My new Bus, ready to convert

[KnellBell]

That bus is a BEAUT'!!!

[Oldmopars]

Thanks. I hope to have the floor done by end of the month to show off.

[Oldmopars]

All done with the floor, it will get trimmed out when the rest of the stuff gets in, but for now this is a huge milestone.

[snonut]

Boy does that look impressive! Nice job.

[Carytowncat]

Wow that is beautiful.

[TheCog]

Saweet! Looks Great!

[jazty]

Originally Posted by Oldmopars

I own a nice house that will be paid for in about 12 years, about 8 years before I retire. So selling my house and moving into this would be a poor idea right now.
So, I figure that if someday I do need or want to full time it/tiny house, I will build another and use what I learned building this one to make my next one perfect(or close)

Yes! So this one is a "practice" bus, sort of! You'll learn a lot from the process.

If I were to do my bus again I would change a couple things based on the experiences I've had. First, I'd have got a bus with less rust. Secondly I'd have added even more insulation. You just can't ever have enough of that stuff..

[RVskooler]

That floor looks so good! Can you give some details on it? Is it actual hardwood? Did you glue it down? Also, what's your floor plan going to look like since you are not using it to live in full time?

[Phatman]

Excellent job on the floor Oldmopars !! It seems the conventional and easiest method of doing the floor is to install it first. I haven't quite made up my mind yet so I am holding off on the floor until last. My mindless reasoning is that if you use laminate flooring, will you have to predrill everything that is attached to the floor? What is it like running a screw through that laminate? Is there any splitting? Anyway, it looks awesome. Keep us posted on the work.

[Oldmopars]

Originally Posted by RVskooler

That floor looks so good! Can you give some details on it? Is it actual hardwood? Did you glue it down? Also, what's your floor plan going to look like since you are not using it to live in full time?

The floor is just snap laminate from Home Depot. I like it a lot. It is not glued down, just floating. It has an underlayment of 1/2 OSB and then a pad that looks like thin Reflectix.

[Oldmopars]

Here is the floor plan. I may still make some changes, but if I do it will be in the front. there are two sizes of bed, one is the RV size bed and the other is a true Queen bed.

[Oldmopars]

Well it seems that it has been a while since the last time I updated my progress. We bought my daughter a bus and I have been working on that too, so progress has been a little slow.
I also wanted to post up what I have been doing so that my bus does not get shoved aside into the pile of buses that get the seats ripped out and then never finished. It has still been less than a year from purchase so, I am still on track.
Anyway, all the flooring has been finished, I have the bed in the back framed up and the mattress is on and the bed made. I still need to get the trim for the sides, but the weather has been bad and I don't want to bring home bead board in the rain.
I also have the kitchen cabinet in place, the stove and side cabinet. I have the dinette in place, and the table mounted to the wall. This will all be pulled back to add the bead board to the walls when I get it.
I am adding 2x3 firing to the walls to attach to, and it gives me a gap to run the wires and plumbing into.
In the rear by the bed I have the 2 ft x 4 ft trough for the tub. It will have a shower, but it will be a sit down shower as I have the tub on the wheel well.
The opposite side will have the full closet over the wheel well.

[Oldmopars]

So, as you can see from the pictures above, I am getting there, but it is a long way from being finished.
The Dinette and the stove are from the trailer I posted earlier as well as the bed and the fridge.
Now the other side of the bus I still have a large open space. As you first enter the bus on the passenger side I will be adding a 7 foot long couch that will have storage under it and will fold into a bed also. Just after that, opposite of the kitchen will be a 5 foot long counter that will have cabinets just like the kitchen, but will have a gap in the middle to create a desk.
I have begun working on the plumbing and the electrical. I have a composting toilet, so no black tank. I have the fresh water tank mounted under the bed in the back and the outside fill port mounted. The pump is in place, but that is it. I still need to get the grey tank and get it mounted.
On the electrical, I have the converter box, but it is not mounted yet, just sitting under the stove. I do have the wire, 12V and 110V plugs, just not mounted yet.
So, its getting there. Keep in mind, I have a house, so this is an RV and will be used just a few times a year as of right now. This has helped as I will be using it in temperate climates, no snow, freezing temps or extreme heat.

[Robin97396]

Nice flooring and cabinets. You're not going to insulate?

[Oldmopars]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Nice flooring and cabinets. You're not going to insulate?

Thanks, and no, no insulation. This is going to be used as an RV only, never lived in full time and never used during real cold or real hot weather.
If I was going to full time in it, I would have done a lot of things different. However, this is to replace my travel trailer that rotted out. The bus from the factory has more insulation in it than that stupid trailer did. When we go camping we try to open a lot of time outside, not in the RV. Also, because I wanted the light from all the windows, and the windows are single pane, I felt adding insulation would not have been a great investment because I would still loose heat/cold out the single pane glass. Again, this is an RV, maybe used 6-8 times a year and only in the mild NW climate.

[Robin97396]

Mild NW climate? I'm in the NW and I've been freezing my arce off for months.

I too like to leave all my windows uncovered so I can see out easily while parked. You may enjoy spending time outside, which is good, but these buses are nice for when it's raining and still being able to see out. I'm partial to parking in the mountains and watching the wildlife, and these tinted windows let large animals walk within 5 feet of the bus because they can't see or smell me.

I cut rigid styrofoam insulation that fits into each window to slow down the thermal transfer. I usually only cover the windows at night since that's the coldest time. That made a major difference in my heating costs this year. It also gives you the privacy you want at night. Some of my panels are 7' long, covering three windows. It's a quick solution to heat loss that works quite well. The panels are only $7 each.

I do have foam insulation throughout this bus but it was still cold when the temperatures drop until I started covering the windows. I actually thought the weather had warmed up until I went outside. Covering your single pane windows is important, but you're
going to have a lot of thermal transfer just from your metallic walls.

Ok, enough preaching about insulation. Get yourself a good heater. A mattress heating pad is also a wonderful thing on a cold night.

[tobeamiss]

It's looking really nice! Great job.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Oldmopars]

I got some more work done on my bus. I got the dinette done. I got the bead board and the electrical plugs installed.
A little at a time I will get this thing done.