The Journey Visvi 1999 Thomas MVP ER

[BelltownBikes]

Originally Posted by sdwarf36

Too late now--but welding cable is much cheaper + works just fine.

Found some welding cables on craiglist. Bought some lugs and borrowed the crimper from work. Enough cabling for all of my bus, and a cable upgrade on my buddy's camper too.

$350! Yikes!

B

[wmkbailey]

Woo hoo! got my GPS installed. Already had a nice RAM mount I used on my old motorcycle. Just needed a base that could be screwed to the dashboard.



I spent last night up on the roof using Lexel. That stuff is sticky. Tomorrow it will rain all day, so I will see if I missed any spots. I decided to start insulating the bus any way. I figured I can start with the floor.



I had to load it all myself, the home depot people where to in awe of the bus.

Measured and marked the foam board twice before cutting and each sheet fit the first time. I could not figure out how to cut 2" foam board, my razor knife blade was not big enough. When I search through my tool box I found this.



It made short work of cutting the board.



Test fit is just perfect. Then I used it as a template for the plywood.



The last couple nights I was not sleeping well and saw an infomercial for this.



Rockwell Versacut. I found on Amazon cheaper with free two day delivery. This plunge saw should make cutting the plywood easy, and it did.



The vacuum attachment did not fit my shop vac, so I had to improvise.



Barely any saw dust.



I was able to cut one piece while it was standing on it's edge.



Again the fit is perfect.

I had only a couple hrs to work on it but got a lot done.

[Accordion]

Looking good. It is always fun to get a new tool.

[Malkieri]

I use pink foam for shipping glass all over North America, it is rigid and provides really good support. I use a router bit on my Dremel to cut out an exact fit for each item... but that's not what I posted to tell you. I am posting because I had the same problem with box cutters being not long enough to cut the 1" foam. I was wandering Home Depot looking for inspiration, and dodging the employees (they are REALLY rabid about helping you find stuff but not real good at it) I came across this little beauty. It's like a small box Sword!


I recently had to settle a boundary/trespassing issue my index finger and the blade, but other than that it has been a great tool!! My finger doesn't agree with this assessment, but I am pretty sure my finger was in the cutters path and therefore at fault.

[gusbus]

Nice progress on the bus.
I use an electric kitchen knife to cut foam padding all the time. I wonder it would work for Styrofoam????

[Stu & Filo. T]

Looks like your laying your subfloor right on top of you insulation with no bracing, wont that allow you floor to flex quite a bit?

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by allwthrrider

Looks like your laying your subfloor right on top of you insulation with no bracing, wont that allow you floor to flex quite a bit?

Right now the floor insulation and subfloor is not glued or screwed down. This is temporary until I get back from my trip over Christmas. I still have another inch of insulation to put down when I get back. I will put some bracing under where I will walk. Right now there isn't any flexing, this foam is solid and the subfloor spreads your weight over the surface. I have seen people not use any bracing. I will have some under were my fresh water tank will go too.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Malkieri

I recently had to settle a boundary/trespassing issue my index finger and the blade, but other than that it has been a great tool!! My finger doesn't agree with this assessment, but I am pretty sure my finger was in the cutters path and therefore at fault.

I've had the same argument with my finger too.

[wmkbailey]

Good news, it has been raining all night and will keep raining all day. So far the bus is dry.

[gusbus]

That's awesome

[wmkbailey]

Drove the bus around in the rain to see if I could shake out any more leaks. So far I only have two very small ones. Also I can't believe how much quieter the bus is with only the floor insulated. Can't wait to get the rest done.

[wmkbailey]

We have 2" of snow and then heavy ice coming tomorrow.

I spent the whole day in the bus working on insulation. I spent the morning finishing the floor. I got all done but in front of the front wheel wells. I then started doing the roof. With the curve I figured it will be more work then the walls. I always like to get the hard part done first.

It was more involved then I anticipated.

1) My bus is very dirty, so I have to wipe down everything before I can glue the insulation on.
2) I thought the middle of the roof would be easy, but the 2" insulation would not bend to it. SO I had to score the pieces to get it to bend.
3) When I cut the first piece from the 8' x 4' sheet the left over is 7" to narrow. So I have to plan well so I don't have to much left over scraps. I got it down to five sections out of three sheets.
4) I had to cut my scrap plywood to make pieces that I can screw into the supports to hold the middle up until the glue holds. I'm using 3M 90 spray glue. This stuff is strong.I grabbed a hold of the insulation and tried to pull it down. It did not budge.

It took me a while to figure out how much to score the insulation to get a good fit. I found that if I cut a 6" section and score every 3" in the middle 4" it does the job.



After scoring the piece you can see that it already curves.



Here are the first two sections up showing the plywood holding the middle up.

By 10:00 I got half the roof done. With only one person it is a slow process. If I had two more people, we could start an assembly line and get it done faster.



Now that I have a process to get the roof up. I'm going to work on the walls and the work out how to do the remaining 1.5' of the roof where it curves sharper. I can feel a difference on how warm it is in the back compared to the front. I really thought that since all I had to do now was cut insulation and not cut plywood, this would go a lot faster.

[wmkbailey]

The snow started this morning while I was working in the bus.



Two inches ended up being eight inches.



If you look at the snow on the roof, you can see where I insulated.

I could not get the glue to stick on the ceiling. A combination of cold and condensation, so I started to work on the walls. They stayed dry and the glue worked. I have a ledge with a lip that I had to work around.



I cut away some on the insulation so it would fit.



I just free hand it and it did the job.



I insulated the raised piece in the back. That was fun to fit.



I still need to figure how to insulate this area.



Well with half the roof and one section of the wall I was able to get the temp up to 63 while it was 27 outside.



There is a lot of bus to insulate, this will take awhile. I only have less than two weeks before my trip to Indiana. I hope I can get it done.

[bansil]

coming along nicely

[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

The snow started this morning while I was working in the bus.



Two inches ended up being eight inches.
.

I grew in Northern Illinois during the winters of 77,78,79,80, now I've been living in Northern California for the last 33 yrs just North East of San Francisco I would love to wake up to 8" of snow or more here

[Saddletramp]

Looks great, I am amazed at how thick the insulation is, but you can see how affective it is by the snow on the roof, good job.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by Saddletramp

Looks great, I am amazed at how thick the insulation is, but you can see how affective it is by the snow on the roof, good job.

This is the first two inches, when I get back from my trip I will ad one more inch. I want three all the way around.

[inkblots84]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

There is a lot of bus to insulate, this will take awhile. I only have less than two weeks before my trip to Indiana. I hope I can get it done.

I have no doubt that you can. In case you haven't noticed, you've done an insane amount of work in a very short period of time with minimal outside help! Your progress is amazing!

I feel like the inside of your bus is going to be a very cozy palace when you're done. I wish ours was coming along so quick! Hoping we'll have the walls installed and insulated as well as the wood stove here soon!

[wmkbailey]

We got eight inches of snow and ice on top. I got to work from home today. I did a little work then ran out and played in the bus. We are suppose to get 4 -6 inches tomorrow, so I may be working from home tomorrow and Wednesday.

Today I decided to tackle the front cap. The steel shelf had screw holes every 4".



You can see them along the bottom. So I marked the insulation every 4". Then measured at the screw hole to the roof and marked the same on the insulation. Then it was connect the dots.



I cut the insulation a little large and with a bevel so I can wedge it into the roof.



I used my hand to pound it in place. It fits nice and tight.



It is 6" to the first support, so I cut strips of insulation 6 1/8" and wedged it up between the support and the front insulation. Next time I go to Home Depot I will pick up some aluminum tape. and tape it together.



As I worked inside with the heat on, the snow melted off the roof except where it is insulated. I think that is a good thing.



I cut the 1 1.2" insulation to fit behind the chair rail. This was a pain because there are screws from the rub rail that stick out. I had to cut grooves to slide it past them.



Then cut the 2" and glued to the wall on top.



Starting to look like the space shuttle in here.

[wmkbailey]

Originally Posted by inkblots84

I have no doubt that you can. In case you haven't noticed, you've done an insane amount of work in a very short period of time with minimal outside help! Your progress is amazing!

I feel like the inside of your bus is going to be a very cozy palace when you're done. I wish ours was coming along so quick! Hoping we'll have the walls installed and insulated as well as the wood stove here soon!

Thanks Inkblot, I keep switching between a wood stove or not. I will be living out of the bus and traveling. not sure how to deal with getting wood. If I stayed in one place, it would be a no brainer.