Heavy Fuel

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by juliol

Hey, are you doing the spray foam yourself?

I'm not planning to. I figure the spray foamers are much better at it than I am, and will waste less than me as well.... Those are my thoughts. Always open to others.......

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

I'm not planning to. I figure the spray foamers are much better at it than I am, and will waste less than me as well.... Those are my thoughts. Always open to others.......

I agree with this.

Nat

[Tango]

Seems most of the folks I've heard from who sprayed their own wished they hadn't. Huge mess, poorly done and wound up costing as much or more than having a pro do it.


DIY is not always the best route to take.

[M1031A1]

Well, helping my wife with her new-to-her computer. She's becoming an 8th grade math teacher. Since I have a Masters in Education, I've been drafted to help (hehe). In addition, the humidity is just sapping my energy. We're looking at the weather. So we're hoping for a cool front to come through so we can actually get some work done. Monday wifie is going to Bryan, TX to get more cabinets we won. Frustrating, but that's life for ya........

Once some of this work is done then we're going to get some quotes on spray foam work.

The saga continues......

M1031

[M1031A1]

Well, we got the cabinets! WoHOO!!!!!! Five of the brown ones tied together will make a really nice kitchen. We're doing some measurin' and 'siferin' before we get down to assembling and building.....

The white ones in the back of my one ton Ford are for the master bedroom to go under the elevated bed. Again more 'figurin' before puttin' together stuff......

Have a football game to bus drive on Saturday, so that build day is gone..... But the $$$ helps pay for stuff.....

These steel cabinets are HEAVY!!!! Just like our bus.....

M1031

[M1031A1]

Sorry for not getting pics sooner. Work and life got in the way. Met Tango and Albatross yesterday. Learned more and got more info in two hours than multiple posts here (nothing personal guys....). Nothing like seeing Tango's '46 Shorty in person! WOW, WHAT a bus!!!!! Gave me some ideas to work on with Heavy.

So, this is Heavy this morning. A few changes since the last pics. Got about half the 1/4 inch plywood up. Got the seat heater freed up. Got one of the four emergency windows in (for now). I'm going to adjust the install later to give the spray foamers a bit more freedom to spray behind and above the sill. My wife helped with getting the roof vent removed. I'm planning on sealing that tomorrow with any good fortune. Killed a HUGE cockroach hiding in the heater. That thing ran along the floor, just died tired......

I LOVE how the emergency window kicks out. I can see some AWESOME breezes and scenes coming to that window and the three others I have ready to go in.

Enjoy the pics. More to follow (if I remember the camera ).

[M1031A1]

Forgot these two pics.......

[Tango]

Looks like you have been workin'! --- Love how the windows work & look. Was great to meet up with you guys.

[M1031A1]

More work done today. Got the hole where the leaking roof emergency exit was all patched up and water tight (YAY). Got the second emergency window installed and wifie got some of the crud off the rear firewall so we can begin to look at painting and whatnot for that area.

Pics from today:

[Tango]

Just keep moving guys! Looking good.

[M1031A1]

Hey guys!

Sorry about taking soooooo long to get going again on Heavy. Between culling our apartment down to size, getting my teaching license re-newed, and a BUNCH of little things (generally considered a part of life) popping up at inopportune times. Poor Heavy has been sitting for a while.

The sheet metal to blank out the back is in, primed, but needs to be sanded down a bit before installation. De-construction is still being a royal pain. However, the roof is patched up and doesn't leak so far.....

So, with my limited time, and some help from ii amnt and their discovery of a really cool floor plan software, I had some time to "sketch" out our floor plan for Heavy.

Here it is:

[M1031A1]

I know it's a bit small, but it's all I can afford for the moment. Free is better than nothing in my book.........

[FlyboyHPD]

What is the name of that floor plan software you're using?

[ii_amnt]

floorplanner.com It's very easy to use.

M1031A1, you're design has me feeling like I'm leaving out so much. Especially since I only have ~25 feet of living space. Are you planning on living out of it for awhile with kids? We have a 3 yr old and a second daughter due in late February and intend on doing some live in for an indeterminate amount of time. Really trying to open the space for the kids for those long Michigan winters.

[M1031A1]

ii,

Our bus is an '89 Thomas 40' pusher. We have one 14 year old son, so we're building as he goes through high school. Have one of his friend's dad gearing up to help us with the build in his shop come end of January. We're looking to do a bit of horse trading to move this project along with him as well. Our intention is to live in it as we build our dream home. We may have found our ideal piece of land with an industrial barn and shore power already on the property. Time will tell if we can get it or not. If we do get it, then it's all a matter of hooking up plumbing to Heavy and we're ready to start building. Our '88 Ford is a 30' conventional with only 14' of actual living space. Check out our "Big Mac for $500" thread to see what I mean. I made some mistakes I'm trying to avoid this time around.

As far as opening up space in a 25' bus your design seems to be the best I've seen in a long time. You've been very creative with the bed space and stacking them efficiently. Of course you don't have the space for a full size washer/dryer like we do, but the kitchen seems to be appropriate for your bus. One idea I have is to include a drop-down flat screen tv. It saves space since you can retract it back into the ceiling, and yet provide entertainment for the kiddos when needed. We also have my son's gaming equipment included with his small screen for when he joins us on journeys with his buddies. Just some thoughts..........

I also like the fact this software gives you the ability to measure to scale so I have an idea about the kind of footprint required. Kinda neat to be able to do that.

Well, gotta get ready for work. Driving an MCI J4500 down to Galveston to get the passengers returning from their vacation and get some more from Hobby airport going to their ship for a week. That bus is like driving on smooth glass. VERY relaxing.

M1031

[ii_amnt]

Thanks for jogging the memory. It's been awhile since I had read your thread.

We've been eyeing the panda washer. Probably their dryer too, in time. The main sitting area is a lot of light come in. The drop down tv would be good there. Maximize window space.

That property sounds like what we have been wanting. Or maybe an older farmhouse with barn to park the skoolie while we renovate the house.

[M1031A1]

Well, today was quite a bit of prep work on Heavy. Yesterday I took apart the heater under the dash. Lubed up the controls so now they slide in and out like they should. I'm also looking to re-run the coolant lines from inside the bus to between the rails under the floors. I'm not fond of the idea of these lines springing a leak on my new flooring. I'm insulating the coolant lines to minimize heat loss. I'm also going to relocate the mid-heater to under my wife's side of the king sized bed (she's ALWAYS complaining that she's cold - even in Texas heat!!!). Running the lines under the floor between the rails just makes sense for us.

So, as you can see the plywood is now mostly gone (except under the heater), the heater is somewhat apart (mostly for cleaning and smelling MUCH better than stale socks), and the sheet metal for blanking out the back three windows is primed for mounting. The swinging stop sign is now removed. My objective is to have the blank mounted so I can leave more equipment in the bus and make construction go quicker. Objective is to have A/C mounted and functioning in the bus before summer so work can go easier with increased temperatures. I tried to get pics of what I finished today, but I'll do that tomorrow. BIG things happening in the morning! I'll remember the camera for everyone......

Meanwhile here are today's pics:

[M1031A1]

MAJOR MILESTONE today!!!!!!!!!

With the exception of blanking out the back three windows, the demolition is now FINISHED!!!!!

Wifie and I are now putting tape down to get the real-world concept of how our bus will feel once she's completed. My son, one of his close buddies, and I were out at the bus toady working to get her cleaned, sheet metal organized, junk thrown out, spare parts to reuse collected together in one spot, floors swept, and tape put down to see how our floor plan actually works. So we learned our linen closet did a *poof* and went away on us. The door to our master bedroom is just over 24". There's plenty of room for our washer and dryer. The bathroom is cozy, but very workable. The kitchen is AWESOME. The dinette is perfectly fitted to the windows.

We've decided to stay with relocating the heater hoses to between the frame rails under the floor. This will allow us to reset the heater to be located under wife's side of the bed so she's toastie warm at night and I can enjoy my cooler side.

Right now my right shoulder, left knee, lower back, and neck are all killing me from today. So a few meds and I'm off to bed. Wife is going to the bus tomorrow to evaluate our progress and see if there's anything we missed today.

So, enjoy the pics and we're getting ready to buy some lumber to put down some floors after we hit the metal with some Ospho.

M1031

[FlyboyHPD]

Really looking good. You've made great progress.

[Tango]

Congrats on finishing up the demo! Looks like a good plan. And if you are anything like me, this cold, damp weather has been wreaking havoc on my back and joints. Laying on cold concrete for hours really takes it's toll. I can work in 100+ weather all day...but this wet cold sucks.