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Old 07-20-2016, 08:20 PM   #21
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Kirkland, WA
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Cool build! Definitely following

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Old 07-21-2016, 09:51 PM   #22
Almost There
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 77
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
@marbury Thanks, and thanks for following along!

Small updates this week. Cleaned and primed the chair rails and blacked out the rear windows and last set of side windows. To black out the windows I used this 3M vinyl (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P6R78A/). I admit, it's not the cheapest but it's really forgiving and easy to apply. The back portion of the bus will be walled off, and store my solar setup / be the "garage/trunk". Now that the windows are blacked out, I'll caulk them up and insulate. I with blacking them out versus replacing them with sheet metal because I really want to keep the original look of the bus. From the outside it looks completely original even though these windows are 100% blacked out.





Anyone have any ideas for where I could purchase an original OEM floor liner / mat for my rig? I'm thinking with everything else re-done, it would be nice to have a fresh new floor in the front as well. 2005 E450 Super Duty.

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Old 07-22-2016, 01:18 AM   #23
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Garden State (rural NJ)
Posts: 378
Good luck with that. IF you can get a Ford dealership to find the listing (it exists), it's approximately $600. Many E-series owners are looking.

This guy replaced with carpeting from HD...
RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Replacement Vinyl or Carpet for the Cab?

Good luck!
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Old 07-29-2016, 03:18 AM   #24
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 77
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
@BusFiend, thanks for the link! I did manage to track one down from a dealer but it would be over $500 like you said. That carpet looks great, though I'd rather something a bit more weather resistant if I can.

I pulled out the current liner, glad I did too because I discovered quite a mess of rust. So I'll be cleaning and priming this while I look into cover options. It looks like there are some pliable carpet type of materials that are used in boats and whatnot that might work well. I'm afraid traditional carpet would be too rigid to form around some of the contours.

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Old 07-29-2016, 08:27 AM   #25
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Getting that size bus also. I have a quick question. In terms of registration for license plates. I'm inderstsnding that you have to change the registration of the bus from commercial bus to RV. So that means you have to bring to the highway patrol and have them inspect your rig for highway safety. What I was told it must have place to sleep, cook and bathroom to qualify. Is that true? How are you doing your registrations, you guys?
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Old 07-29-2016, 10:51 AM   #26
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Location: Cuyahoga Falls Ohio
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Year: 1997
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Chassis: Ford e-350 single wheel
Engine: 5.4 litre
Rated Cap: 12
Every state is different. Here in Ohio, I just had to sign a paper that stated it has bed, water,table and toilet with no inspection at all.
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Originally Posted by BigPapaDirk View Post
Getting that size bus also. I have a quick question. In terms of registration for license plates. I'm inderstsnding that you have to change the registration of the bus from commercial bus to RV. So that means you have to bring to the highway patrol and have them inspect your rig for highway safety. What I was told it must have place to sleep, cook and bathroom to qualify. Is that true? How are you doing your registrations, you guys?
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Old 07-29-2016, 01:40 PM   #27
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Location: North carolina
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Year: 1986
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Chassis: Ford
Engine: Detroit 8.2
Rated Cap: 60 bodies
In n.c. I have been insured and registered as a bus and don't plan on re-titling as an RV even though I am almost fully converted?
A normal driver's license usually covers a person up to 26,000? My bus is rated for 25,500
I do have a lot of friends that drive dump trucks that complain about there air brake endorsements when a bus driver doesn't have to have any but they are carrying a heavier load.
To re-title as an RV I need to have a way to store meat(fridge/cooler) a way to clean up after meat(sink/bucket of clean water and one plastic bin for washing and one for rinsing)and a way to cook food,(bag of charcoal).
I am way beyond that but I still want to be registered and insured as I am because even if I change to an RV insurance status the payout is still for the year model that I have unless I go antique in 5-years which means (just like RV status) that if/when something does happen that you still only get less than what you have in it. You will never get your sweat equity out of any part of your build insurance wise. So why upgrade to RV status? To pay more to the state and insurance every month? My license and my local school system hire drivers every day with a normal license to drive children to school so why can't a bus converter drive it without kids in it?
Mine has 7-seat belts that I added so that my kids/family could sit in any of the seats I provided while going down the road?
Most mini-vans hold more than that and don't require crazy insurance?
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Old 07-29-2016, 01:59 PM   #28
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Location: Cuyahoga Falls Ohio
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Year: 1997
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Chassis: Ford e-350 single wheel
Engine: 5.4 litre
Rated Cap: 12
Wow NC is tough. Here in Ohio RV plates and insurance are cheap.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jolly Roger View Post
In n.c. I have been insured and registered as a bus and don't plan on re-titling as an RV even though I am almost fully converted?
A normal driver's license usually covers a person up to 26,000? My bus is rated for 25,500
I do have a lot of friends that drive dump trucks that complain about there air brake endorsements when a bus driver doesn't have to have any but they are carrying a heavier load.
To re-title as an RV I need to have a way to store meat(fridge/cooler) a way to clean up after meat(sink/bucket of clean water and one plastic bin for washing and one for rinsing)and a way to cook food,(bag of charcoal).
I am way beyond that but I still want to be registered and insured as I am because even if I change to an RV insurance status the payout is still for the year model that I have unless I go antique in 5-years which means (just like RV status) that if/when something does happen that you still only get less than what you have in it. You will never get your sweat equity out of any part of your build insurance wise. So why upgrade to RV status? To pay more to the state and insurance every month? My license and my local school system hire drivers every day with a normal license to drive children to school so why can't a bus converter drive it without kids in it?
Mine has 7-seat belts that I added so that my kids/family could sit in any of the seats I provided while going down the road?
Most mini-vans hold more than that and don't require crazy insurance?
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Old 07-29-2016, 08:48 PM   #29
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My vote would be to leave that ceiling alone. It looks like a serious pain in the ass and the insulation looks brand new! Why bother?...never mind just saw ur pics lol!
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Old 07-29-2016, 09:16 PM   #30
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Location: Rochester, NY
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Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
As others have already said, the registration seems fairly different state by state. I currently have mine registered as a "commercial bus for personal use" or something along those lines, which is the only option in NY until it's converted to an RV. I will be re-registering it as an RV when the conversion is done though, the RV insurance will be much cheaper than what I'm paying now. I'd say just call your local DMV and insurance company, they can explain what all is required pretty quickly!
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Old 07-29-2016, 09:29 PM   #31
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A bit more progress from last weekend that I hadn't posted yet.

After blacking out the two rear side windows, I caulked them shut and insulated with reflectix and 1/2" foam board. Which ended up fitting in perfectly flush. Also insulated the walls above and below the windows with 1 3/8" foam board.







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Old 08-08-2016, 07:40 AM   #32
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Location: Rochester, NY
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Year: 2005
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Chassis: Ford E-450
Been on an overseas trip for work, so no progress on the bus recently. I have been able to spend a little time researching my ideal solar / electrical setup though, which I posted about in the 'Conversion General Discussions' forum.

I've also been messing around with some renderings of the floor plan too, but I haven't gone too in depth since it's really subject to change still. The basics are a bunk bed with folding futon on the bottom in the back. Kitchen / sink area, workstation / desk area, rotating co-pilot / table seat, and bathroom with shower and composting toilet. As small as my bus is, I've decided to wall off a rear "garage" area, only a foot deep or so. This will be for the solar setup, battery bank, water tank, pump, and whatever storage is left for outside things like lawn chairs, etc.

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Old 08-08-2016, 11:26 AM   #33
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Year: 1935
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The rear garage area looks like a good idea. You might want to consider some kind of escape hatch through the back wall to allow you to exit that way in an emergency. Jack
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Old 08-14-2016, 04:15 PM   #34
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 77
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
Small update today, finally back home after a couple weeks out of town. Got the skylight installed! I need to order one more tube of Dicor Sealant though, just to cover all the edges one more time. The skylight itself is from EZ Tops, which I've seen used on several other skoolies. (RV Skylights, Square, Rectangular & Round.) This is covering the old emergency exit cut-out, and it was pretty straight forward to screw in place with some self-tapping metal screws, after pre-drilling the skylight itself.

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Old 09-08-2016, 05:53 PM   #35
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 77
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
Labor day weekend finally gave me a couple days to dedicate to the bus, so some progress has been made.

Rust treated, primed, insulated and re-framed the stairs. Also framed up a new entry area to re-claim some floor space on the same level as the rest of the bus, since it was previously a lower upper level to the stairs.











Framed up and installed the Anderson 4000 series door as well, which was definitely a bit tricky! But I think it's going to look great once everything is buttoned up and it feels rock solid too for being a single glass pane. (Door idea blatantly stolen from Roach's build.)



Can't wait to start working on the interior and paint this thing!
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Old 09-08-2016, 08:42 PM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mattbus View Post
@marbury Thanks, and thanks for following along!

Small updates this week. Cleaned and primed the chair rails and blacked out the rear windows and last set of side windows. To black out the windows I used this 3M vinyl (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007P6R78A/). I admit, it's not the cheapest but it's really forgiving and easy to apply. The back portion of the bus will be walled off, and store my solar setup / be the "garage/trunk". Now that the windows are blacked out, I'll caulk them up and insulate. I with blacking them out versus replacing them with sheet metal because I really want to keep the original look of the bus. From the outside it looks completely original even though these windows are 100% blacked out.





Anyone have any ideas for where I could purchase an original OEM floor liner / mat for my rig? I'm thinking with everything else re-done, it would be nice to have a fresh new floor in the front as well. 2005 E450 Super Duty.

Check out lmc truck,
https://www.lmctruck.com/van/

The E350 is very close, and they have stuff to 2012. Dang just checked the catalog no carpet. 😣 I'll check out other restorer sites.

"EDIT" if you want new and can not find it. Here is a custom carpet manufacturer
http://www.automotiveinteriors.com/app/acc_carpet.php

Sent from my SM-G530W using Tapatalk
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Old 09-09-2016, 07:17 PM   #37
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Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 77
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
@Tootalltechie Thanks for the links! I think I'm going to try and carpet it myself first, but if that fails I'll definitely be going back to those links.

Started getting some insulation up on the ceiling today using 1 3/8" polyisocyanurate foam board. It's a bit thinner than the frame of the ceiling, so there will be about 1/4"-3/8" gap between the foam board and ceiling planks. My question is... is that air gap good or bad? The foam board itself reads that leaving 3/4" gap will actually add to the R-Value, but I've seen many skoolie building basically packing in multiple layers of insulation of various types and thicknesses, leaving no air gap at all.



So, leave the air gap? Or add more insulation?
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Old 09-17-2016, 07:25 PM   #38
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Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
I finished insulating the ceiling using 1 3/8" polyiso and spray foaming any gaps. My bus has pretty tight corners going into the ceiling, so I scored each piece of insulation board several times in these sections to fit well around the bends. Already a noticeable temperature difference when the sun is beating down on the bus all day.





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Old 09-17-2016, 07:44 PM   #39
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Oklahoma aka "God's blind spot"
Posts: 2,446
Year: 1989
Coachwork: 1853FC International/Navistar
Chassis: 35' Retired Air Force Ambulance
Engine: DT466, MT643
Rated Cap: 6 souls and a driver
Matt, for flooring, I'm still chasing this rabbit....
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f10/g-...ing-11232.html
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Old 09-20-2016, 07:13 AM   #40
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 77
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: Ford E-450
Started the ceiling this weekend. I was originally hoping to screw cedar planks directly to the steel frame, but the cedar planks are a little more fragile than I thought and tended to crack easily when using screws. Also the steel ribs are fairly thin, not giving much surface area to attach the planks to. So I cut strips of 1/4" plywood, and attached those to the frame first before attaching the cedar planks to the plywood strips. I'm attaching the cedar planks with a staple gun using brads, which are a lot harder to see than using screws so that's nice.

Definitely tedious work, but so far so good.



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