'46 Chevy Shorty

[Tango]

Thanks all for the feedback --- Especially those of you who have "been there, done that". The humidity was one of my biggest concerns and there seems to be total agreement that where the sawdust is concerned...drier is better than wetter. I may have to reconsider where said potty will be located, but with so little space to build in it could get tricky. If I could build one light enough to move about conveniently, maybe I could get by with removing it when the space is used as a shower, letting the space dry a bit and putting it back.

My question about venting came from the fact that most factory built composting toilets seem to have their own small fan & vent system built in and wondering if it was really necessary. The bath itself will have a high mounted wall vent & fan to help reduce the interior humidity from the shower. From what I'm hearing/reading, that should be adequate.

Need to get out my grid paper and play "what if" again.

[SassyLass]

A simple, albeit not glamorous combo is to build a sturdy 'shelf' and hinged frame (I'm thinking 2x4ish at the wall with a hinge, that is 5 gallon bucket high, and has a toilet seat attached, with hinged front legs that fold down like a card table. the bucket frame (with seat which can be flipped up against the wall during showers when you remove the bucket. You could get fancier and make a recessed closet to hide it in the 'wet wall' too.

You could even build a bucket shelf and sawdust container into that brilliant door idea of yours. If the toilet/5gal bucket is not a permanent fixture, you can make that fancy door a full quarter circle and as big as your shower box.

[Tango]

More Minor Movement --- Happy Memorial day to all! What a great time to get a little work done. I managed to fab & fit the brackets I needed to mount my new floorboard & doghouse. Also started on the new dash/firewall. Thanks to the engine sitting so far back, my new firewall is where the original dash was located.


This is the raw metal for the firewall/dash. 14 ga. steel...just a trial fit.


Here it is with some angle added that will attach to the rest of the unit.


And here are the angle iron pieces that I had to fab to attach everything else to (the black material around the edge of the opening).

The floor & doghouse are gonna be a bear to fab as they absolutely MUST seal up tight all around to keep out all the stuff that is never supposed to get inside (exhaust, rain, mud, birds, wombats, whatever...)

Meanwhile...

Onward!

PS...just looked out my door and there is nearly four feet of water over the road. Been a really wet year so far.
Hey Kalifornia...bring buckets!

[opus]

We use sawdust in a bag, in a bucket. There really is no odor at all. I've read where more and more folks are using them for their "homesteads" as well.

[Tango]

At the risk of asking for gorey details...what about toilet paper? Does it go "into the mix" as well? Is "RV Tissue" better suited to quickly break down?

[opus]

In the mix...it adds color.

[bansil]

Have fun! fire walls and tranny humps are a bear, especially if you make them removable

[Tango]

Roger that Bansil --- This has been a head scratcher but I think I finally have it more or less figgered out. But to complicate things even more...I have to also build a recess into the dash/firewall next to the doghouse for my pedals that I can also squeeze the new steering into. And right now, I'm not even sure whether the Isuzu NPR steering box & column I have will fit. Oh well...that's what cutting torches and mig welders are for, right?

[Dragonpop]

What no plasma cutter? Boy are doing it old school.

[Tango]

Plasma cutter?!...oh Lordy...what are these youngsters coming to?

In my day, all we needed was an old hacksaw blade wrapped with some duck tape on one end!

[claydbal]

real men dont need the duct tape.

[roach711]

Originally Posted by claydbal

real men dont need the duct tape.

Real men DEPEND on duct tape.

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango. More later but being older than you (no duct tape) I, when confronted with a broken generator bracket on a NEW truck deep in the bowels of Baja, wrapped a hack saw blade in a rag, cut off the busted piece and rigged a new bracket. The Chevy dealer wasn't pleased with my patch but did make good on the warranty. Jack

[claydbal]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

Hey Tango. More later but being older than you (no duct tape) I, when confronted with a broken generator bracket on a NEW truck deep in the bowels of Baja, wrapped a hack saw blade in a rag, cut off the busted piece and rigged a new bracket. The Chevy dealer wasn't pleased with my patch but did make good on the warranty. Jack

man, you are old!!!!!

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango,claydbal is callin us old! I got me some rel'tives in Lowsyana whool gladly fix him right up. Just say the word! Jack

[Tango]

We're not "old"... just highly experienced!

[Dragonpop]

Wisdom comes with age and there is a difference between a wise person
and a wise a$$. Myself I'm just a couple years shy of being as old as Tango's
bus so I hope that qualifies me as sort of wise and definitely experienced.

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango. As you build your floor and dog house consider placing a layer of "horse stall mat" or similar hard rubber under the cover. Next to lead it is best for dampening the low frequency noise produced by our little diesels. If there is room below the floor, add a layer of the stuff GM and others use on the floor board over the cats. The combination is very effective against noise and heat. I secured that combination to my removable cowl floor with a layer of expanded metal mesh held in place with large washers and 1/4" all thread (welded to floor). It has proved to be very satisfactory. Jack

Edit: I forgot to say----to be a successful wise a$$ you first need to be wise. We qualify-----

[Tango]

Hey Jack --- I'll have to check out the horse mat. Been looking at several different sound & thermal insulating products...the good stuff ain't cheap. My primary concern is the heat. My turbo downpipe will be routed pretty close to one edge of the doghouse. Close enough that I am concerned about whatever sealing material I use around the edges melting or worse...catching fire. I will be using a combination of ceramic coating, insulating tape wrapping and a small stainless shield on that section of pipe to try and minimize the transfer of heat from the pipe, but as you know...those suckers get seriously HOT.

Back to work now, should have a few new pix this evening/tonight.

Onward!

[ol trunt]

Hey Tango. I stayed up way past my bed time (it's 6:15 PM here) and still no pics. Now I probably won't be able to sleep trying to imagine the progress you made on the front floor/dog house. Just kidding. Hope the work day went well for you. Jack