Betty the Bus

[austin1989us]

And some more pics:

[austin1989us]

The finished product:

[austin1989us]

Originally Posted by nat_ster

Working on a bus indoors.

No fair.

Keep the pics coming.

Nat

I wish it was in a nice air conditioned shop, but it was just under a little covered parking area on the side of a shop. The shade was nice though. Didn't keep me from being soaked in sweat all day though.

The guy who owns the storage unit I park at told me to park it under there on the concrete so I wouldn't get his forklift stuck.

[family wagon]

Looks great. Did the forklift guy say you might as well just keep the bus there in the shade a while? You know, just in case the fork lift comes in handy again?

Count my vote as "nay" for buying used electrical stuff, especially outlets. If they've been mistreated, or even just heavily used, the contacts inside will lose their spring and not hold your plugs securely. That's annoying, but it's also a fire hazard. It'd be hard to use more than about 5 in a bus anyway so I vote for splurging and getting the 70-cent new outlets. Or, if you're feeling really luxurious, the nylon commercial grade models that have screw termination with the little saddle bracket under the screw. Those are really nice to install and to use, but they're also in the US$5 neighborhood.

[UsAndaBus]

Hey, that's me in some of those pictures!!

[Brady78]

Hey,
I was wondering what A/C brand did you use on your bus?

Thanks

[austin1989us]

Originally Posted by Brady78

Hey,
I was wondering what A/C brand did you use on your bus?

Thanks

It's a 15,000 BTU Dometic.

[austin1989us]

We're coming up on the deadline for having the bus livable. 4-5 more weekends until the opening day of hunting season. We had a lot going on this weekend, so I wasn't able to get much done. I framed the bed and set up the electrical box so I can install it and start running wiring.

Then I was paralyzed by choices. I've got a little cable feed through port for an RV, so I can just pull the cable out and plug in wherever I'm at. So I need to locate the electrical box somewhere I can feed the cable. I'm torn between putting the electrical box under the bed or under the dining room bench by the driver's seat. Putting it under the bed seems like the logical choice. I can access the panel from the rear emergency exit. There's plenty of space for when I'm wiring the box. The only problem is that looks like it'll be a great place to put some drawers, and I'd hate to waste good storage space on that. Putting it under the bench by the driver's seat doesn't waste as much storage space. I won't be putting drawers on that bench (I just have a hatch to access under the bench. The only problem is it's pretty cramped up there and it'll be a PITA when I'm wiring everything).

Here's another schedule:

October 1-4: Wiring/electrical (contemplate light fixtures, but not critical at this point. Run wiring for future light fixtures, but don't hook up to electrical box)

October 7-11: Install toilet/hot water heater

October 15-18: Install shower/plumbing (contemplate sinks, but not critical at this point. Install water lines for future sinks, but blank them off and wait to install sinks in the spring)

October 21-25: Build bathroom walls and do some moderate finishing work (insulate walls and install paneling)

Last week of October: Get new tires

November 4th: Drive the bus to its home for hunting season

[austin1989us]

I made some progress last weekend. I got the electrical box installed and ran a couple of circuits. I decided to install the box under the bed where I can reach it from the rear exit door. Under the bed is a convenient place to run wiring to either side of the bus. And being accessible from the rear exit door should make trouble shooting relatively easy.

Unfortunately, I didn't leave enough wire to reach from the air conditioner to the breaker box under the bed. I'm a few feet too short. I've got a small electrical box with a blank faceplate. I'll mount that under the bed and use some wire nuts to add some more wire.

On Sunday we had some people come to take a look at the bus. I'd met them on the Facebook Skoolie group. They live here in the Houston area and are considering converting a school bus for extended vacations/trips across the country. They must really like each other. I can't imagine cramming two adults and four children into a bus for months at a time. I'll probably feel differently when we have children though.

It cooled down quite a bit this weekend. It was a tad chilly when I was working on Saturday morning. But it's supposed to get 90+ today. I might realistically end up needing a heater and an air conditioner in the same day.

I'm still behind schedule. This bus will probably end up being an ugly sheet metal tent on wheels for hunting season. I can live with that.

[nat_ster]

As long as it's still driveable, life is good.

Nat

[austin1989us]

I finished the wiring this weekend. That's about it. I'm a little ticked off at UPS right now. I planned on installing the toilet and hot water heater, but they were both broken in shipping. The porcelain on the toilet was shattered on the back, and the corners of the hot water heater were so banged up that I couldn't put the cover on. Amazon was pretty quick with the return though, so I'll have the replacements tomorrow.

I installed the feedthrough port for my power cord and finished running the wire for my last couple of circuits. I also built a pretty hefty box under the bed to give the power cord a place to roll up in. It's ugly, but it works. I went a little overkill on my breaker box purchase. I've got room for 16 circuits, but I only used 4.

I've got a 20A circuit for the A/C, a non-GFCI 15A circuit for the two outlets in the bedroom and outlet at the dining table, a GFCI 15A circuit for the outlet in the bathroom/passenger seat/outside outlets, and a 20A GFCI circuit for the kitchen. I'm thinking the first outlet in the kitchen (for the fridge) might not be GFCI, but the outlet by the sink will be GFCI. I used 12 gauge wire for both the 20A and 15A circuits. The main power cord is a little heavier gauge than that and stranded wire instead of solid core. So I tinned the ends of the main power cord to give it a better connection.

This weekend my dad installed a 30A RV box where I'll be parking the bus this hunting season, so no need to buy a pricey extension cord. That'll be great, and I'm very happy about that.

I've only got two more weekends until it has to be a livable sheet metal tent on wheels. Technically, if I install a wall outlet for a heater, I'm already there. I've got A/C, electricity, and a bed. That's really all we need for now, but I'd like to get the bathroom finished.

I also had something wonderful fall into my lap. I'm busier with work these next couple of weeks than I was all summer. A big paycheck will be nice to help pay for the tires, but now I won't be having the long weekends I've planned on to finish out the bus. I guess I'll be doing work on the bus in the evenings to try and finish it up.

[The Nebuchadnezzar]

Nice work.

[austin1989us]

I made some more progress this weekend. 10 more days till we take it to its parking place for winter. I've still got a lot to do, but I'm sure we'll have a relatively nice sheet metal tent on wheels by then.

On Saturday I cut a hole in the side of the bus under where the bathroom cabinet will be. It's right over the front half of my rear driver side wheel well just above the chair rail. I riveted some 2" steel square tubing between the inner and outer skins like we did for the A/C. We put aluminum tape and weather stripping around the hole. I shoved the water heater in the hole and watched my wife rivet it on.

There's something oddly satisfying about using rivets over screws. Some would say the experience was "riveting."

[austin1989us]

On Sunday my dad and sister came and helped me install the toilet and city water connection.

We had some excitement drilling the hole for the floor flange for the toilet. I'd measured the clearance from the wall as per the manufacturers instructions, then added an inch. But when I tried to put a hole there the hole saw wouldn't go through. Then we went under the bus and realized I was on a support member and had to move the hole two inches. We moved the hole a bit closer to the shower (away from the bathroom cabinet, toward the front of the bus). I plugged the hole underneath the toilet and put about half a gallon of water in to check the seals. The bowl seal held just fine, as did the gasket on the floor flange.

Then we installed the city water connection. We drilled a hole with the hole saw and put the connector through. I decided it'd be best if it came up through the wall, so I used a grinder to cut a notch in the stud along the bottom of my wall. We glued an elbow to the inlet connection and reinstalled the connection.

I decided to go with 1/2" CPVC for all of the water lines. I like the temperature rating and it wasn't much more expensive. I'll have a low point drain toward the front of the bus. Theoretically, I should be able to drain both the hot and cold water lines (and the hot water heater) through a single line (because the cold water inlet to the hot water heater is located at the bottom of the tank).

[austin1989us]

So, a little less than two weeks (one weekend) left to work on the bus. I've got to finish the following items:

-Install Shower
-Build Bathroom Walls
-Finish Plumbing (Toilet, Shower, Maybe bathroom sink?, run and plug lines for kitchen sink)
-Finish building bed
-Put up some paneling and install a couple of power outlets.
-Get new tires

[EastCoastCB]

Its all downhill from here, way to go!

[austin1989us]

I cut six strips of thin plywood and made those the top of my bathroom walls. I also got some plumbing done. Now I'm about to head to the bus to do some more work.

[austin1989us]

It looks like it has been a while since I've posted last. I've been working frantically these past couple of weeks. I'm moving the bus to its home for hunting season this Friday. I've still got a fair amount of work to do, and I'll have to finish up some stuff after I make the trip out to the Hill Country.

Last week/weekend, I framed up the walls for the bathroom and ran all of the plumbing. I installed the shower pan and plumbed up the knobs. I'm probably gonna end up hanging some plastic around the shower like a big shower curtain for hunting season and build a proper shower enclosure (out of corrugated metal) in the spring.

I also built the bed. It's just a platform for now. I'll have to go back in the spring and install the air pistons I bought so I can lift it up for storage underneath.

I began installing the paneling for the bathroom walls. I made a template out of cardboard and traced it on to the paneling and cut it with a handheld scroller saw. They fit pretty well, but I'll need to put some trim pieces up to make it look nicer. Once again, that's a project for spring time.

I also bought the sliding door hardware for my bathroom door.

I have to do some cleaning up and organizing to secure all the loose tools/parts/etc before driving. I'll be getting tires today or tomorrow. Tires are pretty pricey. I had a couple of quotes ranging from $2400-$3800 for six tires. The chinese tires were around $1500 for 6. Tires can cost more than the bus. I'll probably be going with a lower cost american tire. Maybe used on the drives and new on the steers.

Things I'd like to finish this week/weekend after I park it:

-Finish the bathroom walls (that could be good for my marriage)
-Put up the bathroom door
-Hook up the toilet
-Plug in to a water hose and check the plumbing connections for leaks before installing walls over the pipes
-Put up plastic on 3 walls of the shower
-Install propane line/hose/bottle for hot water heater (bottle is just gonna be on the ground this winter, I'll make a permanent mount in the spring)
-Put up the shower curtain
-Install at least one circuit of wall outlets
-Put up some cheap battery powered lights (my wife has some cute plug in lights we'll put in the bedroom
-Once it's parked, run a pipe from the toilet to the septic tank out there, also run another pipe away from the bus to drain the shower.

[austin1989us]

Here are some pics of the process:

[austin1989us]

And some more pics:

I just realized I don't have any pics of the mattress. My sister gave us an old foam/tempurpedic knockoff mattress that we cut down to RV queen size that'll fit comfortably. Luckily my wife and I aren't particularly tall.