Converting a Crown

[Stu & Filo. T]

I'm working on aquiring my first Skoolie & I have my eye on a 76 Crown with the pancake motor,after a quick look over I'm wondering if others that have done a Crown conversion how did you go about adding waste tanks? to me it doesn't look like a whole lot of room under the bus but maybe mounting them in the rear storage area if so how did drainge work, also did you leave the access covers for the motor inside the bus accessable, Thanks for any thoughts or advice

[browncrown]

My Crown is a 76 model, and yes, there is little room under the bus for tanks. I am running one tank for both black and gray which is mounted on the starboard side next to the rear of the engine and just in front of the rear axle. It works for me, but I don't do a lot of camping without hook ups. Most likely, you have a wall to wall fuel tank just in front of the trunk, and mounting tanks in the trunk can be done, but you would need a pump because it will be uphill for your plumbing. All that aside, they are fine machines, and you work around the problems. I'm happy with the way mine turned out.

BC

[Stu & Filo. T]

Thanks for the reply, How many gallons is the single tank, I tend to boondock, longest time out has been 15 days but usually average 8

[browncrown]

I'm running a 40 gallon tank

[Stu & Filo. T]

Thats not a whole lot, I'm going to have to go back & take a lot of measurements before I pull the trigger I think, thanks for the info

[Stu & Filo. T]

Does anyone know if a Crown with a Cummings engine has any more room under it than one with a Detroit?

[inkblots84]

Our Crown is a Detroit 6-71 with an 80 gallon tank.

We decided to put the bathroom in the rear of the bus so we can put the tanks in the trunk and drop the piping right through the back. There's not a whole lot of storage below, but there's plenty in the trunk and with a little imagination I'm sure there's some spots under the floor that could be used.

Layout will be bathroom in the rear, bedroom in the middle, then kitchen, and living room in the front This layout will leave access to the hatches available, and with a split bed (building a queen bed in two pieces) on a track, we can slide the bed apart and have two couches and engine access, or one queen size bed we can move back and forth to whichever windows have the best view at the time.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Yes I've drawn out a few designs with the bathroom in the rear, I hate losing the footage of a rear bath so I have another plan that uses a sump pump in a small tank in front of the rear wheels and pumps it back for grey water but haven't figured out black tank yet,don't like the cost of a compost toilet

[Redbear]

Originally Posted by allwthrrider

. . . have another plan that uses a sump pump in a small tank in front of the rear wheels and pumps it back for grey water but haven't figured out black tank yet,don't like the cost of a compost toilet

Look up macerators, which are a chopper/pump like a garbage disposal. Not only can you transfer solids from a small black tank with these, some people use them to pump through a garden hose to empty tanks into a toilet where there is no dump station.

Just don't re-use the same hose for drinking water!

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Redbear

Look up macerators, which are a chopper/pump like a garbage disposal. Not only can you transfer solids from a small black tank with these, some people use them to pump through a garden hose to empty tanks into a toilet where there is no dump station.

Just don't re-use the same hose for drinking water!

I was looking at a macerator toilet. It will pump the waste up to 30 ft, so you can put the toilet anywhere you want in the bus. No solids in the black water tank, so less chance of it pluging up. I went with a composting toilet instead, no black water tank.

[gmarvel]

We have purchased a macerating toilet. We also have put our two waste tanks in front of the rear axle on the passenger side of the bus. We also have purchased a macerating pump so that any waste can be easily pumped out of our Crown. We are planning our FMCC (Fecal Matter Control Center) on the driver's side of the bus near the battery area. There is plenty of room for tanks under the bus. They just can't be massive beasts. We have a total of 80 gallons of waste tanks under the bus. That should be plenty for most people. We are using part of the rear trunk space in our Crown for the fresh water tank.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by gmarvel

We are planning our FMCC (Fecal Matter Control Center) on the driver's side of the bus near the battery area.

FMCC (Fecal Matter Control Center), I like.

I'm trying out a composting toilet first. If that does not work I will use the same FMCC you have. I hope the composting toilet works, because I only have to dump it about every 1.5 - 2 monthes. There are more and more parks putting in compostion areas to use to dump.

[bansil]

poop and fecal....pull my finger
.
.
I hope to have my porcelin throne installed this winter....no more poopin' in a bag

[Stu & Filo. T]

Well I purchased a Crown thats a pusher so it will be much easier for placing tanks but more I think about it I like the idea of the macerating toilet anyway,be easier to place the bathroom across from the shower area & give more room for the living area

[Diesel Dan]

I've been poopin' in a bucket, and it works great!

I built a wood box with a toilet seat on it and a hole under which lives a 5gal bucket with a plastic bag liner. I use kitty litter to cover up and absorb. I use 2-3 cups of kitty litter each time. The beauty of this is that the bus lives in my driveway most of the time, and it is not practical to connect it to my house septic system. I don't want to have to drive somewhere to empty waste tanks. If I don't use it very often, I can go weeks without changing the bag, and it doesn't stink at all so long as I keep everything covered with the kitty litter. Then when it's time to change the bag, I just tie it up and plunk it in my garbage can on garbage pickup day. Just like emptying the litter box. Meow.

The only problem I've encountered is on trips with the whole family. The kids sometimes do not cover well enough, and then it stinks, and Dad gets pissed. I think I will get a cassette style portable toilet for camping trips, so this way I can easily swap toilets depending on the need.