94' Carpenter Cool Bus

[64north]

Hi Everyone,

I recently started my conversion on a 1994 Chevy Carpenter Short Bus. I posted a story about it on the new posts section. But basically I bought it for $600 and she has just over 50,000 miles and works great. Even starts up in a few cranks in 10 degrees below zero .


So I just recently started with tearing the rubber, plywood and insulation out from the floors, which I found to be very rusty underneath. I cleaned up all of the rust and painted over it and I am currently at the point of adding new insulation and plywood for the floors before adding more to it. Thats where I am at currently. I will add some pictures and add any questions to other forums.

Thanks!!

[EastCoastCB]

Dude, you did good gettin that one!

[64north]

I got a bit more done on the bus since I last posted on here. Not too much considering the amount of time that has passed, but I'm sure you all know how that goes. I finished the floors a couple months back and most recently took the ceiling panels off and replaced the insulation. I went with a layer of Reflect-X and a little thicker fiberglass insulation. Hopefully that will help keep a little heat out during the summer, so far it seems to be working great!

[Tango]

Sweet Deal! --- Welcome & congrats on an excellent find. Best of luck with the build out.

[s10ryan]

beautiful! awesome deal! how do those 350's do gas mileage wise?

[BCmini]

Nice! I have basically the same bus, 84 Chevy 4 window. I'm also curious how the mpg is for you...

[sdwarf36]

Originally Posted by BCmini

Nice! I have basically the same bus, 84 Chevy 4 window. I'm also curious how the mpg is for you...

Prior to my present short bus, I came from a 84 GMC 14 cube van-same size-shape+ 4:10 gear+weight of one of these. If you live in a state with more bumps than Florida, single digits is all you're going to get.

[BCmini]

Originally Posted by sdwarf36

Prior to my present short bus, I came from a 84 GMC 14 cube van-same size-shape+ 4:10 gear+weight of one of these. If you live in a state with more bumps than Florida, single digits is all you're going to get.

That is somewhat comforting. I'd say I get about 9 MPG which works out to about 26L/100KM. And of course driving in BC, you're always climbing big hills and driving winding roads.

[sdwarf36]

Originally Posted by BCmini

That is somewhat comforting. I'd say I get about 9 MPG which works out to about 26L/100KM. And of course driving in BC, you're always climbing big hills and driving winding roads.

I had headers-dual 2 1/2" exhaust with H pipe-Edelbrock intake-edelbrock carb-11k lbs and a nice big airdam on the roof of the cab kicking the air over the box-I'd get 8 in the hills-9's if I went down south.

[68camaro]

I'm looking forward to seeing the interior take shape. Without reading the story in the new posts...do you have a layout in mind you can share with us? I have a 99 with similar miles (got a 98 and a 99 for $3,900 and sold the 98 for 5k), and can't make up my mind what to do inside. Keep up the good work, good luck and keep the pics coming!

[ShortBus]

Definitely want to see more pictures of this one! Got any updates for us?

[64north]

Sorry for the late reponses!
I just got her on the road for a maiden voyage and she did pretty good, I got 11 mpg for mostly highway miles. I had driven her around in town a fair amount and averaged around 6. The difference was i finally took the dog house off before this trip and changed the air filler which was pretty nasty. Ill post some pictures.

[64north]

Well I finally got some time to upload some pictures of the progress on the bus. The last time I uploaded pictures I was in the process of adding some insulation to the ceiling. I was very impressed with how cool it stayed even on a 80-degree day. With the curtains drawn and the windshield covered, it stayed about 20-degrees cooler in the bus. Since the last time I have also added 2 benches into the bus. The first is just a normal bench and the second, which I haven't finished is a fold out design that Jatzy shared with me. Once that is finished I will add some pictures of it. Currently the interior is shown below.



Here are the benches in the process of being built. I got the foam at Fred Myers for 20 bucks a piece. Really good deal for high density foam, about half the cost or less of everything else I looked at.



I took the bus down to a wedding in Hope, AK and it turned out to be extremely versatile. I hauled two 20x40 tents, 100 folding chairs, 4 propane heaters and a bunch of other stuff down. Then once down there used the bus instead of a limo to transport the 12 bridesmaids :big grin: Used it for camping as well and it was great!




I also made some curtains for it. Originally I was going to out up a curtain rod and sew curtains, but then I decided to use magnets instead. Each one has two large magnets in the top and two on the bottom seam. I don't have a sewing machine, so I just used a spray adhesive and so far they've held up great and since they just stick to the wall they do a really nice job sealing out all the light.

Heres a picture of the old air filter I took out of it, no wonder it was getting terrible gas milage. On this last trip it did pretty good though, I got 11 on the highway. For a 5.7 350 I think thats pretty good.

[64north]

Originally Posted by 68camaro

I'm looking forward to seeing the interior take shape. Without reading the story in the new posts...do you have a layout in mind you can share with us? I have a 99 with similar miles (got a 98 and a 99 for $3,900 and sold the 98 for 5k), and can't make up my mind what to do inside. Keep up the good work, good luck and keep the pics coming!

The interior is going to be pretty basic. Ill have the two benches, one of which will fold out into a bed and then a counter space with a propane fridge in the back left corner. Other than that I'm trying to figure out what to do with the space by the front door, which still has nothing there. I might do a table space or a captains chair. Not too sure yet.

Overall its going to be very basic. Not wiring it for electric, just want a nice little camper that keeps me dry if its raining and warm when its cold out.

Thanks!

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by 64north

Well I finally got some time to upload some pictures of the progress on the bus. The last time I uploaded pictures I was in the process of adding some insulation to the ceiling. I was very impressed with how cool it stayed even on a 80-degree day. With the curtains drawn and the windshield covered, it stayed about 20-degrees cooler in the bus. Since the last time I have also added 2 benches into the bus. The first is just a normal bench and the second, which I haven't finished is a fold out design that Jatzy shared with me. Once that is finished I will add some pictures of it. Currently the interior is shown below.

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Here are the benches in the process of being built. I got the foam at Fred Myers for 20 bucks a piece. Really good deal for high density foam, about half the cost or less of everything else I looked at.

[/URL][/IMG]

I took the bus down to a wedding in Hope, AK and it turned out to be extremely versatile. I hauled two 20x40 tents, 100 folding chairs, 4 propane heaters and a bunch of other stuff down. Then once down there used the bus instead of a limo to transport the 12 bridesmaids :big grin: Used it for camping as well and it was great!

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I also made some curtains for it. Originally I was going to out up a curtain rod and sew curtains, but then I decided to use magnets instead. Each one has two large magnets in the top and two on the bottom seam. I don't have a sewing machine, so I just used a spray adhesive and so far they've held up great and since they just stick to the wall they do a really nice job sealing out all the light.

Heres a picture of the old air filter I took out of it, no wonder it was getting terrible gas milage. On this last trip it did pretty good though, I got 11 on the highway. For a 5.7 350 I think thats pretty good.

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That air filter is pretty nasty. Unbelievable that someone would let it get that bad.

[64north]

Yeah, it was owned by a non-profit that used it to transport building materials. Doesn't seem like they did too much to maintain it. Lucky she still purrs like a kitten!

[joetx]

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty much doing the same set up as yours with the fold out bed and a counter with fridge, cook top, and sink across the way. Small table with two benches and a captain seat should fill out the bus section pretty much. Will set up two captain seats for the driver and pass up front.

Do you have any detailed pictures of your bed build? Also, what did you do on the floor. Did you have rubber and plywood and replaced it with new plywood.

Can you also show how you did the top insulation and what type you used?

Thanks for any help you can provide. Just getting started on mine. Thanks, Joe.

[64north]

Originally Posted by joetx

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty much doing the same set up as yours with the fold out bed and a counter with fridge, cook top, and sink across the way. Small table with two benches and a captain seat should fill out the bus section pretty much. Will set up two captain seats for the driver and pass up front.

Do you have any detailed pictures of your bed build? Also, what did you do on the floor. Did you have rubber and plywood and replaced it with new plywood.

Can you also show how you did the top insulation and what type you used?

Thanks for any help you can provide. Just getting started on mine. Thanks, Joe.

Hey joetx,
I will have some more pictures of the bed when I get a little farther on it. But theres another user on here, Jatzy that has pictures of the bench he built into a bed that is pretty detailed. His post is called "Armageddon: The smell of airborne rust". Theres some good stuff on there you can take a peek at.

The insulation was very simple, after removing the ceiling panels I took the old insulation out that had water damage and sanded down the metal on the ceiling. I used Reflect-X, which is basically bubble wrap with foil around it that reflects heat. You can buy it in rolls at home depot. I glued that to the ceiling using a 3M multi-purpose adhesive, I think #77 was the one I used. Then I put some thicker 3-inch insulation below it and I found it stays a lot cooler, especially if you put some curtains in and keep the sun out of the windows.

The floors I took everything out and ground all the rust with an angle grinder and a braided metal 3" brush. Cleaned with TSP, sealed all the holes and painted. Then used a rigid foam insulation and drilled 3/4" ply on top of it. I would recommend getting a painters mask if your going to go that route. Worth its weight it gold, I was blowing black boogers out for about 2 days after getting done with it.

The pictures that are up are all I have, but there should be some of the floors before and after.

[64north]

Hey Everyone!
Been a while since I posted on here, I guess ive been traveling too much, haven't had much time for the bus. But I do have some updates!

I decided to get rid of all the metal on the inside of the bus and put in wood tongue and groove. I found some local 4" cedar that should work pretty nicely.

To prep for putting up the TG I mounted studs all everywhere using 1x3's and mounting those with #10 machine screws into the existing metal frame.
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Ive been working on getting all the components to start wiring the electrical system. Im going to go very simple en electric. Im going to go all DC and instead of doing outlets and an inverter, im just going to out a few DC cigarette lighters in a few places. Then just use a charger for whatever I have, which is not anything more than a laptop. Other than that it will just have LED lights overhead and indirect LED strip lighting under the cabinets as well. And then a shore power plug in.

Other than that I scored a propane mini fridge on Craigslist for $30 bones and ordered one of the cubic mini wood stoves to keep her warm. Im getting as many of the pieces lined out as I can right now to start doing all the work here starting in the spring.

Any tips for the wood stove installation would be great, especially some feedback on the cubic mini!

More updates to come, thanks everyone!!

[64north]

I attached a picture this time, I wasnt aware that photo bucket was no longer supported...
Hopefully this works...