The Bus with No Name, yet...

[Abbott]

Very nice work.

[reprobate]

http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Skooli ... g2_page=10

We're back with more pictures. We're basically done with the inside and starting on the outside. As usual everything is difficult and time consuming. Hope to be painting soon.

See you at the get together!

Randy and Julie

[captainkf]

I just looked through the pictures, and OMG! That's amazing. You set the bar very high. It makes me want to tear my bus apart again and do it over. I won't, but sometimes....

That is amazing and one of the nicer conversions I have seen that is done by the owners.

good work.

-Richard

[SeanF]

Wow, beautiful bus. Very nicely done!

[reprobate]

Jimmyaustintx, I'm ashamed to say we haven't documented the plumbing and electrical all too well. We were going to post you some pics and as we went back through them we realized we have no elec pics and the only plumbing pics we have are the latest you have seen. We used 12ga. ext. cords for all the AC side and the same for the branch runs on the DC side. We also used a lot of 14ga. speaker wire(have since been told that was a bad choice,but oh well) for the low voltage runs on the DC side. Our elec. panel set-up is the "stupidly simple" (love that because it fits me so well) set-up with a pigtail with a male cord end coming out of the panel and female receptacles for each shore power, generator, and battery bank(which we don't have yet). I'll crawl under the bus tomorrow and take pics of the plumbing tanks and their respective hook-ups. The toilet is on the back half of the wheel well on the driver side, so it doesn't drop straight into the sewer tank, but has about a 3' run to the tank. As you can see in the pics in the gallery we are going to have to step up to get into the potty room. With the roof raise I still have 6' of ceiling on the high side. The kitchen sink drain taps off the toilet line and runs along the inside of the exterior wall up to the sink on the driver side. Had to notch the cabinets and the frig lacks 2" from being against the wall. The shower is after the toilet and has its own 1 1/2" drain line which also feeds into the sewer tank. The vanity is directly across from the shower so its drain ties into the shower line. I installed ventless vents at both the kitchen sink as well as the vanity. I also have a 1 1/2" vent coming from the tank thru the roof. All the water lines are PEX. The water heater is under the vanity. I built plywood boxes lined with 1/2"foam for both the water and sewer tanks. For all the connectoins to the sewer tank I used no-hub clamps (those rubber things with the hose clamps) for easy removal if the need arises as well as for some flex. Maybe some pics tomorrow.

For all the rest who have said nice things,.....Thanks

[dentarthurdent]

Once again you guys are raising the standards! I can't wait to see the outside finish. Beautiful work!

[reprobate]

Drove the bus yesterday and today. The only times we have driven her since we started. Smoked a little at first but then no more. We have during the project started and let her run a lot and she ALWAYS starts on the first kick. The nice thing is she is very quiet on the road. No squeaks or rattles. Julie and I were able to talk in normal tones going down the road. I have actually fashioned a bolt in place mechanism for the slide because I figured it would take a lot of bouncing in the very rear of the bus, and I definitely want it secure. All good so far. Cruised 60 with ease at about 2600 rpm. And the good news is we are now registered as an RV and have our tags. Got that done today. When went to the scales to get her weighed everyone wanted to look inside so we had an impromptu tour. 21,300 lbs. Wow! Anyway we are about ready to prime the outside but there is a pretty good chance of rain for the next few days so I guess we wait. Oh well, plenty of other stuff to do.

[timbuk]

wow rep old buddy thats alot 21300! was the burbon cupboard stocked up at weigh time? good to hear you got to go for a drive. hows the painting going?

[reprobate]

Painting sucks! Yesterday I was thinking primer red is a pretty good color for a bus. You know...get me one of those nicknames like "Tater" or "Goober" and go on the Jeff Foxworthy show. Cut all my t-shirts off above the belly button. Ahh primer red. Hell, I'll bet Lapeer would have gotten his buy it now price if his bus had only been that beautiful shade of primer red. It's the new hot color.....right.....please?

21,300. Yeah Timbuk, we'd just held up a liquor store on the way to the scales and now we're stocked up. In fact, I've placed bottles of bourbon at 10' intervals around the bus and paint from one to the next. I'm a very goal oriented kind of guy.

Primer red with a clearcoat...nice!.....

[timbuk]

well rep hows the painting going if its like the work you have done inside it will be a piccaso! its lots of work painting and hard on the liver looking forward to seeing it waiting for better weather to carry on myself weather like this on the wet coast makes me want to go south! timbuk

[reprobate]

Not much progress today. Worked on the image we want, and no it's not going to be all that great. I realize that I would have to spend a lot more than the $200 or so dollars to come up with something really nice. I'm leaving tomorrow for 4 or 5 days so progress will come to a halt. Carry on Big Daddy Timbuk. Bring your liver on in here.

As far as the paint scheme...I'd have been better off if I'd sprayed the bus with glue and gone for the sticky bug theme. Little buggers. I can see them grinning and laughing as they turn and nose dive into my paint. Well you just wait you little heathens, I've got a big ol' flat windshield just itchin' to be on the highway and extract some revenge. And guess who'll be laughing and grinning then! Here our hero exits stage right and heads for the bar... muttering as he passes...little heathens....you just wait...JUST wait...

[Billsman]

I've been looking for a rental bay to paint my bus in but have had no luck so far.

[reprobate]

Here in West Texas the wind blows non-stop in the spring. I too wanted to paint inside, but alas. Thankfully here we have low humidity so I try and start early and then again late in the evening. Around here the saying about the wind is "up with sun, down with the sun" That science stuff with heating and all. Anyway, it holds true for the most part. Julie told me she did read somewhere(maybe here) that if you run a ground wire from your chassis to a metal stake in the ground it will help with the static charge around your bus and help with all things attracted by said charge. Makes sense to me. Of course she told me this after I finished with all the base coats. Now THAT's a sense of humor. Anyway painting seems to be a hot topic with the weather warming up. Luck to all.

[timbuk]

shes right rep all you have to do is wrap a hain on the frame and lay it on the ground repells the dust ask her what to do about the bugs! have a good trip dont work too hard timbuk

[reprobate]

Make sure and take some pictures of your liver before you start painting, Timbuk.

[reprobate]

A number of years back I was hit by a drunk on my way home. Ran me off in a ditch. Thankfully no injuries. Anyway....when I went to the body shop to get my truck fixed they had a sign at the counter...and it read...."We have $300 paint jobs and $3000 paint jobs. If you pay for one, don't expect the other." Always stuck with me. Well what we have on our bus certainly is and looks like a $300 paint job. Only trouble is, I think I've done $3000 worth of labor. Is that irony?

[timbuk]

yea but we love to put hundreds of hours orf labor into our busses i have spent easily 100 hours preping and stripping and have a 5 gallon pail of old paint flakes i really need 5 gallons of........ well you know besides you dont see what you look like when your driving down the road! which i have not done yet.painting a bus is a big job and you can always do it again!?

[Elliot Naess]

Only trouble is, I think I've done $3000 worth of labor. Is that irony?

No, my friend, that's $3000 worth of personal accomplishment. Try to buy THAT with money!

[reprobate]

Too true oh mighty sage.

[reprobate]

Well in the baseball vernacular. Lots of runs, many drips, tons of errors, and no one left standing. Here's some paint! There's still more to add and repairs to make, but it's good to get at least this much done.Whew! I need a drink.