baadpuppy's bus... unleashed

[Sojakai]

No problem, it floats around from time to time. But, I used the link for the plans that I keep toying with. You never know what you might be inspired...

...Steal an idea where you can get it.

[baadpuppy]

Well, today I managed to motivate myself to finish cleaning the interior of the bus. Mostly. After having swept everything to the front last weekend, it was quite a pile of stuff to sort through. It was an unpleasant job considering there was stuff that needed to be salvaged from the trash, a lot of trash, sevin dust poison, and a lot of bird poop.

After cleaning all that up, I dug out the pressure washer and attacked the interior. I avoided the engine compartment cover and anything aft of the rear floor heater, as the access cover to the engine is still not screwed down. I didn't want a lot of water on top of my engine.

The seat and dash are no longer looking like they got in the way of a flour explosion. The bird poop is almost completely gone. Some places the pressure washer just couldn't get it to come clean, but since the rubber floor is going to be ripped up in the near future, I didn't let that stress me too much. The worst of the mess is cleaned up.

There's still some stuff around the driver's foot area that I need to go through. The water is still draining/evaporating, so hopefully that'll finish by the time I get ready to work on it tomorrow. I'll need to make sure the dash still works after the bath it got today.

Also, I hope to start taking up the rubber and plywood floor tomorrow.

No pics tonight.

jim

[TygerCub]

Good luck with that floor, pup! I thought just the rubber mat was bad. I can't imagine how much worse it may have been trying to pry up plywood too. Hope all goes quick and easy for ya.

[baadpuppy]

wow, no update since august.

Let's see... last we saw, I had pressure washed the interior of the bus, and left the windows down prior to trying to remove them, with plans to remove the floor.

september...

october...

november...

december...

january...

The bus still sits there, with the pressure washer still inside, windows still down, leaves everywhere.

RL got in the way for a while there. Also, we've had some bad weather, and pretty much non stop wind.

This spring, I really want to get the roof raise done. However, I have serious reservations about accomplishing that with the near constant wind we have around here. I have a vision of doing the final cut, and a gust of wind picking up the roof and flipping it over on top of all the cars...

Right now, I'm shopping around for an inexpensive garage to be able to get the bus inside to work on it. Ideally, said garage would include attached living quarters, so I could just move there and work on it without having to schedule the work. I have a line on a place that might not open up until june or july for a decent price, but I want to get started prior to then.

Anyway, still refining the plan in my head and on paper, and just trying to work out logistics. Also trying to find a new (to me) commuter vehicle by the end of feb.

so, I'll post more as there is more to post...

jim

PS, the engagement ended, and with it, a bit of financial drain, so the budget is much improved.

[RazorCityDen]

Originally Posted by baadpuppy

PS, the engagement ended, and with it, a bit of financial drain, so the budget is much improved.

Better to sort it out sooner rather than later bro!

We build with constant wind here! I would throw a couple long ratchet straps over the top of the bus for safety, have all the metal cut, welder ready and lift the damm roof!

God hates a coward!

Take care,
Den

[paul iossi]

I agree with Den, rachet straps x'ed at each end and if the wind still bothers you C clamp a couple of 2x4's on each side to keep the roof aligned
Make sure that you have everything ready to go before you cut the final four pillers, and then git er done

[RazorCityDen]

Originally Posted by mightybus

or go to church to find a good un.

Your bus looks great!

I thought the unedited version more useful!

Take care,
Den

[baadpuppy]

Please try not to drift too far from the topic of my bus conversion.

Thanks,
jim

[baadpuppy]

So we've had a lot of snow (blizzards even) here this winter, and now we're getting tons of rain. This has been an unusually wet winter, and most of the roads have standing water. The ground is beyond saturated.

During the blizzards, we started to store trash (in bags) in my bus. We also did some major housecleaning, and that went into the bus as well. Today, when the rain stopped and the sun came out, we decided to haul off the trash, and since the gas station and the trash transfer station are across the street from each other, I decided to take the opportunity to fill up the tank.

Before I could move the main bus out of the yard though, I had to get the shed bus (the stowaway) out of the way. I had mom drive it so she could get some experience with it. Well, about 10 feet from it's final parking spot, the left rear wheels sunk into mud, and we lost all traction. It sits there now, with the wheel sunk into the mud, waiting for a dry day to get moving again.

pictures: shed bus stuck in the mud

Now some of you might see where this story is heading already. I admit it is tragically funny.

Our driveway is carved into the ground quite a bit due to years of people driving in and out. It is also a bit narrow. Getting the bus in and out of the driveway has been a chore in the past, and I decided to try going out differently this trip. I didn't swing quite wide enough, and took out the mailbox. That's the second time in a month the mailbox got taken out, once by the snow plow. So, after killing the mailbox, I figure we've had our excitement for the day.

After getting onto the street, I started to worry, as I couldn't seem to get the bus up to 2nd gear, and it finally did it when the engine got around 2200rpm. Then, it didn't seem to want to hit 3rd. It took me a while to get the bus all the way up to 4th gear and lockup. After that though, it seemed to be smooth driving. I think I need a front end alignment unfortunately. I got up to 55mph, at 2500rpm, with only a small amount of diesel smoking. The ride was fairly smooth (for a mostly empty bus). Getting into and out of the transfer station was fairly easy. Unloading all the trash was also easy.

As luck would have it, the gas station was mostly empty, so it was trivial to swing in and get pulled up to a pump. Unlike when I took my trip from GA to VA in the bus, the diesel pump at this station had a really nice automatic shutoff when the tank was close to full. I put 20 gallons of fuel into my bus in less time than it takes to put 10 gallons into my little corolla. I really like that fuel pump.

As I tried to figure the best way back home from the fuel station, I realized it would be all left turns, with no spots really adequate for swinging such a large vehicle around. So, I took a right, and took the long way home. This gave me an opportunity to run up to 55mph for a while on several different roads, and to get a feel for her again. It was enjoyable.

Then, I arrived at home. Here's where the fun really began.

I missed the mailbox this time. I swung wide, but not quite wide enough... The left front wheel went up over the ditch bank on the far side of the driveway, but I should have gone another 3 feet out. The right rear wheels ended up coming into the shallow part of the ditch before hitting the right side ditch bank... And the storage box is on the right side. The storage box dug into the ditch bank, then the wheels started spinning on that side. You can't hear that from inside the bus like you can in a car.

Mom got out and looked to see what the problem was. She says the storage box was barely touching the ground. I sent her to get the 4x4 (5000 pound vehicle... but all we had to try with), while I sat there trying to think of a better answer. By the time she got the 4x4 pulled up in front of the bus, the bus had sunk into the mud up to the axle, and the box was definitely in the ground.

pictures: main bus stuck in the mud

We used the 4x4 to go down to the neighbor's house, and got them to bring their small tractor (not small, just the smallest one they have), and they pulled me out of the mud. I don't have pictures of that, as I was operating the bus at the time.

After he got me unstuck, we talked for a bit about the situation, and I asked him what he would recommend for us to do to get the driveway widened at the end and shaped properly for decent ingress/egress. He said legally we are supposed to get the state to do it, but that it takes many months to get them to do anything, and costs a lot, and even then, it won't be how you want it. He then offered to do the work for us, as well as install a 21' culvert, and make sure everything would drain properly. So, when the area dries out, he'll be fixing our driveway for us.

All in all, it has been an interesting day.

I have to say, I definitely liked getting the bus moving again. It's been too long. I definitely need some new tires on the back. I think if the right rear tires weren't pretty much slick, I might not have gotten stuck, as I probably could have kept moving enough. I also learned that hydroplaning isn't a concern in a big bus. I had to hit a large area of flooding faster than I would have liked, and the water just parted (leaving a huge wake) and the bus just drove right on.

Anyway, I'm hoping that in mid april to early may I'll be able to do the roof raise. I can't wait. Then I can fix my clearance lights, and actually be mostly legal on the road.

Anyway, I'll post more if I ever make any progress.
jim

[Sojakai]

Have you thought of putting your mailbox on a removable post? Then you can just pull it up and put it back so you dont have to worry about killing it...

[baadpuppy]

Originally Posted by Sojakai

Have you thought of putting your mailbox on a removable post? Then you can just pull it up and put it back so you dont have to worry about killing it...

Lol. Yeah, when the neighbor reworks the end of the driveway, we'll be relocating the mailbox to a better spot. No need for a removable post, it just won't be in the way anymore. Even smaller delivery trucks have difficulty with our driveway sometimes. It doesn't help that the road is rather narrow. 2 8' wide vehicles meeting on the road have to ride on grass to avoid scraping. Seeing a combine coming down that road means backtracking.

One of the curses of living in the country is being the last on the list for road improvements and scraping of snow and getting the electric back on, etc. Still, it is nice not having to get permission to build a shed. lol

jim

[baadpuppy]

Yeah, it's just about 39' long, with a fairly long wheel base.

Talk about that sinking feeling though.... lol

All's well that ends well.

jim

[baadpuppy]

Originally Posted by gwreddragon

I'm really interested in hearing more about this project!

Your idea of raised floor and side-aisle with storage underneath sounds exactly like what I have been envisioning in my head.

Maybe I missed it somewhere in this thread, but what do you plan to have along the side aisle in the middle, versus in the centered portion? Bathroom in the middle, I assume...kitchen as well?

gwreddragon, I'm planning to leave the original (structural) floor exactly where it is, although I do plan to improve the insulation. I want a side aisle down the curb side, and really would like to have a lot of visibility out that side as well.

I plan to raise the roof 30" to 36", bringing it to a total of 12'6" to 13'0" at the tallest spot. That gives me 6" to 12" of room for "stuff" that I haven't figured out yet.

I plan to build up a secondary floor 18" to 24" above the original floor. This would clear the wheel wells completely, and provide me with a lot of storage for tanks, etc within the main thermal envelope. This will also help keep the center of gravity low. Above the drivers area, I want to build a loft. I want to treat the main entrance and drivers seat area as an airlock or "arctic entrance" like is used in Alaska. I want the main interior to be well insulated. The drivers area will also be insulated, but unfortunately, I won't be able to be as thorough in that area (big single pane windshield, pedals, etc).

At the rear of the bus, I plan to have a a very small room above the engine's highest point for tool storage. I want to have a passthrough so that I can escape the bus that direction if needed. The bottom of the room will be above the engine access panel, so it'll be quite a ways off the ground.

The rest of the engine covering area in the rear will be inside the bedroom. I want either a queen or king sized bed, but haven't figured out that detail yet. It will need to be movable so that the engine service panel can be accessed.

Forward of the bedroom will be the bathroom. I'm hoping to be able to squeeze a real tub in there, but I'm not sure how I'll accomplish that yet.

Forward of the bathroom will be the galley. I'm not much of a cooker, so it will be a small galley. My hope is that most of my cooking will be done outside, on a grill. I do plan to have a propane stove/oven, a microwave/convection oven, and the main sink in the kitchen.

Forward of the galley will be the living room area. I'm still not sure how that layout will end up being.

The bathroom and rear bedroom will have privacy doors. There will be some kind of door between the living room and the driver's area. The loft will probably be just curtained off, but I'm not decided on that yet. I want a small skylight in the loft so that it can also be used as a reading nook.

I'm considering having the rear bedroom be down at the original floor height so that I could put in a ceiling fan if I wanted.

I plan to keep my original curved roof. I plan to steal Smitty's "truss" idea for the interior.

My heat plans are to have everything be hydronic. I want to have multiple heat sources (solar, engine, propane boiler, and diesel boiler) and multiple heat load zones (engine, different room zones, and a few forced air heat zones, as well as the drivers area, and keeping the fuel tanks from getting too cold).

I'm considering installing a basement type A/C unit.

Beneath the original structural floor, I plan to have the remaining essentials. Those include the battery bank, generator, extra fuel tanks, propane tanks, and some exterior access storage.

All tank drains and power inputs will be kept on the driver's side of the vehicle.

For food storage, I plan for some of the space between the two floors to be used for dry goods storage. I also plan to use small chest type freezers for both frozen foods and as a refrigerator (using a thermostat to turn off power to the freezer to keep it above freezing).

I want a very large water tank, and reasonable sized grey and black water tanks. My main water tank will be considered non-potable, so I can refill it from a river or lake if necessary. I'll have a separate potable water storage.

I have a lot of plans, and a finite space, and so there will need to be compromise.

Anyway, enough babbling for now. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions.

Thanks,
jim

[baadpuppy]

I'm going to have some progress to report soon.

This week, Miss Utility came out and marked where all the buried stuff is, and we'll be relocating the mailbox soon.

I'm taking a week of vacation from April 17 thru April 25 so that I can focus on working on the bus. During this time, I intend to get the roof raised (at last!). The windows will be removed, and the sides will end up getting skinned hopefully. I also want to figure out where the windows will end up being.

I'm still working with limited funding (whatever is left over after bills), so progress is still slow. However, I'm at the point now where all forward progress is waiting on the roof raise.

I've also managed to get my old RV stripped of everything I intend to salvage from it. I destroyed part of the side to gain access to the propane tank so I could get it removed, and in the process of tearing open the side wall, I discovered the aluminum tubing used to build the old RV is corroded badly inside. I definitely made the right decision to switch from an RV to a bus.

I've removed the onan 5500 watt generator (which weighs about as much as my bus according to my strained muscles), and the propane tank, and the fresh water system (tank, pump, expansion/pressure tank). Last night we even cut the welds for the electric step. On April 19, I'll be driving very slowly to the scrap yard and getting as much cash for it as I can. It'll be nice to no longer have that tax drain on my finances.

I'll post more as more happens.
jim

[Stuff]

now that is a sinking feeling!!

ya some better treads might help out. either spend the $$ or try a wreckers?

[baadpuppy]

Originally Posted by Stuff

now that is a sinking feeling!!

ya some better treads might help out. either spend the $$ or try a wreckers?

I hardly drive the bus on the road right now, preferring to focus on getting it converted. I don't want to spend money on tires that will just sit in the yard for the next year or two, reducing the life I'll get out of them when I finally hit the road.

I do know a place where I might be able to get a decent set of used tires for not too much money, and I plan to have a talk with them while I'm off work later this month.

jim

[CAMO-MONSTER]

Originally Posted by Stuff

now that is a sinking feeling!!

ya some better treads might help out. either spend the $$ or try a wreckers?

[Stuff]

lol overkill!

[CAMO-MONSTER]

Originally Posted by Stuff

lol overkill!

well if it is for a bus it's not. it is a 12,000lbs i picked up off ebay for $457 .
overkill for my 71 chevy yes!

[baadpuppy]

Due to some overtime, I got some extra time off for my vacation. So, I got started early on the process of raising the roof.

First step was to remove 2 windows, and get access to the pillar between the two windows, so that I know what steel to order.

I decided to take out a normal window first. That was fairly easy, 2 screws on each side, and one in the top center, and it pretty much just popped out (technically, it popped inward).

Removed window:


The second window I tried was an emergency exit window. This one was more of a PITA, as the window has to be swung out to access the screws. However, that wasn't too difficult. The real problem was that one of the screws had the head stripped, and I ended up using the angle grinder and destroying the window to get it removed.

Removed window:


Here's a shot from inside out showing the gaps where the windows used to be:


And a shot from outside:


Now I have some measurements:



It looks to me that the hollow is about 1 1/8" wide by 1 3/4" deep. Does that sound right?

I need to put together a steel order, and I'm not sure what I should order. I have 14 pillars on each side, so I need 28 pieces pretty much identical. Since I'm aiming for 36" of maximum raise, and I want some overlap, I'm thinking each pillar insert will need to be 5' in length (1 foot overlap at top and bottom). I'm thinking I can buy the steel in 10' or 20' lengths and cut them down to whatever actual size I need.

Re-reading the millicent thread, I see Elliot used 1x1 1/4" rectangular tubing, and some 1 1/2 x 3/16 flat stock to make up his inserts. I'm thinking if I do the same, I should be good to go. Does anyone see a problem with that?

I have to go up to town (about an hour drive) on Tuesday for a meeting about new insurance coverage at work (yawn) and plan to take the bus and pick up the steel in the same trip. It's the only vehicle I have large enough for 20' lengths.

Elliot used a method of one tube inside another to lift his roof, and I'm planning to do the same thing. I already have the 4 jacks that match his (different colors though), and just need to put it all together. Any recommendations on the sizes for the lift rams and lift guides? I've been re-reading elliot's thread and just don't see those sizes mentioned.

Any other sanity check items I'm forgetting to ask?

Thanks,
jim