Journey Begins - 1988 Crown Conversion

[wmkbailey]

There is also Bus Kote, a ruberized paint to seal from the outside. It also has ceramic beads to help keep the heat of summer out. I'm waiting for spring to paint my roof.

If you don't need the ceramic beads there is Henry 4.75-Gal. 287 Solarflex White Roof Coating http://www.homedepot.com/p/Henry-4-7...F871/100051140

[gmarvel]

MORE TRADITIONAL PAINT SCHEME

Donna and I have been debating back and forth about what to do with the paint scheme. Many of you gave us great ideas. I also got emails from Crown nuts who suggested that we keep the traditional Crown look in the paint scheme (obviously without the yellow).

Attached is a paint scheme that we are now leaning towards. Stay tuned because it could change ten times in the next five minutes. It is obviously a big decision. It is not something we wish to redo.

We have also decided to not keep the top white. The khaki/gold metallic color is light enough that it will not absorb as much heat as a darker color. Plus, we are spray foam insulating the roof cavity before putting the headliner back up. We want it to look like a classic Crown.

I have also attached a couple of pictures of the main body paint color. Photos do not do it justice. We painted a large piece of sheet metal to get a better look and we were blown away by how beautiful in looked in the sun. The paint job will be clear coated for a fabulous look. The black stripes will also be super black and glossy.

[gmarvel]

VEHICLE BATTERY COMPARTMENT

The giant old 8D vehicle batteries are out. The battery compartment was in pretty bad shape. We cleaned it up and then painted the interior. The new AGM maintenance free deep cycle batteries are half the size of the old 8D batteries. So, two AGM batteries will fit into the top rack of the battery compartment. The second rack has been removed to make room for our FMCC (Fecal Matter Control Center) in the lower part of the compartment. We are also enclosing the battery compartment. The new AGM batteries will have a combined rating of 2000 Cold Cracking Amps.

[gmarvel]

FRONT CROWN VENTS NOW HAVE 12 VOLT QUIET EXHAUST FANS

The two front vents in Crowns are designed to help exhaust the moisture in the air from all the students' and their breath, plus it created air circulation to refresh the air inside the bus.

We wanted a more aggressive system for air circulation. We took our inspiration from the Brown Crown and put in these really quiet 12 volt fans. The switch to turn them on and off will be in the dash area of the bus. We checked out numerous 12 volt fans for noise. These are extremely quiet.

[gmarvel]

SHOWER FAN INSTALL

We thought a great deal about the need for a powerful exhaust fan for the bathroom area. We went with a Maxx Aire brand. It is quiet and very powerful. It is also remotely operated and has a thermostat on it. So, you can set it to come on when the interior temperature of the bus exceeds your preset maximum. It is a 12 volt model. The fan moves 900 cubic feet of air per minute. This will be great with the thermostat feature. We leave the bus at a campsite on a hot day and return and it will not be 130 degrees inside the bus (hopefully with our insulation it wouldn't get that high anyway). If it is 100 degrees out, an enclosed vehicle can easily exceed those temperatures. We want the interior to be no hotter than the outside air temp. This should do it for us plus remove the moisture caused by showers.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by gmarvel

FRONT CROWN VENTS NOW HAVE 12 VOLT QUIET EXHAUST FANS

The two front vents in Crowns are designed to help exhaust the moisture in the air from all the students' and their breath, plus it created air circulation to refresh the air inside the bus.

We wanted a more aggressive system for air circulation. We took our inspiration from the Brown Crown and put in these really quiet 12 volt fans. The switch to turn them on and off will be in the dash area of the bus. We checked out numerous 12 volt fans for noise. These are extremely quiet.

Strange, I have the same year yet I don't have the roof vents, Stuart

[gmarvel]

I did not know that roof vents were optional. Every Crown I ever saw had the scooped roof vents.

[inkblots84]

Originally Posted by gmarvel

I did not know that roof vents were optional. Every Crown I ever saw had the scooped roof vents.

Actually most everything for Crowns was optional - almost every single one was customized to order at the factory. I guess some people didn't like the horn look, I love it.

Your bus is really coming along gmarvel!!! Is it just me or did that fancy fan just happen to fit perfectly?

[gmarvel]

We researched the various exhaust fan options out there and went with the one that would fit in the space and had the features we wanted. We were lucky that we found a model that fit in the space. Otherwise, we would have had to go with a much smaller fan that would not have helped keep the whole bus cooler.

Thank you for the kind words. We are hoping to have the conversion completed in a couple of months. We have been at this since late July 2013. I know some on this forum have been at it for years. So I guess we are just impatient.

[gpeck1970]

I been at this for 4 years now and still don't have everything I want to do done yet, your doing a great job, cant wait to see the more pics.

[gmarvel]

CROWN NOW HAS A TRAILER HITCH

We decided that we wanted a trailer hitch on the rear bumper. Of course, Crown frames end well in front of the rear bumper. So we had to engineer an extension of the frame to get a trailer hitch safely to the rear bumper. It was all securely welded into place and reviewed by an expert to insure that it could handle the load of pulling a small car.

We don't intend to pull a car all the time. However, we want the option.

It wasn't cheap since I had professionals do it. I figured going cheap on something as critical as a hitch would be a big mistake. I wanted it to be failure proof.

Pictures are found below.

[gmarvel]

PAINTING BEGINS

Bus has been masked off for painting. The black has been painted and has now been masked off in preparation for the main body paint. It is going in the paint booth tomorrow. Pictures are below.

[JakeC]

Man, I can't wait to see the finished product!! It's going to look amazing.

[PDBreske]

Looking forward to seeing this when it comes out of the paint booth.

[thommassey]

When you say "booth" does that mean you are going to have a baked or heated finish? That is a big booth... Look forward to seeing it after paint!

[gmarvel]

ELECTRICAL AND ROOF INSULATION COMPLETED

All of the electrical wiring has now been run. The generator is hooked up. It was time to do the spray foam. We selected the closed cell variety and the full depth of the cavities between the roof and the roof ribs are now foamed. I could tell the difference the instant I got on the bus. We were going to do the installation ourselves and then I started reading about all the various hazards with this stuff while it is being applied. It is kind of scary. Originally, I thought doing it myself I could save big bucks. Turned out letting professional installers do it was only about $350 more than getting all the stuff and doing it myself.

Next steps are to put rubber backed aluminum insulating tape (with the aluminum side facing towards the interior) on the interior roof ribs and cross beams. This is to create a thermal break between the metal ribbing and the metal headliner going back up. I did research on this point on a number of RV rehab sites and a number of professional Class A RV rehab firms suggested it. It makes sense that you need a thermal break between the structural metal that touches the outside metal roof and the interior metal headliner. Otherwise, the hot and cold coming from the exterior roof metal will flow directly to the structural roof beams and ribs and then onto the interior headliner. Creating the thermal break will prevent that transfer of the heat and cold. This may be overkill but I figure it will not cost that much and I better do it while the headliner is down.

Then the headliner will be re-installed. We then plan to cover the headliner with a thin padding and a nice high quality ultra leather covering.

I found a site that sells big rolls of heat and sound insulation material for cars, buses and RV's. I checked on the product and it received excellent reviews. I have purchased a roll to test it out. I am trying to try and get more insulation for the floor area without spray foaming the underside of the bus. Many people have used this Low-E thin insulation under their wood floors in their RV's and buses to reduce noise and heat/cold transfer. They use it as an under-layment prior to installing the new floor. I also want to cover the engine and generator compartments to try and reduce noise and heat coming from these areas. I have been reading volumes of information about this. Some people swear by the spray foam for the underside of the bus and RV, while others say it is an incredible pain to chip it out if you need to get to something.

Any thoughts on this matter would be appreciated. I have to make some decisions fast on this. Once the headliner re-installation is completed, the floor is next.

[wmkbailey]

Hey gmarvel,

Like to see someone using spray foam insulation. I plan to spray my roof and walls too.

You will need that thermal break. I now have two inches of foam board between my roof ribs. I had to get some insulation up qiuck. Durring my two week trip over the holidays I got a lot of condisation and dripping from the metal ribs. Nothing like driving the bus and getting rained on from the inside.

I plan to spray 1" over the foam board and ribs to creat the thermal break. This will give me 3' total.

[gmarvel]

PICKING UP SPARE PARTS FROM CRUSHED CROWNS

Sad news to report. Five Crowns are getting crushed here in Northern California in the next few weeks. I am getting a number of spare parts from these soon to be lost Crowns.

The list includes:

All front and quarter panels from the best of the five Crowns.
Entire front Crown door and air assembly.
Rear emergency exit.
Driver side rear emergency exit.
Left and right rear trunk doors
10 passenger windows and assemblies
Push button Allison automatic transmission assembly (including electronic harness, etc.)
High back air ride driver seat and base.
Telescoping and tilting steering wheel/column/gearbox (My Crown has only tilting, but not tilting/telescoping)
All outside light bezels for headlights, turn signals, etc.
Four Crown chrome bumper forks
Two sets of front and rear LED turn signal lights
Two sets of rear LED brake lights
Exterior covers for the window pillars.
Two Crown emblems
All Crown equipped gauges for the instrument panel.

Most of the parts will be placed in storage as backup if I ever get into an accident and need these hard to find parts replaced. I am going to replace my old tilting steering wheel/column with the nicer telescoping and tiling one. All de-laminated passenger windows (three) will be replaced. The light bezels, Crown emblems and bumper forks will be re-chromed and placed on the bus. I already have a knowledgeable transmission mechanic lined up who is going to do the conversion to the push button automatic console.

I am hoping to go on Friday and pick up the parts.

[eyedeal.ink]

Badass, wish we'd have done something similar, patience in the beginning is key, we were just in a hurry to get the inside started and skipped roof raise/ceiling insulation. Can't wait to see what she looks like outta the paint booth, we love the Crowns, probably would do the same if we had such a beautiful bus. We were thinking of having just our hood and front fenders painted in a booth...just curious though, what's it costing for the paint/paint job for your whole bus?

[gmarvel]

Thank you for the ideas on the thermal break. I am measuring and figuring out what I am going to do. I don't want to lose any head room if I can avoid it.