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Old 10-22-2015, 01:54 PM   #1
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Somethin' Happened!!

Allright, I'm finally starting a conversion thread since I finally completed something noteworthy.

2000 Intl 3800 T444e w/ AT545 slushbox.
My ole' lady and I plan to turn it into an off-grid style full time home for us and our dogs. I have a 1kw solar setup in the works for power and plan on using propane for cooking/hot water and backup heat, and a small wood stove for primary heating during the winter. I just finally completed the roof raise. I took it up 16 inches with some 5/8" all-thread and some home made brackets. I'll be putting in another row of bolts on all the extension pieces, I figure 4 Grade 8 bolts and washers with nylock nuts per rib should hold them in nicely.

From this...



To this...



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Old 10-22-2015, 01:57 PM   #2
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Some of the roughest looking welds ever, but they held nicely... Still Have to finish the bracing in the front and back, but its getting closer...




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Old 10-22-2015, 02:50 PM   #3
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way to go!
Enjoying the extra space yet?
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Old 10-22-2015, 02:52 PM   #4
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Did you install a threaded rod "jack" at each window pillar or just one on each corner and the middle?
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Old 10-22-2015, 03:12 PM   #5
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way to go!
Enjoying the extra space yet?
Yep, first order of business was raising my arms over my head and waving them like i just didn't care...

And I used 4 pieces of all-thread to do the raise. Two at the front and two in the rear. I made two more for the center posts but I ended up not using them. The 4 i used were more than enough to support the weight of the roof...
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Old 10-22-2015, 03:33 PM   #6
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Good job...now hurry up before snow starts
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Old 10-22-2015, 03:37 PM   #7
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Let me also remind people that there is more than one way to skin a cat, the research has been done and it's all good and they are happy so keep it civil....
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Old 10-22-2015, 03:38 PM   #8
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Good job...now hurry up before snow starts
Seriously... Taking measurements for the sheet metal skin tonight after work, and I'll order it tomorrow. Cut orders are usually ready within a week around here so hopefully next weekend I'll have her all skinned... Insulation and sub-flooring are already purchased and ready to go in as soon as its enclosed.

On a side note, I'm planning on doing 2" of insulation on the floor then plywood subflooring and then flooring on top of that. Anybody living in the Rockies (U.S. or Canadian) that would recommend more than 2" of floor insulation? There will be 4" of foam board on the walls and 4" on the ceiling as well... I'm just not sure if 2" on the floor will be enough...
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Old 10-22-2015, 03:49 PM   #9
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Let me also remind people that there is more than one way to skin a cat, the research has been done and it's all good and they are happy so keep it civil....
Exactly...

but...

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Old 10-22-2015, 05:15 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slaughridge85 View Post
Seriously... Taking measurements for the sheet metal skin tonight after work, and I'll order it tomorrow. Cut orders are usually ready within a week around here so hopefully next weekend I'll have her all skinned... Insulation and sub-flooring are already purchased and ready to go in as soon as its enclosed.

On a side note, I'm planning on doing 2" of insulation on the floor then plywood subflooring and then flooring on top of that. Anybody living in the Rockies (U.S. or Canadian) that would recommend more than 2" of floor insulation? There will be 4" of foam board on the walls and 4" on the ceiling as well... I'm just not sure if 2" on the floor will be enough...
Don't know if you researched it yet but I stole this idea from another member to hold the new skin & force/guide it up and under the roof skin
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Old 10-22-2015, 07:54 PM   #11
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I have just about 3" in my floor plus a 1/2" air gap under my radiant barrier. I live in denver. I would definitely do 4" in the floor too. Make sure you use poly iso foam board as it has double the r value per inch of the white, tiny ball style stuff. You raised the roof for a reason! Cold floors suck and the ceiling and floor are more important than the walls.
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Old 10-22-2015, 09:52 PM   #12
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Happy to see another roof raise.

Good job on the bolting.

Nat
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Old 10-27-2015, 03:08 PM   #13
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ugh... just got all the sheet metal to skin the bus today... 900 bucks later and I'm home with enough to get it enclosed before the cold weather hits. I went ahead and did 16 gauge sheet, and since the bus body seems to be made from some oddball 15 gauge sheet I'm guessing it should hold up pretty well. Of course I'm going out of town for work till Friday night but I'll have some time to work on it this weekend so hopefully I'll have some pic of the progress up by Sunday or so.
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Old 10-27-2015, 04:11 PM   #14
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Interesting...I knew that Blue Bird speced an oddball sheetmetal (about 15 gauge also) for their bodies, but didn't know any bus makers other did.
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Old 10-27-2015, 04:18 PM   #15
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Mine is just a hair thicker than 16ga too.
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Old 10-27-2015, 06:30 PM   #16
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I'm doing 1" polyiso for the floors, and plan to wear really warm socks...

I live right at about 8,000ft in the rockies.

now I'm regretting not doing a roof raise, but it just wasn't in the books for me this time around.

Maybe on the next bus.
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Old 10-28-2015, 07:47 PM   #17
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Brrrrrrrr!
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Old 10-29-2015, 08:59 AM   #18
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Hmmmm...Maybe all the bus makers got together on the sheetmetal specs and all buy it from the same Home Depot.
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Old 11-02-2015, 08:45 AM   #19
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Didn't quite get it all skinned on Sunday, but made some pretty good progress. Looks like I'll have a couple 70 degree days this week to hopefully finish it...




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Old 11-02-2015, 09:46 AM   #20
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Lookin good!
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