Diesel Dan's Skoolie

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

...Looks like we will be turning a rooftop unit into a "basement" unit. It's the biggest A/C that I can get that still runs on 110V

I really like that idea. My "basement" is already spoken for with so many other tanks and things, but if I do a larger bus in the future I will seriously consider that idea!

[thommassey]

Originally Posted by Diesel Dan

I really like that idea. My "basement" is already spoken for with so many other tanks and things, but if I do a larger bus in the future I will seriously consider that idea!

Sporty Rick also did his that way... Great idea Lorna!

[Diesel Dan]

Last week I worked on refinishing some old kitchen drawer fronts and cabinet doors. I also cut down some old drawers from my house kitchen remodel and had to build one drawer from scratch that was just an odd size. Here are the results:





The bottom drawer face is actually a door. I didn't have a drawer face of this size so I mated two smaller ones together. In this compartment is an electric range and a propane camp stove. I use either/or depending on whether or not I have shore power at the time:

[Diesel Dan]

Here are the doors I refinished for the area under the sink:



Here is what the kitchen looks like now:

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by spencerforhire

I am digging the small kitchen. I figure if I am going to be cooking once or twice a day for about 15 minutes. why should I sacrifice counter space. It is a premium. I think I went a little overboard with my kitchen, but As long as I can prepare a meal and store lots of food, all is well...

Honestly, I wouldn't mind having a bigger kitchen. The compact size of my kitchen is a result of limited space. I needed to prioritize sleeping and seating over kitchen space simply because I typically have a lot of people along for the ride and need to sleep at least five. So being that I have a 3/4 length bus (just shy of 30' bumper to bumper) a compromise had to be made somewhere. I think we will be cooking outdoors much of the time anyway though. I am thinking of making fold-out counter top extensions, which would add an optional 18" or so to my counter space on either side.

One regret I have about the way I built my kitchen cabinets is that I forgot to make a toe-kick space. I've never made cabinets before and I just didn't think of it. Oh well... "live and learn" as they say.

[dirtygoat]

Looking good Dan... I almost forgot about a tie kick as well, but got it in the design while building... Poor bus is a little shorter at 25' nose to tail, with 20' of useable space... We need to sleep at least 4 with a cot we can sleep 5... I wanted it open, but still wanted a bit of counter top... My floor plan seems to be just what the doctor ordered... Been working on the house lately, but should be getting back to the bus soon...

[Diesel Dan]

The past few days I've been working on my rear utility/storage area. I decided that I will use the area in front of the wheelchair door as a storage closet. I was going to keep extra WVO barrels there, but in the end decided I just don't want that stuff in my living area at all. The prospect of an undetected leak or spill is just more than I can bear thinking about. Plus, the stuff is kinda stinky- even the good stuff. And that smell would take over the bus eventually. So I will mount two 30 gallon tanks underneath the bus to act as dirty WVO collection containers.

It was really difficult to get good pics of the overall layout of the storage unit, but here is the best pic I could get. The picture is taken from outside the rear door:



I've designated a spot for my 2'x4' folding camp table which you can see is strapped onto the wall by bungee cords. I have 2x4s mounted crossways so I can slide in removable/optional shelves (I'll eventually cut some 3/4" plywood to size). I also made a clothes hanging rod across the top for jackets or suits or long dresses if we are going to a wedding or something like that. The upper storage area is open, but that white board you see across the face is a removable retaining lip. It's basically just a loose board that is held in place by slots on either end. I just pull it out and put it back in place after storing my gear. Here is a better view of this area:



I also made a small trapezoidal shaped open storage area for electrical cords and such right above the electrical distribution center:



I still need to do some trim work back here and I might even paint this stuff, although I kind of like the white-on-natural wood look. I will at least stain the wood though. I decided to leave much of this area open in case I need to load some large object into the bus. For the same reason I left my center isle unobstructed front to back, so I can load very long pieces of material if I need to. I might hang a curtain in front of the rear closet, but in the interest of maintaining the open space, I will not put doors on it.

Now that I've built this out, all the main structures are in place, and the bus interior has taken what is to be it's basic final shape. The only thing that remains to be built in the interior is the bulk head areas front and back. The rear bulkhead will just be a small storage area, and the front bulkhead will be for the stereo system. I'm looking forward to building that out. Should be fun! I also got some more 120v AC lighting which I will install in the rear storage area, bunk room, and front sitting area. Mainly, I've been just working on the fun stuff lately and procrastinating on the plumbing and WVO systems. Those will be major jobs and I still haven't completely wrapped my mind around it. The plumbing would have been easier when the interior was still being framed, but for various reasons that is just how it all came together. I recently came across this poignant expression: "The man who never makes mistakes never makes anything".

[chev49]

man who makes mistakes...
I am working on my fifth bus, and have worked on several coach busses over the last 25 or so years... and even though i plan out everything i do, i still am having to go back and redo stuff.

Today i am redoing a plumbing thing.. have to take the lav cabinet out... forgot to put vent pipe in for toilet when i put in a new black water tank...

[thommassey]

Originally Posted by chev49

man who makes mistakes...
I am working on my fifth bus, and have worked on several coach busses over the last 25 or so years... and even though i plan out everything i do, i still am having to go back and redo stuff.

Today i am redoing a plumbing thing.. have to take the lav cabinet out... forgot to put vent pipe in for toilet when i put in a new black water tank...

Can vent be left inside wall (for toilet) or must it vent outside? i.e. with vented cap..

[gbstewart]

Originally Posted by thommassey

Can vent be left inside wall (for toilet) or must it vent outside? i.e. with vented cap..

I vent my tank with pex water line out the side of the bus works great

gbstewart

[dangie]

skoolie needs a facebook 'like' button glad to see you resolved your storage area/vegoil debate. i wanted to ask you if your bus had a governor on it or if you know about those things... a friend we've met in CA has an 86 Thomas International Shortie that wont go over 63mph because of the governor. I know you can take those off pretty easy but I don't know where they are located.. I'll get more specific info and post pics on my thread but I wanted to check with you also.

[Diesel Dan]

Hey Dan, I really hadn't considered the possibility that my bus would have a governor. I think my speed is limited by my transmission/gearing. If want to push the revvs up I can do 70, which is about all I would really expect out of a school bus. It would be nice to have one of those 600 series trannies with overdrive and whatnot, but alas... Anyway, I've really never dealt with a governor, so don't know what they look like or where to look for it. On a diesel I would assume it was attached to the injection pump or somwhere just before or after the injection pump - but I'm just guessing here. I'm sure a google search would turn up the answer eventually.

[Accordion]

Diesel Dan, you have a knack for making 2X4s look good inside your bus.

[Diesel Dan]

Originally Posted by Accordion

Diesel Dan, you have a knack for making 2X4s look good inside your bus.

Thanks Rudy. I spend a lot of time cherry-picking 2x4s at Home Depot. The "look" they create in the bus reminds me somewhat of that "rustic" furniture from Mexico. You know, it looks kind of "chunky". And then if I can add some trim here and there it starts to take on a style of sorts.

[Diesel Dan]

For the past week or so I've been slowly working on additional lighting for the living room. Here is what I picked up at Home Depot:



I put the ropes lights up on the top edge of the upper cabinets so they would reflect a bit off the ceiling. I wired in switches for these lights which are located in the angled front part of the cabinets. This way I can turn on the passanger side rope right when I walk into the bus and not have to find my way through the dark bus to find a switch.



The rope lights are incandescent, but are very dim and don't generate any heat. They actually create more light than it appears in the picture; my camera just couldn't capture the actual lighting condition. They will be perfect for when the kids are asleep in the bunk room and my wife and I are watching a movie in the living room (using our ear phones of course) and want to have enough light to move around and to soften the glare of the computer screen in the dark.

I also mounted fluorescent task lights over the dining booth table and center of the couch. These will be used for reading and whatever else we might be doing in that space. These lights have built in switches so I just hard-wired them in to the circuit.



Sorry about the mess in there. I cleaned up AFTER taking the pictures. D'oh!

[MikeyBskunk]

Very good idea DD i like it alot

[itsme1738]

nice!

[browncrown]

Love the lights!

[syke]

great work on the lights. looks very nice.

[chev49]

I should post a picture of my 3 watt 12 volt light system... I have gotten rid of all the other 110v and 12v lighing so far except for two fixtures..