What have I done!? - New Central Alberta Skoolie Build

[ZedEx]

Raising the roof is completely off the table. I don't have a welder, nor know how to use one (I'm definetly not learning how to on a vehicle housing my family and stuff on the highway). I also don't have the budget to buy all new windows, nor pay a professional welder to do all the work needed. I don't want worse fuel economy either.
I don't mind ducking to walk around.
I'm just going to spray under the bus. If 1" isn't enough, ill upgrade to 2 next season.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by ZedEx

Raising the roof is completely off the table. I don't have a welder, nor know how to use one (I'm definetly not learning how to on a vehicle housing my family and stuff on the highway). I also don't have the budget to buy all new windows, nor pay a professional welder to do all the work needed. I don't want worse fuel economy either.
I don't mind ducking to walk around.
I'm just going to spray under the bus. If 1" isn't enough, ill upgrade to 2 next season.

Fair enough, but I really doubt the fuel economy is all that much different with a slope and only a wee raise. I'll have to find out.

FWIW for anyone following along or whatever... you don't HAVE to weld, rivets and bolts are other alternatives.

Best of luck in your bus build!

[ZedEx]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Fair enough, but I really doubt the fuel economy is all that much different with a slope and only a wee raise. I'll have to find out.

FWIW for anyone following along or whatever... you don't HAVE to weld, rivets and bolts are other alternatives.

Best of luck in your bus build!

Do you have pictures or tutorials for that method? I've only seen the weld one. Aerodynamics play a major role in fuel economy. Just adding a ladder rack and ladder to my truck lost 15-20% in mpg

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by ZedEx

Do you have pictures or tutorials for that method? I've only seen the weld one. Aerodynamics play a major role in fuel economy. Just adding a ladder rack and ladder to my truck lost 15-20% in mpg

For how much driving vs sitting my bus is gonna be doing, I'd sacrifice whatever I've lost, but I don't see how what I've done is going to dramatically affect anything. A ladder and rack aren't nearly as aerodynamic as a sloped piece of sheet.

But back to your bus...

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Stu & Filo. T

Take the roof up 10"

Might as well go for a foot raise as sheets are 48"wide, stock is 10' less kerf, a "light" foot. Gordon?

It's a lot of work raising the roof, it may just be easier to get a new wife....

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Cool ride ! You will get past the shock phase soon enough.

Get reading and planning your build !

His album

Phfft. Bought mine 3/31 and I still don't have a clue as to what the hell I was thinking.

Originally Posted by ZedEx

My ceiling is exactly 6ft, and my wife is 5'10. She said that if she has to duck to walk around the bus, it's a deal breaker completely.

But I was wondering if I could just do half inch plywood with lino, like whats in there and spray foam the underside of the bus with 1" of closed cell foam instead. I was already planning on undercoating after the floor install. But this could eliminate that step as well.
Has anyone tried that?

I smell a roof raise in your future!! Haven't done it yet myself but it's easy in principal.

Spraying the floor from below won't be as good as doing it from above. The floor will still conduct cold from the sides of the bus whereas if your floor is on top of the insulation, it's isolated from the cold metal.

Originally Posted by chev49

In my last bus, I also raised the entire floor 8 inches, (insulated above the rubber mat). This gave me a huge amount of storage for things such as canned goods, extra tool boxes and so forth.

I don't think I've mentioned hating you today. Now I have something else to consider in the bus build. I've not heard of this floor raising before. Many questions I have.

What is your "second" floor made of? How is it supported? Is it thru out the entire bus? How many/how big/where are the access points?

It would be a good way to "get rid" of the wheel wells. Not sure I want to go that tall over all. I would still be under 12' with an 18" raise and that is a full panel of sheet metal over the windows (no cutting) with a 3" overlap (probably overkill on the lapping). I don't remember what my wheel wells measure for height. 9" and some change I think it was.

[ZedEx]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Phfft. Bought mine 3/31 and I still don't have a clue as to what the hell I was thinking.

I smell a roof raise in your future!! Haven't done it yet myself but it's easy in principal.

Spraying the floor from below won't be as good as doing it from above. The floor will still conduct cold from the sides of the bus whereas if your floor is on top of the insulation, it's isolated from the cold metal.

I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and continue on in blissful ignorance with the new plan

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by ZedEx

Raising the roof is completely off the table. I don't have a welder, nor know how to use one (I'm definetly not learning how to on a vehicle housing my family and stuff on the highway). I also don't have the budget to buy all new windows, nor pay a professional welder to do all the work needed. I don't want worse fuel economy either.
I don't mind ducking to walk around.
I'm just going to spray under the bus. If 1" isn't enough, ill upgrade to 2 next season.

Hobart 140 will run you about $550. Learning to weld is fairly easy and quick. My welds won't pass any kind of certification inspection but they aren't comping apart. Bought the aforementioned Hobart in Feb (?) I think it was.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by ZedEx

I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and continue on in blissful ignorance with the new plan

You're in too deep too. You have to be a little off center to even consider the idea. By time you actually write a check to pay for a bus, you're committed and committable.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Might as well go for a foot raise as sheets are 48"wide, stock is 10' less kerf, a "light" foot. Gordon?

It's a lot of work raising the roof, it may just be easier to get a new wife....

A foot raise is 36" of sheet metal. 24" windows = 12" raise. A full sheet will raise you +18" and that's with a 3" overlap in metal top and bottom.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Might as well go for a foot raise as sheets are 48"wide, stock is 10' less kerf, a "light" foot. Gordon?

It's a lot of work raising the roof, it may just be easier to get a new wife....

This guy just got himself added to my shitlist. I thought I had it all figured out and here he goes talking about a FLOOR raise. Now I gotta start all over again.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

This guy just got himself added to my shitlist. I thought I had it all figured out and here he goes talking about a FLOOR raise. Now I gotta start all over again.

floor raise - wow.. but at what time do you just abandon the idea of a skoolie and go buy a Coach that has 20+ inches of basement space built in..
-Christopher

[Robin97396]

Are you suggesting we do things the easy way? Not gonna happen!

However, if I could find a shorty coach I'd be on that idea in a heartbeat.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

floor raise - wow.. but at what time do you just abandon the idea of a skoolie and go buy a Coach that has 20+ inches of basement space built in..
-Christopher

I've got storage locker basements already but who doesn't want more storage? If I can store stuff IN the bus under the floor, 1) I don't have to go outside in the cold rain. 2) Storage under the floor means fewer cabinets which means more windows. No more wheel wells to worry about. The chair rail is reinforced and a level water mark. Weld some framing across the bus and you've got an instant computer lab raised floor. Positive pressure air and you've got no water vapor plus an +6" air void.

Of coarse it turns the floor insulation on its head too. Do you insulate the bottom (OEM) floor, the false floor, or both? Spray foam the OEM floor and "hang" the radiant heating to the false floor? Would have to jog around any hatches but that's not a big deal.

Wheel wells measure 7 1/4", chair rail measures 9 1/4". My original plan was an 18" raise with a standard floor increase for insulation. Anything under a 24 inch raise keeps me under a 12 foot clearance and standard sheet metal.

[cadillackid]

thats why i mention a coach.. only because it seems to me like its a bus buiolt with all the features you already want..

Powerful engine.. - many are 350+ horsepower, lots of storage, no wheel wells in living space... highway capable.. I see a lot of coaches ripping away at 75-80 on the freeway.. arguably they are factory better insulated than a skoolie... at least in my opinion... those that have torn apart a coach cokpletely can chime in on that fact...

-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

thats why i mention a coach.. only because it seems to me like its a bus buiolt with all the features you already want..

Powerful engine.. - many are 350+ horsepower, lots of storage, no wheel wells in living space... highway capable.. I see a lot of coaches ripping away at 75-80 on the freeway.. arguably they are factory better insulated than a skoolie... at least in my opinion... those that have torn apart a coach cokpletely can chime in on that fact...

-Christopher

If I could find a coach for the same price, miles, condition, etc. as a skoolie I would have gone that route instead. Part of the etc. is maintenance costs when engines and trannies decide to be nasty.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Hobart 140 will run you about $550. Learning to weld is fairly easy and quick. My welds won't pass any kind of certification inspection but they aren't comping apart. Bought the aforementioned Hobart in Feb (?) I think it was.

I saw the 140 on sale recently somewhere for $479. IIRC that's what I paid. NICE lil welder for the money. Can't beat it. Unless you go Miller.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

floor raise - wow.. but at what time do you just abandon the idea of a skoolie and go buy a Coach that has 20+ inches of basement space built in..
-Christopher

with a floor raise, wouldn't a roof raise be necessary? Thats a double-whammy of raising the COG.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

with a floor raise, wouldn't a roof raise be necessary? Thats a double-whammy of raising the COG.

unless you did a full body lift on the bus... lift the body and frame similar to the way trucks are lifted and then you could build new skirting and infrastructure underneath... flatten the wheel wells inside.. lots of work... and i would guess a lot of expense and loss of driveability compared going the route of a coach.. doing a 15-20" floor raise seems like unless you have a lot of mechanical and metal-working / suspension / heavy duty jacks, hoists, etc available for free that you start racking up the costs really quickly..

a roof raise in the grand scheme requires much less specialized tooling and skills than a suspension or body lift..

-Christopher

[12equiem]

im new here. i also dont have any budget for a roof raise nor any desire to since id rather have rooftop storage, water tanks, and a patio. im 5'11" myself so im familiar with the clearance issue. i havent tested it yet but for the floor i have simply just done a simple bit of a thermal break. ive bought a mildew resistant carpet underlay and installed it between the half inch bus flooring and the new half inch fir plywood im using as my underlay. ill be installing 12 mil laminate flooring ontop of that. im hoping it provides enough of a thermal break between the plywood layers. and a bonus is that its firm...yet squishy. its perfect to help level out all the inconsistencies of the original bus floor.

make sure you remove and replace all the old sealant between the edge of the bus and the origional plywood sheeting and put in sealant caulking ANYWHERE you thing theres even a hint of a chance of moisture getting in.


also for insurance. double check with the cooperators. ive got mine insured for 280 bucks a year. and DO NOT install a wood burning stove before your appraisal. havent found anywhere that will insure it if it has one.

as far as anything else goes Im doing my conversion in edmonton. id love to help ya out sometime if you need it.