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Old 05-05-2022, 03:53 PM   #21
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 43
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Layout

By the end of August 2020 I had my layout pretty well planned. I don't have an overview pic but I'll try to upload one later.
I can describe it, though:

Driver's side, front-to-back-
-Driver's Seat
-Workbench/desk (over front wheel)
-Cooktop, microwave/toaster
-Fridge
-Main electrical panel
-Existing side door
-Hall closet (over rear wheel)
-Bedroom

Passenger side-
-Passenger seat
-Full size couch (over front wheel)
-Kitchen sink and countertop
-Bathroom
-Bedroom closet (over rear wheel)
-Bedroom

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Old 05-05-2022, 04:09 PM   #22
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Location: New Mexico
Posts: 43
Year: 1999
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Bed

With a PNW autumn coming up fast, job one was the bedroom. I started with the bed mounting:




Then came the closet over the left rear wheels. Its door is to the front, and the rear wall is made from a drop-front secretary desk that opens rearward, into the bedroom.


It actually used to be a side-by-side, half desk and half china cabinet, that I inherited. Unfortunately I don't have any use for an enormous glass door... or china... in my bus, but I do have several power saws.
Sorry, grandma.


Next was the bedroom closet, over the right rear wheels. It opens rearward and the front wall will be part of the shower enclosure.



The final bedroom structure is just a big cabinet over the bed that I've been calling the attic:


... also a couple of small shelves you can barely see underneath.
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Old 05-05-2022, 04:26 PM   #23
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Location: New Mexico
Posts: 43
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Bathroom Framing

Shower goes in front of the right rear wheels:



And here's the other bathroom walls. The forward one doesn't go all the way to the ceiling yet:



You can also see the kitchen sink cabinet frame and my couch.
The couch is an old This End Up unit, set on a framing pedestal to clear the right front wheel well and provide room for storage underneath. It's a bit heavy, but the right-angle, thick wood construction is a perfect fit for all this bus tomfoolery.
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Old 05-05-2022, 04:41 PM   #24
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Location: New Mexico
Posts: 43
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
A Word on Wood

With the exception of furring strips and some other odds 'n ends, my framing members are 2x3s, my structural walls are 3/4" plywood, and my non-structural walls/ wall coverings are 1/4" ply.

2x3 walls provide sufficient internal space for wiring and plumbing without taking up too much human space.

3/4" ply is thick enough to support having other things attached to it without needing reinforcement such as wall anchors and the like, plus it'll put up with having things attached and removed repeatedly.

1/4' ply is thick enough to act as an actual wall without warping or getting punctured accidentally, but essentially takes up no space. Plus it's strong enough to support non-structural things easily, like pictures or clotheslines or whatever. Beats trying to make sheet rock work in this environment.

My framed walls are attached to the floor, the 3/4" ply over the exterior walls, the furring strips on the roof ribs, or some combination of these. If there's a weird shape, like parallel to the roof curve, the walls are anchored as high as possible and the odd shape is filled in, like with the front bathroom wall.

All hardware is screws, not nails, and any screws going into metal are pre-drilled, which is tedious.
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Old 05-05-2022, 04:49 PM   #25
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Location: New Mexico
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Kitchen Cabinets

I built these to house-normal height, 36". Here's the sink side, with a full-size sink I found at Habitat for Humanity for $15:


And here's the stove side, with the fridge enclosure to the rear:


For countertops, I went with solid bamboo flooring for several reasons:
-I like how it looks
-I use detached cutting boards when I cook
-It's very light
-It's very, very cheap.

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Old 05-05-2022, 05:17 PM   #26
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Overhead Storage

I lived on an island near Seattle for 10 years and learned a lot about boats in that time. One thing that impressed me is the way living space is managed in smaller boats- a place for everything, and everything gets put in its place. Cabinets everywhere.

So I built overhead cabinets in the front area. They start right behind the driver's seat, which I consider the end of the cab. The driver's side goes all the way to the fridge, about 9 feet, and the passenger side goes back to the bathroom wall, something like 13 feet.

First came the cabinet floors. They stick out 16" from the walls, and are attached with bolts to L-brackets that are attached directly to the metal wall ribs.


Next I cut the door openings into the face plywood:


And attached the faces to the floors and the roof ribs, again with L-brackets:

You can see curtains made of flannel sheets in this one, it was early November and a little chilly.


Here's a view of the inside of the overhead cabinets. The ceiling wood is 1/8" ply, just there to keep the insulation in place and protected from cabinet contents.



I actually had a really easy time with the cabinet dividers! They needed to be effective barriers, but they also needed to allow airflow so I wouldn't get weird temperature regions or humidity/condensation issues. So I just whipped up a bunch of 1/8" ply pieces- didn't even need to match them to the ceiling curve- and attached them with little L-brackets.


The cabinet doors are made from the pieces cut out to make the holes. After sanding the doors' and holes' edges, the doors were small enough to sit flush in the openings with about a 3/16" gap all around. Again, trying to avoid moisture issues via airflow.



Close-up of the hinges- they are not quite strong enough to hold the door up- and the RV cabinet latch I used on all of these.


Got these handles at Habitat for something like $1.20/pound. Spent about $7 total, instead of a million skillion dollars at Home Depot.


There were other projects happening concurrently, but the cabinets were in this usable state by late November 2020.
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Old 05-06-2022, 01:09 PM   #27
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Doors and Locks

My front door was the standard air-driven, middle-opening one.
I didn't like how it needed air pressure to stay really firmly closed, and it seemed like there weren't a lot of great locking solutions.
And let's not even talk about the various secret handshakes required to actually use the door, depending on whether the bus was running, there was air pressure, etc.

So I made one door out of them. I used 1/4" steel plates on the inside at the bottom and midpoint, with a 1/8" strap at the very top. These were bolted all the way through the doors, with stacked washers providing structure between the skins.
This left a gap between the doors, where the rubber gaskets used to be, which I covered with aluminum sheeting on both sides.
I don't have any process pictures, unfortunately.







For the side emergency doors I used surface-mount deadbolts, they work great.





The front door has a locking knob at the midpoint and a deadbolt at the bottom, mostly because at the time I hadn't driven the bus much and I thought I wanted to keep as good a view out the door as possible.
This was a mistake. The knob is inconveniently high, and I don't need all that glass.

The new plan is to remove the lower rear glass and replace it with wood and a sheet metal skin, then move the knob a bit lower. (Only by about 8" so it's still reasonably easy to reach from inside.)
Also plan to add security mesh to the front lower glass, on the inside.
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Old 05-06-2022, 01:16 PM   #28
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Posts: 43
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Flashing Lights

I considered doing something cool with the stop flashers, like I've seen so many other folks do- party lights, off-road lights, security lights, etc.
But eventually I decided for a little simplicity, as well as a smoother and slightly less school-bus look, and deleted them.

I covered the holes with single rectangles of sheet metal, glued and riveted in place. Don't worry, these ended up better looking after I smoothed the caulking and sprayed them black.

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Old 05-06-2022, 03:41 PM   #29
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Nice work.
I may use your E-door lock idea.
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Old 05-07-2022, 02:50 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp View Post
Nice work.
I may use your E-door lock idea.
Thanks! I'm just glad nothing has disintegrated.

I got the lock idea from someone else's project. It's definitely the simplest way to deal with the side doors.
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Old 05-07-2022, 04:22 PM   #31
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Starting on the Electrical

Backing up to late September 2020 now.
The interior side of the bus walls were finished and the fridge enclosure was in place. It was time to start moving towards a world free of extension cords all over the place.

First, a hole right through the wall:


Then, a 30 amp socket. I decided against 50 amps because I don't plan to ever have enough 110V accessories to justify it.



I did add a separate, 20 amp socket. The plan is to have the 20 and 30 amp systems be totally independent of each other. Sort of like- hey, if there's only a 20 amp plug available for me, then I have to make a little bit of fuss to use it and that'll remind me not to draw too much. And if there's both 20 and 30 available- hey, I've got a handy accessory circuit, like for a space heater.
Anyway.



Next, house batteries. I only have a couple of terrible photos of these, sorry.
I got four GC8 golf cart batteries from Costco. Lead acid, 6 volt, etc. I wired them in series and parallel for something like 400AH at 12V.
I installed them in a sturdy plywood box at the left rear of the belly storage, sealed and ventilated to the outside. You can barely see the fuse holder in this photo:



From the batteries I ran 2/0 AWG welding cable straight up through the floor to the main electrical panel, which is built just to the rear of my fridge enclosure.



Side note, I couldn't have done this without my impact crimper.
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Old 05-07-2022, 04:42 PM   #32
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Main Electrical Panel

I wanted all of the RV electrical stuff (besides outlets & such) to be located in one place. It's easier to manage, modify, or replace components, it cuts down on wiring needed for controls or monitors, and it's less room that has to be made elsewhere.

First, the ugly side. This is a view of the interior of the panel, looking forward from the left rear door. Outer wall is at left.


The silver and black item at top right is my power converter, a WFCO WF8955PEC. I preinstalled a WFCO T-30 transfer switch to accommodate an eventual backup generator.
Directly below the converter is the back of my AC breaker boxes.
On the outer wall is my inverter, an AIMS Power PWRIX200012SUL.


Next, the ugly side:


At the top left you have the WFCO converter/ power center. Next to it are the battery monitor (Victron Energy BMV-700), remote panel for the AIMS inverter, and circuit breaker for the 12V side of the power center.
Bottom row is the breaker box for the 20 amp AC inlet, with its only outlets right below it (and being used fully since they were the first functional ones in the whole bus). Center is the breaker box for the "main" set of electrical outlets throughout the bus. Bottom right is the main house battery cutoff switch.

Believe it or not, it's reasonably easy to access all the important parts inside the panel.
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Old 05-07-2022, 04:56 PM   #33
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
In Which I Rationalize My Electrical Plan

I really ought to upload a diagram, but let me give you a quick AC circuit overview.
30 amp service comes into the WFCO power center and gets distributed to three main circuits- A, B, and C.


Circuit A is straightforward- it goes directly to the main breaker box, where it is further distributed to all of the, for lack of a better word, "normal" outlets throughout the bus. These are white.

Circuit B consists entirely of two AFCI/GFCI outlets. One is near the left side door, and the other is in the bathroom. That one also has a sub-outlet in the kitchen. These are all white also.

Circuit C goes to the inverter, which in normal operation is just a pass-through, and then on to outlets for the fridge, toaster, and microwave, as well as an outlet at each of the front and rear desk areas, and one inside the power panel for network gear. These outlets are black.

The 20 amp service has its own breaker, and it goes directly to a pair of outlets right at the power panel. These are grey.
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Old 05-07-2022, 06:52 PM   #34
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Looks pretty good, although I think I would have gone with a single 50A plug and adapters for the smaller plug types. If you go somewhere that only has 50A service you'll be stuck, while a 50A plug can suck on 20/30 amp service all day long.

I suggest spraying/painting the battery box with a bed liner that says it is not affected by sulphuric acid. You'll also want a vent and a drain. The vent should be high and outside the bus envelope to let hydrogen out, and the drain should clear the bus so if a battery pops the acid can easily be washed out. The drain needs a closing valve, because that stuff should be disposed of properly.
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Old 05-07-2022, 11:43 PM   #35
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Year: 1999
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The house battery box is sealed and vented to the outside, at the rear of the belly storage. That's as high as it's going to get; no need to run a duct back inside the bus and back out again to gain a little more height.
The vent is 1.5" tubing off the top of the box.

The box is actually built around a sturdy plastic tub, with a small metal fitting near the bottom leading to a drain tube.
Good point about the need for a valve there... back to the hardware store go I.

I have plug adapters out the wazoo, though funnily enough the last one I needed to buy was for a pedestal that only had a 50 socket.
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Old 05-09-2022, 03:43 PM   #36
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Location: New Mexico
Posts: 43
Year: 1999
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Fresh Water Tank

The water tank is the first thing I really had to compromise on.
While I feel like about 80-ish gallons would be a good amount to have on hand, the reality is that for at least the first year or two I will not be boondocking or off-grid with any regularity, if ever, and I also need every bit of storage space I can get while there's two people in the bus, especially the belly storage.

So the interim solution is a 33 gallon tank; enough water to be useful, but fairly compact. It goes underneath the kitchen sink, with plenty of bracing:


And it's filled on the "wrong" side of the bus, opposite from the other hookups.

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Old 05-09-2022, 03:51 PM   #37
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Posts: 43
Year: 1999
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Finishing the Kitchen Cabinets

First some shelves-

Under the sink area:


And under the stove:




Then some drawer slides:


Homemade, oversize drawers:


Some nice faces:


And some paint to cover up those nice faces.
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Old 05-09-2022, 04:11 PM   #38
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Year: 1999
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Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Some Interior Walls

Almost all of the walls are at the back, around the bathroom and bedroom.

This is the "hall" closet, over the left rear wheels. The snazzy expand-o-file is towards the front of the bus:



This wall is entirely inside the bedroom. You can barely see the bedroom closet at right, and bathroom framing further forward.


This shot was taken in the hall outside the bathroom. I built a little recess for the light switches that'll go here, so I don't run into them while walking past.



Here's the bathroom walls:



And here's the wall between the bathroom and kitchen. More about the water heater later.
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Old 05-09-2022, 04:28 PM   #39
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Year: 1999
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The End of 2020

That brings us to late December 2020.
At this point Bus 49 is an insulated plywood box. There are some walls up, but there is no actual plumbing, and the only complete AC circuit is the 20 amp one.
Heat is being supplied by one of those plug-in radiators. Luckily it hasn't been a particularly cold winter so far, so that's sufficient.
The rest of the month was spent running AC and DC wiring, but I don't have any photos of that.

The owner of the parking space I'm renting has been grumbling a little- this has taken longer than anticipated- but given the wet weather and the generally weird state of the world, they're being understanding.
Truth is, I was moving pretty slowly. Part of that was to spread out the expenditures, but part of it was a hesitancy to finish up and drive away. I mean... 2020 was kinda strange.

But anyway, things start picking up in January.
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Old 05-13-2022, 05:46 PM   #40
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Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 43
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC
Heating and Ventilation

The bus came with a permanent vent- a little louvered box on the roof, covering a straight-up hole in the ceiling. I decided to keep it; fresh air is always desirable, and it's too small to be a major source of heat loss.
I did attach a bug screen directly under the hole, then framed around it to support the ceiling panel. Last step was a cosmetic cover:



Then came the fun part. I got one of those Chinese diesel heaters off Amazon, a 5KW model. I prefer a cold sleeping area, so I mounted the heater up front, underneath the couch.
First I cut away flooring and insulation:



Then I mounted the heater and built a box around it. On top you can see the box cover, and to the right of the heater you can see the fresh air inlet hole. This will be covered with a "normal" furnace filter. The heat outlet is floor level in front of the couch, and the control box is mounted to the main electrical panel.



I mounted the fuel tank on the bus skin, behind the front wheel:



And the tank fill is accessible through a locking flap from a Jeep, right below the main diesel tank filler.


So far, I've only run the heater on kerosene from the small tank.
The eventual plan is to hook the heater to both the diesel tank and the small tank, and just run kerosene occasionally as a sort of combustion chamber cleaner, but so far I've been through two winters and have only used 20-30 gallons of kerosene. Mostly I heat with an electric (AC) unit and use the diesel heater for boosts.


At first I had the heater exhaust exiting behind the side skirt, right at the bottom edge, but it tended to pool under there and stink up the place. So I added a "through hull" exhaust fitting in the same general area and I've had no complaints since.
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