The Camel Conversion Project

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Glad to see that there are still a few folks around who can do such fine work. It looks great. Jack

The devil is in the details, as they say. You can't tell from these pictures, but the planks are not all evenly spaced. I knew I was going to have to space them out a little to make them span the entire width of the roof, but I figured I'd end up with a wider hole in the middle and that I'd just rip a plank down to four or five inches to make it fit the gap. Instead, I started from either side and worked my way toward the middle while using some 3/16" pegboard pieces as spacers. By the time I got to the final eight planks, I realized I was going to be a little short on wood, so I eyeballed the remaining gaps to make everything fit. While the gaps are a little wider than normal, I don't think a female guest is going to get her stiletto heels caught in the decking. Also, I was careful to place all the planks with the proper side up to avoid cupping that would catch water over time, but in the shuffle to fix the gaps, I flipped one board and now it's upside down. Grrr. Might have to fix that.

Of course, the thought of anyone seeing these miscalculations drives me nuts, so I immediately decided that an indoor/outdoor carpet would be a fine choice for when I have visitors. Lowes has some nice ones for about $40, or some less nice ones for as little as $20. I'm going to put a length of PVC pipe (capped at the front end) on the driver's side of the deck and keep a rolled carpet in the tube. When I need it, I'll just pull it out and unroll it in place.

[PDBreske]

Well, it's been a while since I posted any progress and to be honest, there hasn't been much progress, but the past few days have been fruitful.

I finished (well, almost) installing the conduit and boxes for the electrical wiring. I used mostly leftover ENT (Smurf tubing) from the original bookmobile configuration, though I still had to buy about 90 feet to finish the job. I used 3/4" where I thought I might need to run heavy wire or wiring with a high amp load, but the 1/2" ENT is SO much easier to work with, and I was able to run the smaller tubing over the tops of the ceiling joists instead of through them, saving a lot of tedious drilling.

The conduit will eventually be encapsulated in a thin layer of spray foam insulation, keeping it from vibrating against the metal roof skin and preventing any chafing that could cause premature failure. There is enough room under most of the conduit that I will also add a layer of fiberglass batting between the joists. On the walls, I'm going to fill the voids between studs as much as possible with leftover rigid styrofoam insulation (again, from the bookmobile) and squirt expanding foam into the small gaps to tie it all together.

Here's a photo of the ceiling, looking straight up from the floor (I just noticed an error in the captions—the "inverter to 120V panel" tube should be marked "refrigerator outlets" and vice versa):


The only thing remaining to install is the roof deck outlet (tomorrow) and the wiring. I pulled about a million feet of 8-, 10-, and 12-gauge wiring from the bookmobile and I'll be re-using as much of that as possible.

[Accordion]

Very nice work.

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by Accordion

Very nice work.

Thank you!

My hands and forearms are killing me from all the drilling, pushing, pulling, and twisting I had to do to get all this installed. I'm so glad it's done.

[bansil]

Originally Posted by PDBreske

Thank you!

My hands and forearms are killing me from all the drilling, pushing, pulling, and twisting I had to do to get all this installed. I'm so glad it's done.

Thats the easy part,wait til you start pulling wire thats not on a spool thru all that....pull,pull...crap run to end of bus untangle a knot..run back, pull ...crap and repeat

Good luck and it looks good

[pipopak]

Originally Posted by PDBreske

The conduit will eventually be encapsulated in a thin layer of spray foam insulation, keeping it from vibrating against the metal roof skin and preventing any chafing that could cause premature failure. There is enough room under most of the conduit that I will also add a layer of fiberglass batting between the joists. On the walls, I'm going to fill the voids between studs as much as possible with leftover rigid styrofoam insulation (again, from the bookmobile) and squirt expanding foam into the small gaps to tie it all together.

Why don't you just spray foam insulation?. Will hold everything nice and tight and fill all the holes. No rattles ever.

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by pipopak

Why don't you just spray foam insulation?. Will hold everything nice and tight and fill all the holes. No rattles ever.

Because a kit of spray foam is about $600 and covers about 600 square feet one inch thick. While that's enough to cover all the walls and the ceiling with about an inch or two of insulation, it's not enough to give me the kind of total R-value I want. If I fill the stud bays with as much rigid styrofoam as possible before spraying in the foam, then I can get much more done without having to buy another expensive kit of the spray foam and I have a lot of room in the ceiling for cheap fiberglass insulation at least four inches thick in most places.

[syke]

Looking very nice sir!

[PDBreske]

Just a quick update to say that I finished all the outlet box installations and pulled all the wiring. Glad that's done! Now I need to install the outlets and switches, but I can't start that until I order enough ring terminals to do every wire end. No place nearby has packages big enough to make it worth my while, so I'll have to order them online.

[PDBreske]

Just when you think you've figured everything out....

Apparently, a standard-depth outlet box isn't deep enough for a GFCI outlet connected with ring terminals on the ends of the wiring. The terminals extend past the back of the outlet and take up too much room inside the box. So, for those outlets I needed to change to deeper boxes. I haven't re-installed the outlets yet, but the boxes should be good to go.

This morning I finished the "garage" area with 1/4" plywood walls and ceiling. All that remains in there is caulk around the corners and paint. (The garage is under the bed—where the nose of the Jeep will go.)

My next step is to wire all the outlets and lighting points, then insulate. Warmer weather is on the way and if I don't have this thing insulated by the time the central Florida summer arrives, it will be too hot to do anything inside the bus.

[91 Bus Guy]

Originally Posted by PDBreske

Just when you think you've figured everything out....

Apparently, a standard-depth outlet box isn't deep enough for a GFCI outlet connected with ring terminals on the ends of the wiring. .

Have you considered using a GFCI breaker? They are available from eBay for a reasonable price. That way the entire line is protected. (no worries with the ring terminals on the ends of the wiring)

Just an idea,

Keith

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by 91 Bus Guy

Have you considered using a GFCI breaker? They are available from eBay for a reasonable price. That way the entire line is protected. (no worries with the ring terminals on the ends of the wiring)

Just an idea,

Keith

D'oh!

No, I hadn't thought of that, but now that I've ruined one of a three-pack of GFCI outlets (those terminal screws aren't designed to be removed and reinstalled, so I had to "fix" it with a slightly larger replacement screw), I can't take it back. The rest of the outlets in the bus are normal and thus will fit fine in the boxes I have. I hope.

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by bigluelok

wow this is one bad A** conversion. love that you are able to put your jeep in there.

Thanks! The ability to carry my Jeep instead of towing it is a big part of why I love the skoolie platform, though I wouldn't recommend this type of conversion for anyone other than a single traveler—it's going to be "cozy."

[bansil]

Originally Posted by PDBreske

Thanks! The ability to carry my Jeep instead of towing it is a big part of why I love the skoolie platform, though I wouldn't recommend this type of conversion for anyone other than a single traveler—it's going to be "cozy."

passengers can just sit in the jeep, and a pc of plywood on the jeeps roof would make a comfy bed

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by bansil

passengers can just sit in the jeep, and a pc of plywood on the jeeps roof would make a comfy bed

No need to make them sleep on top of the Jeep—there is plenty of room on the roof deck!

[bansil]

Originally Posted by PDBreske

No need to make them sleep on top of the Jeep—there is plenty of room on the roof deck!

true roof top tents...very expo

[PDBreske]

Today I started on the insulation and made a lot of progress. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to fill the bays in between the wall studs, and also at how much styrofoam I had leftover when I had done as much as I could do. The remaining voids will be filled with spray foam insulation, but I think I filled about 85% of all the air spaces with just the styrofoam. The ceiling will get a layer of spray foam against the inside of the roof with fiberglass batting between the joists (unless I have a LOT of leftover spray foam and then I'll squirt it all over the ceiling until I'm empty).

I cut the styrofoam with a reciprocating saw, hence the mess.

I also finished wiring the remaining outlets and all the switches. All I need now is light fixtures ... after the ceiling is installed.

[browncrown]

Awesome work!

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by PDBreske

... I cut the styrofoam with a reciprocating saw, hence the mess. ...

No matter what you used to cut the stuff, it would have still made a horrible mess! Lousy Styrofoam beads!

[PDBreske]

Originally Posted by browncrown

Awesome work!

Thanks! Coming from you, that's quite a compliment.

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

No matter what you used to cut the stuff, it would have still made a horrible mess! Lousy Styrofoam beads!

The boards were sandwiched with three layers of various thicknesses. If they had all been single thickness, I could have scored them with a box cutter and then snap them in a clean line, but that doesn't work when they're 2-1/4" thick. The blue styrofoam dust will be in everything for a very long time.