Rock My Soul: 2001 Thomas MVP ER - Page 4

ism minerals · 07-08-2016, 08:58 PM

Mice suck. finally got back down to the bus and found 6 mice living in the bus. Now no start due to no transmission keypad light when turning the key.... long story short may have to run new wire from the battery to the transmission control unit.... I did have some codes a while back saying incorrect voltage to transmission, so hopefully that will fix the issue. We did not have enough time to really trouble shoot the wiring to see if the mice did some damage. two days later 6 dead mice; Peanut butter is the best for the traps. Having a friend add some more traps this week and keeping an eye out for mice... I brought the key pad and control box to a truck shop, they said they need the whole bus to check out the keypad and transmission computer, but the mechanic on duty said run new power wires to the controller, as it is the most common problem he sees. Sucks having the bus 6.5 hours away.

ism minerals · 03-31-2017, 07:14 PM

just an update, finally go the bus moved up to NH, it is nice to have it in the driveway. Way too cold to do anything though. If anyone with an MPV-Er has power issues to the key pad allison md3060, just run a new constant power wire from the battery to the vim (vehicle interface module) which is located in the dash by the small gauges on the right. The crimp they use by the battery box is known to be faulty. i

Njsurf73 · 04-02-2017, 02:14 AM

Glad to hear everything is going along. I moved to Mass. From Jersey. Nice bus!

independentian · 04-04-2017, 01:54 AM

We just purchased a very similar bus to yours. Hows the progress going for you?

If you're interested in watching our progress, check out ianrobinson.net/schoolbus

We're making a video for every day we work on the thing. If you have any words of wisdom, it would be awesome to hear. I really don't know what I'm up to here... but it's an adventure!

dan-fox · 04-04-2017, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ism minerals

just an update, finally go the bus moved up to NH, it is nice to have it in the driveway. Way too cold to do anything though. If anyone with an MPV-Er has power issues to the key pad allison md3060, just run a new constant power wire from the battery to the vim (vehicle interface module) which is located in the dash by the small gauges on the right. The crimp they use by the battery box is known to be faulty. i

Where in NH? I'm in Keene, at least some of the time.

ism minerals · 05-12-2018, 07:16 PM

Dan,

We are up near Lebanon, Nh. We go to the gilsom rock swap every year. This year we will be building a house so no rock swap.

ism minerals · 05-12-2018, 07:19 PM

So things are finally drying up. The bus had a fuel thank leak and i am going to replace the tank with a marine unit crosslinked poly ethylene. has anyone done this?

dan-fox · 05-17-2018, 11:56 AM

I'm moving to Keene this summer. I'd love to meet up with you sometime!

ism minerals · 06-13-2019, 05:16 PM

Finally getting to work back on the bus, installing a marine fuel tank. th old one was leaking. I am using 3/4'' pressure treated plywood that was sealed with deck sealer as a protector and some support. I will be using 2 of the the original fuel tank supports, and will have one made for the other end.

Any suggestions for hold down straps? I am debating using the left over strip from galvanized sheeting used to skin the old windows up (12 gauge?). I am thinking of using some t bolts and rivets or just bend a tab over and use a bolt to tighten them up like in the original configuration. Any suggestions?

ism minerals · 06-13-2019, 05:49 PM

Fitting the plywood around the fuel tank. I replaced the plastic pick-up tubes with stainless steel tubes. Swagelok is the best for crazy adapters. The box is 3% bigger due to swelling of the plastic.

ism minerals · 06-13-2019, 05:57 PM

some pics of the bus from a while ago. I got to cutting in and installing the windows. I am looking for an insulated window to fit the rear emergency window. I have one more window to put in the side emergency door, but i have to either weld a small piece in the top of the door so the window fits, or just skin over the old window hole and cut it out.

tugboater · 06-13-2019, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ism minerals

some pics of the bus from a while ago. I got to cutting in and installing the windows. I am looking for an insulated window to fit the rear emergency window. I have one more window to put in the side emergency door, but i have to either weld a small piece in the top of the door so the window fits, or just skin over the old window hole and cut it out.

Looking good! Curious how you feel the window install went. Have a very similar bus...we removed all the stock windows, skinned and plan RV windows as well. Where did you get your windows?

ism minerals · 06-13-2019, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tugboater

Looking good! Curious how you feel the window install went. Have a very similar bus...we removed all the stock windows, skinned and plan RV windows as well. Where did you get your windows?

I got the windows off ebay, I think they were kinro insulated. The weep holes on one side of the bus are not correct, but I drilled some new one and i will find some covers for them later. I just screwed them in from the outside trim using some self tapping SS screws (predrilled holes) and some butyl tape. I used some Angle iron welded to to the interior roof supports for added support and meat for the screws to grab. Two of the windows i had to cut the roof supports, but using the angle iron, kind of reinforced the cut section. The windows came with screens, but no interior trim rings; so i may be kicking myself later when finishing the interior.

ism minerals · 09-02-2019, 08:05 AM

I have the interior furred out using 1x3 and 1 x2, and spray foam coming in two weeks. I am wondering if anyone has any other suggestion of what to install before the spray foam is down:

I am thinking about running some 1/4 and 3/8 copper lines through the walls for mini splits. The spray foam should insulate them in place, which should cut down on the thickness of the lines and give a cleaner look.

2- 2 pin sd13 type connectors for outdoor speaker hook-up.

Water tank fill hatch unit.

50AMP electrical pass-through.

Roof mount air horn

o1marc · 09-02-2019, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ism minerals

I have the interior furred out using 1x3 and 1 x2, and spray foam coming in two weeks. I am wondering if anyone has any other suggestion of what to install before the spray foam is down:

I am thinking about running some 1/4 and 3/8 copper lines through the walls for mini splits. The spray foam should insulate them in place, which should cut down on the thickness of the lines and give a cleaner look.

2- 2 pin sd13 type connectors for outdoor speaker hook-up.

Water tank fill hatch unit.

50AMP electrical pass-through.

Roof mount air horn

The lines on my mini-split are 1/4" and 1/2", is yours 3/8"?

ism minerals · 09-02-2019, 10:44 AM

Mark,

I have not purchased the units yet was thinking of 12K pioneer units, just looked them up they are 1/4'' and 1/2''. I am glad I did not order the lines yet. Thank you!

o1marc · 09-02-2019, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ism minerals

Mark,

I have not purchased the units yet was thinking of 12K pioneer units, just looked them up they are 1/4'' and 1/2''. I am glad I did not order the lines yet. Thank you!

I asked because I had to extend mine and found it to be 1/2" and tried to splice in a piece of hard line, but it would not flare. I ended up using a combo of sweat fittings, hard pipe and soft coil.

ism minerals · 09-20-2019, 07:26 PM

We furred out the walls and ceiling, 1x3 and 1x2

Installed a multi use antenna taoglas MA760 (wifi, GPS, and two 4G) where the old small antenna was on the center of the front roof. Figured it would be nice to have an external wifi and 4G attenna. The cell reception at my camp is very spotty at best, so a booster in combination with the taoglas will hopefully help. We should be able to set up a hot spot with our phone and use an access point for extended wifi while we are at camp.

ism minerals · 09-20-2019, 08:01 PM

My wife decided she needed a drill to add her own touches and "supervise" my work, made me laugh when I saw what she did. I ran some minisplit lines before being spray foamed for a cleaner install look. Pics are of the back run minisplit run. The front line set came up right behind the drivers seat in the wall channel and follow the wire harness to the front. I used zipties for the lines which were held into place by holes in the channel) I found them at autozone.

We used cups from the dollar store to give a small void for the old flashers bulb, as we will be adding LEDs and clear lenses for extra external lighting. Thinking a 12 watt par36 and some modified 52 watts leds (someone on here made the mods using the 52 watt LEDs) one for driving if needed and the other for camp if needed.

We also used masking tape on the furring strips to help with over spray with the foam

ism minerals · 09-24-2019, 08:20 AM

Finally spray foamed. "Professionally" applied spray foam, they missed some areas and did not cover the ribs too well. I had them come back and cover what they missed. They were worried about trimming, saying that it was a lot of work, LOL. I said "I am converting a school bus to an RV, no issues getting my hands dirty". Here are the before they fixed the missed sections and ribs pics.

You may also like: