Out with the old, in with the new 7 window

[MoliskaDutch]

Have completed another semester!! Now it's time to kick ass on the bus. got the toilet done:
Mounted the funnel within the bucket by using a piece of the roof metal bent very strategically... Mounted the medicine cabinet and sheeted the b room walls


And you can see the screw on air tight lid

[MoliskaDutch]

Mounted the porch using metal from the wheelchair lift. It was too hard to find a buyer and there are quite a bit of useful parts within those things.



Also, mounted my vice! works great there! Working on using an old bus seat to hang the propane tank (not done yet)

[MoliskaDutch]

Started in on the back bedroom. Built a little platform for the chest of drawers. Turns out it serves great as a small bench for dressing. I plan to also make the lid of the bench hinged for more storage. I don't know if you can see in the pics but I moved the original rear heater forward a bit to keep it in the living quarters and sheeted off the back storage area under the bed (accessible from the rear door)



And lastly, painted the first coat of white!! The rustoleum looks great... I really love the oil enamel.

[bansil]

will it be all white?

[MoliskaDutch]

check out the previous page on this thread (3).... BUT I was looking at it more and have an idea. There are four black rails on the sides.. between the second and third black rails there is a section of yellow rails... so, for the transition of light green to dark green I could paint all the center rails (about a foot and a half section) one color and come back with a roller and just hit the tops of the ribs the other green and achieve a linear type transition without much effort.. I don't know really yet?! In one way I want it clean looking but in another hope to maintain some type of "organic" look. Maybe do the linear thing and continue it more freely.. hard to explain/fathom.. crisp yet free?
I do think I will have enough paint though. The first coat of white took about 2/3's of the gallon.. I am hoping the last bit will take care of a thinner second coat, and then I imagine 2 gallons (one of each green) will be plenty to do the lower portion of the bus and the hood. Thinking of keeping the bumpers and lower rails black. Not sure there either. I have a feeling the old black will look so tired compared to the fresh paint but the rustoleum is not cheap

[bansil]

I forgot this was the "chia pet" one

So many buses,so little time

[MoliskaDutch]

ch ch ch Cha Chia!! Oh no, I have not thought of a name for the bus yet... please don't let it turn out to be chia pet. hahah
Speaking of pets.. Worked hard today despite the cats and dogs pouring down most of the afternoon. Hung the metal cabinet door above the couch. I hope to paint it to match the ceiling metal, and perhaps liquid nail some of the scraps of the thin plywood mahogany stuff left over to spruce it up.

Worked in the bedroom a bit. Mounted the water tank above so it will just gravity flow. Found the green thing in the local garbage. It just happened to be the correct height, has three magnetic cabinet doors, and is made of nice wood. It will work for now, besides I may run out of building materials.

Built a closet/night stand next to the bed. (it also happens to be the perfect width for my sewing machine if it's too narrow for the closet idea, but it would be nice to hang jackets) Just below the windows I plan to build a head board with storage.

Removed the old door lever. It would be fairly horrible as the navigator if you got in a wreck and smashed your face into that thing. Cut off the long lever, mounted a handle, and plan to find something to drop down between the two for an interior lock.

I spent some time completing the side panels of the lower cabinetry. Got the bathroom wall framed up for a future door. You can see the 12v/110 upright "cooler" in the lower right. If it happens to break, I'm going to have to smash it with a sledge where it sits. Its not coming out of there, its a Tetris thing at this point.


Scored two awesome L channels of aluminum that were bent at lowes awhile back. Half priced! They are over 2 inches tall, bent and cut them to serve as a back splash. Only got the stove side bent today. I'll screw them down and tile over the lower lip. They look cool. I can't wait to tile..

[Diesel Dan]

Great work man! I’m diggin’ the curved counter tops. Love the gravity feed water solution. And I would love to get one of those airtight toilet covers - where did you find that?

[syke]

Looks great! I too dig the rounded countertops. Very nice feature.

How many gallons is the water tank?

[MoliskaDutch]

Thanks for the positive comments y'all!! It's really coming along and I am getting very excited. The screw on lid is for a bucket actually. I got it from Orscheln Farm and Home awhile back for the old bus but I would imagine they still have it. It is actually a snap on ring for a 5 gallon bucket with threads for the lid. Both pieces have rubber O rings and the whole ensemble is completely air tight. And the water jug is 15 gallons. I got it from a friend who does carpet cleaning. At one point it contained liquid soap. I thoroughly cleaned it a few years ago and with all the time of it sitting out it is completely fragrance free now.
I mounted and plumbed the sink last night. Today the plan is to finish the exterior paint, get the drivers bench seat mount welded, and plumb the propane for the stove. More pics to come. Off the the welding guy now!!

[MoliskaDutch]

Well, finished the paint job in the dark as it began to sprinkle. It is a 20&20 paint job. Looks good at 20 feet and at 20 mph, I'm just happy it is not yellow! Took the bus to get its safely inspection, and it passed with flying colors (thank gosh). Wednesday is the "state trooper 551" inspection. If they guy is a stickler and will not approve the RV titling, then it will be inspected as a truck under 24k lbs. I am in Missouri. When I called the trooper station in Jefferson City the guy was a total dick! Said that I had to have purchase receipts with my name on all of them for everything i installed. I asked about a gift affidavit for all appliances since I did not purchase them. He was a real jerk. He began the phone call by hitting on me and then finished by raising his voice about the receipts when I asked about lowes receipts not having my name on them and telling be that what I was trying to do was illegal. So, I hung up with him and called another trooper station. The other trooper was nothing but nice and explained that I could have gift "receipts" OR do the 24k lbs or less truck. It is funny how difficult it is to do things by the letter of the law in one town and so much easier in another, after all these are STATE laws i am dealing with. Gotta love the small towns!
Mounted the drivers seat and bus dinette seat. Also, plumbed the sink out the floor for now. will do a bucket under bus for now as the small town trooper mentioned nothing about holding tanks, only potable water tanks.

[bansil]

looks great at "20 feet"

good luck this week with inspection

[proconsul100]

i love your color scheme.

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by MoliskaDutch

ch ch ch Cha Chia!! Oh no, I have not thought of a name for the bus yet... please don't let it turn out to be chia pet. hahah
Speaking of pets.. Worked hard today despite the cats and dogs pouring down most of the afternoon. Hung the metal cabinet door above the couch. I hope to paint it to match the ceiling metal, and perhaps liquid nail some of the scraps of the thin plywood mahogany stuff left over to spruce it up.

Worked in the bedroom a bit. Mounted the water tank above so it will just gravity flow. Found the green thing in the local garbage. It just happened to be the correct height, has three magnetic cabinet doors, and is made of nice wood. It will work for now, besides I may run out of building materials.

Built a closet/night stand next to the bed. (it also happens to be the perfect width for my sewing machine if it's too narrow for the closet idea, but it would be nice to hang jackets) Just below the windows I plan to build a head board with storage.

Removed the old door lever. It would be fairly horrible as the navigator if you got in a wreck and smashed your face into that thing. Cut off the long lever, mounted a handle, and plan to find something to drop down between the two for an interior lock.

I spent some time completing the side panels of the lower cabinetry. Got the bathroom wall framed up for a future door. You can see the 12v/110 upright "cooler" in the lower right. If it happens to break, I'm going to have to smash it with a sledge where it sits. Its not coming out of there, its a Tetris thing at this point.


Scored two awesome L channels of aluminum that were bent at lowes awhile back. Half priced! They are over 2 inches tall, bent and cut them to serve as a back splash. Only got the stove side bent today. I'll screw them down and tile over the lower lip. They look cool. I can't wait to tile..

Looking good. Just one question. How do you keep the food from falling off the stove?

[MoliskaDutch]

Hey thanks for all the positive comments guys! A few folks have mentioned they like the paint job... colors. Ha! The un-cured enamel had pollen all stuck to it this morning having me very worried so I welcome the afternoon rain for once, hoping it might wash clean.
Worked quickly the past few days in preparation for the state inspection. Got quite a few major things taken care of. Very exciting! Floor is installed but needs to be trimmed out. It look great, huge difference and very inviting. I can't wait to show all of you this table idea I copied. Folds up and then folds out with 4 hinges.

CLICK ON PICS FOR LARGE VIEW
Up position:

Half way down (I'm holding it):

And down position:

This is the pic of inspiration:



Got the water lines ran. I used a washing machine valve. It seems like I will be able to barely dribble the water AND fill a jug fairly quickly at full throttle. (I have not tried it yet though)



The day went like this; Woke up early, spruced up the bus by making the bed and whatnot. Fueled up and drove to Macon. Got almost there and a beeping began from the drivers left. Some kind of alarm. We immediately pulled over and shut the ignition off. I walked around and found nothing out of line. I remember reading something on the old bus (on skoolie.net) 4 years ago about a brake pressure alarm??? But, I don't know if that light was lit up or not, I wasn't driving/didn't look hard enough. Got back in and started it up, no alarm sounding so drove to an auto parts store just a few miles down the road. Stopped and looked about, felt the rear end (only fluid we didn't check) and it felt warm/hot. Pulled the level check plug and it was down to two knuckles shy on my pointer finger. Put a jug of 80 90 gear oil (made up about one knuckle, half the distance). Made it to inspector dude with 20 min to spare. And that's why we leave early.
The guy was so dang nice. Walked on and said, "so we doing an RV today?". That was pretty much it! So, now I have to take my 551 inspection to Jeff Shitty (most folks mail it in with a notarized signature. no way!). I'm not that patient at this point. I found out I have to now take my 551, apply for a new DR# with the state capital, wait for them to mail a new vin tag to the inspection station (they will call me when they get it), drive the bus again to Macon to get said plate installed on the firewall of the bus. then with a new title and new vin I can go get plates... It is flipping crazy! Oh, and I had to have a "receipt" for everything installed to make the conversion. I had collected/been donated most to all of the item for my bus years ago.. I had to have a gift affidavit including all serial numbers of appliances and stuff.
So, another list of hoops to jump through. It ain't easy being bus turned RV. After all the one state trooper told me what I was doing was "against the grain of the law".
Now, on the way back from the inspection place we suddenly noticed white smoke trailing heavily behind us. Once again we pulled over. I knew the tranny pan had a leak prior to the trip. I was all gunked up from previous juicing. Looked under the bus and saw tranny fluid doing a slow drip off the pan and obviously dripped on the muffler. So, got out the tools and went under. Gave the pan bolts a check and tightened a lot of them. However the true problem looked to be leaking higher on the passenger side of the tranny. There is an access panel of some sort up there about 4" by 5". The bolts were quite loose and when I tightened them I could see a split section of gasket squeezing out.
I need to figure out a gasket set and maybe that gasket sealant stuff?
Drove the rest of the way home and made it safe. We didn't really loose much fluid at all. Still in the normal range.
Tomorrow is the mission to jeff shitty. Then the waiting game until the call from Macon... UGH!

Got a cool pic on the road:


(Food On The Stove- are you referring to the missing burner tops for the stove? I know it! I am crossing my fingers they are at the farm and did not get scrapped by accident)

[bansil]

Ahahahahah...thank you.....I loved reading your adventures after drilling off my finger tip
Just kiding...ugh........... kinda
Just remember this...............the journey................gets us toooooo.................the end.
Toast up,smile and relax.......
.
.
Ohhh and...I really did drill my finger tip tonite....ooooppppsssss

[MoliskaDutch]

bansil, I know your pain...


So, I spent hours under the bus cleaning up the oily residue left on the lower half of the tranny. (that's why my finger is so dirty in above pic) I went up to the local big truck parts and service place (Inland Truck) to get new gaskets and pick their brain a bit. The cover plate I mentioned previously is the PTO cover plate. Also, the Allison guy said that if the breather is clogged the gaskets will leak. In my cleaning process I found the breather and cleaned around it. BUT, I have been trying to find online how to remove and clean thoroughly. I cannot find anything! When I was picking away at the gook, I found a piece of string wound around the breather about 3 times. It seemed intentional. Maybe to keep the cap, which sits on top of valve, from rattling? I don;t know but I removed it.
Here are some pics. I couldn't get a good pic of the right hand side (PTO side) unfortunately.


If anyone knows how to remove the breather check valve let me know... I'm nervous to just pop the cap off, it may not go back on?!

[crazycal]

I was trying to be a joker. Some of the pics are upside down. At least on my ipad.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by MoliskaDutch

If anyone knows how to remove the breather check valve let me know... I'm nervous to just pop the cap off, it may not go back on?!

I would also like to know more about the breather cap. I just picked up another bus with a 545.

Thx Nat

[MoliskaDutch]

Yeah, I don't know why the pics are upside down on my iPhone either... but I did pick up a grate just for now at habitat for humanity. It's not right but it will work.
As for the breather valve; Did the filter and new fluid. Did the pan gasket and pto cover plate gasket. (removed string wrapped around the breather. Then had to drive back to Macon to get the new vin tag number plate installed. No drips from the tranny, awesome!!
You can get allison tranny info here:
http://www.allisontransmission.com/i...cationType=All
(click on the mechanics tips section, you will see there the cross section view of the breather valve)
I have been busy with all the small stuff trying to get ready to go!! Just waiting on the title in the mail and plates are mine. So excited.
Got a hole cut above the back door for the A/C unit. I just slid it in the hole for now and taped around it so I could crank it tonight and sleep cool as a cucumber. It is really comfortable in the bus.