"Terrapin" the 1989 Thomas

[Skip]

This is my first bus..

..a 1989 GMC Thomas, with a 366 V8, bought fresh from the Hillsboro School District in Portland, OR.



With only 68k miles!

[thommassey]

Welcome to the fun... foggy photos remind me of Portland. Dog-nose buses are popular here as you will see. Look forward to your project. Nice to have low miles to boot!

[nat_ster]

Did you find out if it's a 366 or a 454?

Nat

[Skip]

Yea it is a 366, it has "6.0 L" casted onto the block.

[Skip]

I rolled/brushed on oliver green tractor paint..

[Skip]

Originally Posted by thommassey

Welcome to the fun... foggy photos remind me of Portland. Dog-nose buses are popular here as you will see. Look forward to your project. Nice to have low miles to boot!

That first photo is actually down in cave junction Oregon by the way.. But yea Oregon and fog go hand in hand

[Skip]

And I never took any pictures of us taking the seats out, but we did it by hand (with me underneath with a ratchet and my friend inside with a wrench) and the last thing on my mind was pictures

But here's some photos of the interior now..

[Skip]

Oh and I discovered what the chains do..

http://youtu.be/fiKrmunVRJ0

Amazing!

[Skip]

So me and my wife are very low on money right now and we were debating buying this fisher "baby bear" wood stove we've found on craigslist for a couple hundred bucks (rated to heat a 1000 sq ft area) before we get up the money to insulate the floor..

Does anyone have experience with burning a wood stove WITHOUT any insulation what so ever? (maybe a couple layers of card board (which I've heard can actually have an R-rating of 3.something )


We plan on insulating it eventually, but we are going to be back in Oregon soon, where the nights are cold, and we need something to keep us warm.
(..and please don't tell me to go buy a "mr. buddy" propane heater)


I was also wondering if it is necessary to bolt the wood stove to the floor to keep it put while driving, or is it heavy enough (the one were looking at is about 250lbs) to stay put on its own?
..and if so how?

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by Skip

Does anyone have experience with burning a wood stove WITHOUT any insulation what so ever? (maybe a couple layers of card board (which I've heard can actually have an R-rating of 3.something )

I was also wondering if it is necessary to bolt the wood stove to the floor to keep it put while driving, or is it heavy enough (the one were looking at is about 250lbs) to stay put on its own?
..and if so how?

I lived in 26 feet of my last bus for a month before I got it insulated. I don't wish it on anyone.

At only -10 C the radiant cold from the walls and floor was so bad it was unbearable. I had to be 3 feet from the stove to feel the heat. While one side of my body cooked, the other side froze. Stove had to be loaded every two hours to keep it from going out. Getting out of my blankets to tend the fire, take a sh$t, or do anything else, was like taking a polar plunge. Condensation built up and started to freeze everything.

Please no card board. You will die in a fire. The side of the stove closest to the bus wall will need a double heat shield. Don't use galvanized steel for heat shields. It will give off toxic fumes when it gets too hot. Same for the bus walls. If they are galvanized, you need to shield it.

Best would be some sort of thin Styrofoam. It too must be kept away from the stove. Anything you can get at your budget. 3/4 of a inch will make all the difference.
Old blankets hung to block the radiant cold help. But they will freeze to the walls, so don't use ones you care about.

You will live in a winter coat till you get it insulated. Woman often take the cold alot harder than men.

The way the fisher "baby bear" is shaped, you can't bolt the legs easily. I would throw a steel strap, or chain over the body of the stove, attached to two mounting points on the floor. One on each side.

Nat

[Skip]

Why is it that you had to load the stove every 2 hours? ..was it not sealed?

..and do you think if we insulated just the floor with 3/4" iso foam board it would make a big difference, or do you think it's necessary to insulate the floor, walls, and ceiling?

By the way it's only getting down to 20-30 degrees F

[Tango]

Whatever you do about insulation...please...if you get the stove...bolt that sucker down solidly. Like anything, (make that Everything), in a moving vehicle, it must be secured very firmly. Picture either having to slam on your brakes, or worse yet, slamming into something. Every item in and on that bus wants to keep moving forward. Two hundred pounds of cast iron doing 60 miles an hour could potentially do more damage than the crash itself. And it will unless you you secure it properly.

A few sections of something like 2" angle iron can be bolted through the floor and legs for example. Just keep the picture of that flying stove in mind every time you put something on board and you should do OK.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by Skip

Why is it that you had to load the stove every 2 hours? ..was it not sealed?

..and do you think if we insulated just the floor with 3/4" iso foam board it would make a big difference, or do you think it's necessary to insulate the floor, walls, and ceiling?

By the way it's only getting down to 20-30 degrees F

Ceiling first, then walls, floor last. Heat wants to rise. It will get trapped at the Ceiling, and after your walls get insulated, it will push the heat down further into your living space.

No hard wood here. Softwood burns fast. If we want a fire to last all night, we have to use lump coal. My stove back then couldn't handle the intense heat of coal.

Also sectioning off your sleeping space helps. I had 8 foot in one end sectioned off with a blanket.

Nat

[Skip]

Thanks for the advice tango! ..I will be sure to get some angle iron and bolt 'er down nice and tight

..and about the shield, the wood stove comes with this brick hearth stuff..

How big of a gap should I have between the brick stuff and the wall of the bus, and should I also have a gap between the brick and the floor?

[Skip]

Ceiling first, then walls, floor last. Heat wants to rise. It will get trapped at the Ceiling, and after your walls get insulated, it will push the heat down further into your living space.

..well we have holes in the floor from where the seats used to be

[nat_ster]

Holes should go through the support ribs in the floor or have a backer plate on the bottom.

Half inch to a few inches between heat shields. With that stuff you might only need one layer.

Nat

[Skip]

So I've gathered up some funds and I'm going to insulate soon!


I'm just insulating the floor for now, I plan on using 3/4" iOS foam board, with 1/2" OSB on top, and I wanted some opinions from experienced skoolies..

1) Vapor barrier, is it necessary?

2) Attatching the OSB to the steel floor. I was thinking some floor joists (I guess that what they are called), but .75+.5=1.25 and I don't think they sell wood in that thickness.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by Skip

So I've gathered up some funds and I'm going to insulate soon!


I'm just insulating the floor for now, I plan on using 3/4" iOS foam board, with 1/2" OSB on top, and I wanted some opinions from experienced skoolies..

1) Vapor barrier, is it necessary?

2) Attatching the OSB to the steel floor. I was thinking some floor joists (I guess that what they are called), but .75+.5=1.25 and I don't think they sell wood in that thickness.

What will your finish floor surface be? Hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, lino, or porcelain tile?

IMO yes Vapor barrier is necessary. Vapor barrier stops the air leaks, and drafts. Insulation stops radiant cold / heat.

Saws make wood any thickness. Rip a 2x4 on edge with a table saw. Turn it over and run it through again as your saw will not have enough depth to cut the whole face of the 2x4 off in a single pass. Now its the thickness you need.

Nat

[thommassey]

Originally Posted by Tango

Whatever you do about insulation...please...if you get the stove...bolt that sucker down solidly. Like anything, (make that Everything), in a moving vehicle, it must be secured very firmly. Picture either having to slam on your brakes, or worse yet, slamming into something. Every item in and on that bus wants to keep moving forward. Two hundred pounds of cast iron doing 60 miles an hour could potentially do more damage than the crash itself. And it will unless you you secure it properly.

A few sections of something like 2" angle iron can be bolted through the floor and legs for example. Just keep the picture of that flying stove in mind every time you put something on board and you should do OK.

After bolting my stove to the floor, I used 1/2" EMT as a shield around the threads, I will paint it stove black later.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by nat_ster

What will your finish floor surface be? Hardwood, laminate, vinyl plank, lino, or porcelain tile?

Nat

Hardwood floors... eventually