DanFrazoo’s Conversion

[Veloc]

There are propane heaters, and there are propane heaters. The one you want is a vented heater, which does all the burning in an isolated chamber vented to the outside so there's no moisture inside the heated area. I have a pair of Ashley vented heaters in my house as backup heaters and they work very well. Two of them are enough to keep the inside of my 2600 sq ft house tolerable during power outages. One of them should be more than enough to keep a bus warm. They will require drilling a roughly 4 inch diameter hole in the side, depending on how large a heater you get. And, as my house is not within a gas network, I'm also using propane.

[DanFrazoo]

Originally Posted by Veloc

There are propane heaters, and there are propane heaters. The one you want is a vented heater, which does all the burning in an isolated chamber vented to the outside so there's no moisture inside the heated area. I have a pair of Ashley vented heaters in my house as backup heaters and they work very well. Two of them are enough to keep the inside of my 2600 sq ft house tolerable during power outages. One of them should be more than enough to keep a bus warm. They will require drilling a roughly 4 inch diameter hole in the side, depending on how large a heater you get. And, as my house is not within a gas network, I'm also using propane.

Thanks for that suggestion, I had wondered if the for-home vented would work in a conversion. It’s funny, you put RV, camping, motor home in front of vented heater and the prices increase 7-10 fold!

[DanFrazoo]

Spent a good portion of the day yesterday hauling away old ceiling panels, remnants of seat frames and other deconstruction debris. Hit the big box store for some materials to start getting the ceiling closed up so I will not have fine insulation dust raining down on me (hate that stuff!).

I am putting 3/4” plywood ripped to 3-1/2” wide across the roofing support members (glued and screwed in), to give me more surface to attach the new ceiling to.

Getting the “just right” length was a bit of trial and error balancing covering as much span as possible and not getting into the sharper radius along the transition point from roof to ceiling.

[DanFrazoo]

The crossmember nearest the back of the bus ended up being a couple inches too long, and got too deep into the radius and actually split/broke.
I finally settled on putting a screw in the old ceiling panel roof rafters (?) in hole #9 from the lower edge and let the other end float free. Then, using a sort of deadman 2x6 brace I was able to wedge the plywood strip in place for hands-free drilling.

We are short folk and losing an inch or two in ceiling height is not a problem for us.

Edit to add
The screw in hole #9 serves as a stop for the plywood strip, making all even with one another on both ends.

[DanFrazoo]

At the radius, I mounted blocks in differing widths to decide how wide each final longitudinal strip would need to be. By having a separation similar to what is shown I can mount all wall cabinets and shelving with a French cleat, making everything a bit more secure.
On a side note, the already existing holes are perfect for the self-drilling/tapping wood-to-metal screws (if you mark them carefully!).

[UFO pilot]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

Pics or not. Comments or not. I (and I'm sure lots of others) are reading and following along as you make progress. Thanks for sharing the updates!

^yep we are reading along. Pics get attention, especially if its funny or someone gets hurt!

[Dbacks2k4]

I keep the crossing mirrors on our party bus fleet but took them off my skoolie rv conversion.

I'm going to use a pair of cheap Chinese diesel heaters instead of propane heat for my bus. I could probably get by with one but I come from an IT background where we do everything in pairs for redundancy .

[Veloc]

Originally Posted by DanFrazoo

Thanks for that suggestion, I had wondered if the for-home vented would work in a conversion. It’s funny, you put RV, camping, motor home in front of vented heater and the prices increase 7-10 fold!

As long as you keep in mind that it's designed for a fixed (ie house never moves) install, and compensate for movement on the install, it should be fine.

[DanFrazoo]

I’m sure some of our choices for what, and how we finish this out may seem strange or foreign to some (read cheap, lol), but we are minimalist vacationers.

I have built tiny travel trailers, converted regular cargo work vans (not the high tops), our needs are, well, minimalist. We are also fair weather vacationers in a state/region without the extremes of the northern climes or the Deep South. A little bit of occasional heat may be needed on a chilly morn or a bit of a/c on a hot, sultry day/evening is plenty for our needs.

Our outdoor activities are dictated by our vacationing lifestyle, fishing, kayaking, biking, hiking, and historical sights. For us, the conversion is a means to an end; our RV is not the goal, so our build may be different (as I am sure everyone’s is!). And that is a good thing, I think?

[DanFrazoo]

Getting the ceiling started. The corrugated metal will run down the centerline from front to the garage/toy storage area. There will be 1x6’s running down the outside edges of the metal with 3-1/2” wide pine t&g boards filling in to the side walls. The metal “mirrors” the old center aisle.

[DanFrazoo]

Spent the morning ripping 2-by’s for trim framing and by noon the temps were nice enough to try the exterior color in one spot to see how we like it.

[DanFrazoo]

The color is silver metallic.
The marker light just to the left of the door and it’s counterpart on the opposite side are the only lights I have not been able to figure out, Calling for rain tomorrow so it might be a good day for chasing wiring.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by DanFrazoo

Getting the ceiling started. The corrugated metal will run down the centerline from front to the garage/toy storage area. There will be 1x6’s running down the outside edges of the metal with 3-1/2” wide pine t&g boards filling in to the side walls. The metal “mirrors” the old center aisle.

Have you considered putting sheets of 1/2" or 3/4" XPS foam board in between the corrugated steel and the original ceiling insulation? It wouldn't be super-expensive, would be easy to install and would give a significant boost to your ceiling's R-value.

[DanFrazoo]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Have you considered putting sheets of 1/2" or 3/4" XPS foam board in between the corrugated steel and the original ceiling insulation? It wouldn't be super-expensive, would be easy to install and would give a significant boost to your ceiling's R-value.

I looked at it in my local stores but all they had in stock that day was 1” thick and up. Looking around the insulation aisle I ran across rolls of Reflectix at around 3/8” (+/-) so I cut that 1-1/2” less length and width of the metal panel and used the spray 3M adhesive to help hold it until I got it up in place. Wasn’t sure of the benefit vs the cost but didn’t think it could hurt. Glad to see something was called for!

[DanFrazoo]

Marker lights on the lower front sides were not marker lights after all. They are side turn signals (found that out in several threads here from months ago. New bulbs and good to go.
Today is wall cabinet day.

[DanFrazoo]

Trying a few new things to see what I like before making it permanent.

[DanFrazoo]

Mock up of passenger side wall cabinet. This is directly above the proposed dining area layout. Ceiling work on passenger side complete except for final touches, and two-thirds of drivers side ceiling done.

[DanFrazoo]

Been reading a lot of threads regarding leaving in or taking out the rear heater. T’s not really in my way, there’s ample room for our needs and from what I gather it can be of benefit once in a while.
Besides, if I take it out and store it for a possible future need it will fall into that black hole where all my missing stuff resides.

[Dbacks2k4]

Originally Posted by DanFrazoo

Been reading a lot of threads regarding leaving in or taking out the rear heater. T’s not really in my way, there’s ample room for our needs and from what I gather it can be of benefit once in a while.
Besides, if I take it out and store it for a possible future need it will fall into that black hole where all my missing stuff resides.

I'm leaving mine in. I'm going to relocate it from the rear quarter to about midship and just build a cabinet over it with some vents and possibly a computer fan to push the warm air out. I like redundancy so it's a good Plan B from my primary heat source (and for use while driving)

[DanFrazoo]

Originally Posted by Dbacks2k4

I'm leaving mine in. I'm going to relocate it from the rear quarter to about midship and just build a cabinet over it with some vents and possibly a computer fan to push the warm air out. I like redundancy so it's a good Plan B from my primary heat source (and for use while driving)

That sounds like a good plan B, I’ll have to give that some thought!