Rusty 87 build thread

[musigenesis]

Re-mounted the all-important hammock hooks. It's the first thing I can consider "furniture" unless you count the toilet.



The rectangles on the ceiling show me where the blocks of oak are underneath and where the Teks screws are so I don't hit them.



The hooks are slightly off of true (relative to the bus centerline) so that the two hooks are in line with each other.



Plenty of expansion gappage for my ceiling panels.



The hooks look so inadequate like this, even I was hesitant to sit on it.



Continuing my slow-motion installation of the exhaust fan.



Drilled a hole up through the top trim that the wires can pass through.





This is enough for me to put the ceiling up. Next I'll have to cut a groove in the front of this pillar for the wires to pass down through. A trim piece will eventually cover it.

[musigenesis]

My future home (I wish):



This is an odd bit of property about half an hour west of me. It's about an acre, and it stretches from the road here steeply up the hill to the left (the road is a steep uphill from this viewpoint and the hill is even steeper). Basically impossible to build a house on without enormous expense, but I think it would be possible to carve a long driveway that starts up at the top of the road and stays relatively flat into the hill, and has something like a 40'x12' pad at the end to park my bus on.

It's an incredibly beautiful spot (I drove out there a few months ago to check it out). Across the road is uninhabited and it's a valley with a creek running through it. As I understand it (and I'm not sure about this) in PA you can purchase land and camp on it (subject to local ordnances) including in an RV or camper trailer for up to 180 days out of each year. I don't know whether electrical, water or sewer drops would be possible without a structure on the property, but a guy I spoke to at the town where this is said it might be possible to get permission for that.

$6000.

[DeMac]

$6k is cheap. Utilities can usually be achieved by requesting an allowable change. Then, once construction is complete, the actual use can be modified. Never say RV or bus to the building dept.
Examples:
Developer applies for senior living facility. After construction, use becomes section 8, multi unit housing.
Or
I plan on buying a Tesla, then later, install an auto lift for my shade tree business.
Or
Need water for goats, power for well. Allowed to protect goats over night. Predators. No more goats.

btw: I check in with your build on each update. Loving it.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by DeMac

Utilities can usually be achieve by requesting an allowable change. Then, once construction is complete, the actual use can be modified.
Examples:
Developer applies for senior living facility. After construction, use becomes section 8, multi unit housing.
Or
I plan on buying a Tesla, then later, install an auto lift for my shade tree business.
Or
Need water for goats, power for well. Allowed to protect goats over night. Predators. No more goats.

I guess I gotta rethink this. If I'm going to be away half the time, my goats are gonna get eaten for sure.

Isn't Section 8 what Klinger was trying to get by crossdressing?

[musigenesis]

Flap disk on the backside to fit over some stuff that is sticking out on the framing. This prevented it from bulging outwards.



















Curved ceiling is all done, just a bit more wall to put up tomorrow and then I'll have completed the basic shell. Just in time for some actual winter next week that is going to shut me down - too cold to drive.

[musigenesis]

Last batch o' dowels.





You served me well, faithful dowel-screwing tool. Amazed I only had to rebuild it once. I'm going to have this made into a signet ring.



So, so happy to be finally done with working little strips of XPS into cracks.



Putting up the last wall panels. These pieces on the end run top-to-bottom because if I ever have the replace the wider front windows I'll have to partially disassemble the wall there - but it's pretty doubtful I would ever bother with it.


I'm not sure what I was thinking with this. Like, I know how breaking panels on studs works. I have this feeling it was for a reason, but oh well.







Last piece of paneling up.



Just noticed this - wire being slowly cut away by the piece of trim. I need to finish up tending to my wire mess.



At least 2/3 gone. I'd estimate 600 to 700 screws, all run in manually. Surprisingly, my hands hurt less than normal after this.



I have these leftover bits of 2x4 from when I cut out the curved furring strips here. I'm going to build a curved insulated cover for this vent fan and I'll be able to clamp it onto these bits to shape it correctly.



Major milestone - I have a shell now!







It's nice to have this massive grind finished. Everything left to do on the bus now is a bunch of smaller and more interesting tasks.



I might not be able to work on the bus for the next two weeks thanks to weather, unfortunately. Hopefully I can still get a little work done and build all the insulated inserts for the windows.

[DeMac]

I might not be able to work on the bus for the next two weeks thanks to weather, unfortunately. Hopefully I can still get a little work done and build all the insulated inserts for the windows.
‐‐-------
Do you really believe you wont go pittle around in Rusty for two whole weeks. Ha.
Three days of baking and you'll be bus-jonesing.

Two weeks and I'll be jonesing.
Ah, man... You're making my arms itch.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by DeMac

Do you really believe you wont go pittle around in Rusty for two whole weeks. Ha.
Three days of baking and you'll be bus-jonesing.

Two weeks and I'll be jonesing.
Ah, man... You're making my arms itch.

Ha ha, yeah, two weeks is pretty unlikely. Last fall my rule was going to be "no driving the bus at all if the temperature is below 32F". Now I'm like "eh, 20 is not so bad, bus warms up quickly". The bus gets so toasty these days with just a space heater, the thing that limits me is really just the temperature I'm willing to drive in. Maybe 20s really isn't as bad for the engine as I think it is.

Actually going to the bus isn't going to happen, though, since I don't have electricity at my lot and I don't really have anything to do on it that doesn't require juice. I suppose I could use my gennies but I'm hesitant to run them in the cold.

[Native]

A hearty CONGRATULATIONS to you for finishing the shell!

[rossvtaylor]

I love your work...and your sense of humor. Thanks for sharing both.

[musigenesis]

Floor experimentation. I won't be using these particular colors, but I bought some peel-and-stick vinyl flooring planks and ripped them into narrower strips on my table saw. Then I cut and stuck them down on a scrap of underlayment.









Pretty easy to do. I need to focus on alternating the pieces from different strips so that the contrast between strips is greater. I did this in the upper right but just below it they were pulled consecutively from the same strip so they don't look as much like individual pieces of wood.



I've never been a fan of vinyl plank flooring, but it's really the color (like the gray here) and the monotony of the 4"x36" plank layout that I don't like. This could be OK and if it doesn't work out it's easy to tear it out and try something else.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Native

A hearty CONGRATULATIONS to you for finishing the shell!

Thank you, I appreciate it. Feels good!

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

I love your work...and your sense of humor. Thanks for sharing both.

Thank you, you're very welcome.

[musigenesis]

Got an unexpected work day since this morning's snow failed to materialize. I really wish I had a table saw that could do wider than 20" rips so I wouldn't have to spend so much time screwing and unscrewing this guide.



Had to finally abandon my hope of making all of these inserts the same size and interchangeable. The heights of the openings vary by less than an 1/8" but the widths vary by more than 1/4" so it just wouldn't work. With a bit more care I could have made the widths more consistent, but oh well. I'll get some nice-looking inscribed number plates to keep them matched with their windows.









These all required a lot of sanding and trimming to fit. The ones for the emergency exit windows will only need a little sliver cut out of the bottom to fit over the higher ledge and possibly a little bit of clearance for the handle.

Since I'm interested in being able to exit in an emergency, the inserts for these windows will have red recessed pulls on them so I can yank them out quickly.



It seemed to get noticeably warmer as I was adding these.

[Native]

I think the weather is only delayed. There is a massive arctic air mass moving down from Canada.


Here in North Texas, we are in for a week of cold (to us) ... at or below freezing. We may get snow Friday & Saturday.

[musigenesis]

This is all the notching needed to fit these over the four exit windows. Thought I was going to have to dig a lot more out.



Finished cutting and fitting all the XPS for the window inserts.



I kept all the lettering on the inside. The graphics are slightly embossed and I don't want them showing up on the outside.



Bulkhead wall is looking pretty random from the cab side.



So dark and glum inside without windows.



All these plus four more inserts will be the space required in the underbody compartment. I'm guessing it will have to be about 2' x 2' x 6'.

[musigenesis]

Made an attempt at using smaller dowel (1/2") for my XPS inserts.





Total fail, as I should have expected. Back to the 1.25" dowel.



Built the framing for my driver's side countertop.





This odd structure is so that I can make the back 2" of the countertop removable. This is necessary so that I can get the XPS inserts in and out of the windows behind it, and also so I can get the pillars between each window out (which will allow me to remove the bus windows if necessary).



Making sure it will be parallel to the floor.







The piece of butcher block will lock these supports into place and make the whole "cabinet" rigid.

[Brian S]

Nice work. Have you considered just removing the windows altogether and sheeting on the exterior with galvanized metal across the window holes?

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Brian S

Nice work. Have you considered just removing the windows altogether and sheeting on the exterior with galvanized metal across the window holes?

Thanks!

No, I couldn't bear to live in one of these self-propelled coffins people turn their buses into. The sunlight and the 360° view are the only things that make being in such a tiny space acceptable to me. I even added three more windows.

[TJones]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Thanks!

No, I couldn't bear to live in one of these self-propelled coffins people turn their buses into. The sunlight and the 360° view are the only things that make being in such a tiny space acceptable to me. I even added three more windows.

I also enjoy the light and views provided by the windows even if they aren't the best insulated.

Ted