ET - ELWOOD Transport

[sweetfarm]

I like your bus! What does it have for a drivetrain? Also does that awesome front bumper actually have a purpose? Looking forward to more progress.

[headinthetrees]

Very cool project you've got going. Cool to have a mini-lift inside your garage should you need to get under your car for some reason at the track. Your v sounds and looks nice, even if its an automatic. :P I've got a 1st gen 4 door, ls2.

[cowlitzcoach]

I assume what you have is a GM truck big block 366 gas V-8.

If it is, you are going to be hard pressed to be able to get it going much faster than 60 MPH without changing the rear gears. You will also find that you will most likely use a lot more gas with higher speed gears trying to go 65 MPH.

You are most likely close to 24,000 lbs. with the car loaded in the bus. With the frontal area you have, in order to go much faster than 60 MPH and maintain that speed on any sort of grade it is going to require a lot more HP and torque than what a GM big block gas V-8 can provide.

You need to remember that bus was built when the national speed limit was 55 MPH and the bus spent the majority of the service life at speeds under 35 MPH. It didn't need to be able to go much faster than 55 MPH.

I like the changes you are making. I just wish you had a better power package to move it all down the road better.

You may want to pick up another bus for a donor power package that would be better at getting you down the road.

Good luck and happy trails!

[gizmoq]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Way cool The tilt gizmo is a great idea.You probably have all this figured out on paper etc. but being old skool like I am I couldn't resist taking the bus and the Caddy to a truck scale and finding out what the actual weight distribution is with the car loaded. Once you know this you will never have to worry about brakes and weight and whether you can pull a trailer etc. Jack

Once everything is tested and welded in, scales will be the first stop on my to do list.

Originally Posted by sweetfarm

I like your bus! What does it have for a drivetrain? Also does that awesome front bumper actually have a purpose? Looking forward to more progress.

I believe its the GM 366HD with 5 speed trans. Front bumper is for spare bus tire (center), and the two forward compartment are for heavy equipment like hydraulic jacks, jack stands, tow chains, wheel chocks, etc. Given the garage is over the rear wheels, I need to move as much weight forward as I can.

Originally Posted by headinthetrees

Very cool project you've got going. Cool to have a mini-lift inside your garage should you need to get under your car for some reason at the track. Your v sounds and looks nice, even if its an automatic. :P I've got a 1st gen 4 door, ls2.

Thanx

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

I assume what you have is a GM truck big block 366 gas V-8.

I like the changes you are making. I just wish you had a better power package to move it all down the road better.

You may want to pick up another bus for a donor power package that would be better at getting you down the road.

I agree 100%. Been on several 200mile trips so far with bus empty and 55MPH is doable (rear gears have already been changed), but pulling up hills is painfully slow. A different gas engine may be in the cards for me if I have too many long hauls to do in the future. Luckily, my current plan is to stay close to home - my home track is 6 miles away a few others are within 200 miles.

[gizmoq]

Long time since I've posted. Got some work done, but got worried about my plan so I had to take a step back and rethink.

I wanted a custom interior from the ground up based on the previous design layout; then I got a great deal on a used RV that I couldn't pass up.

It had working rooftop A/C, and vents, three-way fridge, convection microwave, 6.5KW generator, jack-knife couch, convertible dinette, overhead cabinets, three captains chairs, and all the miscellaneous hardware to complete the build with minimal carpentry/construction skills.



First task was replacing the door and repairing the steps.


So I moved the winch, built the garage wall, installed the A/C and vent. Had to build a cabinet for the fridge and started running electrical.


Got the generator installed and the shore power all hooked up and running. Built myself a Loveable Loo, started to wall it in and got scared. So I brought in all the furniture and cabinets to make sure everything still fit.


Well it does, but.... somewhere along the way I lost my shower and now the interior looks like the bus was made for the next Mad Max movie. Which I'm O.K. with as long as my gal and my crew chief can handle it, I'm good. I'm also tired. I had no idea this would take so long and there's so many little things that need to be done, I'm overwhelmed.

So it's back to planning stage. Based on where everything fits, I'm now reworking the plumbing and electrical. Since I want the fresh water tank under the sofa and the one I have is 2" too long and 6" too tall; I went ahead and ordered a custom tank build (should be here next week). I kept all the "monitor panel" hardware and wiring and tested it on my existing tank and it all works well. Fresh water tank will be inside while grey water tank will be below it on the underside of bus. A few electrical runs need to be rewired to put the induction stovetop on the same run as the microwave since I can't run them both at the same time anyway. Power needs to be extended to the TV and its accessories; and a gazillion other little tweaks. Damnit, I will finish this.

[gizmoq]

The only two pieces not pictured above are the sink/stove that goes on the right beside the fridge and the entertainment center cabinet that goes between the dinette and bathroom. So I gave up on getting something from the Habitat For Humanity restore and I went to the local discount home store called Hood's. They had the 12" cabinet I needed for the entertainment center but it wasn't a very close match to the other wood cabinetry I have. So I replaced the drawer and door with pieces I brought out of the RV.


The countertop shown is a $.99 sample I bought at the same time. Its exactly what will go on the sink/stove. Then I had an idea, why not get them to put it on the dinette table, too. Took it to them yesterday and they said SURE! The table and sink/stove cabinet should be ready next week.

Meanwhile, I got working on the floor. Unfortunately, I just learned the hard way most stores selling sheet vinyl have no way to do precision cuts. I asked for 12'x7'7". The worker said he'd give me a couple inches extra to be sure. Long story short he cut it into an hour glass shape - 7'10 at the corners and 7'6" in the middle. AAAAARRRRGGGG!!!!





If you look closely at the last pic it shows a half inch of foil exposed where the hourglass cut is less than the width of the bus. Hood's apologized and said they'd swap me another piece that will be guaranteed to be 12'x8'.

But I can't get back there till Saturday. So now I'm stuck painting walls and panels.

[gizmoq]

Well, I got a bunch done over Christmas Break, but it's never enough. Can't do any more work in the garage - its occupied.


The teeter totter ramp in the garage is finally bolted down. It still has the temp transition plates on the back that I'll leave in place until my parking chocks are in place and bolted in. I probably should not have cut the tie down straps if I ever have to change my strapping method. I know the rear has to criss-cross, but the easiest way to do it in the back of the bus was to wrap the straps around the trailers crossbars and then hook into the tie down mounts.




The front straps will always be a challenge because the front floor tie-down and winch are right under the the front of the ramp. I have to remember to strap the front loosely while the teeter totter is up in the air. If I wait till its level, its a real tight squeeze getting under the ramp to hook under the passengers side of the car.


I'm still waiting on installing my garage lights. I got an 11000 lumen 48” overhead LED shop light for my birthday in October and just ordered three 500W 8000 lumen halogen worklights on Black Friday. Between the four of them I should have daylight at night back there. Two of the worklights will be mounted on the corners of the front wall. They will be mounted such that either can be taken from the wall and have a stand that can be used throughout the bus. The third is a backup. Is there such a thing as a light switch that can handle 1500W??? I'm currently using the breaker with only one light on at a time.

So back up front to work over the winter.

The floor is down and it looks great. I hate to have to start moving stuff in and working on carpentry and electrical and plumbing with the possibility of damaging it, but it's gotta get done.



Next in was the kitchen sink. But first, I had to mount the backsplash and of course trying to tie things together I used the same aluminum diamondplate as the walls of the garage. I also installed and mostly wired the systems monitor/switch panel and an exhaust fan that pulls the air into the refrigerator vent.




After test fitting the two base cabinets I bought, I was not happy with the color match to the overheads and doors. I bought 12 oz of Minwax stain and started thinly coating the cabinets until they were as dark as the overheads. Now I need to get some good dirt and rub it into the stain for that weathered look.




Making all the flat surfaces match with the same covering really helps tie everything together. The sink countertop, the table, and the top of the cabinet below the TV are all the same material.

As you can see, the TV mount is up, but I think the arm is too short (10" extension). I probably should have gone with the 20 extension, but I couldn't find one that allows the screen to rotate up to portrait mode for the tablet interface. Having such big screens in the house has spoiled me. This Black Friday special 22" LCD just looks tiny in the bus.



My gal convinced me I don't need an "entertainment center" with everything that's built into the tablet dock (I think she wants to put skillets, pots, and pans down there). The wall has two 60mm Cable Cord Grommet Holes for cords going in and out of the cabinet. In the cabinet there is 110 and 12V going in it with a power sensing inverter to switch from AC to 12V inverted to 110 should the power go out or when in-transit with the generator off.

On the pic above, you may notice a strange additional set of drawer rails that are actually connected to the countertop. There was a discussion here somewhere about hiding spaces on peoples busses. Mine is the back of the 12” base cabinet. I put drawer slides under the countertop so it can slide forward aprox 24”. The cabinet is only 28” deep so there's 12”x12” behind it not being used. I'll probably put a small gun safe and fire proof box in there. When the countertop is in place you can't tell it actually slides out. But with a great deal of effort, the countertop lifts up in the front and rolls forward on the rails. Hehe.

The luan wall in the bathroom will be installed as soon as all the wiring for the TV/computer is complete. Notice these 2x4s are turned sideways to save space. Looking above, this wall does not go all the way to the ceiling because the vista windows are directly above it and I want that light to spread into the front as much as possible.


Having the RV fan in the bathroom with the open-top wall pulls air thru the bus well. The loveable loo is the only wood that's not painted or stained to match the other woodwork. It has five coats of polyurethane so cleaning in there should be quick and easy. With the seat slightly to the left, I have a hatch on the right full of sawdust for the toilet.


I only have two of the tinted windows in on the passenger side. I ordered the glass for two more last month and am taking my time re-assembling them so they don't leak or break. I had to seal a small leak in my door's lower window last month after a week of torrential rain.

I really like the way the kitchen turned out. The sink fit perfectly; the countertop is gorgeous; the drawer face shown flips down smoothly; the missing drawer is being fitted for my induction cook-top; and there's plenty of room underneath it all for the water pump, filter, plumbing, and wiring.



I hung my privacy curtains which match the base color of the furniture. I'll have to go out to the bus one night and see how much privacy they really provide.



I haven't installed the wall yet on the passenger side because I have to replace the windows first, then attach the metal plate to the bottom of the windows that will hold the table up, and I need to run another 12V line to my porch light that I don't have yet.





The more I do, the more I find needs done. This is really frustrating especially because I don't have some of the specialized tools or skills to get some of this done.






.

[Tango]

From a conversation with a friend/car builder:

Me:
"Damn...every time I look, there is something else that needs to be done".

Him:
"Stop looking".

[sdwarf36]

A thought about Xing you tiedown straps; My boss used to have a fleet of rental Mazda MX-5 cup cars and a stacker trailer. His thought (cuz its bit him before) if your straps are X'ed, and one comes off, the other pulls the car sideways.

[gizmoq]

70+ degrees in St Louis in February. I had to go out somewhere! Grabbed some frozen chili we cooked last week, some drinks, and snacks ... and took off for the day. O.K. we didn't go far just a local state park, but this is our first outing in ET and we stayed the whole day and didn't get on each others nerves (I consider that a win).




And to my surprise, when we got home, she asked me when can we go on a real roadtrip I think the hook is set. Now I just gotta be patient and reel her in. First thing, we gotta do an overnight somewhere so she can get comfortable with the layout. She's already informed me the bathroom is not very "lady friendly." So I have to reconfigure the bathroom like SCOOLBUS1 did his:


My bathroom is very similar to his, but my seat faces the door. So she wants a mirror on the door and a drop down leaf level with the base of the mirror that can be used as a vanity. As far as vanity lights, I think I'll get 4 of those stick on LED lights, 2 on each side of the mirror.


WOW! I haven't been out communing with nature in a looooooonnngg time. I forgot how serene and peaceful it is to just sit outside and listen to the water lapping against the bank. I may take this thing out on the road and never come back. O.K., yes we were glamping inside the bus with the generator running, TV blaring, full internet on the computers, windows open and floor heating blowing....but we were out of the house.

Oh I forgot to tell you where we are in the build (notice the plural ). I finally replaced the door handles on the door to the garage so the garage ramp can be left open but the house section remain locked. I'm really loving the goose-neck faucet. Never before thought I could get excited about kitchen fixtures. Oh yeah I also bought an Ivation 1800W induction cooktop (SKU#IVICPT18BYW) and installed it in the drawer so the kitchen is pretty much complete. All that's left to do is seal the sink to the countertop and tighten it down (as if I know how!?!?) I wired it so the Ivation cooktop and the microwave are on the same circuit so only one on at a time.



The dinette windows are in and sealed. So now I have 4 clear windows on both sides of the bus. With the windows in, I finally permanently mounted the dinette table anchor plate.



All the house furniture except the drivers seat is in, bolted down, and cleaned again. All the fresh water and city water lines are in and connected to the water filter and faucet. We now have seatbelts installed and anchored for 4 passengers.



She scooted, twisted, turned, and reclined every which way possible and finally decided "There"... so the navigator seat is also finally bolted in place (I sat in it much of the evening and its pretty comfortable even when turned facing the couch).



Both overhead cabinets are in with doors attached and 12V lighting underneath.



This is the point where I realized I've over done it on my electrical. The house section is only 16' from the windshield to the back door and I have 8 110V outlets, 15 lights, 7 cigarette lighter outlets, 6 USB outlets, and of all things two battery chargers and a jumper box. All this and I don't even have the house batteries yet.

A lot of the 12V stuff is going to be redone as soon as I get the house batteries in. I have a 300W inverter with 2 outlets for the TV and house section tablet computer (the server will be in the garage but only available when I have 110V available) that will allow me to have both working anytime, i.e., without the generator or shore power. i also want all the engine accessories to be available on the house battery so I have 3 isolators and a BIRD so both batteries can be managed automatically or remotely.




This, however, leads me to my next major task, something I know will have to wait for Spring, but needs to be done before any major road trips. I need to get my motor and tranny rebuilt or at least professionally optimized/tuned/serviced/cleaned up and instrumented (I just realized tonight the dashboard is completely dark - no lighting any where on the dash). Then I can take my time and eventually replace the front brake calipers.

But let's not forget about the significant other, she has decided to tackle making the house section liveable. So she will be hanging pot and pans and utensil; buying spice racks, clothes racks, storage containers for the garage, mirror, cup holders, fridge organizers, and on and on and on.

[cowlitzcoach]

You conversion is really looking GREAT!

I like your thinking. Your attention to detail is outstanding.

In regards to your dash lighting, it might just be the headlight switch is the problem. The dimmer function can get green with age and moisture. The green can get to the point where no juice will go through that part of the circuit regardless of where the switch is turned.

The switch is a standard GM headlight switch that has a button on the back that allows the pull knob to pull out and a face nut that holds the switch in place.

I am glad your significant other is starting to buy into the project.

The main reason why I sold my bus and purchased a travel trailer was I knew convincing my significant other a converted bus was a good idea was going to be like pushing chain uphill.

Good luck and happy trails!

[gizmoq]

We took our first real trip this weekend. I had a car show I signed up for months ago and the weather had a possibility of some rain. So we decided to load the car on the bus and take it that way. I also wanted to check out Big River State Park and overnight there.

Of course, we had no idea what all we needed for the trip. We packed everything we thought we'd need, but inevitably we forgot stuff. Also being our first trip, we had no plan for where or how things should be stored. I left that up to her and we failed miserably. We filled every orifice on that bus and still needed more. We have a few ideas to remedy the space issue, but the packing and organizing is going to take time and planning.

I kept most of my tools in the garage section in case they were needed, luckily they weren't.

We arrived in Peoria late (as expected) so I had to park on the absolute far end of the parking lot in order to get a spot I knew I could get out of.

Gotta look hard and squint to see it way back in the back just left of center.


I think I was parked in the spectator parking lot.


So by the time I was parked and chocked, It started to drizzle. It was already colder than I expected. The fog on the way had me bummed, the bus struggled to climb the hills to get here, we're late, and now this. I decided to open up the garage and wait.


Pretty soon I realized the car would have fit right in, but the bus was actually a bigger attraction.



Pretty soon (word of mouth spreads quickly) mobs of folks were all around the bus asking question, wanting to see the interior, asking how it was built, by whom, telling stories of other conversions they'd seen. After an hour, I decided to just leave the car in it and enjoy the show. We locked the garage door, locked the front door and walked around and enjoyed seeing the other cars, truck, and bikes in attendance.



I couldn't resist taking a picture of a bumper sticker I want for the bus:


I may need this when we start boondocking long-term in any given place.


And we both drooled all over this COE truck:



By noon the show was over. We walked across the street and had lunch. Got back to the bus, buttoned it up, and set off for the next 90 miles to Big River.



Even without the Spring colors, Big River State Park is pretty nice. There are a variety of locations (by the river, by the road, way back in the woods, a couple group sites, a playground, several buildings throughout (I saw one marked as a "warming station"). We went to the office but they posted a sign "Out in the Area" and couldn't find anyone to take our money. We waited an hour and decided to find a spot and let them come to us.



We setup in a nice spot by the road thinking if the staff ever came back to the office, they'd be able to see us from the office and come over.... they never did. We knocked, we called, we left a note.... if that's not due diligence screw it our night there was free (and OBTW, our phones had no signal, but my WiFi extender was able to pick up a signal from the office so we had that).




The night in the park was nice. I think we were both guilty of overcompensating to insure the night went smoothly. I stayed up front while she hopped from couch to dinette to her nav seat looking to get a feel for the accommodations. The bathroom surprised her at its efficiency, convenience, and surprise, surprise it worked as advertised - no smell, no mess, no issues. What we hadn't anticipated was the temps dropped rapidly after sunset. By 10PM, it was below freezing outside and it was getting chilly inside. So I broke the cardinal rule of boondocking - I fired up the generator and turned on some heat. I know ... kick me later.

Bed time was another learning experience. She stored the bedding below the dinette. I opened the couch before it was retrieved and we both realized the open couch made the storage under the dinette inaccessible. So we had to put the couch back upright, get the stuff out and do it again. The bathroom is not enough room for dressing so we've decided to create a dressing room by curtaining the bathroom across to the fridge. The slide-in decorative panels of the fridge are going to have to be replaced with a mirror-like surface for this dressing room. The couch was fairly comfortable to sleep on. The console to the right of the driver's seat made a perfect bedside table. Next time I want to lower both the couch and the dinette and sleep over there so I'll know what a guest is going to have to deal with.

Sunday morning was glorious. I warmed up faster than I expected outside so we opened a few windows and listened to the birds and the river. PJ cooked breakfast in our tiny kitchen with no problems. We ate at the table with a spectacular view. Then explored the area and loitered about till we just couldn't stay any longer if we wanted to get home before nightfall. We slowly packed everything away and headed for home.




The trip home started out slower than expected. There weren't any really steep hills but I couldn't get above 47MPH for the first hour. We stopped a few times along the way because my "Engine Overspeed" light was on, but I knew that wasn't the case. Eventually, we got up to 55MPH on flat land so we just drove it on home. The last 30 miles was on the interstate and ET got up to 65MPH for a while.

Overall, PJ's happy, I'm happy, she wants to do it again (YEAH!), and I didn't need a tow truck - success. 435 miles, appx 7MPG, and no breakdown. A mile or 2 before we got home, I filled the tank and had ET weighed at Flying J. Max GVW on the bus is 23.6K the scale with a full tank and the car in the back was 22.1K ... I could add another thousand pounds and still be under my max, whoopie.

I still have a lot of little tasks and the motor and tranny probably both need to be rebuilt, but I'll get it done. I'm really motivated right now to get things done. More storage space will go in this week. The bathroom vanity and dressing room curtain and mirrors will be her job. I think this is going to work for us.

[EastCoastCB]

Man, thats awesome.

And again- great bus!

[Tango]

Great adventure tale! Thanks for sharing. That is what the whole skoolie thing is about. And BTW...I totally agree on the COE!

[EastCoastCB]

COE's are cool.

[gizmoq]

FINALLY! All the electrical is in, hooked up, and running! Had some issues the last couple weeks with the smoke escaping from one of my isolators, the 30 Amp side of my generator failing, and my converter maxing out at 12.3V. I figured the isolator was toast and ordered another. Had to take the bus to the Onan Cummings service center to learn my wiring was bad. And I found a good deal on eBay for a 100W PowerMax PM3-100 converter/charger.



So this is the battery/isolator setup I have installed and everything is working as advertised.


There are two battery disconnect switches (chassis and coach). The BIRD is completely automated switching coach to chassis power when engine is running and the Aux Start hopefully won't ever be needed (Fingers crossed). I just have to remember to turn on the coach switch when on generator or shore power to charge the coach batteries.




This converter/charger is probably overkill at this time because I'm not running any power hungry 12V systems... just 2 computers, TV, lights, 7 cigarette power outlets, and 4 USB ports. I don't know what other 12V stuff I'll be adding in the future (maybe a surround sound system), but this should handle it. This is last years model so it only has 3-stage charging: 13.2, 13.6, 14.4 (the new ones added a fourth stage 14.8V). After running several tests monitoring voltages at the converter and at the batteries, I realized why all the 12V systems run both positive and negative leads to all systems - every time a load is grounded to the bus frame reduces the converter power output... hmmmm. I like this converter. When initialized, it outputs 14.7V no load, as it realizes the state of the battery it them adjusts to absorption 13.4 or float 13.2 with plenty of amps to fully charge the coach batteries in the quickest possible time.

Oh, I also got my garage storage rails done ala DIY Handyman - Sliding Storage.


Unlike some here, I have terrible carpentry skills so mine barely looks vaguely like the above. But, I now have 6 each 27 gallon totes in the garage for stowing everything from clothes to small hand tools and parts. I'm still pondering the best locking mechanism to keep them from sliding around while in motion, but that's the easy part. Did I mention these go over the front of the car when its in the garage. I better check this weekend to make sure there's plenty of clearance in both loading and travel mode ... oops.

[gizmoq]

[gizmoq]

Its Spring Break! So of course I want to go out glamping, but not too far from home. Chose Pere Marquette State Park. Loaded the garage with our two mountain bikes instead of the car and took off. Long story short, got there the bus kept tripping the circuits on the shore plugin, so we turned around and came home.

On the way home, I decided to consult with the local experts and stopped in at a local RV Service Center to troubleshoot the issue. Took him 2 minutes to tell me to isolate the generator whenever on shore power. O.K., I'm a noob! I remember reading that a year ago and forgot. I even installed a separate switch to remove the generator mimicing the setup from the RV my parts came out of. Lately, as the wiring was closer and closer to complete, that switch made less and less sense, WELL NOW IT DOES.

So I'm punishing myself for such a noob error ruining the week and the weather sucks, so I'm staying home not touching the bus, working other projects.

QUESTIONS FOR THE EXPERTS:
1. I need a mirror for the bathroom appx 24"x36", but I don't want glass. Where do I find a faux mirror that's light, can be put on a door, and good reflectivity?

2. Where do I buy the short house battery cables to tie my three house batteries together?

3. Where do I find "The idiots Guide to RV Camping" or something to that effect so I don't embarrass myself the next time out?

[somewhereinusa]

#2 Any good truck repair shop should be able to make them

[dan-fox]

Mirror-surface plexiglas is a thing. Try any decent sized plastics supplier. It will scratch just like plexiglas though.