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Old 06-20-2006, 12:44 AM   #21
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Everything looks great. The wood flooring is awesome. I cheated and took the easy route on the back door security for now. I left the bar on the inside and I use three of the high strength plastic wire ties and zip tie the bar to the guard on the inside. There is no way anyone could open it. Eventually I will work on something a little more permanent.

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Old 06-20-2006, 11:04 AM   #22
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Location: Rossland BC, Canada
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Year: 1985
Coachwork: Bluebird
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Well, if it works for you, go for it.

We are quite happy with how the floor turned out. It's amazing how durable it is. I was conerned how it would hold up during the rest of the conversion process with tools and mucky feet on it. So far so good.

I started to prep the area to hang the waste tanks, had to take a step back to move the bus (ready rod hanging down 6" off the pavment). Now I need to tackle that sometime this week. It's not a job I am looking forward to. It's the most daunting for me. I'm sure it will work out though.

Thanks for the support, I will try to post more photo's as it progresses. Our goal is to have the majority done by July 25. So there will be lots of work on it in the next few weeks.

-Richard
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Old 06-20-2006, 03:37 PM   #23
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Looking good! I do like that laminate flooring. Glad to hear it held up well during construction.
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Old 06-20-2006, 04:33 PM   #24
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8 D's are wonderful batteries!

In the debt of winter here in the fridged north i could crank my ford 6.6 liter for a solid minute sometiems before she would start thanks to the 8D battery. That takes a lot of juice! They are also designed to be used as house batteries accordig to the article i read on the interstate battery website. Instead of buying more golf cart batteries, i'm tempted to buy more 8d's for house batteries. They are heavy little buggers though!
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Old 06-21-2006, 11:10 AM   #25
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update

If you are looking for used 8d's, try contacting a coach company like greyhound or your local transit company. The over the road coaches use two 8d's (24 volt system) and replace them on a schedual, bad or not. Some also leave them in the busses when they retire them to their bus junkyard. So you may be able to get your hands on them cheap or free.

So yesterday I finished insulating , framed in the water tank base, insulated and installed it, and built the frame for the bed. All during intermitent rain which we have had for the last two weeks. I really feel for all of you who live in rainy climates.

I'll post photo's soon.

-Richard
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Old 06-27-2006, 10:16 PM   #26
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Updated the photo's.

Recent work includes:
- fiberglass shower fitting
- water pump and tank
- Wiring, furring strips and pannelling
- 2 skylight/vent
- rooftop TV antenna
- Exterior door jam
- Interior ceiling paint

That's it for now. Take a peek let me know what you think.

-Richard
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Old 06-28-2006, 10:40 AM   #27
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Wow, you're really cranking on your bus! It's looking very good.

Sean
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Old 06-30-2006, 08:12 PM   #28
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update

Today's update:

-Built the bathroom, pannelled most of it.
-Hung bathroom door, installed hardware.
-Fabricated new door jam, added an air strut for it.
-installed rv window in bedroom.
-installed (mostly) 2 more ceiling vents.

That's it for now. Man I am getting tired of these long days. I had the second vent hole cut in the ceiling today and was on my way up to the roof when a massive rain storm blew through. It even hailed, Hard. With a few tools on the roof taking the brunt of it. So I sat in the bus, used the cut out metal to try and cover the hole in the ceiling and waited it out. Good times.

Whoever said converting a bus is a fun and relaxing hobby needs a swift kick in butt. However I will appreciate it when it's done(ish).

-Richard
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Old 08-23-2006, 09:55 PM   #29
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update

Well, it's been quite a month. Our last bus day was July 2oth. We were taking possesion of our new place and had to do a massive renovation in 6 days before we moved in. New floors throughout, paint on every surface, bathroom fixtures, carpet in a room, lights n'stuff. So the work on the bus turned out to be an asset in our home renovations becuase of all the new skills and confidence gained.

Anyways, the bus was parked useable. The plumbing system completely installed and finished (or so I thought ), gas and power done, framed and mostly panneled. So we used the bus to move to our new place. We thought all was going well until we unloaded the boxes and bins that were resting on our bed platform until it came into veiw, and we saw the frame had collapsed into itself after having sheared off the screws that were holding it together. All the weight was resting on our plastic 98 gal water tank ! So I quickly jacked it up and realized we had placed about 1500 lbs worth of stuff on the platform during the move. So I didn't feel so bad about my perception about my work quality.

In the end the h20 tank was fine, and I had to tear the bed frame down, and use metal framing hangers to put it back together. I never plan to place that much weight on there again, but it should hold now. It's much beefier.

After the move in, we decided that we should actually use our bus for somthing fun, like say camping. I know a crazy idea, but we never seem to have the time these days. So we headed into the rockies for 5 nights of glorious boondocking. This was our first trip in the new conversion and things went pretty well. After we arrived at our fist spot, it took about an hour of re-tightening a few bits of plumbing and re-attaching a power lead to "super durable superior marine style switch unit" . It was nice that I hadn't closed up all the walls with sheeting, if I had the simple repairs would have been a large undertaking or have damaged material before I found the leaks. I would recomend a shakedown trip before final pannelling.

All went well until we went to empty the tanks. We covered over 400 km's of rough terrain and somtime during the final day the weight shifted in the holding tanks and they gave out. I approached the tanks to empty them and saw the ends of both tanks hanging far down below the skirting of the bus. They had both given out in the front foot and half and sheered off, cracking where the bend happened. It was dripping and gross, uhggg. So I grabbed my jack and a couple pieces of 2 by 4 to jack the whole thing up. I drained what I could and gave up. We emptied the bus of our things at home and returned it to storage.

After christmas I will get one large (120 plus gallon) stainless steel tank fabricated. I have yet to have a good reason not to combine both grey and black tanks. So if you have any good reasons please post it.

So all in all, I am very happy with my 4 week conversion. It is going to need a bit of attention and a few bits and peices in the spring, but it's usable.

I will try to post some pictures soon of the "final" conversion. Again thanks to all of you for making this such a great resource . And a special thanks to you steve for creating and keeping up this wonderful resource!

-Richard
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Old 09-12-2006, 07:55 PM   #30
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update and pictures

Well here are the pictures on the site finally. Sorry it took so long. It's got some work left to do on it.

To do: Finish panelling, build bunks and cabinets (for clothes and fridge), remove and instal one large custom waste tank , put in a couple more rv style windows and a couple of captains chairs.

In comparison to what I did this year in the space of 4 weeks it shouldn't take too long next spring.

I put the bus into storage so that is where the pictures are of it.

Let me know what you think, I would love to hear.

http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Skooli ... 8.JPG.html

Follow along the pages until you come to the end to follow along.

-Richard
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Old 09-13-2006, 06:38 PM   #31
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Wow that's a lot of work! Nice job.
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Old 12-15-2006, 08:54 AM   #32
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update

Well, we took a much needed couple of months off. But I had to get more work done as we are moving again. Yeah, we move alot.

So I built a cabinet to hold the microwave, ac/dc norcold fridge and three drawers, wired it, closed it in. Finished pannelling the rest of the bus as there were a couple of unfinished walls. Wired in the hot water tank and the bedroom light. Installed two vallance (i think that's what they are called). Plus a few other odds and ends. Oh yeah, and another capt's chair for the co-pilot.

Today's list:

Blinds
edging
Fuse block
Stairwell cover
install 18' awning

I think this should be it for a while. I still need to replace black and grey tanks. I am having these built custom out of stainless steel. They should be ready mid jan (I hope). A couple of bunks, two more capt chairs, a couple flip up tables and that should do it. I am getting so much closer. It sure is starting to feel like an RV. I am sooooo excited.

I'll post photo's in a couple days.

We'll be renaming the bus also. The doodlebus was a working name for mabye a month. I just never got around to changing it here.


-Richard
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Old 12-16-2006, 05:34 PM   #33
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Looking good, Richard!
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Old 07-12-2007, 11:18 PM   #34
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Re: The Doodlebus

Well here is an update on what has happened with the bus:

- built a fridge, microwave and 3 drawer cabinet and installed said items.
- Installed two swiveling captains chairs with sliding bases
- Installed vallances
- Installed two day/night shades
- Installed a 5000 btu ac unit (in the rear) which draws 550 watts so can run off either inverter
- built and installed a stairwell cover

I think that's it (as it has been a bit drawn out). I posted the pictures in the gallery. Here's the link, and please let me know what you all think.

http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/main.php ... g2_page=11

-Richard
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