Journey Begins - 1988 Crown Conversion

[gmarvel]

PASSENGER WINDOWS BEING LOCKED DOWN AND INSULATED
Early on we decided that we did not want this bus to totally lose its bus identity. We intend to use the bus as a rolling training and demo lab for our transportation software company. We want it to still look like a bus on the exterior. That meant keeping the passenger windows.

The first thing we did is check out every single window. Any imperfections (scratch, delamination, etc.) meant that the window was replaced. I had picked up about 20 windows from a client school district that was crushing their Crowns. So, there was no need to buy new ones. We then had them all tinted using the high end 3M tinting (see earlier posts).

However, some of the windows will be behind cabinets and our stainless steel shower. We needed to make sure that the windows were secured and insulated. Further, we needed to make sure that the windows that would be closed off and insulated did not look different from the outside (white insulation against the glass would show). So, all the insulation was painted black on the side facing the windows so it would not contrast with the darkened tinted windows on the rest of the bus.

The pictures below show you what we did. First, we locked the windows and screwed them into the window frames. Then we installed the insulation.

[gmarvel]

NAVIGATION CHAIR PLACEMENT
This was a very difficult decision. My wife originally did not want to sit over the wheel well. However, it totally screwed up the passenger side configuration for our cabinet that is going to house the electrical fireplace and the 40" pop up flat screen monitor. If we placed her navigation chair behind the wheel well, then we had to say goodbye to the 40" flat screen.

The solution was to engineer a frame that went directly over the passenger side front wheel well. This was critical as the chair must be properly secured in the event of a crash. My wife kept pointing out her reluctance to have the chair tearing out of the floor and sailing through the front window. Picky, picky, picky!!!

We designed a frame that was then checked out by engineers. This thing is solid. It is secured both to the side rails as well as completely through the bus floor with metal plates under the bus to spread out the pressure if the bus was in an accident. The navigation chair is then attached to the frame.

Picture is below.

[gmarvel]

NAVIGATOR CHAIR INSTALLED
The Navigator chair has now been installed. It is an electric one with recliner, footrest, lumbar support, etc. It is identical to the driver's chair except it does not have air ride suspension. It has extra cushioning and a double set of springs to make the ride easier. The material is ultra leather.

The wheel well will be covered in the same coin rubber flooring that you saw in a previous post.

The picture is below.

[Yvan]

Spectacular job so far.

[cowlitzcoach]

You have done a great job on your conversion.

I was looking at your trailer hitch.

I think you have forgotten a very important part of the hitch support.

Crowns, unlike every other yellow bus made, does not have any frame behind the fuel tank. Which means there is nothing structural in the trunk area. This was designed specifically as a crunch zone so that in an accident where the back of the bus was hit the trunk could crush without passing on the crunch into the passenger compartment.

Because there is nothing back there, extending the frame rails is the only way you can pull anything with a Crown.

But you also need to do something to support the downward thrust of the hitch weight.

The way in which you have your trailer hitch installed is very stout for fore and aft but you have only sheet metal supporting the up and down.

You are going to need to figure out some way in which to support the tongue weight or you will find yourself one day with your bumper on the ground and your trunk ripped off below the rear window.

[gmarvel]

This setup was reviewed by an engineer. I will revisit to see what they all think. Thank you for the warning. Your comments make perfect sense to me. I will find out and let everyone know what we are doing.

[gmarvel]

The designer of the trailer hitch setup tells me that the additional beams you could not see under the bus make everything OK. An earlier post in this forum showed those beams that were installed inside the trunk area an work in conjunction with the beams under the bus to create a solid hitch assembly. I have been assured then everything has been designed to prevent exactly what was potentially outlined. It is solidly constructed and will not create a problem with the trunk area and bumper getting ripped off. I was told that if the beams under the bus were the only additions then the concerns would be valid.

[sojourner]

Nice job!! Keep up the good work!

[gmarvel]

ELECTRICAL EVERYWHERE

The electrical is starting to come together. I haven't added it up, must it seems like miles of electrical in the bus. Everything is getting labeled. We learned from our fellow skoolies.



Electric Central


This bus will have 50 amp service.

[Tango]

As a side note...the last I checked, the vast majority of RV campgrounds as well as parks are still mostly 30 amp service. Can anyone else add to this?

[LuckyChow]

I mostly find 50 amp service in my neck of the woods. We have a lot of Corp. of Engineer campgrounds around the lakes here. They occasionally have some sites with 30 amp, but most of them seem to be 50 amp.

[gmarvel]

The electrical is being setup so I can use 30 amp or 50 amp shore power depending on what is available. Obviously, if 30 amp is all that is available, I will need to be extra careful on running both 15,000 BTU air conditioners, the microwave, the coffee pot and the hair dryer all at the same time.

I wanted to keep my options open.

[gmarvel]

TOILET IS IN
We purchased a macerating toilet from Thetford called the Tecma Silence Plus RV toilet. This toilet was designed for the marine environment. It has a pump and a macerating feature so that all "solids" become a slurry. We have finally installed it. The benefit of this kind of toilet is that you don't have to worry about blockages or travel of your waste to a black water tank that is not directly under the toilet. It is also a "high boy" so it is easier to sit on and get off of when finished with its use. See the pictures below:

[gmarvel]

EXHAUST FAN NOW INSTALLED

We had originally intended to put the exhaust fan in the shower stall. That was a mistake and we had to move it. It is now on the other side of the bus directly opposite the shower stall and above the toilet area. It has a high exhaust capacity and is a MaxxFan Deluxe 7500K Remote Opening Exhaust Fan. It provides over 900 cubic feet of air per minute exhaust capability. it has a remote control feature as well. It has a built in thermostat so we can set when the fan will come on based on interior temperature. This is great when the bus is closed up on a hot day. At a given set temperature the fan vent door will rise up and the fan will turn on. This will prevent super heated air from being contained in the closed up bus. Pictures are below:

WIDE VIEW OF BATHROOM AREA WHERE VENT IS INSTALLED


CLOSE UP VIEW OF THE FAN AREA

[gmarvel]

INTERIOR ELECTRICAL OUTLETS WITH USD
In a previous post I talked about our desire to have our electrical outlets include USD charging ports. We have started the installation. I like how they are coming out. The brushed metal look and the black insert matches what we are doing inside the rest of the coach.

Our two couches will have electrical outlets with USD on each side. The Navigator's chair will also have a similar outlet. The dinette area will have these outlets plus a HDMI cable connection to easily hook up a laptop to our 40" monitor that will demo and train users with our software product. Finally, the queen size bed in the back will also have outlets on each side of the bed. This is in addition to outlets scattered around the bus (kitchen, restroom, etc.). We also intend to have several USB outlets installed in the dash area for the driver.

We heard from many skoolies that we talked to about their desire to have more outlets strategically placed around their coaches. You can never have enough. Plus, with all the devices that now allow for USB charging, we wanted to make sure they were scattered around the bus. These all have high amp charging capability to handle tablets and the phones that now require at least 2.1 amp charging (like the Samsungs S5 and Note 4).

WIDE VIEW OF OUTLET (This is by the passenger side couch)


CLOSE UP OF OUTLET (Note the two USB outlets)

[gmarvel]

CABINET BUILT FOR REFRIGERATOR AND MICROWAVE

The cabinet for the refrigerator and microwave has been installed and the appliances have been put it.

The refrigerator is a Novakool 9000 AC/DC marine grade. It has a 9.1 cubic feet of frig and freezer.

The microwave was a small digital one that I got on sale at Target.

I read online about this refrigerator's heavy insulation. This reduces the use of electricity and keeps everything colder. The suggestion was to put even more insulation around it. So we put two additional layers of insulation around the refrigerator.

Front View of Refrigerator/Microwave Cabinet


Refrigerator With the Frig Door Open - Lots of Space for an RV Applicance


Freezer is Small But Bigger Than Most RV Appliances


Close Up of Microwave. We are going to put a secured basket in the hole to the right of the microwave. The shelf above the microwave will have a door on it that swings up.

[ol trunt]

Nice looking cupboard set up. Does the microwave vent its heat out the wire basket side? I had planed to add insulation to the sides of my frig but then discovered the heat exchange coils were buried just below the surface of the sides of the box so covering the sides of the frig with insulation would have messed up heat exchange. Are the coils on the back of your frig? How are you venting the frig heat? Jack

[nat_ster]

Why are your plugs upside down? Ground is at the top, not the bottom. This causes kinked cords, ect.

I like the USB outlets. There are around 5 different styles I have seen so far at various suppliers. Some even have really nice LED nightlights built in.

Nat

[gmarvel]

Venting for the microwave is on the side where basket will be going. That is why we are not enclosing. The frig has a front venting setup. Only one on the market that I could find that was like that.

[ol trunt]

The head shot receptacle is what NEC is recommending these days. They say it provides less chance less chance for a slim conductor (like an aluminum clip board) to slide down the wall and lodge across the hot and neutral prongs of a cord. Bet we'll see plugs being changed to match.