Abominable Snowbus

[EastCoastCB]

Yeah I can see from the pics that your tar patches were dry as a bone.
Mine are REALLY sticky.



anyhow- keep up the great work and the pics!

[LRflip]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Yeah I can see from the pics that your tar patches were dry as a bone.
Mine are REALLY sticky.



anyhow- keep up the great work and the pics!

just another reason why I don't live in Florida. Sticky tar.

I actually lived in Jacksonville for a short stint, and my parents currently live in St. Augustine...too hot, too flat, and too many old people for me.

You should bring your bus to Colorado, I'll let you borrow my wire wheel.

[EastCoastCB]

The bus was bought to get us to colorado!
We absolutely love it out there. Especially the sticky tar!

[nat_ster]

Keep the pics coming.

Even the selfies are welcome. Lol

Nat

[ArmyChap]

Someone enlighten me: What's the reason for removing ceiling tar? Why not just leave it since you're going to insulate and panel over it anyway? And what is this tar... Just adhesive to keep the stock insulation in place?

[EastCoastCB]

Its a sound deadener/adhesive/pain in my arse.
Removed mine because it traps condesation between the metal and itself causing rust and stink.

the rust under the tar

[ArmyChap]

Wow! That picture says it all!

[LRflip]

So, the tar is out. I started working on it yesterday late morning and was running into the same problem that most of you were having. It was heating up just enough to start splattering and creating a mess. I then realized that I had been grinding it off in the evenings well away from peak heat for the day of 70ish.

I got frustrated with the last 3 panels (passenger rear wall sections) and decided to take a roadtrip. Theres a 5 Star RV SuperCenter that has a load of new and used parts just northeast of Denver...I was originally headed there, but called at 2:40 and they were closing at 3:00. Bummer...maybe next weekend. Instead, I tripped down to Loveland which is about a 50min drive down the canyon and stopped at Home Depot.

I filled up a cart with a bunch of goodies and quickly realized I wasn't going to be able to fit all of it in my Tacoma.





Fortunately, my friend from Estes was down getting brakes put on her Tundra. So I called her and we loaded up the truck. I bought her a beer for the help.



This morning I went fishing with a buddy of mine. I didn't catch anything but, I did see this dick shaped rock and watch him get caught up in the trees.




Other than that, pretty uneventful weekend. Now with most of what I need to insulate the floors, walls, and seal the windows back, I hope it'll motivate me to hurry along before the snow hits.

Cheers,

Matt

[LRflip]

I forgot to add a couple things....

This I got for free.99:



This is going to be my entire kitchen, I'll build cabinets beneath it and use the outer sinks for storage. I'm going to put some nice wood slabs over the dry racks/outer sinks.

Anybody want to take a guess what this is for?:



Winner gets 10 points.

[nat_ster]

Sweet sink.

Reminds me of mine.

Mine is just one big VS three small.

Nat

[CaptainInsaneo]

Originally Posted by LRflip

Anybody want to take a guess what this is for?:



Winner gets 10 points.

Dickenson heater or cooktop.

[Timelord]

Is it one of these? Dickinson Marine, Newport Propane (LPG) Boat Heater/Fireplace, P12000

[Timelord]

Curses! I was beat to the punch!

[CaptainInsaneo]

I want one soooooo bad. The problem with most of the correct size wood stoves is you don't get to see the fire. It seems like the ideal heating system for us pyromaniacs who live in small spaces. I can't decide if one of those sized or two of the small sized ones would be correct for a bus. Because if you got 2 you could put one in the bed room near the bath, so as not to freeze your chum chum off after a shower or late night tinkle and that would allow you to turn off the one in your living area when you are sleeping. Just a thought.

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by LRflip

I forgot to add a couple things....

This I got for free.99:



This is going to be my entire kitchen, I'll build cabinets beneath it and use the outer sinks for storage. I'm going to put some nice wood slabs over the dry racks/outer sinks.

Anybody want to take a guess what this is for?:



Winner gets 10 points.

A dingy?

[LRflip]

CaptainInsaneo is the winner. 10 points.

I got the bigger version for 30-36ft sailboats. I'm sure it will provide enough heat for the area I'll be working with.

[The Nebuchadnezzar]

Good call, I think . I bought one too a while back. Haven't installed it yet because I'm still building but I think it will work out well, good luck.

[LRflip]

Finally got all the little screws/bolts left in the floor ground out tonight. I was thinking about while I was doing it (jamming to DMB); "Why hadn't I done it earlier?" It was so easy, took maybe 5 minutes, and now my extension cords/air hoses won't get caught up? Just when I'm about to put foam board over the whole thing? I felt kinda stupid, but oh well.

Here's how I marked those little bastards:



Started from the back to the front grinding down rust and spraying Klean-Strip on everything.

Etch Prep phsphrc Ga Surf Prep

This stuff works great. Couldn't find regular "Ospho" and I know that it's what everyone talks about. But, looked at the active ingredient and the produced results say it all. The surface is tacky and rough, and started reacting with the rust immediately. I'm sure it will turn out fine in the end.



I've got in front of the wheel wells done, I just lost light and couldn't snap a picture.

I got this picture today from my buddy...I sold him my old 98 Discovery to part out when I moved from NC. He sent me this picture but had his daughter pose in front of it so I wouldn't be upset. Damn I miss that truck:



Until next time,

Matt

[LRflip]

Got the rest of the interior of the bus Ospho'd, I bought two gallons total and have over a gallon left over. So, I'll be taking the extra gallon back to HD unless I can find good use for it. I'm sure something else rusty will come my way. I had extra in my bottle so I just started going to town on the window sills, walls, roof, everything.

I'm going to let it soak another day or so then go back with simple green, a bucket of soapy water, and some brillo pads...that should make for a long day's work. When I start cleaning something, I clean the crap out of it. It's a weird part of OCD that I do have. I can let things go dirty for days, but when I clean up....I could spend 8 hours on it.

I also ordered 4 100w Solar panels, 4 Trojan T-105, Converter, Charger, Wiring, etc. to install...out the door cost me $2,020 delivered. So, I should have that in a week or so and begin that process. The good thing is, it's expandable. So, I'll be leaving extra room on the roof for additional panels and whatever battery bank I buy, I'll get one big enough for 6-8 batteries.

I'm only planning on running a few LED lights, TV, Cellphone charging, a couple laptops, a simple car stereo, and MAYBE the water heater. My furnace and fridge will
both be gas.

I'm a bit nervous only because I'm not sure if I'll have enough power, but we get pretty good sun up here and I've run worst case scenarios through the spreadsheet several times and I'm pretty sure I'll be fine.

Also, I finally got up and cleaned all the extra sand/debris that was sitting in the drivers compartment. Every time I start cleaning up there I find more school kid crap. Pencils, spitballs, old pipe cleaner craft things, etc. Until I remove that front heater and really start taking the dash/control panel apart I'm sure I won't have it all.

That's it probably until friday...no pictures, since I'm sure you love looking at ospho work just as much as you love watching the grass grow.

Later on Garth,

Matt

[The Nebuchadnezzar]

If you haven't already make sure you read Handy Bob's RV solar blog, there is a lot to know to get solar working well on an RV: https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/