Teva Apothecary - 87' Hino - Australian skoolie

[Nimmy]

So we got her, but I've not pictures of the outside - proper...
sorry

the first time we got the bus we took measurments , and lost them.
so this time I took measurments AND pictures with some questions about what the hell we are doing. cause none of us has barely any exeperience.
we are determined though. and that's enough.
you know, like the elephant that banged a chicken.


So first thing's first, I am trying to understand what space I can use under the bus.
there is no built-in storage so ill have to make metal cages\rails to fit the plumbing,fresh water etc, which areas do I need to keep empty, or clear for certain services. I would really appreciate any help, advice or constructive comments.

That's middle left cavity, or atleast that's how ive names this space:
I'm trying to figure out if it's easier to have the fresh water and waste water on one side or have the plumbing on two sides.


the biggest reason im in a dillema is that the right side cavity is much smaller:


the space is taken up by these 3 things which I have no IDea what they are, or what they do, they do seem to be important considering they are bolted to the bus and came with it:



Maybe the back right cavity with the fuel tank is a good place for a black water tank or compost?


the back left cavity is probably for tools. maybe electric box seeing it's right next to the batteries

the guy I bought it off of added these 2 before he abandoned the project.


and there's this little thing as well, not sure what to do with it, but I guess it will work itself out... right?


so far for looking under the bus, I took measurments of most things I thought I would need. and ill try to upload a sketch of the space I have soon + what I intend to do in it.

first bit we took out of the inside:


it has all this black tar stuff under, it's a little bit sticky, not sure what it is (someone said it might be sound insulation?), or if I could put wool insulation straight unto it.


also, it looks like everything is glued with this red stuff, which I'm guessing ill need to get rid of before I put in insulation and enentually wood panels (emily wants it to be all wood panels inside, like floor boards but I'm hoping lighter).

the floor is actually only a 40mm plywood layer. dosen't seem to have any metal sheet under it. which is either good or bad, im not sure, I figured I'd rip it all out, but not it seems like it's the only bad I've got...any thoughts on this would be great, I wanna double check cause it was 39C outside and really humid, but im pretty sure it's just plywood places unto the bus still frame.. just seems odd. but I wouldnt know.



and here's some for the engine-heads


this really had a nice vroom to it



anyways
it's a start, hoping to keep this updated regularly, but im pretty crap at that, I promise to try!

[M1031A1]

Nimmy,

AVOID any wool insulation, especially in humid areas. It's an open invitation for mold to start breeding and the only way to avoid the mold would be to remove all the wool you install. Wool soaks up moisture and refuses to let it go. Use spray foam or any other hydrocarbon based insulation to prevent mold from making you bus its home.

Just sayin'.

M1031

[somewhereinusa]

Looks to be some sort of transit style bus. Looks like a real PITA to get into the drivers seat.

You should be able to use most any space outside of the frame rails, give adequate room around the exhaust. Appears to be some sort of access in floor just to rear of engine doghouse. Probably want to keep that accessible.

Three things are air tanks for the air brakes.

and there's this little thing as well, not sure what to do with it, but I guess it will work itself out... right?

Mine eventually just went away, required maintenance while still installed.

Looks like inside is already has wood framing, I would just cut Styrofoam insulation to fit and then add panelling. Leave the black stuff there, probably helps with sound and a tiny bit of insulation.

Dick

[Nimmy]

That's one more thing,
I've got access to a lot of scrap pieces of a material called "multipanel"

it's got a insulation level of 1? and it's not cheap, so I was gonna make the wet room (one elongated room for toilet,basin and shower) out of it cause it's completely water proof. does anyone have experience with it?
we are trying to use as much recycled\eco friendly materials as possible.

That dog-door is indeed important, there's an fluid re-fill thingy there, ill take a picture next time im up there.

good idea with the insulation, would be really easy to just place foam in those cavities. I'd have to work out if I would do the same for the windows. still trying to figure out if I can replace the windows (aussie regulations seem to be much more strict than the states)

[CaptSquid]

Those tanks are air tanks. Very necessary if you wish to stop.

[daddyoften]

Technically you need them to go AND stop!
I just couldn't resist...

[Nimmy]

I'm just gonna bombard this with question in my head to refer to later since I keep loosing my notebooks and little scrap paper pieces (im off the mj I swear! it's just a habit to forget stuff )

So;
1. Floor situation:
It seems that the floor is only one layer of 40mm plywood (or some sort of woody material), and there is no metal sheeting under it. This puts me in a perdicament, we want to finish it off with polished timber floor boards. Now, if I rip the plywood off, I can't just put the timber unto the frame, I'd probably need to get a thin metal sheet+insulation and then put the floor boards...right?
the other option is to put the insulation un-top of the plywood and then the floorboards.
I'm scared this would take too much from the height.
1A. do I even NEED insulation in the floor? We are in australia and if it goes under -5C (23F) I would be really surprised and willing to be unprepared . in saying that, it will go up to 100F in summer, easy. so, would it be enough to just put the floor boards on the plywood? ...

Wall insulation:
so Abrams? (M1031A1) said NOT to use wool? we were planning on it !
My other half doesn't want to use any kind of plastic\chemical insulation if possible, so we are looking for natural alternatives (and in general we are leaning towards that kind of build). Wool seems to be the most common\cheap\available out there. tips and tricks for using it would be great. or any ideas related.

Electricity:
when do I put the wiring? before the insulation? above the insulation?
under the floor? or through the walls?
1. figure out how solar panels work.
2. remind myself how and what ac\dc means and the all the other electricity classes I forgot from high-school.
3. I've seen most people using extension cords, I guess it's a smart way to go cause they come with the sockets and are pretty easy to install. but that would mean a really big power-board somewhere?
4. what are the components of the system and what do they do? how much of each do I need to be self-sustainable (solar panels\batteries etc.)
5.talk to an electrician or find a good TUT about this stuff.
6. how do I figure out how much power I will need? (washing machine\lights\laptop\sound system\hot water\water pump).

Gas:
1. get someone who knows what they are doing, I need gas for the stove+oven.
2. Do I need gas for hot water system or is it reasonable to say I could run it on solar power?

Plumbing:
1. should I use 90mm or 100mm pipes?
2. what strength am I looking for a water pump?
3. one pump? or more?
4. hot water...what type of boiler should I use?
5. what type of pipes (metal and size) are recommended for this.


I still haven't done interior questions but oh well.
I'm not expecting a lot of answers for all the above just using this as a place to put it all down other than my decaying head. seeing as we will have another baby in two weeks my memory bank will reset and brain functionality will diminish.
that said, I would appreciate any feed back.

P.s.
any tips for using the search option on this site?

[Nimmy]

Thinking of getting this one:
800W 24V Complete DIY Solar Kit (4x200W) with Kyocera Japanese Cells

[Scooternj]

Originally Posted by Nimmy

Wall insulation:
so Abrams? (M1031A1) said NOT to use wool? we were planning on it !
My other half doesn't want to use any kind of plastic\chemical insulation if possible, so we are looking for natural alternatives (and in general we are leaning towards that kind of build). Wool seems to be the most common\cheap\available out there. tips and tricks for using it would be great. or any ideas related.

Anything that retains moisture is bad. Moisture leads to mold. Mold leads to respiratory problems. Respiratory problems lead to visits to the A&E room This is one area where natural solutions aren't going to help or be useful. The best would be using spray on foam, if you can reasonably find it in your part of Oz; second best is rigid foam board.

Explain to your other half that mold is a health hazard. The US CDC has a lovely FAQ on mold here, and a Google search on mold poisoning brings up other relevant links.

While the Insulation and Mold Links thread has turned into a Q&A session, read through it, and read the links that are in it.

This was the crap that we found pulling out the rear ceiling and end cap panels by the tops of the windows-

Mold was already beginning to infiltrate the fiberglass batting after 10 years of being an in-service school and jobsite bus.

[M1031A1]

If you look at my deconstruction of Heavy Fuel, please note the mold from and ARID part of the country (central California - where I was stationed after the Gulf War). The bus had mold in it in very dry conditions. Mind you this is with fiberglass - designed to prevent mold issues. There is no food source for the mold in fiberglass, yet with a very small amount of humidity I had a really BAD case of mold. Wool is MUCH WORSE!!!!! Wool is hair fiber. Hair fiber is a habitat for mold. Add a tiny part of humidity - say 5% humidity and presto, mold! Wool sucks in and traps moisture in the least suspecting of environments. I would AVOID wool like the plague!!!!! Your lungs will be forever thankful!

I'm a paramedic, so I know quite a bit about how mold starts and propagates in varied environments.

Just sayin' to protect you, the missus, and especially the tender and growing lungs of the little one!

M1031

[Nimmy]

Ok so it's probably been a year since my first post,
I think that's the average for most people

Right now the bus has been moved to my driveway in a Temperate Rainfoest,
I've tried to make posts a few times, and have even made some videos, alas, the process of transferring and editting and uploading seems to be perpetualy interrupted by everything else in life. oh well, little guy now knows he cant go in the bus with no shoes and always puts on over-sized protective goggles and ear muffs when im around
atleast that!

I was trying to ask in my videos about the roof raise and where I should do the cut on the hino, but never mind that now!

I've got about 8 weeks left of OK weather conditions to do the raise, so pressure is on!
Half the windows are out, and im really wanting to get on with it and then start cutting. im just worried about ocassional rain fall (like 2-day storms that hit us every other week...rainforest and all that). it's quite extreme. plus, my bus is parked in a small slope on a muddy track with big trees all around. so it's not perfect to do the raise here either.

I need to figure out a way of how to cover it and keep dry in the meantime between the windows coming out, then ill need to go get it raised probably in a friends wearhouse. and then I need to get it back here and keep it dry enough until I figure out where to get the sheet metal.

any advice on prepping and protecting the steel structure and anything else that I might need to do to make sure no rust or other crap destroys the bus? it looks so naked and fragile without the panels and windows

I've looked at tarpaulins, and it seems the biggest I can get is 560gsm 10x12meters, which is just long enough and way to wide, but could be just put in a 45degree angle to cover the lot. im just not sure if it's strong enough.

I use to be in tanks in the army, and im looking for surplus tank covers, but couldn't find any, those are pretty wicked (the ones used in the dooms-day wearhouses, not the camouflage netting, so it's kind of like a thick tarpauline like material). oh well
will try to keep posting more!

any tips on video uploads would be great too

[Nimmy]

just sent these suggested cut lines to a local truck engineer, waiting for his reply, but incase I can do either, I was wondering if anyone here has done the suggested green line. from what I've seen in the buses here they have a metal roof?
mying is all fibreglass, and the entire piece (with the structure-arches) seems to be sitting on it's own frame which is spot-welded to the box frame of the bus. I'm hoping to just lift that and try to keep it all in-tact. undecided what to use to close the gap yet.

also, anyone ever try to use the glass of the windows? this thick safety glass ive got is tinted as well and im wondering if I can cut it to shape

The green line is my prefered way, lifting the whole back fibreglass piece as well (goes down to the beam under the back window base. the red one is the more commonly seen I think.