Hey Y'all, thought I'd post my last conversion. It was a lot of fun, learned a lot, and got some good pics outta the whole deal
I started with a 87 International Carpenter conventional chassis, DT466, MT643, Air Brakes.
To that, I added a small solar system, converted it to be WVO compatible, tore out the floor and made it into a party/roadtrip machine. Eventually, I was going to live in her fulltime (I did for about 8 months last summer) but her engine went on me about 4 weeks ago. I'm already on to a new bus (she gets delivered tomorrow), but I thought it was something a few people here could enjoy
This is her and I on the first day in town:
Tore out all the crap inside, found a ton of rust under the subfloor so I spent about a week on my hands and knees grinding, cutting painting and patching:
Dropped in some closed-cell aluminum backed 1/4" insulation, 5/8" subfloor and some free prefinished hardwood and cork flooring:
Then, I scored some awesome beetle-kill pine paneling from a shop that was shut down, along with some sweet brazillian rosewood that I used to frame out the windows. I left the seat channel in place with a kickplate over it for running wires, hoses, etc. And I constructed some boxes for the booth cushions I scored from a recently shut down mexican restaurant and made an interior that was completely modular and could be removed--leaving an empy, wood paneled and wood-floored bus in less than 20 minutes. The black cushioned bunks have steel framed backrests that fold up and hang from the ceiling to create 4 bunks. The coach seats are out of an old coach I used to have.
Next, I cut some supports from below for my 150 gal aluminimum veg tank from an 01 Freightliner, attached a hot fox found on craigslist, and hung it--you can see it in the pic of me filling up at my "Station"
Then, I mounted my flat-pate heat exchanger, heated filter assembly, digital fuel temp guage, and fully manual 3-port valves on the doghouse. I did not want to mess with electronic solenoid valves--they are prone to trouble, and it involves an entire extra system to troubleshoot! This setup was clean, and worked perfectly on the first try!! Proud of that, yes indeed.
That's pretty much it!
She's been a great bus-just wanted to share that project before I start the next one. Tomorrow