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Old 02-10-2015, 08:31 PM   #81
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About time. Looks sweet. You really go all the way on things.

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Old 02-11-2015, 10:17 AM   #82
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Quote:
Originally Posted by family wagon View Post
The anticipation is killing me! When I read your proposal to install a taller windshield rather than the traditional "tall forehead" or mid-roof rise, I thought it was a great idea and added it to my mind's picture of my own project.

Yesterday I was out and passed a Safelite location (they're an auto glass chain in the US, nationwide I think) so I went in to inquire. Let me just say the lady there was not one of those "help the customer even if I can't help him" types.. As soon as I'd said I wanted a windshield for a bus she said "we don't do buses." "Well then suppose it was a motorhome," I said, and she replied that they don't like doing motorhomes.

In any case all she could tell me is that she can order glass from the manufacturer by application, or by the "bug" code printed on the original glass, but certainly not anything custom. So I'm wondering how you propose to (or already did) close yours up. I'm praying you won't install a wide sliding patio door panel hung sideways!
When I went looking for options, I got a bunch of the same non sense. People with no imagination, just used to changing parts.

So after 4 small glass shops, I decided to try a few big shops. Even with the big shops, I had to ask the right questions.

Flat glass is available in any size. You simply give them the dimensions, and they cut it to fit. They calculate the cost by the square foot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
I'm wondering what Nat is gonna do for a gasket for that. I'm really looking forward to seeing it done.
The gasket is also available by the foot. Ends where the gasket meet are sealed up with a dab of the black windshield sealant.

For more info, you guys are going to have to wait till I post the pics.;)

Quote:
Originally Posted by big_bertha View Post
About time. Looks sweet. You really go all the way on things.
Thx, I try.

Nat
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Old 02-11-2015, 10:36 AM   #83
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I taped off the bottoms of the ribs so I could fill them full of spray foam.



You can see the foam bleeding out from the rivet holes in the ribs.



I primed the new sheets and part of the old steel. I also started fitting the new bottom panels.



My border collie wiener dog mix loves the build.





Por 15 paint is listed as a metal adhesive, so I clamped on the bottom panel with wet por 15 paint behind it, permanently gluing the two pieces of steel together.



The rest of the pieces layed out, waiting to go on.



Template for my wheel well cut outs. I chose this shape over round. It fit's the boxy look of the bus.



Wheel well piece cut.



Wheel well piece clamped on. I also painted primed of the door.



Nat
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Old 02-11-2015, 10:53 AM   #84
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Time to dig into fixing the spot where the old stairwell was.



I painted the panel that will cover the bottom half of the old door opening.



I started cutting out the remaining old rusty metal.





My chisel and 4 pound hammer make the cut.



I hate the way blue bird used tubing for structure. It collects dirt, that collects moisture causing megga rust.



This tube runs over the frame and in front of the passenger side wheel well. It's packed completely full of dirt and rust.









Almost loose.



You can see the dirt that didn't fall out yet. I have been hammering on this piece.



That's as far as the dirt went into the tube. Over 2 feet from the entry point.



Again, all done with cordless.



99% cleaned up.







Now I can wash the tubes out, convert the rust, and paint them inside.



Nat
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Old 02-12-2015, 07:04 PM   #85
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I had no time to post pics today, so I will leave this here to look at.

Cabin Build for the Old Timer.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/gener...old-timer.html

Nat
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Old 02-15-2015, 06:14 PM   #86
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You add a whole new meaning to the term "frame up". Whew what a lot of work!! Glad to know they're others out there with the gift/curse of tenacity. Keep the pics coming!!
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Old 02-17-2015, 10:57 AM   #87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sojourner View Post
You add a whole new meaning to the term "frame up". Whew what a lot of work!! Glad to know they're others out there with the gift/curse of tenacity. Keep the pics coming!!
Thx, I will.

Nat
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Old 02-17-2015, 11:26 AM   #88
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I bought a new aluminum rad from Mo Pac in Edmonton for the steal of a deal of $200. It weighs less than 25 pounds.



Sitting in place, testing out clearance.



Time to strip this down for cleaning, modification, and paining.







I pulled a electric fan and shroud off a minivan in the junk yard. It was a perfect fit.





I'm completely changing the layout of the front end. This is the engine air cleaner. It was under the bus in a bad place to change. This is where it will be mounted now. A matching air cleaner will be on the drivers side for incoming cabin air to supply the defroster.



Now the air cleaner will be simple and comfortable to change.
I will be extending the front bumper out a foot.





Nat
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Old 02-17-2015, 11:42 AM   #89
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Late fall was upon us and it was starting to get cold outside at night. Se we emptied enough of our stuff out of the tool shed to move in. Before this we were sleeping in a mini van for the last month.

My wife Shayleen laying on our bed reading by my 20 volt Dewalt flashlight.





The bed is sitting on totes of our belongings.




Swiper laying on my welding apron.



My hired help also staying with us.



Piles of totes of our belongings from when we moved. The cross bow is for gathering food in case we can't afford meat.





Frying some potatoes from the garden.



Looking towards the door from the bed.



And shrimp to go with the potatoes.





Nat
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Old 02-17-2015, 02:03 PM   #90
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I'm starting to understand you, man!
This build is EPIC bro!
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Old 02-17-2015, 04:55 PM   #91
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You are making massive mods to your bus. I am certain it will fit your needs perfectly when completed. You have great skoolie skills. Keep the great pictures coming!!
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Old 02-22-2015, 10:38 AM   #92
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
I'm starting to understand you, man!
This build is EPIC bro!
Yup this build for me is homesteading. This is like my childhood all over again. We bought a 160 acre chunk of land with no house, and all tree's. We lived in tents till December when we finally got the fist little house built. It was only 14 wide by 40 long, and 13 of us lived in there. I was one of only 2 boys, I was 9 at the time. My brother, dads main helper was 13. The house took way longer than it should have because my brother got 3rd degree burns to 70% of his body and was in the hospital for 6 months trying to burn a wasp nest.

Later we cut massive tree's into lumber and built a bigger house. Took 7 years. By then the oldest 3 siblings had moved away.

This hard living now is paving the way for a more comfortable future for us.

Quote:
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You are making massive mods to your bus. I am certain it will fit your needs perfectly when completed. You have great skoolie skills. Keep the great pictures coming!!
Thank you for the kind words. Every bit helps push a man forward.

You are also vary passionate about your build.

Nat
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Old 02-22-2015, 10:41 AM   #93
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I got this message via privet message.

Quote:
Originally Posted by weaselblade
Hey man, been following your build thread. Awesome stuff. I need to repair the floor in my 20' shortbus; with the ply removed, it looks similar to yours; galvanization mostly used up, more rust patches. Saw your post about no wood in your floor; would be real interested to see your solution. Also wondering about your paint; are you using POR-15 for all surfaces including galvanized floor, after metal-ready?

Regards,
Dillon
Sorry for the late reply.

Yes I'm using por 15 products.

The more rust you can wire wheel off the better as it will take less of the metal ready to convert what is left. Be sure it's not to hot out or the metal ready will evaporate before it get's the job done. I put it on last fall in the evening after the sun was setting to prevent this.
I also had to apply the metal ready multiple times, as many as 6 coats before it looked converted.
Moisture from the night seemed to help the process covert the rust.

I'm gluing my floor down with rigid foam friendly contact cement.

First glue down the first layer of rigid Styrofoam sheets to your newly painted bus floor, then the next layer if your doing more than one. Then cut in your in floor heating lines if your installing any. Then glue 16 of 14 ga galvanized sheet steel right to the surface of the rigid Styrofoam. Then glue your finished flooring to the surface of the galvanized metal.

This creates a perfect thermal break, and leaves no where for rust, bugs, mold and rot to ever start.

This method is also far stronger that any other method I have ever seen here on skoolie.net.

Feel free to pm me any time.

Nat
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Old 02-22-2015, 10:49 AM   #94
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Reposted from the "Insulating the Exterior Thread"

Quote:
Originally Posted by nat_ster View Post
It pains me to see all you guys adding all this plywood and OSB to the floors, walls, and roof of the buses.

If you strap the walls, you can glue 1.5 to 2 inch thick sheets of rigid Styrofoam right to the strapping. This is far lighter, and just as strong as plywood. Your finish wall covering glues right to the inside of the rigid Styrofoam. Finish wall coverings can be FRP, arborite, paneling, ect. Cupboards, and things mount with screws through the rigid Styrofoam into the strapping.

This cuts the weight, the thermal mass, and creates a perfect thermal break, uses half as much spray or pour foam, saves money on plywood, eliminates all that extra wood in the walls and ceiling.

Floors are even easier.

Everyone thinks you need a mechanical fasteners to hold something in place, not the case. We live in a world of adhesives.
Again, there is no need for furring strips, strapping, or any wood what so ever in a floor. There are builds on here where people think they need to support the plywood in the floor with 2x4's, suspending the plywood / OSB over the rigid Styrofoam, leaving a air gap. Its like people think the rigid Styrofoam can't take the weight.

Well it can.

Concrete here in Canada all gets rigid Styrofoam under it to insulate it from the earth, and stop the damaging frost. The blue rigid Styrofoam comes here in two grades. 2000 and 3000. That number references to how many PSI the Styrofoam can take per square foot.

Long story short, the flooring in our buses will never see the weight that a concrete floor does. Therefore no wood is need to support the subfloor in a bus.

Now for floor sheeting, or "subfloor", the layer that your finish flooring secures to.
Most fellow members use OSB, or plywood simply because they have seen it done, and cost. But your putting wood back in a floor to rot, mold, get bugs in it, ect.
16 and 14 galvanized steel makes a great subfloor layer. Again using adhesives, it simply glues to the rigid Styrofoam sheet below it. No mechanical fastener is needed. Finish flooring glues right to the top side of the galvanized steel. Flooring like vinyl plank, VCT tiles, ect work really well.

So starting from the old steel floor of the bus, glue one or two layers of 1.5 or 2 inch rigid Styrofoam to the steel floor, then glue the next layer to the first. Now cut in your in floor heating lines, glue your galvanized metal subfloor to the surface of your Styrofoam with your new heat lines, and glue your finish flooring onto the surface of the galvanized metal. Done

You now have a far stronger, lighter, rot proof, bug proof, warm floor that would stay in place even if you rolled the bus.
Nat
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Old 02-22-2015, 11:18 AM   #95
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Time for a few pics.

Being late in the year it was starting to hit minus 10 Celsius at night. We live on a tree farm with no large native tree's.
Some one had vandalized over 50, 12 foot tower poplars we planted a few miles away. I had to clean the mess up, so I took them home for fire wood.

My employee cutting them up with our unreal pruning shears.
These pruning shears will cut a branch up to 3 inches in diameter. No need for a saw, completely silent, low effort, fast cutting.



Perfect for small fall fires.



My sweet honey Shayleen starting a fire.



Our outdoor fire pit. We use the scaffold to set up pieces of tin and rigid Styrofoam for windbreaks around the fire. We also hang lights, Cooking pot's ect off of it. The cinder blocks are for supporting frying pans and we use the pockets inside them for roasting potatoes.



Pile of wood waiting to be cut up.







Nat
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Old 02-22-2015, 11:22 AM   #96
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This is why all insulation should be bonded with the inside of the outer skin.
Massive condensation.











Running down the walls.





Nat
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Old 02-27-2015, 04:18 AM   #97
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Hey Nat, thanks for the info!

Looking at the floor in my bus(1997, Corbeil body on an E350 chassis, from a retirement home) it's a pretty strong argument for the adhesive route. There is a ton of rust where the galvanizing completely wore out... and it's very clearly around the many seams and holes in either the plywood/lino above, or the floor itself, or of course some that went right through both. In places where there was no immediate access for moisture, the galvanizing hadn't worn out entirely. No need for screws to hold things together=far fewer holes.

It would also be nice to take the 3/4" of height intended for plywood and add it to the floor insulation.

Given that this is a vehicle not even old enough to drink, I'm a little hesitant to glue unpainted galvanized in place. I don't much want to be trying to disassemble a floor like that in ~15 years.

Now, the traditional reward for good info. More questions!
1) POR-15. Their site has a LOT of products, I can't possibly need that many layers? Are you using their cleaner-degreaser(marine-clean) first, then metal prep, followed by POR-15 rust preventative, then priming, then topcoating?

I'm hoping that's overkill and I can skip the primer/topcoat for the floor, since no need to protect against UV there...

2) 3000 PSF is only about 21PSI; it looks like most of the EPS stuff is even less. But with steel on top... I'm sure it would be fine for foot traffic, just trying to work out if it will support a motorcycle.


All that smallish wood looks like great food for a rocket mass heater, would blend right in with the homesteading theme.
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:42 PM   #98
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
Posts: 2,937
Year: 1992
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Chassis: TC2000 FE
Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 72
More pics coming soon.........

Any fellow skoolie that would like to contact me outside of skoolie.net can reach me here at my company e-mail.

nat_ster@live.com

Nat
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:47 PM   #99
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Stony Plain Alberta Canada
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Engine: 190hp 5.9 Cummins
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weaselblade View Post
Now, the traditional reward for good info. More questions!
1) POR-15. Their site has a LOT of products, I can't possibly need that many layers? Are you using their cleaner-degreaser(marine-clean) first, then metal prep, followed by POR-15 rust preventative, then priming, then topcoating?

I'm hoping that's overkill and I can skip the primer/topcoat for the floor, since no need to protect against UV there...
All you need on the floor is,

The marine clean, then the metal ready primer, and the por 15 paint. No top coat needed due to no UV like you mentioned.


Quote:
Originally Posted by weaselblade View Post
All that smallish wood looks like great food for a rocket mass heater, would blend right in with the homesteading theme.
It would work great for the day time, but would never burn long enough to make it through the night.

Thx for looking.

Nat
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Old 03-26-2015, 03:56 PM   #100
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Wow. You have overcome a lot of daunting obstacles. Kudos to you! I'm amazed that you've done everything without electric tools. I've lived with 12v power off-grid myself. I know the extra effort that requires. <high five>

Have you shared your potential floor plan, or have I missed it elsewhere? I've seen you mentioned things like "over the kitchen counter" so I imagine you have at least a general idea at least. You address so many details, I can't wait to see how you design the floor space and your logic behind it.

Looking forward to following the rest of the build!
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