Journey Begins - 1988 Crown Conversion

[M1031A1]

A little birdie told me to absolutely DROOL over your next bus build!!!! ;)

[gmarvel]

PASSENGER SIDE UPPER CABINETS ARE IN

Progress continues on the upper cabinets. The passenger side upper cabinets are in. With both sides of the bus in the front area now covered with upper cabinets, the interior of the bus still does not feel cramped.

[gmarvel]

FIREPLACE/TV CABINET INSTALLED

The last base cabinet went in yesterday. This is a custom cabinet to house our electric fireplace and 40" LED TV/Monitor. The cabinet frame is made from aluminum to give it super strength and then covered with the European Birch we have been using in the rest of the bus. The top is currently some of that same wood. However, we plan on replacing it with 1/2 inch granite.

As you can see in the pictures below, the fireplace works. It has a thermostat that is digital and comes with a remote control. It has 10 different fan speeds and about 15 different color and flame pattern settings. The whole electric fireplace faux flames and glow are powered by LED's, so energy consumption when not in heater mode is negligible. When the heater is going full blast it uses 11.5 amps.

The LED TV is on an electric riser so it can stay hidden in the cabinet until needed. That way we can still see out of the bus windows. The electric riser was described in an earlier post. We also put a mechanism on the riser that allows the TV to move forward and tilt a full 90 degrees so it can be seen from almost any seat in the bus. Again, the riser has a remote control.

We intend to use a Logitech Remote Control device to handle all these remote controlled devices. This includes the MaxxAir ventilation fan, the fireplace, the TV riser, the TV, the satellite receiver, the DVD player, and the bus' built in satellite radio/AM/FM/CD player in the dash.

The TV has an HDMI cable that has been run to the dinette table area so we can hook up a laptop that connects to the 40" monitor and provide training and demos on our transportation software.



Close Up of the Fireplace Showing Off Its Flames



TV In its Up Position



TV Tilted Forward To the Front of the Cabinet


TV Pulled Forward and Positioned at 45 Degrees. This is the perfect setup to view the TV from the Dinette area.



TV Positioned at 90 Degrees So the Passenger Side Sofa and Dinette Can See the TV.

[serpent]

...and again... beautiful work; I can't wait to see what you do with your tandem.

[browncrown]

Looking very nice!!!

[gmarvel]

Coming from the master of Crown conversions, that is high praise indeed.

We are having some issues with the overhead cabinet doors. We have tried various hinges and we think we have finally come up with a set we like. They are hidden so you can't see them. We wanted a clean look. Also, we decided against granite as the cost of 1/2" granite was outrageous. We could get remnants of 3/4" granite, but that is far to big and heavy. We finally settled on a solid surface composite that is light and stain proof.

[nat_ster]

Looking forward to pics.

Nat

[gmarvel]

The cabinet tops are being made over the next couple of weeks. I will have pictures when they are ready. I am going to the bus on Tuesday and we should be starting on the top cabinet doors and hinges. Hopefully, I can have pictures by the end of the week.

Working on plumbing next week. Also, hooking up those mushroom LED lights I talked about in an earlier thread for our under cabinet lighting. Again, nothing too great to look at right now. However, I am hoping for some picture worthy progress by the end of the week.

[gmarvel]

AC AND LIGHTS IN

We have been busy making sure all the electrical components work, including the Dometic 15,000 BTU air conditioners. I am pleased to report that all the electrical is working, from the TV, fireplace, interior LED lights, macerating toilet, refrigerator, and microwave, to the whole bus exhaust fan.

AIR CONDITIONING AND CEILING LIGHTS
Close up of the front air conditioning interior unit and the LED dimmable mushroom lights running along the center of the Coach. The lights are mounted to a very slim aluminum frame that we padded and then upholstered in the same leather fabric as the headliner. This also hides the seam of the headliner than runs down the middle of the ceiling.



12 VOLT LED DIMMABLE SWITCHES
LED light switch with dimming functions. These are back lit. These come with both black trim and brushed nickle trim. Haven't decided which trim to go with yet. Each light switch has a capacity of 100 watts or about 40 of these mushroom flush mount LED lights. There will be one switch for the main center ceiling string of LED's, one for the lights under the passenger side overhead cabinets and one for the lights under the driver side overhead cabinets. Plus, one for the LED ceiling lights in the back bedroom area of the bus. Got these on Amazon for $20 less than Camping World.





LED MUSHROOM LIGHT STRING
We really wanted lots of light in the interior of the bus, but also wanted to create a softer environment with dimmable LED's. These LED lights have a warm glow instead of the normal harsh light of regular LED's. An earlier post in this thread talked about these lights. We figured more lights that can be dimmed or turned off are better than not enough lighting when you need it.



UNDER CABINET LIGHTING
We have put these LED mushroom style flush mount lights under all of the overhead cabinets. Again, being dimmable, we can have as much or as little lighting as we want. Note the brushed nickle spot light. These are 12 volt LED reading lights that are on each end of the sofas for a total of four. That way, if someone wants to read while seated or while the sofa has been turned into a bed they can do it easily. These puck lights are adjustable like you find in an airplane. They are operated separately from the under cabinet mushroom LED's. Each has its own switch. We are also installing one of these spotlights over the Navigator's chair so the person in that chair can also have enough light for reading.

[gmarvel]

OVER HEAD CABINET DOORS
It took us some time to figure out how we wanted to hang the doors for the overhead cabinets. We settled on a hidden look for the hinges. The door lifts up on a small piston that holds it up when you lift the door. We have also decided to hang the doors just slightly below the bottom of the cabinet frame so we can lift them up without having to use any door hardware like pulls or knobs. We decided it would look sleeker that way.

Below is a picture of the first door installed. Again, like the rest of the wood in the bus, it is a cherry stained European Birch.

[HolyBus]

Looks real nice. I like it!

[taskswap]

Nicely done! Would you mind sharing a few part numbers? We've been researching lighting ourselves and have some similar goals in mind.

[gmarvel]

REQUESTED PART NUMBERS FOR LIGHTING PARTS

Per requests, below are the specifics about each of the lighting parts I put in my Crown:

LED Mushroom Lights

These are 12 volt flush mount LED lights that have a warm setting for light output. Specifics are:

Volts: 12V DC
Wattage: 2.3W
Current draws: 167mA
Lighting color: warm white
Lighting angle: 120 degrees
Brightness level: 120 lumens
Life span: up to 50,000 hours
Material: PC plastic
Color temperature: 2900-3100K
Weight: 1.3OZ(36g) for each unit
Dimension: 3.5" x 3.5"x 0.7" (each unit)

The key are the lumens output for each light (these are high for a flush mount unit) and the color temperature. Most people prefer the warmer glow of non-LED's. However, technology has advanced fairly rapidly in this area. Most LED lights are considered bright white (around a color temperature of 4000). It is closer to bright sunlight than the softer glow of traditional bulbs. These LED's come in the lower color temperature spectrum of around 2900, and thus give off a more traditional light color. These are also dimmable. That is important, because many LED fixtures are not dimmable. I paid about $50 for 10 of them on Ebay. The price has gone up. The same site is still selling them, but at a higher price of $75. Still one heck of a deal compared to other LED mushroom cap style lights out there. I picked this style as I wanted to mimic the high end look of the lights found in the Prevost and other high end Class A's, without the high end price. These fit the bill perfectly. Below is the Ebay link to this seller.

10 Pcs 12volt 3 5� LED Ceiling Dome Light RV Caravan Trailer Boat Marine Warm W | eBay

Picture of LED flush mount mushroom cap style light




LED Directional Reading Spot Lights
We searched high and low for flush mount LED directional reading lights that were small. We found really large ones that stuck out pretty far. We didn't like that look. We then focused on recessed directional lights that were small and did not require a huge and deep hole. The mechanism that allows the directonal lights to swivel require space to work. That is why you either have really large flush mounted ones or smaller recessed ones. No small flush mount in our search.

We settled on this particular model as they came in the brushed nickle look and the company selling them also offered LED lights. The standard bulbs that comes with them are not LED. We want all of our lights to be LED.

The company site is:

RVupgrades | RV Accessories, Parts and Supplies

The part number and description for the directional light is:

55-9544 Gustafson AM4019 Satin Nickel Directional Reading Lights

Price was $7.92 each.

The LED bulb I purchased from them was:

18-0698 Ming's Mark 1010504 24 High Power DIP LED 1139 Base

Price was $6.93 each. This was a total of less than $15 per light. Cheaper than anything else I could find on the Internet for a recessed brushed metal directional light. I bought five of them. Our conversion has two long sofas that are jackknife style beds. We put a directional LED reading light at each end of the sofa so people can read while sitting or while in bed. Plus, we are putting one over the Navigator's chair.

Picture of this LED directional light



12 Volt LED Dimming Switch
We hunted all over the Internet for high quality LED dimming lights. There are not that many and some RV and trailer stores charge a massive amount ($80 - $90 each). Also, many of these dimming switches are made in China and the reviews on them were horrible.

Went with these as they are made in America, have excellent reviews, are back lit so easy to see and use in the dark. Plus, they were priced right. The ones I selected come with both a brushed nickle bezel and a black bezel. Still deciding which one to go with. That is the beauty of this find, as I get both options with the switch.

I needed five of these. I found three sites that carry them. Camping World carries them only online and they ship from the manufacturer directly. I needed them immediately so as not to hold up light installation. Plus, Camping World had the highest price. I found two sites that carry them. One site had exactly one in stock and another site had four. I got them all.

The part description is:

ITC Black LED Digital Dimmer for RV 12V, Motorhome, Travel Trailer (21030-BKBNBK-DB)

Camping World's site for the item is:

LED Digital Dimmer - ITC 21030-BKBNBK-DB - LED Lighting - Camping World

The other two sites are currently not showing them on Ebay.

One thing to keep in mind is that some cheaply made dimming switches will create a buzzing sound when the dimmer is being used. I found many reviews complaining about China made dimmers putting out this buzzing sound. That would drive me crazy. The dimmer switch I selected had no such bad reviews.

Image of dimmer switch


I hope this information is helpful in your conversion.

[nat_ster]

Great choice on the lighting.

Nat

[Cargo]

Taskswap beat me to the asking about the part numbers. However if possible, I would like the manufacturers and numbers for the exterior LED lighting (back up, spotlights, amber and red firetruck lights, etc.) The bulbs you chose for the interior and exterior incandescent retrofits were direct swap once the bulb numbers were known or were there options on brightness and power draw?

Thank you for all the time spent detailing your amazing renovation. The little details really do help inspire those of us who prefer to learn from the mistakes of others instead of making all of our own. (I aspire to this, but sadly still make a great many of my own...)

Superlative build!

[taskswap]

Thanks for all this, super helpful!

[gmarvel]

PART NUMBERS ON EXTERIOR LIGHTS


STOP/TAIL LIGHTS
Crowns used Weldon lights for their big 7" round red stop and amber turn signals. I replaced them with LED's from Weldon. I replaced the entire assembly as they were very old and the chrome bezels were all rusted away.

I picked these all up directly from Weldon. I talked with Barbara Gallick, their Customer Service Manager (330-263-9512). They do not normally sell retail directly. However, she was so intrigued by my description of the bus conversion she agreed to a cash sale.

These 7" LED lights are Weldon's top of the line. They have a lower grade LED light that is not as bright or as good looking. I went for the higher grade, even though the cost was about 40% higher per light. Still worth it.

Chrome Bezel: 1008-0004-00 Body, 1010 Chrome (#2533)
Mounting Gasket: 1016-0000-00
Red Tail Lights: 1010-8100-20 7" Round LED, Red, Stop/Tail
Amber Rear/Front Tail Lights: 1010-8100-20 7" Round LED, Amber, Park/Turn
Wiring: OK90-1549-20 Plug Assm, 3 POS/3 Wire M-P 150.2

Chrome Bezel - New and Old






Installed rear lights



LED BACK UP AND SPOT LIGHTS
Unfortunately, I did not keep the part numbers for these lights. However, I can tell you where I got them.

The company is the Light House, Inc. Specializing is heavy truck and bus lighting parts. Web site is:

The Lighthouse Inc. Lighting & Safety Equipment Specialists

I got the back up LED lights, the LED clearance lights, and the LED spot lights that replaced the red school bus crossing lights from this site. If you give them your current part number, they will put it into the computer and tell you the available LED replacements. Pretty easy and cool.

LED Back Up


Spot Lights Replacing Red Crossing Lights. There are two in the front and two in the back. Each pair operates on a separate switch on the dash control panel that replaced the old red crossing light switch. Each pair puts out 3,200 lumens of light. In short, the entire area in front or in back is bathed in light. I did it so I could use them in dark camp sites to properly get into or out of them and if the bus needed light while off road, etc. These are illegal to turn on in most states while on the open road as you could blind oncoming traffic.


Replacement LED's for Other Types of Lights
I have tried to get rid of all the old lights and go totally LED. For example, the Crown license plate light. I refurbished the housing and then replaced the old bulb with an LED that was super bright.

Old light for license plate


New LED light


Completed and Refurbished


Did the same with the Crown's Map Light over the driver:

LED Light Install


Completed and Refurbished Map Light


I have also replaced dash lights. I got all of these lights from a site on the web. You put in the old style light bulb and they will tell you online what to replace it with. Pretty simple. That site is:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/


I hope this helps.

[PDBreske]

In some states, it's illegal to drive on-road with any forward-facing lights uncovered if they are higher than 48" off the ground. This is supposed to prevent people from accidentally turning on the super-high lights and blinding other drivers. This also is why I moved the driving lights on my Jeep from the roof to the front bumper.

[gmarvel]

You are absolutely right. My overhead lights that took the place of the school bus red crossing lights have swivel hoods that can be dropped down in front of the lights if required by law in that state.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by gmarvel

You are absolutely right. My overhead lights that took the place of the school bus red crossing lights have swivel hoods that can be dropped down in front of the lights if required by law in that state.

Swivel hoods. Nice.

Nat