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Old 03-13-2017, 03:09 PM   #21
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Galvanized (and aluminum) have to be etched in order for paint to adhere. You can use commercial etching solutions...self etching primers...or an acid & water home brew...but without that treatment, paint will fall of pretty quickly.

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Old 03-13-2017, 03:20 PM   #22
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Galvanized (and aluminum) have to be etched in order for paint to adhere. You can use commercial etching solutions...self etching primers...or an acid & water home brew...but without that treatment, paint will fall of pretty quickly.
Yeah. I haven't painted galvanized in a long time, but I think we used something like ospho (phosphoric acid) to etch galvanized. The old school guys used vinegar and said they were "pickling" it.

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Old 03-30-2017, 09:16 PM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango View Post
Galvanized (and aluminum) have to be etched in order for paint to adhere. You can use commercial etching solutions...self etching primers...or an acid & water home brew...but without that treatment, paint will fall of pretty quickly.
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Originally Posted by Njsurf73 View Post
I think we used something like ospho (phosphoric acid) to etch galvanized. The old school guys used vinegar and said they were "pickling" it.
Well the paint on those window covers is definitely did not adhere well. But it won't be a big deal to take it off at some point and do it again proper. Lesson learned.

Here's a quick update on the progress. We moved the bus closer to the barn / small woodshop and started using grid power when we painted. The solar set up works great and will run a sander and a grinder all day but not, I assumed, a 1 1/2 hp compressor.

I made the tank hangers. There's a 40g. fresh tank on each side and two 40g. grey tanks on one side. The hangers are made of 1/8" thick 1 1/4 x 1 1/4" angle. They're bolted together and through the floor except for the bottom members and the diagonal braces which are welded. The bolts through the floor go up through the floor joist (don't know the vocabulary) channels.





I wanted to know how difficult it would be to get a motorcycle inside so I made a janky temporary ramp. Not very convenient but it can be done without altering the layout much. This bike is unusually short.





The roof hatches are cracked and in bad shape all around and just seem like a crappy design to start out with. after having a hard time stopping the leaks i got fed up. It felt like a nasty thing to do on our nicely painted roof but it works and I can always goop some more on in the future.



For the floor I made some 1 1/2" x 7/8" furring strips and glued and screwed them crossways to the floor. Each one sits on top of one of the support channels under the steel floor. The spacing ended up being 18" O.C. and the space is filled with 1/2" rigid insulation. I put down 1/4" spacers before the insulation to give a little air gap. Everything got taped up nicely and covered with the t&g flooring I'd made earlier.





Now I'll do some finishing touches on the floor and install the solar panel mounts before covering the ceiling.
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Old 03-30-2017, 09:29 PM   #24
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Nice work. Real wood floors too.
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Old 04-11-2017, 09:42 PM   #25
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Other than the tricky bits I haven't figured out yet, the floor is down. We'll probably rent a floor sander soon.



Also got the solar panels mounted. Still need to clean up the wiring on the roof. The solar system has worked out great so far. It's running a dorm fridge around the clock plus any tools inside the bus. All the fancy parts are temporarily down in the storage compartment with the batteries. The charger and inverter will move inside when there's a place for them.





We made 5/8", X 1 1/2" longitudinal runners that are screwed into the roof ribs. They got 1/2" foam insulation fitted between and taped. The 1/8" ply sheeting screwed into these runners was oriented lengthwise for the extra curvy parts on the sides and cross-wise for the middle remainder. This worked out nicely.





The ceiling will get battens to cover the seams once the screw holes are filled.
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Old 04-12-2017, 03:38 AM   #26
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Nice work.

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Old 04-12-2017, 08:36 AM   #27
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Good to see that the cat pan appears to meet approval.
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Old 10-24-2017, 05:40 PM   #28
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Whoah! I didn't intend to be gone for so long! We got behind schedule and struggled a bit to get the bus somewhat functional before taking off in mid June for a two month cross country trip.

So we got all the most necessary stuff working before leaving and decided to finish everything else later on after the maiden voyage.

So as it stands now the fresh and grey tanks are mounted and the plumbing is done. Propane for the water heater and stove top is done. composting toilet is composting and the bathroom plumbing is finished. Solar, 110 and 12v power worked out very well. 85% of the cabinetry is done.


We still need to do:
Some more 12v wiring for the stereo, fans and more lights
Bedroom and front end cabinetry
Trim carpentry and paint
And a whole bunch of little finish bits and pieces.

I used to use photobucket so this is my first time attaching images. If I could see the images I've attached then I'd say something about each one but all I see is a list. So here are some photos of the progress in no particular order.

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Old 10-24-2017, 05:56 PM   #29
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everybody likes the drawers.


I'm trying to figure out how to write between the pictures
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Old 10-24-2017, 06:28 PM   #30
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As for the trip, we:

learned to drive the bus without overheating it and made it to Arizona in a serious heat wave.

Found a tight parking spot in Oakland

Also went to Arcata, Portland, Seattle and Astoria

spent a while in Southern colorado.

solar-power tattooed some friends along the way and found some nice places to camp.



Is it possible to get the pictures in the text while I'm writing a post?
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Old 10-24-2017, 07:49 PM   #31
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everybody likes the drawers.
Likes??? Beautiful joinery. Real Norm-level stuff.

Nothing like cat hair when sealing wood....

Mobile tattoos....Just hope the road is smooth or oppps !

Thx for sharing.
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Old 10-24-2017, 07:54 PM   #32
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Wow! Looks great! I’d love to have that above window shelf!


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Old 10-24-2017, 08:01 PM   #33
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It is possible.

Once you’ve posted the photo, you can hit enter after the last character of the pic and type your caption.
OR type your caption, hit enter, insert photo.



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Old 10-24-2017, 08:02 PM   #34
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That’s if you’re using Tapatalk, which I highly recommend! Way easier!


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Old 10-25-2017, 11:18 AM   #35
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Just read through your entire thread! Great work with the bus I think we covered a lot of the same territory as far as work on the bus goes. You're much closer to finish so than I am. Did you use as reference the blue Volkswagen bus for inspiration and designing your paint scheme? I turned out with a different design but that was one of my favorites when I was looking for ideas. How did you approach all of your kitchen cabinets? Those look really well-made and from reading through your thread it looks like you have the woodworking skills to do something like that. Did you make those or did you purchase them?


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Old 10-25-2017, 02:50 PM   #36
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Did you make those or did you purchase them?
Other than the ply, all the wood is from trees I milled with our little sawmill. I have a stack of pine and oak that was milled in the last 3 or so years. I was set up already for making bee hive boxes so that's the reason for the box joint drawers. The drawers slide into a series of horizontal frames that are set into notches in the front and rear vertical members. I think it's a pretty typical way of making drawer cabinetry. I copied the paint scheme from one of the first skoolie blogs I came across which I believe was called the good news bus. The black along the bottom was my wife's idea. I'm going to check out your conversion thread when I come across some faster internet!
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