creating a "green" bus conversion from scratch.... - Page 2

roach711 · 12-07-2015, 06:47 PM

We bought a "handyman special" house 20 years ago and after we closed on it I went through the house with a legal pad jotting down all that needed to be done to the place. After I had filled up 10 pages front and back I was feeling totally overwhelmed and more than a little depressed. After contemplating the list for a few days I decided to tear it up and just take the fixes as they came. It took three years but I got it done.

It's like moving a pile of bricks. You can't move it all at once but taken a few at a time you'll get it done and usually faster that you at first feared.

Timelord · 12-07-2015, 06:50 PM

Search results for: 'impact screwdriver'

jwilcox · 12-07-2015, 07:13 PM

Thanks everyone. Nice to be here in like company!

Scooternj · 12-07-2015, 07:51 PM

Lots of screws, but kind of therapeutic in a way. You can let your mind go blank, and think about what the interior is going to look like when it's done. Plus you can get beer money from the scrap steel

jwilcox · 12-07-2015, 10:38 PM

Have any of you used pneumatic tools in your conversion projects? If so, which ones?

charles_m · 12-07-2015, 11:13 PM

If you are going to invest time and money into this project, do it right and take down those inner skins. It will make you a better busman, you'll know your bus better, and you'll get a better end result and it only costs you sweat and some phillips bits.
I used an an angle grinder to cut x's in the head of my rivets and then chiseled them off with the chisel attachement on the end of a pneumatic hammer. Some people also call this an air-chisel.
You can do it with a cold chisel (a chisel made of hardened steel meant for this, not a wood chisel) and a heavy hammer instead. I did i this way once, and vowed never to do it again. You can find used air hammers/chisels for 30-40 bucks. Worth it if you have a compressor. I also used a die grinder and pneumatic nail gun-16 gauge for most general carpentry. Other than that, I used my cordless drill and cordless impact driver the most. Followed by a table saw, sliding double bevel compound miter saw, angle grinder, welder, and jigsaw. I can build just about anything. I'd love to have a drill press and bandsaw.

Im going to also strongly suggest not using rockwool. If you are going to live in the bus, you will really want it to be as airtight and sealed up as possible. Foam has too many advantages over everything else to not use it. If you can't afford it, save up. Ive built buses without spray foam and regret them. The two I have sprayed feel like a home when you step in.

Rockwool may perform better than fiberglass for water absorption, but still absorbs water and cant hold a candle to what sprayed in foam does--which is not get wet in the first place. It also has about 1/2 the rvalue per inch of spray foam. BOOYA!

I just spray foamed a short bus Im building today and the results, again, are incredible.
It instantly evens out the high and low temps, dampens sound, adds structural rigidty, and seals the bus. Can you tell I drank the spray foam coolaid?

Anyway rock on man, don't get overwhelmed. If you werent going to learn anything on this project, why would you even embark on it?!

jwilcox · 12-08-2015, 12:20 AM

Great tips. I definitely will keep on "rocking on" man, even though I'm a wo-man and mother of three who will be doing this project with my 10 year old son and any volunteer help we can get. I guess its natural to assume I was a guy....I don't see many chicks on this board :-0 We're all super excited to create and live in this bus though!!!

charles_m · 12-08-2015, 12:56 AM

Hot damn! I guess we all make presumptions.... That is an incredible thing to do and share with your family. Way to be!

jwilcox · 12-08-2015, 01:43 AM

Thanks Charles!

phoenix · 12-08-2015, 08:10 AM

Most commercial plywood still contains formaldehyde, but you can get it formaldehyde-free. It's available at Home Depot or you can special order from a lumberyard/hardwood shop:
Columbia Forest Products, 3/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. PureBond Red Oak Plywood, 165956 at The Home Depot - Mobile

We used the 1/2" in our build for the subfloor.

(From another mother of three. You got this!)

jwilcox · 12-08-2015, 11:23 AM

Wow, cool, so I'm not alone in my femininity here :-0
Phoenix, What else did you use in the way of "green" building materials?

jazty · 12-08-2015, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_m

I just spray foamed a short bus Im building today and the results, again, are incredible.
It instantly evens out the high and low temps, dampens sound, adds structural rigidty, and seals the bus. Can you tell I drank the spray foam coolaid?

Do you have pictures of the short bus and it's progress? Please please.
You do nice work and I have a soft spot for the smaller buses..

charles_m · 12-08-2015, 04:04 PM

Here's what I have of the shorty as it is now. I did the spray foam yesterday. Going to start trimming soon, then it's vapor barrier, flooring, walls, fixtures and solar install and I'll hand it over to the owner for finishing.

The floor is 1/2" plywood glued to 2" Poly iso board glued over the metal body.
The final flooring will be wood planks. TDB what exactly.

The walls will be 1/2" or 3/4" plywood and the bed loft in the rear will be 3/4" plywood with something nice on top.

Ceiling will be a thin wood/underlayment material with textured wallpaper over it to emulate tin tiles.

1200 Watt solar array TBD size of battery bank. Webasto thermo top c into the orig underseat heater will provide boondocking heat.

jazty · 12-08-2015, 05:10 PM

Great start!

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_m

1200 Watt solar array TBD size of battery bank.

Holy what what WHAT? Where are you going to fit it all? I have 2x 300 watt solar panels on my shorty/halfy bus and they take up the full length of the bus and half of the width. I suppose if they didn't tilt I could probably put 2 more, but that would occupy 100% of the roof. As it stands, the tilt would block any other panels that I could put on there unless I made one mondo tilting frame the full size of the roof.

charles_m · 12-08-2015, 05:12 PM

4x 300 watt panels. They'll all fit just perfectly but it will cover the whole roof

jazty · 12-08-2015, 05:13 PM

Flat, no tilt I presume?

charles_m · 12-08-2015, 05:13 PM

That's correct. Tilt is a great feature though

jazty · 12-08-2015, 05:14 PM

Cool.. Keep 'em pictures comin'!

jwilcox · 12-08-2015, 05:50 PM

Amazing pics, thanks for sharing!

jwilcox · 12-08-2015, 06:54 PM

OMG so I just got word from my ex that he'll be coming to visit the children around Christmas and is willing to put in a few (or more) days of ceiling and wall demolition work/old insulation removal into the bus!!! So now its time to buy the right tools. I'm going to go pnematic but also plan to buy some good electric stuff. I'll try to get a list together in order to ask for opinions but if anyone wants to make a tool list suggestion first that would be great!

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