Smitty's Bus

[ErrabundusBus]

What are you going to do with your exhaust? Extend it or have it come out the driver's side? I rerouted mine to exit just behind the rear driver's side tire. Now I don't get a sooty rearend!

[jkindt]

Oh come on Smitty, the side exit looks great!

[Josef]

Looking great! Man I have got to say it again …. I am super jealous of that box you installed! Nice!

[Redbear]

Whoa! Major deckage! I was expecting diamond plate or something else skoolie-ish, but that wood deck should be the envy of the stick-and-staple crowd at any get-together you might attend.

[swhite832]

Smitty,

I dig the box. Would love to do that but I want to maximize space between frame and skirt. I have not seen anything available that big that isnt crazy expensive. looks real good
s

[putterspitt]

Smitty, is that the deck boards that are made of vinyl or another form? I forget the correct name of the artificial boards.

[bus-ted]

Smitty-
You personally won't have anything to be concerned about w/ the shorter, well anchored lengths used on your well constructed deck, but I did want to say (for the benefit of any and all others) that high temps -and contrasts of- will warp a lot of the comp. stuff that's out there. Unsupported overhangs of 4+ inches, in particular, seem to be most prone.
It looks as nice as wood in most regards- which is your reason, I'm guessing, for not using deck plate or expanded metal instead?

[JakeC]

I love the deck!!! My bus is already just a hair under 40', but I am going to seriously consider doing something like that in the future. Also, I love the solar stuff, nothing like lots of shiny new expensive electronics !

I used to extrude composite decking, was actually the lead extruder operator. Example of what would be a problem...if decking was installed at 30*f, 80*f would create large bows. If it was installed at 70*f, and not supported like yours is, 80-90*f in the sun would create large bows. Also, the darker the color the worse the problem. One trick is to predrill the decking enough that the screw has a fair amount of slop (up to 1/16" oversize) in the board it is passing through. That gives it room to flex before it starts to bow.

Seriously, the way you have that supported I highly doubt you will have any issues.

[bunedoggle]

Love the deck Smitty. Great work.

I'm thinking of doing a fold down deck. I don't have the testicular fortitude to add that much length to my rig

[bus-ted]

By temp. extremes, I'm talking about full Summer sun. A friend's bench seats made comp. had to be replaced after 3 seasons because the unsupported ends (overhang) got all wonky- part of this was due to less than perfect construction techniques, though.
Your decking was attached very well, so it'll never (never say never, right?) be a prob for you. I just threw that out there for the benefit of others, so they could keep that in mind if they chose to use that material.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by bus-ted

... the unsupported ends (overhang) got all wonky- part of this was due to less than perfect construction techniques, though...

The composite decking must be well supported. It has very little structural integrity itself. We've built decks with it as well as used it as decking on our food cart. It is "soft" underfoot (easy to stand on all day) and it stays cooler than real wood. It will also outlast wood so while the initial cost is higher I think it will work out to being cheaper in the long run. The last time we looked at decking material was for the cart. The quality of the supply was so poor we ended up going with the composite. We are glad we did. Now Smitty just needs to add an awning out the back and put a rocking chair back there!

[crazycal]

Holy crap Smitty! I haven't been here on for a while now and you go get a bus and go crazy. Your bus looks awesome. I can't wait to see it done and painted.

[kamoo]

Body work sucks, I spent the past 2 months doing it on my second bus about 40 hours a week. You go over and over and over it, then prime it, go over it again, fix it 5 more times then think it is perfect, shoot $1000 in paint and find every single flaw in it. It's a great part of a conversion, I see why it cost 10k to paint a bus now!! The nice thing about a school bus is the panel laps and rivets do hide alot. It's looking good Smitty but youre going too fast!! You will want to build another in a few months. I have a great place in Florida you can boondock and help with my next bus when you get the itch, it's ready and waiting!!

[jkindt]

That stove is a piece of art! Amazing what can be done with an old propane tank and an imagination.

[ErrabundusBus]

Nice work Smitty! It makes me want to start over. I'm jealous.

[Seeria]

So what does it take for you to make me one of those pretty heaters?

[jkindt]

It looks like it is time to clean the lens on your camera Smitty Past few pics have been a bit spotty. Great job on the work, cant wait to see how you finish your rear deck. Such a great place to store the LPG tanks. I have still been trying to figure out how to fit them standing up underneath my bus, guess I just don't have the same clearance as everyone else. My tanks are taller than the height I have available for some reason...

[crazycal]

Smitty, I have a question about your bus. You are putting a lot of work into your bus and I am sure you will be keeping it for a long time. How come you didn't chose a larger engine? I'm sure if you're driving on the flats it will have plenty of power. But if you hit the hills, isn't that motor going to be working pretty hard?

[bus-ted]

Hey crazycal, are you another one of Arky's multi-personalities? Haha! No offense if you're not...

[crazycal]

That makes sense, but I like cubes. The more, the better.

Looking at some of your pictures. Do you have storage under the bed and benches? I didn't see drawers.

As far as being Arky, I guess I can be stupid sometimes but no matter how hard I tried, I could never be as big of a d*ck as him.