Supercoach_Skoolie

[Willie_McCoy]

well it looks like I forgot how to post images

[EastCoastCB]

Images are showing on my end. Looks great!

[Willie_McCoy]

Next I replaced 2 cracked side windows with new glass and re-tinted all the bus windows except the windshield with 20% iirc.

Replacing the windows on a Crown is a huge PITA! they come out from the outside and a bunch of trim and tracks have to be pulled to do it. Fortunately I only had 2 that needed to be replaced.

I guess I didnt take any pictures of the tint in progress, but I am really happy with the end result. I used a high quality tint, not some cheap wally-world crap and the quality shows. The bus now has a nice "murdered out" look from the exterior and it really makes it look nice. The tint is black and makes it so you cant see inside well at all, but doesnt reduce the visibility much at all. I think it was a ceramic tint so it should help with heat transmission as well.

I also replaced all the rubber window seals with new, thicker rubber with a slightly stiffer durometer. They seal to the glass real nice now and have almost eliminated the drafts.

[Willie_McCoy]

Ok, so at this point, the hatch is in, windows are replaced and tinted, rubber is in. I have run out of reasons not to start framing. So I jumped right into it.

I started with the first layer of insulation, which was Kilmat panels. I used a LOT of them. Maybe not as much as I've seen on some YT channels, but still a lot of money and effort put into sound deadening.









I put it along all the exterior walls, the wheel arches, and the rear trunk space. I also have some black foam backed stuff from Noico I think that is going on the exposed parts of the nose under the dash.

[Willie_McCoy]

I framed from back to front, starting with the master bedroom and the 100 gallon water tank.



It is huge!!

I wanted to get that in place before I started putting up walls because I wasn't sure it would fit past them.

next I padded the curved exterior walls with 2x4's at the bottom, and some wide ferring strips just below the windows. This gave me a finished wall that was "square" to the floor. the Kilmat went between these and they gave me a solid place to mount the studs and plywood. I secured them to the walls with 1/4" rivnuts and stainless screws. This makes for a super solid connection. I used the same rivnuts and bolts to secure the framing to the ceiling.







The first things to get built were the bunks. 2 on each side over the rear wheel arches.







I used about a million pocket screws to build it all, and left a spot for full extension drawers in front of the wheels on both sides.

I had to work around the engine hatch on the floor so the front corners look a little wonky but I assure you the beds are skookum as frig and hold an adult like it was nothing.

[Willie_McCoy]

Moving forward, next I framed the bathroom on the passenger side





Across from that there is an 18" closet, then the shower. I have to this day only roughed that out and run the water lines, it is next on my list of things to do.

Back to the passenger side, in front of the bathroom I framed the fridge pocket, and then it is the open kitchen/living area.



I built a dinette seat facing forward and then a long 7' couch which can double as a spare bed. The rear end of the couch has no arm so you can swing around to sit at the dinette table.





There is another smaller couch on the drivers side, behind the drivers seat, but I guess I dont have any pics of the in a rough state. I raked the backs at 10* and put hinged storage compartments under them, except for the dinette seat, that has an open storage area.

[Willie_McCoy]

Next, I went back to the master bedroom and framed the bed.





I had to cut my first hole in the bus for the water fill box, I used my dremel and some decent cutoff wheels to make a clean cut.




yes I did forget about the wire for the light string and had to disassemble it to get it out.



built a bench around the emergency exit to hide the wiring, water lines and gas line for the stove. Added this little tower too.



You can see the three storage compartments. The one on the far right has a removable bottom and under that is the freshwater pump. The center is open underneath to allow removal of a floor hatch to access the top of the fuel tank.

[Willie_McCoy]

Gotta go make lunch, I will fill in the rest this afternoon.

[Willie_McCoy]

Ok, so back to the bedroom, I finished off the bed with some nice cabinet grade plywood for the visible areas;







Then I got started on the wiring.

I have mirrored 12VDC and 120VAC systems for plugs so depending on the availability of shore power or sunshine we will have options. There are outlets in all the bunks, the bedroom, closet, both sides of the kitchen at the countertop, under the table, both armrests, and a set for the driver.

All DC wiring is marine duplex 12G as that was the largest size I needed for my longest run and it was easier to just buy a big spool and pull it for everything. I used 12/2 for the AC wiring as well.

All the lighting is 12V, and all dimmable LED's. We have wireless color changing strips in the main cabin, for the kitchen, and the hallway. All 3 can be operated by the same remote. The bunk lights are dimmable LED fixtures, and the table light and bedroom lights are household fixtures I have converted to 12v with dimmable 12v led bulbs.





More pictures of lighting later as we progress with the build

[Willie_McCoy]

We finished the bedroom walls with some nice t&g cedar, but not before filling every available cavity with rockwool insulation. I used it everywhere, exterior walls, interior partitions, bunks, behind the couches, ect.. I has decent sound insulation which is what I was really after.





Moving forward, the bunks were done with A/C plywood inside, and some nice 3/4" hardwood ply for the exterior hallway side. This gives the bunks a lot of strength, and is strong enough to hold up the the rigors of kids.









I borrowed the Festool track saw from a buddie and it changed my life! That thing is worth its weight in gold when ripping finish plywood.



The perspective here is deceiving, the hallway isn't nearly that narrow.

[Willie_McCoy]

Next I finished the framing on the couches and installed the kitchen.













We threw some cushions from and old patio set in there temporarily so we had a place to sit.

[bp1791-unleashed]

Really looking good. It's awesome seeing you making so much progress on it!

[Willie_McCoy]

Originally Posted by bp1791-unleashed

Really looking good. It's awesome seeing you making so much progress on it!

Thanks! Its been a LOT of work, especially lately in this unbearable heat and humidity.

[TJones]

Man you are gettin er done. Nice work!

Ted

[Willie_McCoy]

Went to fire her up a few weeks ago because "them ol' detroits dont like sittin fer too long", and found that all three of my starting batteries were crap. I knew I should have brought them in for the winter, or maybe at least put a trickle charger on them but alas I did not, and I found myself in need of some new group 31's.

The bus came set up from the factory with these sweet swing out trays that perfectly fit 2 group 31's on each, 4 total.





She only had 3 when I got her, and the wiring was absolute garbage. 2g wires with 2 leads poorly crimped into 1 end, it was all trash. I am pretty sure that 3 Group 31's would be plenty, but I like the idea of having nice balanced banks so I went with 4 from NAPA.



I measured and replaced all the battery cables with new custom 2/0 & 4/0 SGX from Custombatterycables.com they are really nice, and a lot better than the trash they replaced.







I also replaced the battery switch with a new 2 bank marine switch from Blue Sea that can handle the amps.





I made some new hold down straps out of some 1/8" x 1" stock and the installation was complete. She barely gets a half turn around before she fires up now.

[Willie_McCoy]

Alright, this last set of posts will bring this thread to current day.

We took a trip up to IKEA last month after waiting forever for them to open back up. We picked up a countertop, sink, some decor, curtain stuffs, and a bunch if other crap whose usefulness is questionable.



We have also been trying for months, long before the 'rona hit, to get our hands on a Furrion 21" stainless range/oven. They have been on backorder since last fall when I first started looking for them and the shutdowns only made it worse. We gave up on them and Heather found this Unique brand LP stove for off grid cabins that just fit perfectly. It was very lightly used and about 50% the cost of new.



I was really hesitant about the white as our fridge is stainless but I am really happy with it now that the paint is on the cabinets.









On the subject of paint, I am now officially a paint snob and will never buy crappy kilz or behr or whatever the Homeless Despot or Blowes is pushing. Heather picked out the color, Van Dueson Blue, and it was a Ben Moore color so I picked it up there in their Advance line and holy crap is that a far superior paint. I used their primer from the same line and we are REALLY happy with the results.



I also finished up the trim work on the couches, I used an outside corner molding to protect the edges of the plywood and give a framed look to the built-ins.







We decided to use the same color for the couches and it looks great





Next I set to work on the dinette, painted the wall behind it gloss black, and stained the wood trim along the wall.





I wanted the table to be "free floating" so that the supports wouldn't interfere with our legs while sitting, but I couldn't find any brackets that fit the bill, so I made up a set from some stock I had lying around. 3/16" x 3" flat plate stiffened by some 1" square stock. I think their skookum enough for my purposes.







Lastly we have the armrests and "couch-toppers" that I made out of some nice 5/4 Red Oak planks. I rounded over the edges and am now waiting for my drop-in cupholders to arrive so I can set them in place, stain and poly them. Probably going to add a tiny quarter round under them for a finished look.







Well, that just about brings us up to current day. I am working on finishing up a few things in the main cab/kitchen so I can put up the accent wood on the walls along the sides above the windows.

I will try to make more regular updates here to avoid the data dump of the last few days.

[johnbloem1974]

Dude. Nice work! It's really looking awesome. Fun to follow along the progress!

John

[musigenesis]

Wow, fantastic work! Both in quality and quantity.

[BeNimble]

nice work, digging the blue cabinets.

[Willie_McCoy]

Originally Posted by johnbloem1974

Dude. Nice work! It's really looking awesome. Fun to follow along the progress!

John

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Wow, fantastic work! Both in quality and quantity.

Originally Posted by BeNimble

nice work, digging the blue cabinets.

Thanks! I am not a carpenter or metal fabricator so I am just going slow, and expecting mistakes. The miters were a real PITA, I'm sure a craftsman would know how to measure a triple miter correctly but I went with the cut-fit-cut-fit-cut-fit method until I was happy with the result. I am really digging the blue too, and we are thinking maybe a green in the bedroom to play off the cedar? Not sure there.