Bike For The Light Skoolie

[Eric von Kleist]

Very nice work! Keep it up! You won't regret going with the 1" R-7 polyisocyanurate. EDIT [I used] 3/4" polystyrene, which only has an R value of 4. I' love to have that extra R3 as Christmas approaches in the mountains of SW Virginia.

[John]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Roto-Zip

I've gone through a couple of RotoZips. First one had variable speed and the motor burned out rather quickly. I'm not one to abuse tools and I notice if the tool is getting hot and stop and let it cool, but this was ridiculous. It would start to smoke after 5 minutes of easy wood cutting. Second one was a simple on/off. Used it for all kinds of bus-related tasks. Finally wore out while cutting metal for the water-heater installation (it had done all kids of nice tasks though). The second one lasted a couple of years and some tough jobs. Picked up a replacement simple on/off for $30 refurbished. It's been doing great, if it ever does wear out, I'll definitely replace it with another refurbished model.

[bikeforthelight]

Originally Posted by Eric von Kleist

Very nice work! Keep it up! You won't regret going with the 1" R-7 polyisocyanurate. EDIT [I used] 3/4" polystyrene, which only has an R value of 4. I' love to have that extra R3 as Christmas approaches in the mountains of SW Virginia.

Thanks man. I am really glad I went with it. More for the heat, not the cold. After getting the insulation in the ceiling and on the walls, I could feel a huge difference the next day working on her in the Florida sun. So if it works that well in the heat, it should keep up the same way with the cold. I am not in the cold too often though. Since I am riding a bike anytime I am traveling in Gracey I try and keep the wheels heading towards the endless summer.

Originally Posted by John

I've gone through a couple of RotoZips. First one had variable speed and the motor burned out rather quickly. I'm not one to abuse tools and I notice if the tool is getting hot and stop and let it cool, but this was ridiculous. It would start to smoke after 5 minutes of easy wood cutting. Second one was a simple on/off. Used it for all kinds of bus-related tasks. Finally wore out while cutting metal for the water-heater installation (it had done all kids of nice tasks though). The second one lasted a couple of years and some tough jobs. Picked up a replacement simple on/off for $30 refurbished. It's been doing great, if it ever does wear out, I'll definitely replace it with another refurbished model.

Yah man, they work great. I am really happy with mine. But I will say, I was soooo impressed with that multi-tool I bought. Comes with a few interchangeable heads for cutting, scraping, sanding, and grinding. Used it all day for really precise cuts. I would definitely get one if you can. I picked up a cheap one from harbor freight for under $40. Some people have had bad luck with their stuff, but everything I have gotten there still works great. And if my other option is the Feins model for $400, I am happy with my hf model. haha.

[bikeforthelight]

So I got some more work done today. Not as much as I would have liked, but couldnt get out to Gracey till around 3pm. I finished up the paneling and insulation on the center wall that splits the bedrooms.







I was going to just use a simple bead of caulk in the seams of the paneling, but the more I look at it the more I think I am going to use a simple furring strip. Will end up looking better too I think once its all painted. Not sure what widths and depths they sell it in. I want to get the thinnest pine that I can I think. Im thinking like 3/4" by 1/4" or something like that. I was going to run the living room luan horizontal, but have found that luan bends much better vertically, so that is what I think I am going to do. Means more seams, but with the furring strips, it should still look great. I also decided that I wanted to mount the power inverter under one of the beds right behind the power converter and transfer switch. I didn't want to have it out in the open area (would be an eyesore). The problem would be turning it on. So I built a remote switch. I took the inverter apart and built my own switch to mount in the bedroom. Turned out pretty well. Still have to sand the edges of the switch, but I am happy with it.

[Diesel Dan]

You might consider the possible health risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields in your design. I plan to try to wire my bus so as to avoid having my bed or other places where I will spend a lot of time near any major electrical components or 120v wiring that will carry significant current. Check out this website: http://www.mercola.com/article/emf/emf_dangers.htm and this one: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/elec ... ields.html, for starters, and decide for yourself. I know a bus is a relatively small space, and so you will likely be close to some electromagnetic fields, but I'd rather be 5 feet away as opposed to having a power inverter 6 inches from my head while I'm sleeping.

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by bikeforthelight

I was going to just use a simple bead of caulk in the seams of the paneling, but the more I look at it the more I think I am going to use a simple furring strip. Will end up looking better too I think once its all painted.

I love this idea! It solves the seam problem, and gives it a "panelled" look at the same time. I made a note for myself to do this with mine when I reach that point.

[bikeforthelight]

Originally Posted by Pied Typer

They make "H" shaped molding that is paintable plastic used for that PVC paneling that they use in bathrooms, I dont know if the gap in the "H" is big enough for luan, but it may be cheaper/easier than lathing strips and look just as nice when painted....

Just thinking...

I cant find anything like that. But the wood slats are gonna be easier since the paneling is already starting to go up I think. I actually looked for that stuff before I started paneling, but never found it. Dont think I could install it with paneling already up anyways. Wood will look fine too though.

Originally Posted by Diesel Dan

You might consider the possible health risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields in your design. I plan to try to wire my bus so as to avoid having my bed or other places where I will spend a lot of time near any major electrical components or 120v wiring that will carry significant current. Check out this website: http://www.mercola.com/article/emf/emf_dangers.htm and this one: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/elec ... ields.html, for starters, and decide for yourself. I know a bus is a relatively small space, and so you will likely be close to some electromagnetic fields, but I'd rather be 5 feet away as opposed to having a power inverter 6 inches from my head while I'm sleeping.

I will check out this site, but I know I had the same stuff about the same distance from me in my stock built RV. The power stuff is actually about 2 1/2 fee away, and is gonna be double boxed. If you sleep with your head at the other end its a good 7 feet from your head. Plus, its not under my bed....its under my drivers. So I am not worried.

So today I decided to start taking on the task of installing the first panel that had to be cut along the roof radius. After about an hour of trying to get a template to fit right I decided to make a better way. I had a template made of scrap luan that was sorta close, but not right. I took a marker and taped it to a piece of scrap frame wood.


Then I placed that piece of wood against the ceiling. Now the marker was far enough down to give me a clear mark. So I just slid the marker across the ceiling marking out the template exactly where I needed to cut.


Worked like a charm. After an hour of frustration, it took this marker idea all of 3 minutes to give me a perfect template. I got the front wall up on one of the bedrooms.


This pic looks like the screws are in willy nilly, but it actually is where the frame work is behind it. But you can see the template worked pretty well.


Inside that wall is pink fiberglass insulation. I used great stuff expanding foam in the top section to help provide a stronger backing to the luan up where the frame didn't reach. It also let me seal better the top edge of the panel to the roof of the bus. I also used the great stuff along the top edge of the bus. I have the polyiso foam in the side walls of the bus, but had to notch it for the steel cross beams. So I used a little of the great stuff on all those steel areas that were exposed. Hopefully just a little more thermal break for that steel.


May not do anything, but its better than wasting the rest of the can of great stuff. Haha. Tomorrow I will cut out the excess. I am hoping to start paneling all the side walls tomorrow. We will see what I get done.

[Eric von Kleist]

In the front area of my bus (living area and dinette) I panelled the ceiling with whitewashed luan. It conforms pretty easily to the curvature. I had already glued the 1/4" foam to the ceiling with foam-safe construction adhesive. I put the same glue on the panels, and pressed them into place, holding them against the curvature with a bunch of improvised braces. When dry, it stayed. Some of it I had to stand and hold by hand for 10 or 15 minutes.

My seams are covered with 1/4" x 2" boards ripped from dimensional stock. Lath, basically. I ran my luan longitudinally along the ceiling. Along the longitudinal seams on the ceiling, the boards are just long straight boards. The boards that cover the end seams of where two long pieces of luan come together are the same 1/4" x 2" boards, but shorter. They are steam bent to match the curvature of the roof. (Ebony stain covered with polyurethane will actually survive the steambending process without harm.)

Steambending is not difficult technically, and doesn't really require much technology to accomplish. Just put a metal coffee can full of water on the grill and boil it. Stick the end of the stick that is being bent into the water, and build a big aluminum foil cone running up as high as you want to bend so that the steam will heat the stick. Any other similar contraption (long piece of pipe with steam in one end for long pieces) will work. You can pour boiling hot water on directly on thin wood 1/4" and get reasonable bendiness out of it.

I made a cieling curvature template out of a 2 x 8 , and then clamped the hot lath to that, starting at the very end, and gradually tightening down several clamps along the length until the wood fit the template. Beware springback. If you make your curve slightly tighter than you need, the spring-back will be more or less controlled -- takes fiddling with, and I didn't actually worry about it. If you get a decent amount of bend in the wood, don't worry if it's not an exact match to the curvature of the ceiling. The wood will be flexible enough that you can push it up against the ceiling and put screws in it to hold it permanently.

I made half lap joints where my longitudinal and lateral trim pieces intersect. The original ideas was to have a simulated wooden beam ceiling, but it didn't exactly look like beams. It looks decent, but it was not the exact effect I had in mind.

There may be pictures in the gallery, but I can't remember.

[bikeforthelight]

Im gonna go find those pics man. I would love to see em. I am not gonna be bending a ton of luan though. Not putting wood on the ceiling. At least not this year. Maybe eventually I will pull all the metal down and insulate and sheet it. Would love to have the time to do it now, but have to finish this conversion by the middle of january.

[bikeforthelight]

Been a few days since I posted on this. I have done some work, but today I really got back into a full day of work. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the top edge of the paneling along the side walls. Didn't want it to just hang there with a rough edge, and there wasn't enough room to install a corner piece really. So I decided to make my own kind of trim piece. I started with a 1" x 3" furring strip. I cut a 50 degree angle on the top, then notched the bottom.



The finished piece mounts to the top of the frame really well and sets against the edge of the metal ceiling.



The notch at the bottom lets the paneling slide right up in there and gives a very clean finished look to it.



The steel ceiling has a slight bow to it between the cross beams. So in those areas the trim piece doesn't fit flush. I used some simple silicone to fill that gap. When its all painted it will look really good I think. The trim piece and the silicone are going to be painted white like the ceiling. The paneling will be a different color. So the bottom of that trim piece is going to leave a straight top edge between the colors. I finished up the side wall paneling in the first bedroom. Using a small trim piece between the panels. I really like the look of it.



Then under the bed in that bedroom I laid carpet to keep it quiet, and help protect anything I put under there for storage as it rolls around and stuff.



I am going to finish up that first bedroom tomorrow so then I can store all my tools and stuff in there as I finish the rest of the bus. Fun times.

[ezbme]

I have been absent for a while & D*MN Johnny it is lookin goooood!

[bikeforthelight]

Originally Posted by Smitty

You're gettin' lazy on us Johnny, with all those fancy new tools, I'm highly disapointed you didn't scribe and cut the trim to fit the bow in the ceiling.
NAW.....just bustin' yer chops

Haha...You laugh smitty, but i sat there thinking about trying to do that for a good hour. In the end I decided those bows are probable gonna flex a bit, and I didn't want the squeaking. Haha....and it would have sucked to try and figure out all those cuts. No way. Silicone fixes all. Haha.

Originally Posted by Smitty

How far along are you with the entire conversion (50-75%)?? Smitty

Its hard to say. I am done with all the major framing. Still have the A/C to install. Electric is all installed. Have about half the paneling done. I haven't even touched the exterior yet. All in all I would say im at least 60% maybe close to 70%. But I think the last ten percent is gonna be a bunch of small little things. Not the fun stuff. Just the crap you gotta get done.

Originally Posted by ezbme

I have been absent for a while & D*MN Johnny it is lookin goooood!

You have been gone forever man. Thanks man. Its coming along. How in NM going for you? Im envious of your weather about now. Sweating all day in the bus today. Still in the upper 80's. Sucks.

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by bikeforthelight

You have been gone forever man. Thanks man. Its coming along. How in NM going for you? Im envious of your weather about now. Sweating all day in the bus today. Still in the upper 80's. Sucks.

NM has been quite the challenge being off the grid but we have been FAAAST learners! The weather has varied from 70 to -14 in just nov - dec! We have had frozen pipes, next to no heat, equipment failure & more but it is getting better!

Just bought 4 more 100AH AGM batteries for a total of 8 so now we are at 800AH & it should give us a good backup for days!! Exciting as we are combining the power from the business solar setup with the cabin... more panels are next. We are also having a well drilled by end of january, hopefully - as there is nothing worse than hauling in your water, blowing the impeller off of the 110v pump cause you thought it was thawed out - then having to siphon by mouth to the holding tanks only to have the pipes freeze that night!

Dara's dad is coming in for 4 days from PA to help us lay 2" foam board insulation topped with OSB tongue & groove as the floors of the cabin are not insulated! KINDA like building a bus...

The snow has been incredible! I thought I would share a few photos... I don't miss the FL weather or the people, nothing personal!

The Outhouse Trek!





Our NEW internet connection!!!

[Eric von Kleist]

Damn! Talk about Broadband! What do you get, about a gajillion BPS? You could just stand in front of the antennae and have internet in every fiber of your nervous system!

I like the trim strip you manufactured. Isn't it fun custom making every little odd piece that you come across a need for? SO much fun!

Putting luan (doorskins) on the ceiling is not hard at all. It flexes enough to go up easily, but you have to hold (or brace) it in place for a little while until the construction adhesive dries.

Everything looks good, and it sounds like your DC system is going to be plenty big. Good work!

[bikeforthelight]

Jonathan....love it and cant wait to see it all in person man.

Originally Posted by Eric von Kleist

I like the trim strip you manufactured. Isn't it fun custom making every little odd piece that you come across a need for? SO much fun!

It is fun. Sometimes frustrating, but definitely fun. I am not gonna skin the ceiling this year. I will probably do a change of the bus in a year or two to just one bedroom and put in a water system. At that point, I will probably pull the metal ceiling down and put legit insulation up there and skin it in luan. Just don't have the time or energy this time round. I have to finish this whole thing inside and out by february before my next tour starts.

So today I did a lot. It doesnt really look like it though. I had a little bit of the wall insulation to finish up. I got it all done. Then I put up the top trim piece and siliconed it on the passenger side of the living room. Then I cut and mounted one panel of the wall in the living room. Have to finish a couple little wiring things on that wall before I cover the rest. Will do that tomorrow. I am using as much of the free trim pieces I got from Freecycle as I can. You can see that the corner trim piece is painted darker right now. But it will end up being painted to match the rest of the room.



I also mounted the bed platform in the first bedroom.



I cut two hatches in the platform to access the storage under the bed. I framed the holes with 2x3 to help support the hatches. Put hinges on them both. Should make for easy access under there.

[mouse059]

Originally Posted by Eric von Kleist

Damn! Talk about Broadband! What do you get, about a gajillion BPS?

The latency would suck.

[thesaltydog24]

I like the hatch in the bed platform. Simple but effective. I'll have to add that to the list of ideas I'm building. Depending on the under side clearance between the frame rails I plan on building a hatch into the floor that leads to a storage compartment as well.

Chris

[bikeforthelight]

Originally Posted by thesaltydog24

I like the hatch in the bed platform. Simple but effective. I'll have to add that to the list of ideas I'm building. Depending on the under side clearance between the frame rails I plan on building a hatch into the floor that leads to a storage compartment as well.

Yeah, man. I was gonna put doors at the foot of the bed, but this seemed a little easier. Im happy with how well it turned out.

So today I got a lot done. But unfortunately it doesnt show in the pics really. Just doing more of the same really. Finished all the paneling on the passenger side. Here is a shot of the living room wall.



You can see the surround sound wires at the top. The wires toward the bottom of the wall are for ambient lighting. They are wired to the switch at the left of the picture. Its just inside the door. Its gonna be the same light fixtures that I am using on the ceiling, but they will be mounted low and behind the couch and cabinets. Just to provide light in the room without it glaring in your eyes and messing with the tv screen. I also did a little trim work on the door way into the nearly completed room. Gonna try and finish it up tomorrow.

[bikeforthelight]

Today was a nerve wrecking day. I cut a hole in the side of the bus. I knew I had to, but still was nervous. If I screw it up, it aint an easy fix. So I finished up wiring all the electrical inside. Then I needed an access door for my shore power line. I put in a spring loaded weatherproof door. Turned out great.





Works well, but in the end....I am gonna have to get a bigger door and cut a bigger hole. Just not enough room in this one to fit big 30A plugs. Close, but no cigar. Either way, when I plugged in the whole system for the first time, it worked. All of it. Really happy. No blown fuses or tripped breakers. Just worked the way it was supposed to. I have yet to hook up the remote switch on the inverter. Will do that Monday I think.

Oh, and Smitty....i started up the freezer for the first time. I'll post up some stuff on the freezer thread.

[bikeforthelight]

Thanks man. I like the cover you put there. I may look into it. I was going with metal so it would take paint and I could match it up with the rest of the bus. Either way. I gotta pic up some buss fuses and start wiring interior lighting tomorrow. Im excited. Starting to come together. I got those cabinets for free a while back, but one was missing a drawer. I got two large ones and 3 small ones. The missing drawer is from one of the large ones. I am using both of them for sure in the living room. I tried finding a replacement drawer, but to no avail. seems they are custom or something. so i have decided to sacrifice one of the small cabinets and am gonna build my own drawer. never done that so it should be a fun test.