Budget Barbie Camper

[syntel]

Finishing trim with plastic 3/4" concave round. It bends sooooo nicely. Cabinet in show has top half that opens to allow access to water heater.

[cadillackid]

I havent really followed this build much but the thread tiotle finally caught my curiosity and WOW this looks far from a "budget barbie camper" in terms of design and workmanship.. im loving the open and modern feel to it.. Great build!!

[syntel]

Thank you... It's been work, and I'm sad to say this might turn out nicer than my house. Oyyy. Next will be to rip the house apart. Or, I was considering selling her (hopefully for a fat profit) and doing another.

The question is, how do I sell her, where to list her, and at what price? I've seen others listed, and their quality... Maybe a second company flipping buses?

[syntel]

The interior is about done. Fresh water done. On to septic and window dressings. We're going to do two layers on the window, a white sun screen, and then a black curtian.

The hole is for the 'head' - toilet.

I have the holding tank frames welded up, I'll provide pictures next post.

[syntel]

The black water tank. We have the cammode and the sink running into this one. The other is the grey water, kitchen sink and shower. 52 gallons each.

[syntel]

Painted the outside. Rust-Oleum oil based enamel. I tried a Behr enamel, it bubbled over night so I had to pressure wash it off and do it again. Stick to rust olemun. The grey was sprayed with a Wagner 2000 sprayer. The black was taped and painted.

[syntel]

The plumbing is just about done. Not one pex leak. I had to tighten up some of the shower, redo the bath sink was water was sitting at the compression, dropped p trap so water sits lower and raised the compression for the sink drain. The water pump was pulsing on and off. I opened up one of the sinks and adjusted to the water pressure to the point that it didn't pulse anymore.

[syntel]

I wanted to put the generator on the back. I though of a basket, but didn't feel comfortable bolting it to the bumper.

I used 2x3 structural tube with 1/4" walls that overlap the bottom of the frame by 2ft, and hang out 3ft.

The cantilever deflection calculations say it'll hold about 500lbs each loaded on the very end. Evenly distributed, we can load about 1250lbs each. I used 1/360 the beam length as maximum deflection (1/250 is steels limit).

The bolts are 1/2" sink played steel that should hold about 5000lbs proof loads. I put two at the end of the bus, and one about 2ft forward. That will spread the load over the two, giving about 10000lbs support.

The beams should be my weak link.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by syntel

Thank you... It's been work, and I'm sad to say this might turn out nicer than my house. Oyyy. Next will be to rip the house apart. Or, I was considering selling her (hopefully for a fat profit) and doing another.

The question is, how do I sell her, where to list her, and at what price? I've seen others listed, and their quality... Maybe a second company flipping buses?

if i created a build like that by gosh Id go a travellin to treat myself before putting it on the sale block!!!


a few youtube videos of it out in the wild being enjoyed would make it sell itself

[syntel]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

if i created a build like that by gosh Id go a travellin to treat myself before putting it on the sale block!!!


a few youtube videos of it out in the wild being enjoyed would make it sell itself

Ohh we will. We have a list of trips. Considering I'm not working, we will probably do a few months of touring untill the virus is gone.

A few ranch trips, Utah, Tennessee, Michigan... Those are what we have planned right now.

[syntel]

Almost done. The last system is functioning: propane. I connected black 1/2 in pipe under the bus to 3/8" copper flange connections to my appliances. The black pipe to copper flange occured at a shut off valve that's under the bus. I also connected a pressure gauge in inches h2o to the black pipe. I turned off the values to the appliances and pressurized the system with propane. After 15 minutes there was no noticable change. This was tested a few times. So I turned on the valves to the appliances and tested again: no pressure drop after 15 minutes. Finally, I lit the stove, oven, and water heater. All worked. Checked for leaks with the electronic leak detector: none. Checked the stove with the leak detector while burners were on but not lit: leaks detected.

Ran stove burners and oven. Tried out water heater, that thing is bad ass: I had 180 degree F water and had to turn the gas down and the temp to about 2/3. This yeilded about 120 degree water.

Now time to wrap up. Stap tanks down, patch paint, move electrical hookup to back, and deal with title and plates.

[syntel]

Got the bus weighed before our first trip. 18900lbs.

Time picture is of us showing the bus off in front of our house. That got the neighbors attention.

Went on our first trip. 4 nights at a gay RV park about an hour NW of Houston. Stopped by camping world and bought a 50 amp cable. The 14-50 connection didn't fit the 14-50 connection on the bus. The yellow round part was too big. The RV camp had a extra 50 amp cable that they let us use. Beyond that everything else work just fine.

[Maligator.]

In your 10/25 post several pics down I see your black tank is inches from your 1500+ degree exhaust, what kind of tank did you get that is rated for that amount of constant heat exposure? Did you insulate it in some way that cannot be seen?

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by Maligator.

In your 10/25 post several pics down I see your black tank is inches from your 1500+ degree exhaust, what kind of tank did you get that is rated for that amount of constant heat exposure? Did you insulate it in some way that cannot be seen?

Exhaust should never be 1500 measured before the turbo. 1200 is considered to be max for any amount of time, and as said that is pre turbo. So the exhaust by the time it gets to the back of a bus is much cooler about a few hundred degrees, so it should not be a problem. My black tank is just as close ( one inch clearance) and 30,000 miles later no melting or signs of any trouble.

[Ronnie]

Nice clean build, I like it.

[Maligator.]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Exhaust should never be 1500 measured before the turbo. 1200 is considered to be max for any amount of time, and as said that is pre turbo. So the exhaust by the time it gets to the back of a bus is much cooler about a few hundred degrees, so it should not be a problem. My black tank is just as close ( one inch clearance) and 30,000 miles later no melting or signs of any trouble.

Good to know! On another note, great build thread OP!! Looks like you got a lot done in the last 3 months!

[syntel]

Originally Posted by Maligator.

In your 10/25 post several pics down I see your black tank is inches from your 1500+ degree exhaust, what kind of tank did you get that is rated for that amount of constant heat exposure? Did you insulate it in some way that cannot be seen?

The exhause pipe gets hot... But not hot enough to melt the plastic. I did a 6 hour drive, the air will move most the heat from it.


It's an Ameri Tank... It's about 1/4" roll formed plastic. It's technically 6" away. Exhaust pipes will heat to about 300 degrees. At that distaince, you shouldn't feel anything.


On the basket on back, above the exhaust pipe terminator is where we have gas, no problems there as well.

[syntel]

I've put on about 1000 miles. One trip to a gay camp ground. Spent the whole weekend giving bus tours. Two trips to the vineyard. One we parked in the vineyard and boon docked for the weekend. Our generator (cat rp6500) uses about 1/2 gallon an hour. We typically have way more water than needed (100 gallons).