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Old 10-11-2012, 02:00 AM   #1
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Transmogrifie and Me

OK.. gonna steal the post I made on another string for my own starting point...

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Old 10-11-2012, 02:06 AM   #2
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

I got my bus!

Wanted a bus it seems my whole life.

New here and probably over my head but I'm excited. Got my bus (older than most I'm seeing on here) with the seats already out, carpet thrown down and a couple of shelves built in it. It wasn't in this location when I bought it, the seller drove it here and parked it for me. And, we (the cat and I) will be living on the other side of this same lot for a while once we get it leveled.


I want to start with the insulation and flooring. My question is, looks like Henukaw stripped the floor completely to look for rust. I guess I was hoping there was some sub flooring that I could build upon. It sort of makes sense to get to the metal and rust proof paint then build. We don't have a lot of rust problem here in AZ.

Have been reading some and was hoping, on wood base, to put down 1/2 styroboard type insulation. Then thought I could use 1/4 in luam (sp?) and then an indoor/outdoor carpet (no foam), then area rugs. Or might go with regular foam and carpet. Have been talking to my Home Depot guy. Any comments on the layers? I am only 5'2 and don't plan on raising the roof.

I think I have the walls figured out.

And what is best for ceiling? I really don't like the shiny original pale green bus paint, was thinking of spraying it with a textured paint. But the first order of business would be adding insulation.

I'm concerned with weight and then I see someone else built walls out of 2x4's and cabinets out of regular materials??

Also, the front door is a handle opened folding door and I saw a great site for making it a solid door, but they didn't complete it with a lock, anyone post a locking front door?

I know that I will bug people with all the questions that I have but I'm trying to research as much as I can and this site seems wonderfully full of comment and information. Some over my head, some I'm learning. My intentions are to keep things simple.

Any comments would be appreciated. And I hope I didn't post this to the wrong spot, sorry if I did. (Post is in the right spot now.)
And do ya think this is standard equipment?

Linda Kay
Attached Thumbnails
First Day Bus at Dianas.jpg   P5200141.JPG   faucet.jpg  
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Old 10-11-2012, 04:55 AM   #3
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Welcome,the edelbrock carb is not factory,decent streetable carb tho. The big faucets turn hot water for inside heaters on(if it has any just like heater in a car or truck) school buses just use big faucets,
Good luck
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Old 10-11-2012, 12:10 PM   #4
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadoll
... And what is best for ceiling? I really don't like the shiny original pale green bus paint, was thinking of spraying it with a textured paint. But the first order of business would be adding insulation.
I am faux finishing mine. The original base is an off white.



Quote:
I'm concerned with weight and then I see someone else built walls out of 2x4's and cabinets out of regular materials??
Since we can get 4 ft long 2x4's for 51¢ each from the place I work at, we are going with 2x4's on the walls and bumping the additional insulation up to 1-1/2 inch foam sheathing. We are also building our cabinets (frameless Euro). We will NOT be using particle board or MDF/HDF. We used hollow core flush doors for some of our partion walls. It works out to $1 per inch. That's pretty cheap. One of the shower walls will be a hollow core door (need to buy 36" @ $33 & cut down to 33") and one will be 2x4 for the plumbing. Finished wall will be laminate flooring I picked up on sale cheap (Ashley Oak @ 68¢/sf) in some places and others will be covered in 1/4" pegboard (free). The peg board will be painted as well as the door walls. We don't move much since we live in the bus fulltime and treat it like an apartment.

Quote:
Also, the front door is a handle opened folding door and I saw a great site for making it a solid door, but they didn't complete it with a lock, anyone post a locking front door?
Our door (converted into a one piece) has a standard residential entry door knob. It locks. I unlock it and relock it every morning when I go to work. It works. I don't have a pic of the lock. I had a couple but can't find them anywhere.



We will insulate under the floor from the outside. I can put more foam under the bus than inside. Also since our water bays will be heated, it would be silly to insulate inside/over the water bays at floor level.
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Old 10-11-2012, 01:35 PM   #5
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Quote:
Our door (converted into a one piece) has a standard residential entry door knob. It locks. I unlock it and relock it every morning when I go to work. It works. I don't have a pic of the lock. I had a couple but can't find them anywhere.
Yours was the door I was admiring, hope I can do something similar. Although I love the handle inside, hope I can make it into something else, gives me the 'school bus' feeling.

And you didn't insulate the ceiling more? I've heard there is a coating you can put on the outside, but I want to leave the outside of the bus as straight as I can. Might even have to paint it a more neutral color eventually to fit into a park or something.
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Old 10-11-2012, 03:15 PM   #6
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadoll
Quote:
Our door (converted into a one piece) has a standard residential entry door knob. It locks. I unlock it and relock it every morning when I go to work. It works. I don't have a pic of the lock. I had a couple but can't find them anywhere.
Yours was the door I was admiring, hope I can do something similar. Although I love the handle inside, hope I can make it into something else, gives me the 'school bus' feeling.

And you didn't insulate the ceiling more? I've heard there is a coating you can put on the outside, but I want to leave the outside of the bus as straight as I can. Might even have to paint it a more neutral color eventually to fit into a park or something.
Thanks for the comments about the door but it wasn't our idea. It's based on how to turn a two-piece Eagle highway coach door into a single door. I don't have an original thought in my head... but I can usually adapt someone else's bright idea into something I can use!

We have 2" Blue Bird fiberglass insulation in the ceiling & walls. The exterior roof was coated with Henry's SolarFlex (from Home Depot) to reflect the sun, seal seams and provide a thermal break for the rivets. Used 5 gallons on the roof (40 ft bus) summer 2011. Spring 2013, we will roll another 5 gallons on BEFORE it gets too hot. I can see the roller marks on the roof now. I thought I was rolling it too thin (2 coats) but the heat was drying the stuff almost as fast as I put it down so I was afraid to roll it any heavier. The SolarFlex keeps the bus so much cooler in the NM summer sun. It gets a little warm here in the summer. Next summer we should have the air chiller up and running. So next summer won't be as hot inside as the past summer was.
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Old 10-14-2012, 01:25 PM   #7
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Might have found a bathroom stall for my bus, have to go and look at it. A friend is parting out and RV, says it's 2 sided. He said the stove was already gone, dang. No worries, have Coleman camp stove for now.

Because I'm not raising the roof, I'm thinking I'll have to cut it down. In my mind, I can cut a few inch strip out of the upper sides and run a strip of tile around to cover the cut, back it up with wood strips. (I work in fabric so not sure how to do this in other material but I think it would work). Depends too if it has a glass door, but that might still work as the bus is taller in the middle.

My mind has been going a mile a minute and my friends are thinking I'm obsessed. Patience... breathe.. patience..
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Old 10-15-2012, 12:15 PM   #8
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Ok.. I was taking pictures underneath the bus and I don't know what this is.
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Old 10-15-2012, 12:48 PM   #9
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

air tank for air brakes
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Old 10-15-2012, 05:50 PM   #10
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Ah.. Ok.. thanks. Never had air brakes before.
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Old 10-15-2012, 07:08 PM   #11
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

I have always loved the word transmogrify and what it means. Very few people even know of the word. It is not often that I can use the word in a sentence. I have applied it to some of the music I play.
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Old 10-15-2012, 07:38 PM   #12
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadoll
Ah.. Ok.. thanks. Never had air brakes before.
You might want to read up on them interesting "creatures" also read up on checking them ie: slack adjusters,air req. Good reading.
I based my answer on "seeing" part of an air chamber in the pic.
You need to drainthe tanks daily if using them...and every so often if it sits,water can buildup from condensation and rust/clog up stuff.
Make sure you have pressure built up and crack the valve on the tank.
You "should" have atleast two tanks....they both need to be drained(water can build up and take away from valuable air capacity and also rust out the tanks)
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Old 10-16-2012, 12:01 AM   #13
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Thanks Bansil. A friend of mine was looking at it and said that you could put an airhose attachment on it to use to pump up tires with. Same guy who uses our used kitchen oil from work to run his pickup on and who hooked 220 to his toaster to see what it would do.

But seriously, yes, I need to learn about air brakes. When I was delivering motor homes you had to have a CDL to drive anything with air brakes.. no wait.. that was air bags.

We'll get there.

Priced some flooring options at Home Depot yesterday. I get too impatient but I should try and find things cheap or free. Found a foam board that had R 3.2 rating for 1/2" but was twice the price of the 1/2" pebble styro board. $12.98/sheet vs $6.95.. figure it's gonna take 7 sheets for the floor. (Home Depot doesn't have the pink board). Am thinking now the 1/4" Lauan is too thin. Maybe 3/8 ( or 15/32) plywood would be enough. A gallon of Rustoleum is $30. So I figure I'm up to $260 just for the sub-flooring. Guess that's not bad but free would be better.

Found some beautiful flooring options for on top of that.
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Old 10-16-2012, 12:03 AM   #14
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

An aside comment: I have noticed that very few people I'm acquainted with find it shocking that I bought a school bus, or that I intend to live in it. Most of my close friends have actually been very supportive of the notion. Most people get this look and then start with.. 'that is so cool'. I'm jazzed.
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Old 10-27-2012, 01:31 PM   #15
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

OK, many 'sewing' and 'Halloween' projects aside. I got the title to my bus now so I can start tearing into it. Can't wait. Talked to DMV Title and registration $23.50 (that was a relief) But have to take it in to inspect and in order to change the body style. Trip permit $1. That will happen next week.

Got my heater and working on obtaining a propane tank and the right tubes and regulators. I saw a build in here that the guy made a wood stove with cement flooring and rock wall board. That's what I wanted (wood stove) but got talked out of, still a possibility though. A few friends have said they'd help. Gonna get cold here real soon.

Pick up a crowbar tomorrow.
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Old 11-01-2012, 04:20 PM   #16
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

First Drive: One miscalculated turn but other than that I made it. *laughing* A whole 10 mile round trip to DMV and back. AZ evidently requires that you have the electrical and plumbing/water in before they will reclassify as an RV. So currently, even though there are no seats but shelves and table, it is still a commercial vehicle (I guess I can 'haul' things). Grah.. Was going to be instead of $23.50 I was quoted, nearly $650. They took the weight down to 12,000 as it is empty and I don't intend to be hauling with it, so was $90.50. Sometimes I wonder.

Anyway, insurance, plates, title/registration are in my name. I'm fried just with that 3 hour excursion. Oh.. and I ran into a branch trying to re-park it. Minor.

I think that if it were run more, it would run better. Need an air breather too.
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Old 11-01-2012, 04:41 PM   #17
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

At least you got it tagged and registered..... Congrats.....
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Old 11-01-2012, 07:22 PM   #18
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Started to check what was under the flooring. Seems they almost yanked the bolts from the seats out, or holes were just expanded from wear. I was expecting some sort of plywood or board beneath the rubber as I've seen on some builds. The rubber is glued with thick glue to the metal floor. I am pulling up small (very) pieces of rubber at a time and the glue remains on the metal.

Anyone have suggestions on how best to get rid of the glue and make the floor ready for Rustolium paint? Was thinking of sanding down to the metal but that seems it would be gummy. Anyway I can think of seems gummy actually.

??
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Old 11-01-2012, 07:23 PM   #19
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyEagle
At least you got it tagged and registered..... Congrats.....
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
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Old 11-03-2012, 12:32 AM   #20
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Re: Transmogrifie and Me

okey.. according to and reiterating what someone else posted

AZ Legislative definitions:

20. "Motor home" means a motor vehicle that is primarily designed as temporary living quarters and that:

(a) Is built onto as an integral part of, or is permanently attached to, a motor vehicle chassis.

(b) Contains at least four of the following independent life support systems if each is permanently installed and designed to be removed only for purposes of repair or replacement:

(i) A cooking facility with an onboard fuel source.

(ii) A gas or electric refrigerator.

(iii) A toilet with exterior evacuation.

(iv) A heating or air conditioning system with an onboard power or fuel source separate from the vehicle engine.

(v) A potable water supply system that includes at least a sink, a faucet and a water tank with an exterior service supply connection.

(vi) A 110-125 volt electric power supply.

It's the only thing I can find in google-ing the whole topic either. Dang... wasn't planning on going that far so soon. The words 'permanently installed' are the kickers. Would be nice though... to have it all done 'right'. Don't think bungee-ing the camp stove to the counter top counts.
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