Rear deck and overhead bin design

[PatandMarge]

Looking for design and best practices for installing a rear deck and overhead bins (front, rear and sides), particularly dimensions. Friend is an excellent sheet metal worker with all the tools, who can build / install whatever we can dream up. Bus is a beautiful 28' 1990 Bluebird flat nose. Thanks for any advice.

[Danjo]

Are you talking about roof storage? If you are, be aware that will significantly reduce your chances of getting insured. No decks, no racks, no wood stoves.

It’s better to work that out now rather than getting declined

[Phatman]

I used diesel truck frame on the rear of my bus. Removed the bumper and extended it out 36”. Framed it all up and covered it with aluminum diamond plate. Reinstalled the bumper. No problem with inspection.

[PatandMarge]

Already insured. No, just talking about interior storage along curved ceiling walls. Like you see on commuter buses or (larger and plastic) an airplane.

[musigenesis]

Buses are all kind of different in terms of the curvature of the roof and how high they are overall, so the dimensions would depend on what bus you have and how far out and down you want these bins to be. How they're attached would entirely depend on what you're doing with ceiling and how heavy the bins are and how much weight you want them to support.

I am doing a similar style of overhead storage bin in my bus. My plan is to fabricate simple L-brackets (sort of like a builder's square) where the longer horizontal part attaches to the wall just above the window and the shorter vertical part attaches to the ceiling on a furring strip that runs front-to-back about a foot from the centerline. I will then join the bottoms of these brackets with expanded steel sheet and cover the front with elastic mesh. This will keep them well-ventilated, and I don't have to deal with the curvature of the roof at all (except for the initial measuring of what size these brackets need to be and where there need to be attached).

[ol trunt]

I used lanyards from the inner roof panels to support a velcro and zippered netting with a flexible floor. The netting came from Harbor Freight and the floor is a double layer of automotive "rear package tray" material. The whole thing is quite flexible and has saved my sleepy head many timed during late nights to the john.
Jack

.

.

.

[Phatman]

Originally Posted by PatandMarge

Looking for design and best practices for installing a rear deck and overhead bins (front, rear and sides), particularly dimensions. Friend is an excellent sheet metal worker with all the tools, who can build / install whatever we can dream up. Bus is a beautiful 28' 1990 Bluebird flat nose. Thanks for any advice.

An easy way of making cabinetry to fit the curvature of your roof; pick up light duty base for metal studs at a drywall supply house. You can get different widths based on the width of your studs. You will need a pair of tin snips so you can cut the sides of the base so it can bend to the curvature of your roofline. I believe the first group of pictures I had at the beginning of my build has disappeared. If you are like me, it is easier understanding a picture as a opposed to me explaining. If you are interested, PM me, I’m sure I can find the pictures on my computer.