Bike For The Light Skoolie

bikeforthelight · 08-31-2009, 07:31 PM

I live on the road about 8 months out of the year. i run a non-profit called Bike For The Light. I bicycle across the country and speak to teens about reaching out and making a difference in the world, whether through missions projects or humanitarian efforts. Also speak at a lot of schools to get teens excited to make a difference in their community. In the last cross country tour me and my driver lived for 8 months in a 19' toyota rv. just way too small so i decided to get something bigger. i hate the idea of a big posh rv. just not my style. i saw one of you guys' videos on youtube of your conversion and was sold. i knew its what i was supposed to do.

since we are a non-profit, i dont have much money. so my bus was donated. i know everyone wants diesels but, i wanted gas and a ford engine. i used to have a van with a very similar engine and know how to work on it, so this bus is perfect. so i started my conversion this week. have tons of plans, and plan on laying them out for all of you to see here. i also promise to post as many pics as i can. i know thats what i like to see. haha. here it goes.

so here is my bus. she will get named later. actually gonna have a contest on the website to name her:

she is a pretty bird....well not pretty....but in my eyes she is gorgeous. haha.

bought an air drill from harbor freight today before i started. lots of people think their tools are horrible, but i have had good luck with them. and the $14 i spent on this paid for itself within the first ten minutes.

removed the sheet metal above the windows today. that drill made short work of about 200 screws. just a matter of a few minutes. incredible having that kind of power.

started scraping the rubber runner up the center. was going to remove seats, but really need someone with me. didnt want to stop working, so i went to town on that runner. was a lot easier than i expected. the big scraper was definitely worth the money too.

one of the things i was worried about was where i would do the conversion. finally found a guy that supports my organization. he owns a company that makes gift cards for places like walmart, best buy, and target, among others. he is letting me park the bus in a locked up yard with power and bathrooms as long as i need. even gave me keys to the place. what a blessing.

today i went in and they showed me around as they were making target christmas gift cards. by the way...they showed me a card they are making for best buy for christmas. its a gift card with tiny led's in it on the christmas tree on the front. same thickness as normal cards, no bumps for the lights or the battery. lights will last over a year. incredible. here is some of the target cards they were running today.

after the break in the air conditioning (it is wicked hot here in florida for a conversion), i went back to finish tearing up the rubber runner.

getting the rubber floor runner removed felt great. the best part was how good the floor looked underneath. i had not felt any soft spots anywhere, but still, you never know. i dont have it all up, so who knows, but down the center....i saw only a few small spots of surface rust. nothing that a steel brush and some rustoleum cant handle. if this is what the rest of the floor is like, i am a happy man.

so for day one of the conversion i am happy. got all the sheet metal out from the curve above the windows. got the rubber runner up off the center. and broke loose all the seat bolts. tomorrow i have someone coming to help me finish removing all the seats. im excited. tons more to go.

bikeforthelight · 08-31-2009, 08:11 PM

haha...well i gotta finish the bus first.

ezbme · 09-01-2009, 04:05 PM

Welcome to the forums & nice bus Johnny!

I met Johnny today, he drove an hour to visit & check out Buster! What a great guy! We spent the better part of 3 hours talking buses & everything related amongst many other things. We will be catching up again on his tour next year when he (hopefully

) visits us in New Mexico. He has alot of unique ideas for his bus that will help everyone here on the board.
Thanks for your helpful input Johnny & we look forward to seeing the progress on your ideas & your bus! Great cause you are involved with...

Jonathan, Dara & Nia

bikeforthelight · 09-02-2009, 11:33 PM

thanks jonathan for the time. had a blast hanging out in buster. cant wait to come out and spend some time off the grid with you guys in nm. beautiful country up there.

i got a ton done on the bus yesterday and today. all the seats are now out.

the one thing i have been more scared of is removing them and the rubber floor. i have just read so many horror stories. im not sure if i am just lucky or blessed, but my seats were really no big deal. had the air drill up top with my dad, and me below with just a open end wrench. went down the line. a few were a little stuck and took 15 or 20 seconds, but other than that it was cake. had all the floor bolts removed and the rail bolts out, and the seats stacked up in storage in under 3 hours. went great.

today i started removing the rubber off the floor. not too bad, spent a couple hours today and got about 3/4 of it gone. floor still looks really great. just a little surface rust, nothing a steel brush and some rustoleum wont take care of. i was gonna ask about removing the floor heater.

i have read about peoples heaters that have coolant lines running down them, and i really didnt feel like dealing with that. but i decided to pull off the shroud around it, and saw that mine was only a air duct leading to the blower. so i pulled it, and cut the power feed to the blower. was a 3 minute job. but i do still have a question. there is a hole where the duct work came out from the box left of the driver. what should i do with that? would a simple piece of wood seal it up fine? or am i gonna have hot air shootin out of everywhere there now? not sure.

i didnt take any more photos, but will tomorrow of the cleaned floor. also, going to pick up a bunch of finished birch ply and some cabinets and counters. all donated. gotta love it. i will post pics of the new goodies tomorrow too.

swinada · 09-02-2009, 11:57 PM

Hey Welcome Johnny, glad you found your way over here. And if you ever feel inclined to take your bus up North (all the way to Northern BC) I'll arrange the church and kids for one of your sessions.
Happy converting and God bless.

Kirbystud · 09-03-2009, 08:13 AM

You need to install some headers and daul exhaust on that thing... I have a chevy gas in mine and when I put on the daul exhaust that thing came to life. I don't know yet what it did for milage but I know it helped.

bikeforthelight · 09-03-2009, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kirbystud

You need to install some headers and daul exhaust on that thing... I have a chevy gas in mine and when I put on the daul exhaust that thing came to life. I don't know yet what it did for milage but I know it helped.

haha...would love to do that. all depends on money. cuz i dont have much. trying to do this conversion on the cheap, while still making it as nice as i can. did they really give you that much of a boost in speed? like off the line or top speed?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG-BIRD

My kinda guy (like lots of pictures).
Where in FL do you live? Good luck with the project, it looks like you are off to a very good start!

i hate looking at conversion threads with no pic's. gotta have pics. most of us on here are guys, and we are visual. haha. i live in lakeland (between orlando and tampa). the project is really going well so far. im trying to power through it pretty fast. hopefully this time next month ill be about done.

ezbme · 09-03-2009, 05:25 PM

Dude, nice progress already! Got the "hard" part done (even tho you didn't seem to have to stuggle with it like most when removing the seats). Keep the photos coming. Think you can finish the beast in a month or so?

bikeforthelight · 09-03-2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezbme

Dude, nice progress already! Got the "hard" part done (even tho you didn't seem to have to stuggle with it like most when removing the seats). Keep the photos coming. Think you can finish the beast in a month or so?

Thanks man....I actually am trying to finish it in a month....at least the interior. Paint may take a bit longer. I mean I am doing an abnormal paint job. Haha. So today was not a work day. Well not exactly a work day. My girlfriend is a pediatric audiologist. She just started working for a new private practice. They did a complete remodel of the office before starting. The ENT doctor that is running the practice gave me all of the leftovers. So today I went over to Tampa and picked up a ton of freebie's. Here was the booty collected:

Some really really nice carpet. A ton of it. Prob enough to do the bus twice. Haha

Some incredible baseboard. All the wood they gave me is pre-stained to match. This stuff is gorgeous.

A ton of birch plywood. This stuff is 3/4 inch finish wood. All pre-stained to match the baseboard. Gonna use it to cover the outsides and tops of the cabinets.

Got a ton of cabinets. 2 full size, and 3 smaller drawer cabinets. Gonna use em for kitchen, entertainment, and a desk.

Got a couple countertops. These were installed, then uninstalled, so I have to clean off some glue and stuff. But hey....its free and quality stuff.

So all in all, today was a great haul. Also picked up a great deadbolt lock for the rear door. Tomorrow I start painting the ceiling I think. Unless something else sticks out that I would rather do. Haha.

ezbme · 09-03-2009, 06:01 PM

WOW...you weren't kidding when you said you got a great hookup! I could use some of that carpet (hint-hint)... VERY nice score Johnny!

cheezypsnookle · 09-04-2009, 11:58 AM

really great start...keep it up

im digging all the pictures it helps keep my a.d.d attention...
wanna go ride bikes

bikeforthelight · 09-04-2009, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezbme

WOW...you weren't kidding when you said you got a great hookup! I could use some of that carpet (hint-hint)... VERY nice score Johnny!

I know man....so nice. If i have enough left over carpet I'll hook you up bro.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheezypsnookle

really great start...keep it up

im digging all the pictures it helps keep my a.d.d attention...
wanna go ride bikes

Definitely man. Lets go ride bikes man. I will be going through Amarillo next tour again I think. I ate the big texan 72 oz challenge last year. Love that place. Next time I wanna try the burger from hell. Haha. Glad you like the photos...here comes a bunch more. Today was a big work day. My girlfriend Sarah came out and helped a ton. Got so much done.

Got the drivers seat removed. In this pic you can see the hole on the left side from where the floor heater hose led to the blower. Still wondering what I should do with this. I thought about pulling out the entire unit to the left of the driver. But it looks like there is an entire heater coil under there and I would rather not fool with it unless its necessary. Any suggestions? Would I be happier if I just bit the bullet and pulled it all out?

Sarah sanded the entire ceiling. Getting it ready for some paint to get applied.

Pulled the engine cover off and got all the rubber mats pulled up too. Tomorrow I am gonna prime and paint the engine cover and was thinking of using that hammered rustoleum paint. You guys think that would work well?

After a massive amount of sweeping (kids really leave a bunch of crap in these things) I went through the whole floor and steel brushed the little bit of surface rust I had. Really happy how good this floor was....especially after seeing some of the pics of other floors. I then sprayed down some rustoleum everywhere I had gotten rid of the rust. Then I sealed up all the holes in the floor with silicone. Think its gonna work pretty well and be a great solid base to build on.

So I stole an idea from Kirbystud. Used a deadbolt lock to close up the rear door. I actually was able to find one built for a thinner door, so I didn't have to put in a spacer. Got it installed and it works great. I absolutely love how its flush mounted on the outside.

So at the end of the day I had a ton of trash outside. There is so much crap that you pull out of these things....even after the seats are pulled. I swear I probably pulled 500 lbs of scrap metal, rubber floor, and at least 50 lbs of dirt and trash. Crazy stuff.

So there you have it. I have been working on the bus for about a week now. I feel like a ton has been accomplished. I am hoping to get the ceiling painted and start laying the insulation and vapor barrier down on the floor. Trying to power through this thing. Once again....if anyone has an idea about the heater hole and coils up front, I would appreciate it.

Sojakai · 09-04-2009, 05:55 PM

I have two ideas for that heater hole, One is more likely and less silly... But you be the judge

1. Duct it to just behind the driver seat. At some point you are going to be driving in the cold, and want the heat that it provides.

2. Duct it out the sidewall right there. If your bus tries to overheat, turn on the heater and blow the hot air out. Maybe use the blower that was on the ducting for better exhausting.

Cause it just occurred to me...

3. Do both 1 and 2. Put in closable vents. When you want heat, open the vent behind your seat. When overheating, open the outside vent and turn on the blower.

I did warn you that my idea was kinda silly... 1 inside the box, 1 outside the box... 1 right in the middle.

bikeforthelight · 09-04-2009, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sojakai

I have two ideas for that heater hole, One is more likely and less silly... But you be the judge

1. Duct it to just behind the driver seat. At some point you are going to be driving in the cold, and want the heat that it provides.

2. Duct it out the sidewall right there. If your bus tries to overheat, turn on the heater and blow the hot air out. Maybe use the blower that was on the ducting for better exhausting.

Cause it just occurred to me...

3. Do both 1 and 2. Put in closable vents. When you want heat, open the vent behind your seat. When overheating, open the outside vent and turn on the blower.

I did warn you that my idea was kinda silly... 1 inside the box, 1 outside the box... 1 right in the middle.

I actually really like the idea of the behind the seat vent. the outside one is a good idea too, but i dont know if i want to go to all that work. im gonna look near it and see if i could do that stuff without taking away more space from the cabin area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smitty

Build a metal box large enough for a pizza or sammiches....duct the heater into it, set 'er on bake.....and enjoy some hiway-hogies

You're gettin the dirty work done, the fun will come soon & you'll start to see your dream come to life!

Smitty

I like this idea too, but i dont like my hogies to smell like a bus engine. maybe its just me. haha.

bikeforthelight · 09-04-2009, 08:40 PM

another question....i am gonna be painting the ceiling. do i want an oil based enamel? or would a latex be fine? its already sanded and ready, just want to put the right stuff up there.

ezbme · 09-05-2009, 08:03 AM

You are kickin some butt on your bus! Great progress so far & good to see Sarah jumped on the bus! I am not sure but I think I would use a latex on the ceiling, something flat. This way it is so much easier to clean up if you make a mess while painting. Plus no paint smells for days or weeks... And don't they make a latex that you can wipe down to clean after it is dry?

bikeforthelight · 09-05-2009, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ezbme

You are kickin some butt on your bus! Great progress so far & good to see Sarah jumped on the bus! I am not sure but I think I would use a latex on the ceiling, something flat. This way it is so much easier to clean up if you make a mess while painting. Plus no paint smells for days or weeks... And don't they make a latex that you can wipe down to clean after it is dry?

Thanks man. It is going really well so far. I think I am just gonna go with a higher end exterior latex for the ceiling inside. The outside is gonna get auto paint, but since the ceiling is sanded, I think a quality exterior latex should hold up....at least for a couple years. By then I will probably be redoing a bunch of stuff anyways. Today I spent about two hours staring at the front door trying to figure out what I want to do with it. I want to keep the school bus look to it, so I dont want to pull it and put an rv door in. So I think I am gonna pull it out, and turn it into one solid door immobilizing the center hinge completely. Pull all the rubber gaskets off the door. Build a solid frame and mount it like a pre-hung door. With all new seals and a locking mechanism. Then take the new old bus door that is now operating like a regular door and is pre-hung and mount is. What do you think?

ezbme · 09-05-2009, 06:46 PM

I think you are on the right track, keep it simple! Here is a door from the gallery. It simply has a couple brackets that keep the door straight... I had a photo of one with a standard RV door latch installed but can't find the photo.

I agree, a good latex should work well!

bikeforthelight · 09-05-2009, 07:22 PM

really? if you find that pic, post it up here. would love to see it. i know i am gonna bracket the door straight, but am trying to figure out the locking mechanism and trying to keep it sealed better than just a straight bus door. thats why i was thinking of doing that, but pulling it off and building a real frame for it. that way i could really seal it good and keep it more insulated, quiet, waterproof, etc.

ezbme · 09-05-2009, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikeforthelight

really? if you find that pic, post it up here. would love to see it. i know i am gonna bracket the door straight, but am trying to figure out the locking mechanism and trying to keep it sealed better than just a straight bus door. thats why i was thinking of doing that, but pulling it off and building a real frame for it. that way i could really seal it good and keep it more insulated, quiet, waterproof, etc.

Here is a beautiful bus with a cool idea for a inside door latch that seals the door when latching, but may only work with a door replacement..

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4416&p=37428&hilit=door+latch +rv#p37428

Here is another option - scroll down the page to Gone Campings white skoolie... I like the all glass door & it would be easy to mount plus the nice glass view - you could just tint it very dark for privacy...

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=4416&p=36477&hilit=+door+latc h#p36477

Here is Millicent, the huge roof raised bus... If you look into their thread you may find what he did to latch it but not sure.

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2445&p=27017&hilit=+door+latch #p27017

WTD had this posted. This is the simple RV latch that you can find cheap on ebay. This could be mounted on the front door...

Well...thats all I found for now. Hope this helps a little!

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