Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 06-07-2010, 11:31 PM   #161
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by saltybob
o0o0o0o Me likey - gonna have to find it when we come through =)

SB
Let me know when you plan to come this way and I will try to explain how to get to that area. It is soooo nice, you may just set up camp and never leave!!!

jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2010, 01:38 AM   #162
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Went to do a tune up on the bus today and found some broken springs inside the distributor. Now I wonder, could this have been causing the poor fuel economy??? I will get it apart the rest of the way tomorrow and try to get some pics of the carnage.
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2010, 07:26 AM   #163
Moderator
 
crazycal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Possibly. It wouldn't advance properly.
__________________
I'm hungry!

You Gotta Let Me Fly
crazycal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2010, 02:15 PM   #164
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Today I decided that I was going to fix my ignition system. I had found broken springs inside my distributor and it was really dirty inside. I talked to a mechanic at one of our local propane conversion shops and got some very valuable advice. I did some initial tests and recorded my timing settings just in case I really goofed something up. First of all the initial advance (vacuum advance disconnected and plugged) was at 6 degrees. My total mechanical advance was an additional 26 degrees, but without the springs and weights working properly, who knows when or how much I was actually getting before I cleaned it all up. This gave me a total advance (initial + mechanical) of 32 degrees. Had the weights and springs been working properly this would have been 'almost' good enough for a gasoline engine, I would have had to advance the initial to between 8 and 10 degrees to get it proper for gasoline. Different story for propane!!! Propane needs more advance due to its slower burning rate compared to gasoline. I was told that I needed to modify the distributor to give me between 32 to 36 degrees of mechanical advance and set the initial between 8 to 12 degrees. Total advance (initial + mechanical) should end up between 44 to 46 degrees. Well....this is a far difference from the 32 degrees total advance that it was set to deliver. I ended up carefully marking and removing the entire distributor from the engine in order to get it cleaned up and setup properly. I changed the mechanical advance limiter plate to provide a total of 36 degrees of mechanical advance and installed new lighter springs to get it to advance sooner. I cleaned, degreased, and then reassembled with fresh grease. The initial timing is now set at 10 degrees giving me a total advance of 46 degrees. The engine idles much smoother, I had to turn down the idle speed screw because it is so much more efficient that it idled higher than before. It revs quicker and smoother, and seems to be quite a bit quieter than before. I took it out for a test drive and instantly felt like it had twice the power. Throttle response is great and acceleration is good for a bus. I am now able to get it up over 110 km/h easily (without the pedal hitting the floor) and once at cruising speeds I am able to maintain speed with a lot less throttle than before. In fact, now I have to be careful to just apply a little throttle otherwise I slowly get faster and faster and end up speeding! Before I had to just hold the pedal to the floor to keep it at cruising speeds. Total cost for this repair...$10 for the springs and about 2 hours of my time, not bad at all! Hopefully this will improve my fuel economy. I will test and report back after our next trip out with the bus.
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2010, 07:52 PM   #165
Moderator
 
crazycal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Cool. I bet you mileage will be way better.
__________________
I'm hungry!

You Gotta Let Me Fly
crazycal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 02:05 AM   #166
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

It is amazing how things can change very suddenly. I woke up this morning and went to help my father-in-law replace a video card in his desktop computer. We then decided to upgrade the connections on the coax cable feeds so that they get a better tv picture on their computer. I had all of the tools at my house, but we needed to go to the big orange store that sells fix-it stuff for parts. On the way back we stopped by my house to get the tools and I discovered my house was floating in about 3 inches of water. I started moving my most valuable belongings to higher ground while my wife went to get our shop-vac that we had lent to others who had flooding. I called my landlord and we began sucking up water from the house. We were barely making any progress, the water was entering from all perimeter walls, nothing was left dry! Eventually I made a decision to change our tactics and we stopped worrying about the house (landlord had not shown up in 3 hours!) and we started moving our stuff out to the bus. By this time we knew the house would be uninhabitable so we moved into the bus. I can't believe how much stuff you can pack into one of these things! I guess we are officially full-timers now since we have become very suddenly homeless. This sucks!
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 02:58 AM   #167
Moderator
 
crazycal's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Sorry to hear about that. That sucks. Did you find out where the water was coming from?
__________________
I'm hungry!

You Gotta Let Me Fly
crazycal is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 06:57 AM   #168
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Adirondack Mountains NY
Posts: 1,101
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkindt
. . . I guess we are officially full-timers now since we have become very suddenly homeless. This sucks!
Man, going from the mountain top to the valley in under two weeks. Sorry to hear that. It would be a lot better going "full-time" if it were your choice.
__________________
Someone said "Making good decisions comes from experience, experience comes from bad decisions." I say there are three kinds of people: those who learn from their mistakes, those who learn from the mistakes of others, and those who never learn.
Redbear is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 08:49 AM   #169
Bus Nut
 
Seeria's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 575
Coachwork: Thomas
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Been there with flood myself so know the feeling. *hugs* Will the landlord be letting you stay on the property for now? Curious where the water was coming from, was outside from outside the house (rain, river overlowing, etc) or some plumbing gone really bad or?
Seeria is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 09:41 AM   #170
Bus Nut
 
M1031's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 471
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Ward
Chassis: Ford B600
Engine: 6.6L Turbo Diesel
Rated Cap: 26
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkindt
On the way back we stopped by my house to get the tools and I discovered my house was floating in about 3 inches of water. I started moving my most valuable belongings to higher ground while my wife went to get our shop-vac that we had lent to others who had flooding. I called my landlord and we began sucking up water from the house. We were barely making any progress, the water was entering from all perimeter walls, nothing was left dry! Eventually I made a decision to change our tactics and we stopped worrying about the house (landlord had not shown up in 3 hours!) and we started moving our stuff out to the bus. By this time we knew the house would be uninhabitable so we moved into the bus. I can't believe how much stuff you can pack into one of these things! I guess we are officially full-timers now since we have become very suddenly homeless. This sucks!
I'm not making light of the emergency (I've been through two home floods myself, it always sucks..). However, the Beetles song "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine" got stuck in my head and now I can't stop it!! Oh the puns coming to mind...
__________________
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
M1031 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 10:04 AM   #171
Bus Nut
 
M1031's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 471
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Ward
Chassis: Ford B600
Engine: 6.6L Turbo Diesel
Rated Cap: 26
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by slowlane
If you are only renting, I am inviting you to move down into the Confederate states. Live the remainder of your life with the proud and the free.
And the warm.......
__________________
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
M1031 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-18-2010, 10:53 AM   #172
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Thanks for all the support. I would love nothing better than to just drive the bus somewhere nice and warm, but I still have one more class to finish here before I get my degree and I think it would be wise to get that finished. We were just renting, so I am not going to have to deal with the aftermath of a major renovation which I know all too well. (My brother's house got 18" of water in the basement the day after they started moving in 2 years ago!) Unfortunately, we have no insurance so what we were able to recover is what we have, that's it. We are going back to assess what else we can recover. I will update as I can.
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2010, 12:25 PM   #173
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Update: We have managed to get almost everything we own into the bus. It is amazing just how much you can fit if you try. I have lived in basements before, dealt with seepage before, but never anything like this. I learned in the past to store stuff in rubbermaid bins whenever there is a chance of flooding, so most of our storage items were already protected, but the everyday items and furniture were on the floor. We will lose out couch, our bed, a bunch of free standing cabinets, but not a lot of other valuables. Thanks goodness. We are currently sleeping at my wife's parents house. Our landlord is trying to get us a shipping container to move our belongings into so that we can use our bus again. Hopefully this happens soon, I like to have my own space. As for the basement, it will be a while before it is livable again, will likely have to replace the lower 24" of drywall and all of the flooring in the entire place. Probably the hot water heater and furnace as well. We may be full timing it in the bus for the summer at this rate. On a positive note, yesterday while I was loading the bus with stuff, a man stopped by with a 4 burner stove/oven and a forced air RV furnace that he wanted to sell. After hearing our story, he gave us the oven and furnace. Hopefully we don't end up living in the bus long enough to need the furnace. But we will have it now if we need.
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 10:20 PM   #174
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

...and I am BACK!!!

After moving all of our belongings into our bus, we moved it all to my wife's parent's house where we 'stayed' for a couple months. In reality, we just put what we needed in the bus and spent the whole summer camping in the mountains, at the lake, or wherever we decided to park. We spent more days in the bus than at the inlaws house. We rented a new place in August and used the bus once again to move our stuff across the city. Now I have the upstairs and half the basement of a house, a big backyard with space to park the bus inside the fence, a heated garage, and room for my toys!!! The bus did an amazing job at keeping us dry throughout the summer which seemed to rain every other day. From September until December, I finished my courses at the University and earned a degree in nursing, which then got me a job working in a rural hospital. The crazy part is that my commute to work takes me right past the lake that we camp at. I got to drive through many crazy blizzards this winter, and look at the frozen over lake that we called home last summer. But all is good now, the weather is getting warmer, the snow is disappearing, and I bought a new drill so that I can continue working on our bus. I have stripped out the back half where the bunks and sofabed used to be and will be framing in a shower/bathroom, as well as framing in a bed and some cabinets. I will try to get pics up as the progress takes place. Oh yeah, and we are expecting a new member to our family next week. It was a good summer!
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 07:03 AM   #175
Bus Nut
 
Seeria's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 575
Coachwork: Thomas
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Grats all around--degree, move, new family member. Sounds like one heck of a year
Seeria is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 10:39 AM   #176
Bus Nut
 
M1031's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 471
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Ward
Chassis: Ford B600
Engine: 6.6L Turbo Diesel
Rated Cap: 26
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkindt
...and I am BACK!!!

After moving all of our belongings into our bus, we moved it all to my wife's parent's house where we 'stayed' for a couple months. In reality, we just put what we needed in the bus and spent the whole summer camping in the mountains, at the lake, or wherever we decided to park. We spent more days in the bus than at the inlaws house. We rented a new place in August and used the bus once again to move our stuff across the city. Now I have the upstairs and half the basement of a house, a big backyard with space to park the bus inside the fence, a heated garage, and room for my toys!!! The bus did an amazing job at keeping us dry throughout the summer which seemed to rain every other day. From September until December, I finished my courses at the University and earned a degree in nursing, which then got me a job working in a rural hospital. The crazy part is that my commute to work takes me right past the lake that we camp at. I got to drive through many crazy blizzards this winter, and look at the frozen over lake that we called home last summer. But all is good now, the weather is getting warmer, the snow is disappearing, and I bought a new drill so that I can continue working on our bus. I have stripped out the back half where the bunks and sofabed used to be and will be framing in a shower/bathroom, as well as framing in a bed and some cabinets. I will try to get pics up as the progress takes place. Oh yeah, and we are expecting a new member to our family next week. It was a good summer!

And here I was dilusionally thinking I had a busy year........ Congrats on all you got done (and the fun you had last year with expanding the family too )!! I'm still working on becoming a Paramedic when classes resume in August.
__________________
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
M1031 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 08:04 PM   #177
Bus Nut
 
jkindt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Posts: 637
Year: 1981
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: Ford B-600
Engine: Ford 370 Propane
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

This is the rough layout of what I plan for the bathroom. Anyone know how to properly frame in this style of shower pan? There is about 1" of high density foam attached to the bottom. I am just not sure if I need to frame in extra support and how to attach a drain. I am definately not a plumber. The bucket will be replaced by an RV toilet, and the floor will be raised to be even with the top of the shower pan when finished. Step up into the bathroom, then back down into the shower. This will leave about 4" of space between the bus floor and the floor the toilet will sit on.
Attached Thumbnails
DSCN1258.JPG   DSCN1259.JPG   DSCN1265.JPG  
jkindt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 09:46 PM   #178
Bus Nut
 
M1031's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 471
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Ward
Chassis: Ford B600
Engine: 6.6L Turbo Diesel
Rated Cap: 26
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

Well..... I'm planning to put the elbow above the floorboards with an access panel to open up to the elbow drain from below or slide it out for access from the side and/or below if I need to do something there. So my plan is to elevate the base high enough to accomplish this but no higher. I also know some people prefer to do this below the floorboards for easier access and better height in teh shower, but I prefer to protect the PVC from road grime. I hope this helps.
__________________
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
M1031 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-01-2011, 11:15 AM   #179
Bus Geek
 
lornaschinske's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

You need to make a wooden frame that the pan will fit into ant attach the pan to the framing (screw the framing down to the floor first). As for the drain... My RV shower has a vanity sink sized drain on it, most likely you will need the same since that looks like an RV shower pan. You can buy them at Lowes/Homedepot. Just make sure it doesn't have the "pop-up/over flow" on it. You need the solid piece of pipe.

You want something like this:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_21871-143-68...3Dsink%2Bdrain



NOT THIS!


The pic on the bottom has a hole in the side of the pipe. The top pic doesn't.


Cut the tail pipe to required length (if needed) install into the shower pan just like installing in a sink (don't forget the goop that you need to seal/seat the drain) and attach your "P" trap with a compression fitting just like you would a sink. If you aren't insulating your lower plumbing or if you will not be needing to use the bus in the winter (and you can access the "p" trap), I would suggest that you try to find a "P" trap with a drain plug in it like this one....

http://www.lowes.com/pd_23433-1814-P...tt%3Dp%2B-trap


That bump at the bottom of the "P" is a drain. It's neat, you just unscrew it and any liquid in the trap will drain out. We had one on the pop-up. Otherwise you will have to make sure that you keep the "p" trap filled thru the winter with pink RV antifreeze.
__________________
This post is my opinion. It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
Fulltime since 2006
The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. Zeno (335BC-264BC)
https://lorndavi.wordpress.com/blog/
https://i570.photobucket.com/albums/s...ps0340a6ff.jpg
lornaschinske is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-01-2011, 06:26 PM   #180
Skoolie
 
pipopak's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 119
Re: Canadian Skoolie Project

The shower pan MUST BE resting evenly on the floor at all points or it may crack. Should be screwed to the walls on 3 sides using the upper lip and caulk. About putting the drain trap inside it will take a lot of vertical space ( tail pipe going into P trap + some space to disassemble it just in case) amounts to probably 12" at least. I would put it under the floor and hang a pair of those rubber flappers behind the tires. You are looking for projectile protection from the tires.
pipopak is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Project Niles Skoolie NilesSkoolie Skoolie Conversion Projects 201 08-24-2015 05:08 PM
Canadian buying American skoolie (taxes,insurance,reg)? NuSkoolie Titles, Insurance, Registration and Money Matters 1 10-23-2011 12:31 AM
my next big non-skoolie project lapeer20m Everything Else | General Skoolie Discussions 6 10-13-2009 10:13 AM
'75 INT Loadstar- our first skoolie project jterry Skoolie Conversion Projects 26 08-23-2007 10:24 PM
Trade 1970 VW Karmann Ghia project for skoolie project bus? shortwaverunner Classifieds | Buy, Sell, Swap 3 02-03-2006 09:56 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:21 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.