seat.. is that enough to ground it or is should i be running a ground wire from the panel to something else ... are the ribs grounded???
They should be, but It realy depends. I like home run grounds. Anything important like a distribution box, or high load / critical component would have a home run back to the negative battery post.

Good luck

Nat
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:41 PM   #9
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

Cool! Thanks Nat!

Theres been some wiring butchery and im betting a ground wire got chopped along the way...
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Old 03-05-2014, 05:38 AM   #10
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Re: this is Black Sunshine

Another question i have is are the rub rails strictly below the windows or is the eave\metal ridge above the windows considered a rub rail as well.. ive heard the number of rub rails determines if it is a Busette or a Chaperone.. from what i can gather its also the ONLY difference but if im shelling out the cash for a manual off of ebay i want to make sure i get the model right..
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