A Bus Named Eternity

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

Today I picked up some custom bent 16g steel to patch the holes in the floor.

16 ga is perfect for that. Good to see repairs done right. Warms my cockles.

This is going to be a good build, can't wait.

[eethan]

Thanks for the windows! It was fun getting to see the bus firsthand and talk with a like minded person. Makes me feel less crazy knowing there are more people doing the same thing out there

[T-Bolt]

Life has delayed the bus build for some time. We decided to buy land and build a home. The plan was to focus on the new barn to build the bus in. Several months ago I went to look in the engine compartment to measure something and saw the serpentine belt hanging off. Then I saw the belt tensioner pulley laying on the frame rail. (You know that pit in your stomach that grows when all you see is $$$?) The cast aluminum that covers the entire front of the engine corroded and off where the the pulley was attached. The best price to fix it......$3000. That was not happening so the bus sat there for months. One day the can do attitude kicked in and I started cutting and welding steel. The end result is a new mount for the tensioner that bolts onto the alternator mount. Bus started first shot after sitting for months. I let it idle for a long time then went for a joy ride. Works perfectly! I figure if the new bracket fails on the road sometime I can buy several new welders for $3000.

My take away from this has been that I need to stop over complicating this build and just get it done. So many of my great plans and ideas are going out the window in an effort to start using this thing sooner. I hope to be posting progress updates soon.

[Tango]

Congrats! Glad to hear you managed to overcome such an obstacle. But...I have to wonder what on Earth caused such serious corrosion of that aluminum!?


Even if acid were poured on it I would not expect to see so much metal disappear.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Tango

Congrats! Glad to hear you managed to overcome such an obstacle. But...I have to wonder what on Earth caused such serious corrosion of that aluminum!?


Even if acid were poured on it I would not expect to see so much metal disappear.

The timing covers on DT's with the "E" suffix are very prone to erosion. Its a very expensive, very low quality part. The coolant ate mine away to the point that it has a pinhole leak.

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by Tango

Congrats! Glad to hear you managed to overcome such an obstacle. But...I have to wonder what on Earth caused such serious corrosion of that aluminum!?


Even if acid were poured on it I would not expect to see so much metal disappear.

From the looks of the corrosion on the floor the bus might have lived in a place that saw salt spray on the engine from the road.

[eethan]

Originally Posted by sojourner

From the looks of the corrosion on the floor the bus might have lived in a place that saw salt spray on the engine from the road.

Yeah, it seems to be a problem with those line of busses. Mine is a very similar model and had rust in exactly the same places on the floor/wheel wells

[mblackwood]

Seconded.

Originally Posted by Rusty

I expect that conversion to be completed by noon.


_____________________________________
Beatings will continue until morale improves.

[T-Bolt]

The water heater arrived today. It's a Gasland BE158 on demand heater. I got this one specifically because it will function at a low pressure and low gpm rate. Designed as a portable unit but lots of people will install them in a "well vented" RV. Unlike other portable units this one will work with a short length of exhaust pipe vented to the exterior. The ignition is done with 2 D batteries so no electrical draw either. Best part is that it was only $129 from Amazon.

[alpinekid]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

The water heater arrived today. It's a Gasland BE158 on demand heater. I got this one specifically because it will function at a low pressure and low gpm rate. Designed as a portable unit but lots of people will install them in a "well vented" RV. Unlike other portable units this one will work with a short length of exhaust pipe vented to the exterior. The ignition is done with 2 D batteries so no electrical draw either. Best part is that it was only $129 from Amazon. Attachment 28104Attachment 28105Attachment 28106

I'm interested in how this unit performs. It sound perfect for my short bus.
I also wonder how long it will live.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by eethan

Yeah, it seems to be a problem with those line of busses. Mine is a very similar model and had rust in exactly the same places on the floor/wheel wells

How did you deal with your rusted wheel wells? I just completed the demo on my bus and this is my situation, unfortunately: https://imgur.com/a/yisoA9i

I am contemplating entirely removing the special metal floor section around the wheel wells and the sections in front and behind and replacing it with a floor framed with pressure-treated 4x4s and insulated (in between the beams) with polyiso board. This frame would rest on the chassis rails (like the current floor) and thus would be an insulated floor at the same level as the remaining original metal floor (which would leave me enough height to stand up without needing to raise the roof).

[T-Bolt]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

How did you deal with your rusted wheel wells? I just completed the demo on my bus and this is my situation, unfortunately: https://imgur.com/a/yisoA9i



I am contemplating entirely removing the special metal floor section around the wheel wells and the sections in front and behind and replacing it with a floor framed with pressure-treated 4x4s and insulated (in between the beams) with polyiso board. This frame would rest on the chassis rails (like the current floor) and thus would be an insulated floor at the same level as the remaining original metal floor (which would leave me enough height to stand up without needing to raise the roof).

That floor is a vital part of the buses structural integrity. What are your long term plans and budget? If you are going to use the bus a few weekends a year for several years your repairs are different than full time for 20 years.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

That floor is a vital part of the buses structural integrity. What are your long term plans and budget? If you are going to use the bus a few weekends a year for several years your repairs are different than full time for 20 years.

Sorry, I should have mentioned the reason I'm contemplating this crazy scheme: https://imgur.com/a/yisoA9i

It wouldn't normally make sense to rebuild the floor out of wood just to gain 3" of interior height, but in my case I pretty much need to rebuild the wheel well area of the floor or fall through it at some point, so I'm trying to figure out if a wooden structure could provide adequate strength. If it did, it would cost me almost nothing in materials since I would have had to build an insulated sub-floor in that area anyway - and in fact it would save me a considerable amount of money since I was planning on raising the roof to gain adequate interior height.

I mentioned this was crazy, but what the hell. Anything more expensive than the cost of a different non-rusted bus is obviously not worth it.

Edit: oh, I did include the link to my bus already, sorry. My intention was to live in the bus for a few years near where I live now, but not to travel in it a whole lot. Likely the bus would just take one trip up to Bennington VT and back every year for inspection (about 5 hours each way).

[T-Bolt]

Say good bye to the rear wheel wells!!

After reading another thread about removing/reducing the rear wheel wells I decided to look into more. Pointless for most builds but for us it gives more options the the triple bunks going on both sides.

For years I have used a local engineering and fabrication shop my steel needs. They specialize in custom job specific HD trucks. I was chatting with the owner about this idea. They are currently building a custom truck where the client wanted the wheel wells as low as possible. Their calculations show they need 2" of clearance with the suspension bottomed out to account for chassis roll. This was perfect for my but and just the info I needed. After measuring everything several times I am able to reduce the wheel wells to just 2" above the factory steel floor. After insulation and plywood the floor will be flat!

So today I pulled the trigger and committed. After 5 minutes with a plasma cutter the first well was out. Another few minutes and the hole was squared off and cleaned up.

The new well is framed with 2" angle iron and now I can see exactly how low it will be. Where it attaches to the wall I weld in a 5'x9" 10 gauge plate. This plate is what will also be seen from the exterior when everything is done. Over the wheel goes a 24"x24" 10 gauge plate that is stitch welded on the top and a continuous bead on the bottom.

With that done I set it in place for fitting and measuring. The last 3 photos show the new and old height plus the clearance (it will be a little more after I repair the rusted floor).

To answer a couple questions before they are asked:
Yes that clearance is sufficient as I trust the engineer that does this work daily.
No I am not worried about a tire blowing because it is exponentially stronger now than when the bus was built.

Hope to finish the well soon and will post additional photos.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

After reading another thread about removing/reducing the rear wheel wells I decided to look into more. Pointless for most builds

I don't know, it seems like the wheel wells impose some serious layout constraints on a lot of skoolie builds. Something like this almost completely frees up your design options. In my layout the wells will be entirely hidden, but even then having flatter wells would free up a lot of under-counter space.

I was thinking that I was going to have to sort of notch into one of the wells to make space for a step tub, but I was worried about the clearance problem - apparently this is not a problem.

This is pretty cool. The only negative I can see is cosmetic. I'm trying to imagine what this looks like from the outside. Also, I imagine the original wheel wells are easier to clean off with a hose?

[T-Bolt]

The new rear wheel well fabrication is completed. With the drivers side welded up I removed them both and installed the new 16 gauge sheet metal on the floor. Both wheel wells were welded in place including 10 gauge in front and behind to protect against a tire blow. Still lots more welding to do but over all I very pleased with the new wells.

With concrete being poured in my barn today I backed the bus out. Since the sun decided to pop out I was able to get a good shot of what the wells look like form the exterior. When they are primed, painted and under coated I doubt most people will even notice them.

For those interested I have around $700 in materials to do this repair/modification. This includes everything to repair the front well rust with new angle iron under the floor and 16 gauge flooring. So far I've spent about 14 hours doing the work.

[T-Bolt]

Finally finished all the metal repairs on the floor and the new low profile rear wheel wells. Started installing the insulation and new subflooring. I went with 1.5 inch Foamular 150 glued down with 3/4 t&g plywood.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

Finally finished all the metal repairs on the floor and the new low profile rear wheel wells. Started installing the insulation and new subflooring. I went with 1.5 inch Foamular 150 glued down with 3/4 t&g plywood. Attachment 37222

Do you have more pics of your floor repairs? I'm doing more or less the same thing right now (welding patches over holes).

[musigenesis]

Also, where did you get the black fender thing on the outside of the wheel well? Did that come with your bus? I'm going to need something like that on my bus.

[T-Bolt]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Also, where did you get the black fender thing on the outside of the wheel well? Did that come with your bus? I'm going to need something like that on my bus.

The wheel "fender thing" came with my bus.