Journey Begins - 1988 Crown Conversion - Page 4

Stu & Filo. T · 10-29-2013, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmarvel

That is a good question. Frankly, I was going to call Brown Crown for advice. He converted a Crown and he had an air conditioning unit on top.

If I remember correctly Brown Crown removed his sheet metal then glued styrofoam then carpet to his roof, I'll have to go back & research when I have time

Stu & Filo. T · 10-30-2013, 03:40 PM

I just discovered that if you drill a small hole in a ceiling rib I was able to send a fish tape all the way up to the roof vent, I'm sure if you did it in another area you would be able to send it all the way around. I hope this helps,,

Stuart

gmarvel · 10-31-2013, 03:14 PM

WHERE TO RUN THE WIRING FOR AIR CONDITIONING

Brown Crown got back to me. He did not pull off the headliner. If you look at the picture below, as long as you place your opening between the roof ribbing, the wires can be threaded down to the wiring chase on the sides above the window. From there you can snake the wiring to an area that has a wall and you can then go down through the wall to wherever your electrical center is going to be. The air conditioning wires are huge. So, running it down the outside of the headliner and then covering it up with carpet, paneling or whatever would not work.

The air conditioning units we got have huge rubber caskets and "shock absorber" type rubber to significantly reduce noise and vibration. I forgot to take a picture the other day. I will the next time I am at the bus.

gmarvel · 10-31-2013, 03:24 PM

PLACEMENT OF AIR CONDITIONERS

As I said in an earlier post, we put a great deal of thought into where we were going to place the air conditioners. Below are two shots of the placement from an interior view.

gmarvel · 11-20-2013, 10:07 PM

HOLDING TANKS HAVE ARRIVED

We have decided to go with both black and grey water holding tanks. There was some debate about having a combined tank. However, we decided both tanks were a better option. None of the standard holding tanks met our space needs. So, we took careful measurements and then had them custom made. It was more expensive, but they fit perfectly. Each of them holds 47.5 gallons. Below are pictures of the holding tanks that have arrived and the area where they are going. The platform has been built just in front of the rear axle on the passenger side of the bus. We are putting the fresh water holding tank (47 gallons) in the rear trunk area of the bus. It has not yet arrived. I have heard somewhere that you want your fresh water tank to equal the total of your combined black and grey water tanks. That is if you want to live off the grid and dumping stations for some time. We are not intending to use our Crown for extended stays off the grid or away from campsite amenities. We also don't intend to be driving down the road for many miles with full black and grey water tanks. So, we think this arrangement will be perfect for us.

gmarvel · 11-20-2013, 10:24 PM

AIR CONDITIONING UNITS UP ON THE ROOF

We purchased two Dometic Air Conditioning units. They are 15,000 BTU and include heating strips. Below is a picture of the front air conditioning unit on the top of the bus. My picture of both units on the roof did not come out. We intend to have them painted the same color as the roof. For those that are not familiar with Crowns, the scoop shaped thing in front of the AC unit is a vent hood. There is another one on the other side of the bus as well. These AC units will be powered with an Onan Quiet Diesel 8000 watt generator that is going into the side of the bus just behind the front door, feeding off of the newly reconditioned 100 gallon diesel tank. We heard an identical generator today and you could hardly tell it was running. I can't believe how quiet these are!!! We intend to insulate the generator compartment (making sure to leave room for ventilation) to get the noise down to a soft whisper.

We debated which model to get. Brown Crown's experience with his Crown and its one 13,500 BTU AC unit in the California Central Valley (hot, hot, hot in the Summer) convinced us to go with two units and the price difference between 13,5000 and 15,000 was not that much.

We discovered that our Crown's roof structure made it impossible to run the wiring through the headliner and down the inside of the bus without taking off the headliner and making small holes in the roof cross ribs to run the wiring. Of course we used grommets in the holes to protect the wiring. Taking off the headliner was not too difficult. Of course that was only two panels (one for the front AC and one for the back AC). Talking about doing what Allwthrrider did and taking the whole headliner off to reinsulate. Will report in a future post about what we decide to do.

bansil · 11-21-2013, 03:33 AM

Progress is looking good

gmarvel · 11-21-2013, 06:35 PM

MADE CRITICAL PAINT DECISIONS

After going through what seems like hundreds of possible combinations, we have settled on our paint scheme. We are going with a light khaki metallic as the primary body color, with swooping large black lines coming from the lower front and sweeping up to the back roof area. We wanted a design that suggested motion. We are going to the extra expense of having a clear coat as well. We want the paint job to be awesome. Not ready yet to start painting, but at least we now know what will work. If I can figure out how to take a good picture of the color combination and post it I will. I am not sure a digital picture will render the colors accurately. I am working on a paint scheme that I will share when finished.

dburt · 12-01-2013, 10:06 PM

Love your bus, and your work so far. Well thought out, and executed!

gmarvel · 12-12-2013, 10:40 PM

Thank you for your kind words. Donna and I are really trying to make this conversion special. I hope to have few "I wish I had done that differently" moments.

gmarvel · 12-13-2013, 12:36 AM

GENERATOR IN PLACE AND COMPARTMENT BUILT, NEW HOUSE BATTERIES ALSO INSTALLED

In an earlier post we indicated we had decided to go with an Onan Quiet Diesel 8000 Watt Generator. It has arrived. We also took the spare tire compartment behind the front door and converted it into a generator compartment. We built a slide out mechanism for the compartment so that the generator could easily be rolled out for maintenance. This is important, since the generator is over 400 pounds.

We also purchased four AGM batteries for our coach. These are the latest technology and are maintenance free. We have installed them next to the generator compartment.

The reconditioned fuel tank has been fitted with a fuel valve to service the generator. The fuel tank has been reinstalled under the bus. The valve has been positioned so that only 75% of the diesel tank's capacity will be available to the generator. We don't want to run the generator so much that there is no fuel for the bus. I doubt this would ever happen. However, it is better to be safe and put in this feature now. Given the current fuel mileage on the bus, we would have about a 300 mile range on the bus if the fuel tank fell to 25 gallons and the generator had no fuel access.

The electrical plans have been finalized. We had them reviewed with an electrical engineer that specializes in Class A RV's to make sure we had enough circuits, etc.

bansil · 12-13-2013, 06:09 AM

nice and snug fit, how hard to get to batteries to hook them up?

pete c · 12-13-2013, 03:26 PM

Beautiful bus. Crowns really are works of art. Shame that the government is subsidizing their extinction.

I don't have a problem with LP, but, it ain't my bus. I could see how going all electric might make sense in sunny california if you have a good PV setup.

gmarvel · 12-13-2013, 11:33 PM

It is a snug fit. However the batteries can be accessed. We checked. Plus, these are maintenance free and will not need to be accessed regularly.

gmarvel · 12-17-2013, 08:45 PM

INSULATION OF ROOF AND SIDES BEGINS

The headliner has been removed from the interior of the bus. There are about two inches of pink insulation between the interior headliner and the exterior skin of the bus. As you can see in the pictures it is being removed. Wear a mask for this job. The fibers get everywhere!!!!

We have also started the insulation of the side walls below the windows. We are using aluminum backed insulation boards that are sealed with aluminum tape as well as spray insulation foam to seal all the potential cracks. Once every bit of the pink stuff is removed, we will spray foam insulation into all the cavities of the roof area. The headliner will then be replaced. It will eventually be covered with flexible faux leather covered panels.

Does anyone know what kind of foam insulation is used under the bus? I have seen numerous people talk about it, but I want to make sure we get the kind that is appropriate for going under a vehicle. We believe that insulation under the bus will help keep the Crown appropriately cool and warm, while deadening the road noise.

Stu & Filo. T · 12-17-2013, 09:11 PM

I wonder why the insulation in your Crown was so much thicker than mine, when I removed my ceiling panels the insulation was only about 1/2 in thick

gmarvel · 12-18-2013, 07:36 PM

I suspect it depended on which worker did the insulation. Clearly, my guy took the insulation task seriously. I was equally amazed at the difference. I fully expected a poor insulation job like your Crown (same year, 198

. I was surprised to see all that pink stuff. I am still glad I did it as I really believe that the spray foam insulation will be much better.

thommassey · 12-20-2013, 12:07 AM

Just wondering, are you using 12 volt or 6 volt house batteries? BTW, really enjoying this thread. Good work, lots of good ideas!

gmarvel · 12-20-2013, 01:40 AM

Thank you for the kind words. We are working hard to try and get this conversion exactly the way the want it the first time around. We want to avoid "we should have" moments. We will certainly have them. However, we hope to limit the number. This site has been great in helping us make our decisions.

The new AGM house batteries are 12 volt. We are also replacing the old 8d vehicle batteries with new AGM's as well, with cold cracking amps (CCA) of almost 2000. Two batteries take up the same space as one of the old 8d standard batteries.

gmarvel · 12-29-2013, 05:17 PM

VEHICLE BATTERY COMPARTMENT

The Crown came with old 8d batteries. They are massive. The new AGM starter batteries have arrived and should be put in the bus next week. Below are images of the Crown's vehicle battery compartment. It is on the driver's side of the bus in front of the rear axle. Two AGM deep cycle batteries take up the same room as one of the old 8d batteries that came with the Crown. We are going to reconfigure the battery compartment to also include the macerator pump and waste water hookups. Because we will have a macerating pump, we will not need the huge accordion sewage hoses like most RV's. I have seen these on other conversations and Class A RV's and they are pretty neat.

Below are pictures of the battery compartment. Remember, the old massive batteries will be removed and replaced with more powerful but smaller batteries (almost 2000 cold cranking amps). This will free up significant space.

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