The Broccoli Bus

[EastCoastCB]

Hell all I', leaving are the rear door, side door, main door, and two rv exit windows.
Its as easy or easier to get in and out of in a hurry than any other rv I know of.
The "Good News Bus" on YT got rid of all theirs I believe, except maybe a couple windows. That, in my opinion, is NOT a good idea at all.

[aaronsb]

Yeah, I left all the original emergency exit points on the bus, it seems just like good sense, not to mention I can move stuff in and out a heck of a lot easier through those doors.

I like scrambling onto the roof from the bunks, it's not a safe place for kids to be up on the roof, but I enjoy being up there, it seems quieter. I like standing around on the roofs of houses for the same reason, it's like a hiding spot in plain sight.

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Hell all I', leaving are the rear door, side door, main door, and two rv exit windows.
Its as easy or easier to get in and out of in a hurry than any other rv I know of.
The "Good News Bus" on YT got rid of all theirs I believe, except maybe a couple windows. That, in my opinion, is NOT a good idea at all.

[cowlitzcoach]

Like I said, I like your plan.

Your explanation of your emergency exits details what I can't see in your pictures. In one of the pictures it looked as if you had blocked off the rear emergency exit that now that I relooked I can see is not blocked off.

One never likes to think about what the worst could happen but one does need to make contingency plans for when the excrement hits the oscillator.

[aaronsb]

This sounds uh, like a giant nerd fest idea here, but one of the plans I had was to use LED style rope light around the doors for indirect illumination when you open a door.

Normally, they just turn off and on with a white color with a regular switch when opening the door (like a car).

I was thinking of getting ones that were white/red where the red can be powered separately. The smoke and CO sensors, as well as a manual switch and a simple mechanical ball level switch (triggered at any angle more than 45 degrees) causes all the exit lighting to illuminate red, as well as kicking off a buzzer alarm (the fire alarm).

It sounds complex, but it's just a single emergency power circuit that doesn't consume power until it's switched on. The power wire for the emergency system is a loop, so you can cut it in one spot accidently and it stays powered.


Switch example:

http://www.amazon.com/Sensor-Module-...ds=tilt+switch

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

Like I said, I like your plan.

Your explanation of your emergency exits details what I can't see in your pictures. In one of the pictures it looked as if you had blocked off the rear emergency exit that now that I relooked I can see is not blocked off.

One never likes to think about what the worst could happen but one does need to make contingency plans for when the excrement hits the oscillator.

[Wooftfd]

Might have a trim ring... what size is your exit?

[sojourner]

Where'd you get your hat channels?

Originally Posted by aaronsb

Well, I'm no rocket surgeon.

[nat_ster]

I don't see any hat channels there. That looks like square tubing stuck inside the support ribs.

Nat

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by nat_ster

I don't see any hat channels there. That looks like square tubing stuck inside the support ribs.

Nat

I'm thinking he's either using hat channels around the outside between the original bow's that have been cut and separated or he's welded angle iron pieces to each side of the square tube riser sections making the flange to rivet the skin to.

[aaronsb]

Here's a detail of how I inserted the rectangular tubing into the existing body hoops. The technique was to have the rectangular tubing extend as much as possible into the old structure, then set the flat bar shims in flush to keep everything snug. Once flatbar and square tubes are clamped on upper and lower, it tends to force all the assemblies back into square.

After they are all pressed I to place, I welded .125 inch angle iron "ears" onto the rectangular tube between the upper and lower original structure. I figured it would help with fore and aft flex,as well as providing an easy flush surface to rivet the body sheets to.

One thing I did was attach vhb tape strips to each flat surface then stick the sheet metal to it. With that technique I was able to press and hold the metal in the right position, then Perl and stick the second side of the vhb tape. The panels just hung there for the most part until I could drill a hole or two for clecos.

[aaronsb]

Here's a little more detail with the transition from low to high roof. It is a full stich weld across both seams. The weld is on the adjacent roof panels, not the structural member.

[aaronsb]

I haven't made much progress on interior lately because we are short on funds.

Once I have a bit saved up I'll be welding the interior structures from 1x1 square tube. The cabinets and drawers will use the IKEA drawer system. I took paper rubbings from their cabinets so I can make accurate mounting flanges.

It feels to me like the frameless cabinet system is perfect for that sort of custom shape.

[MuddaEarth]

Originally Posted by aaronsb

Here's a detail of how I inserted the rectangular tubing into the existing body hoops. The technique was to have the rectangular tubing extend as much as possible into the old structure, then set the flat bar shims in flush to keep everything snug. Once flatbar and square tubes are clamped on upper and lower, it tends to force all the assemblies back into square.

After they are all pressed I to place, I welded .125 inch angle iron "ears" onto the rectangular tube between the upper and lower original structure. I figured it would help with fore and aft flex,as well as providing an easy flush surface to rivet the body sheets to.

One thing I did was attach vhb tape strips to each flat surface then stick the sheet metal to it. With that technique I was able to press and hold the metal in the right position, then Perl and stick the second side of the vhb tape. The panels just hung there for the most part until I could drill a hole or two for clecos.

Looks good.....I was thinking of doing something similar. I like the idea of using angle on either side of the rectangle tubing. I posted a new video on my thread addressing this issue. Thanks for the ideas....our busses are going to be fairly similar.

[Tango]

One other option to angle iron is to use "repair sections" of the original rib material. Most makers either have straight sections that can be cut to fit, or you can get full bows. When I raised my BB 19" I bought several full, one piece ribs, then cut 19" sections to fit around the 1-1/4" square tube. Used some of the curved leftovers while constructing the "slope" in front

Just a thought.

[MuddaEarth]

Originally Posted by Tango

One other option to angle iron is to use "repair sections" of the original rib material. Most makers either have straight sections that can be cut to fit, or you can get full bows. When I raised my BB 19" I bought several full, one piece ribs, then cut 19" sections to fit around the 1-1/4" square tube. Used some of the curved leftovers while constructing the "slope" in front

Just a thought.

That would be really nice.....I wish I had a local company that sold rib sections near me.

[aaronsb]

If you want more photos for a particular construction phase or technique let me know and I can dig something up. I'm just making stuff up as I go or copying others just like everyone else!

Originally Posted by MuddaEarth

Looks good.....I was thinking of doing something similar. I like the idea of using angle on either side of the rectangle tubing. I posted a new video on my thread addressing this issue. Thanks for the ideas....our busses are going to be fairly similar.

[nat_ster]

Originally Posted by MuddaEarth

That would be really nice.....I wish I had a local company that sold rib sections near me.

Most of us do.

Any metal shop with a shear and a bending brake can make strait sections of rib for you.

That's what I did. I cut a 3 inch chunk out of one of my buses ribs, took it to the metal shop as a template, told them how long I needed, and what gauge of metal to use. They asked how many, and if I wanted the new ones the same size, or to fit inside, or outside the old ribs. It my case, they fit over the old ribs and over lap a foot each way on the old rib.

Hope this helps expand our fellow skoolies available resources a bit.

There is also a place online one of the fellow skoolies posted about a year ago.

Nat

[REDD]

You might try a trailer repair shop for those pieces, Manac, Fruehaugh[sp], Trailmobile, Great Dane, etc....all there roof bows and side posts are all a bit different and may work without having to fab custom pieces???

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by aaronsb

Here's a detail of how I inserted the rectangular tubing into the existing body hoops. The technique was to have the rectangular tubing extend as much as possible into the old structure, then set the flat bar shims in flush to keep everything snug. Once flatbar and square tubes are clamped on upper and lower, it tends to force all the assemblies back into square.

After they are all pressed I to place, I welded .125 inch angle iron "ears" onto the rectangular tube between the upper and lower original structure. I figured it would help with fore and aft flex,as well as providing an easy flush surface to rivet the body sheets to.

One thing I did was attach vhb tape strips to each flat surface then stick the sheet metal to it. With that technique I was able to press and hold the metal in the right position, then Perl and stick the second side of the vhb tape. The panels just hung there for the most part until I could drill a hole or two for clecos.

Thanks for the explanation. This is basically what I was thinking. I really like the idea of having some hat channels made. I was thinking of maybe drilling and plug welding the back side to give a bit of bite into the inside of the junction. I was hoping to raise my roof this next week but will have to wait until I get back from a trip overseas (building an aquaponics system at a refugee camp) and get some cash to buy some more metal. The price usually goes down a bit in the spring anyhow. Thanks again.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by sojourner

Thanks for the explanation. This is basically what I was thinking. I really like the idea of having some hat channels made. I was thinking of maybe drilling and plug welding the back side to give a bit of bite into the inside of the junction. I was hoping to raise my roof this next week but will have to wait until I get back from a trip overseas (building an aquaponics system at a refugee camp) and get some cash to buy some more metal. The price usually goes down a bit in the spring anyhow. Thanks again.

If you're going to have a delay, hit me up in the spring. Maybe I'll have my former shop mates bend you some hat channel. could load up some flat rate priority mail boxes with em.
I gotta see if they'll do it for me first.

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

If you're going to have a delay, hit me up in the spring. Maybe I'll have my former shop mates bend you some hat channel. could load up some flat rate priority mail boxes with em.
I gotta see if they'll do it for me first.

Sounds interesting to be sure. I'll probably be looking at mid April. Since we basically have the same bus we'll have to talk.