Gator Tailgating Bus Build

kamoo · 05-21-2009, 05:01 PM

This site is great!! I have gotten so many ideas, tricks and help so I wanted to post my build pics in case it helps anyone else with ideas in the future. http://s626.photobucket.com/albums/tt34 ... s/?start=0

We are building this for tailgating at UF footbal games this season and maybe some day trips here and there. It is a 92 B700 5.9, 65 passanger from south florida and paid too much for it at an online auction but that is ok with me.

It will have a roof covered back porch, a lanai if you will. A toilet (thetford aqua magic plastic deal), little /cabinet counter with sink, 20 gal combined grey/black, 20 fresh that will be 1/2-3/4 full, 2 benches along the wall with a small bartop running down the center isle, AC/DC power, converter, inverter, 30 amp shore for portable genny, decent sound system with rca in to put the football game on tv over the stereo, orange and blue exterior, exterior shower box to rinse off if needed and other misc things.

So far we have, removed the seats and heater box, cut out the porch, started the railing, removed the subfloor, sandblasted the interior and repainted, put a new 3/4 subfloor using concrete formboards which have a thick coating on one side (for condensation resistance in this application), oil and FF change, removed and skinned with Paintgrip the rear 4 windows on each side, removed and disassembled the front windows, tinted them and am waiting on the new rubber wedge to come in for reasembly, installed 1 new hatch in the rear, now the front one is broke from sun rot and a whole lot left to do.

I'll keep the progress updated. Hopefully alot will get done this long weekend and the wife out of town.

What does everyone do with broken hatches? We were thinking of biting the bullet and putting an A/C in its place. We would make a plate to cover, cut the 14" square in the plate, reinforce the area with square tubing and drop it in place. Those stupid escape hatches are expensive!!! Any better ideas?

TygerCub · 05-21-2009, 08:33 PM

Love the back porch you're making there! Are you going to screen it in to ward off the bugs, or just let it all hang out?
Good pictures. Any chance of getting some captions on them explaining what y'all are doing?

Keep up the good work!

kamoo · 05-21-2009, 09:05 PM

No screening, we'll be in a parking lot or on campus with alot of people off and on the bus and it would get torn up by the yahoos. I'll work on some captions this weekend and put up some more pictures that are on my camera. Ive been working on it at an equipment painters place and they are supposed to paint it on saturday but it has been raining alot and this may be delayed another week or so.

kamoo · 05-25-2009, 07:00 PM

No new pictures yet but did get some work done. I wasnt happy with the rear exterior wall in plywood so I bought some hardiboard but didnt think that would look right either which are still sitting in the back of my truck. In my storage trailer there were 3 leftover 4x8 sheets of Nidacore which I used for the back wall which now has a nice smooth finish that can be painted (I think) and is very strong. Used West Marine 8200 (similar to 3M 5200) to adhere it to the studs and 4 screws. Got a 30 amp cable with male TT end out of an old camper onsite and wired that to my Marinco shore plug on the back wall. The male end will be cutoff and used as a pigtail to come out of my breaker panel to between the shore/inverter. Did some other misc things, painted the floor flashing which was a piece of drip edge to keep it from rusting, cut the hole for the exterior shower, caulked a screw hole that was leaking on the rear hatch, insulated the old windows behind the skin and cut the studs for the rear stoarge area. Got the window frames back from the anodizing shop and had to go over them with some flat black since there were some oxidized areas that didnt anodize well. Also painted the plastic window latches with black plastic paint. Next week I will order the roof AC which will go where the worn out leaking front hatch is. The plan is to make an adapter plate and use some whitewood 2x4 as bracing to install it. Also will be removing the stop and warning lamps and placing a plate on the backside then using body filler over the area to leave no traces of it's past life. So much work that keeps dragging on. I'll post the pics next week.

Sojakai · 05-27-2009, 11:15 PM

I remember seeing a vehicle that had plastic curtains, kinda like bath curtains only UV protected and heavy duty, that slid out on upper and lower tracks for when it was raining. But multi-fold doors could do the same thing, and would be a bit more secure.

Now I have the image of the curtains that have been put into every classroom in America, only see through on the side and back of the bus.

elspankdog · 05-28-2009, 01:14 PM

Any plans for a keg setup?

Tone · 05-28-2009, 02:40 PM

Propane Refer. / Keg-a-rator would be way sweet

kamoo · 05-28-2009, 09:59 PM

I was dead set on doing a tap out of the side with a keg on ice and co2 setup. I decided not to because of many reasons
keg beer isnt that much cheaper
when you buy a keg everyone drinks for "free"
when it is bottles everyone chips in some by bringing a 12 pack or so
half of the people drinking can find nothing better to do than to complain about the brand of free keg beer that they are drinking
a half floated keg doent store well either

I got the rest of the back wall sealed up today, 30 amp inout ran and A/C electrical stub done. I ordered a new roof A/C, water fill and 16 gallon water tank last night. Ill mount the water tank in the rear under the back bench/bunk/closet. Stil fretting over the floor since it was going to be a resilient vinyl plank but I dont have a perfectly smooth flooor considering it is just 3/4 ply.... guess it will be laminate unless someone can chime in on it

elspankdog · 05-29-2009, 09:02 AM

We went with a wood parquet floor on ours. The small strips of wood and the wire mesh backing allowed for flex to compensate for our uneven floor. It was pretty cheap too.

As for the keg, if you keep it cold and on CO2 it will store for months just fine. We've never worried about it since we always floated it. And yes, people do complain about the kind of "free" beer they are drinking. We use a chest freezer that plugs into a thermostat control you can get from microage. This control shuts off power once the freezer reaches the temperature you set it to. This is a great setup since freezers are insulated better, and they'll hold their temp without having to run that often.

kamoo · 05-29-2009, 12:26 PM

I found another issue with the resilient flooring, the temperature in the bus. I guess this stuff will start buckling and seperating at the joints in extreme temperatures. The manufacturer says 50-85 degrees for a room temperature after the installation. I think Ill go with a laminate of some sort, the padding will keep it quiet and knot holes etc wont be a major issue. Im leaving room for an after the fact keg setup since I am pretty sure it will be the one missing link in the build when it is completed.

Did you install your floor before building? I know it would be alot easier but there is a substantial cost savings if I floored after the buildout.

elspankdog · 05-29-2009, 03:33 PM

Did the subfloor (felt paper, 1"x4" grid, 3/4 foam insulation, and OSB) before the buildout, and the wood floor after the build. With a short bus, it didn't take much at all - maybe $40 worth. My bathroom isn't even floored since it is elevated above a fenderwell. It just has a plywood floor. I'll probably throw some poly on it this summer.

kamoo · 05-30-2009, 07:28 PM

Some new pictures added today. We ran some wiring, framed up for the panels that will go over the interior walls and after looking at the pictures and being halfway done figured out a better way to do it... the better ideas always seem to occur AFTER you are done. We came up with a weird way to frame so dont laugh, it isnt structural, only a place to adhere the luan panels. Also added more insulation and finished sealing up the exterior porch wall, I just hope that marine adhesive/caulk sticks as well to the back wall as it does to my fingers!

The Thomas body windows angle in, basically starting at the bottom of the window frame. I dont have a table saw so ripping 2x4s to fit it better wasnt an option. We ran a 1x2 just below the electrical channel then made a ladder type framework out of 2x3 on the straight areas. When you put the panel up it is almost straight up and down and the panel will butt the channel without sticking out at all, almost a smooth transition. Im doing the other side different so I'll post some pictures of the tomorrow. The insulation isnt taped or anything and has some gaps because it is mainly for sound reduction. If it blocks out some heat, that would be great too.

Anyone ever stained luan panels? The best information I could find is to spray a dye stain, washcoat then tint stain, and honestly I dont know what any of that is but Ill figure it out if that is the right way to do it. If it is as bad of a wood to finish as what I have read (Im not a carpenter, painter or wood finisher so it has to be simple) they have the same thickness oak panels for $9 more each.

kamoo · 05-31-2009, 06:57 PM

Added a few more today http://s626.photobucket.com/albums/tt34 ... s/?start=0 . Put one window frame together to see how the black and the tint would look, very happy with how it all turned out. Finished cutting the old camper door down and redoing the bottom flange so it will fit on the rear porch. Ended up taking about 4" off the door and frame. Cleaned everything up some then removed and capped the front pupil warning lights. I decided to cap them on the inside and then fill the gap with body filler to make it flush and leave no sign of the old lights ever being there.
There are some pictures of how I did this in photobucket. Here's the steps
Cut some blanks a little larger than the hole with a circular saw and abrasive blade out of old metal exterior skin that was left from the porch. Traced the inside of the old lights rubber gasket and applied marine adhesive/sealant just on the outside of the line so it would seal right along the edge of the hole. Then put them (do one at a time) in place from the inside and screwed a self tapping screw through a 1x2 to pull the blanks tight against the old light holes. After it is set Ill remove the braces and use body filler to eliminate any traces of lights being there. A few tips, it would be alot easier with 2 people, one holding on the inside, other on the outside. Instead of 1x2 use some old thin gauge angle (i.e. drip edge) if you have it and some metal stud self drilling screws for the brace. The 1x2 and larger tek screws were difficult to use. Also, pre-drill the screws for the brace before you try to put the blanks up, if you are by yourself put an extra screw without a brace so you can hold onto the blank from the outside.

Ill paint the door frame tomorrow and install it on tuesday. Have to finish framing the walls, still torn between putting the laminate floor in before or after the build out. I am really worried about it not floating anymore and buckling or having to tear it out for whatever reason and becoming a nightmare. Has anyone put this type of floor in after framing?

kamoo · 06-05-2009, 06:14 PM

A little more done tonight and some new pictures up. The back door is cut down and in place and started on the roof AC install. I had a front hatch that was sun rotted, cracked and leaking so it came out. Water kept seeping out onto the roof from under the rail so I drilled a hole on the inside of the bus just below the rail and water came pouring out, something that I will need to look into. After it is fairly dry under there I am thinking about drilling some holes in the roof rail and injecting some expandable foam in there to fill the cavity. Took some of the leftover steel that was cut off of the back and make a filler panel with a 14x14 hole cut into it. Cleaned off the old butyl tape, painted the old hatch opening with rust converting primer then finished with white rustoleum. Painted the the two filler panels and they are now sitting to dry until tomorrow. The hatch is larger than the trim ring on the inside so dont use that to cut your upper panel. The new panel will be adhered and sealed with west marine 8200 and a few self tapping screws will go in to retain it. We will make bracing out of 2x2 square tubing and weld in place after the top plate is put on. Should go pretty smooth but will find out tomorrow! I got some pictures of how we are doing the AC in case anyone else wants to do the same.

TygerCub · 06-05-2009, 07:16 PM

Just FYI... if you inject foam into the holes, make sure you don't do too much, otherwise it may blow out or warp the space. Expanding foam is really good at that!

kamoo · 06-06-2009, 07:53 PM

New pictures up! A/C mounted today, kind of a pain. Ran a 12v wire across the bus before the A/C went in for lighting on the other side. Mounted water fill, outside coax cable and electrical boxes and back portch lights. The AC inside panel doesnt sit flush due to the curve in the roof, its in now and works but it will bother me enough to try and fix it later. Anyone have any easy ways to fix this short of trimming the plastic? We stuck a standard 3 prong plug on the end of the romex and ran it off of a generator for a little while. It definately will cool this bus no problem.

http://s626.photobucket.com/albums/tt348/gatorbus/

kamoo · 06-17-2009, 08:27 PM

A few more pictures up. Got the rough plumbing in, cable and elec, insulated the back wall, started the rear railing and got one interior panel up. Finally got the new rubber for the windows in from a Thomas dealer and started reassembling, PITA. My friend that was helping me hurt his back on saturday moving the generator so not too much has gotten done since.

Saw some vinyl resilient plank style garage flooring at Home Depot. It is failry thick and plastic feeling with a diamond tread pattern. Anyone else seen this stuff? It looks like it will fit the bus perfectly.

TygerCub · 06-18-2009, 06:40 PM

Nice back door. Was that a regular security door, or an RV door?

kamoo · 06-18-2009, 07:07 PM

It came off an old travel trailer with a rotted ceiling. I had to cut it down some and it still needs a little tweaking.
Got the porch rails up today and a few other odds and ends. Forgot my camera at home so Ill post some new pics of it tomorrow.

kamoo · 06-28-2009, 04:28 PM

New pics up! The rear railing is done and exterior is ready to start paint prep. Framed some more interior walls the ran out of lumber, toilet flange in and some other misc things. Got a roof vent cap and 36 gal waste tank at the house that Ill put in here pretty soon. Check out the pics http://s626.photobucket.com/albums/tt348/gatorbus/

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