97 E350 Shuttle

[Switch3d]

Picked up a shuttle bus for very cheap after looking for a sprinter van but with that market being out of this world in price. Its a 97 Ford 350. Seemed to have been babied most of its life and the last owner started the process of converting it to a RV.





I tried my had at making a 3d model of the interior to make a pretty good layout but was in over my head. Decided to just go the "old" school way and do it by hand.



First is getting rid of the rest of the interior.





After getting all the plywood off the roof I noticed that the foam on the inside is glued along the roof and it very hard to get off. Does any one have experience with removing foam that is glued into place like this? My plan is to strip the interior down the the fiberglass and reinsulate/skin the inside.

[Switch3d]

Took out the plywood floors then cut screws / grinded all the rust out from the metal frame. Then painted the frame.



Cut new plywood and painted it.




Picked up 6 12v 100 amp hour batteries to run in a 24v 300amp hour set up.

Can any one help me get my mind around how to calculate watt hours on a window ac unit? If a window ac unit uses 600 max watts and 6 amps how do I translate that to time aka watt hours?

[Kentucky Dreaming]

Watts X Hours=Watt-hours.

600 watts X 6 hours would be 3600 watt-hours

Your planned battery bank has a total capacity of 7200 watt-hours.

If the batteries are lead-acid, you shouldn't discharger them below 50% of rated capacity (7200 watt-hours).

So you won't be able to rut your AC very long on a charge.

[Switch3d]

Got the floors all set. Working next on insulating the walls and roof and adding two roof fans.

[Mags]

hows the build going? post some pics will ya? it looks like you dont mess around when it comes to quality!

[Switch3d]

Progress has been slow. I've been planning the window reseal and had to cut out the front shuttle doors as they were rusted to the point I could not get them out if one shattered. Picked up some maxx air vents and a few more things but window resealing is going to take some time

[ISAF2009]

Looks good keep it up.

[Switch3d]

Finally ,made some more progress today and got 3 windows sealed on the pass side. Moved the emergency windows around to fit the build plan.





I have been following a build on YouTube but my shuttle bus is older and is different so I made some mistakes that cost a few good days of work. After the windows I will work on the roof vents and the rest of the furing strips.

[Switch3d]

Got the whole pass side done and the rear. hoping to try to finish the windows this week before I leave for some work.

[Switch3d]

Hit a but of a snag when going over the driver's windows. Turns out two of the up rights were cut out at some point so when taking out the windows the aluminum outside also came with it. It was just bondo in so my plan is to do the same

[Switch3d]

Finally after what seemed like months, I was able to put in more work on the shuttle bus. Got all the windows seal after bondo'ing the pieces that came off.



Also got the roof vent in the front mounted.

[Oldyeller]

Your bus is a nice find. Is it gas or diesel? What's the length inside from the driver's seat back? It's nice that it has the framing under the floor that allows you to re-lay new flooring without much difficulty. I like the windows as well, lots better than school bus windows.

[Switch3d]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

Your bus is a nice find. Is it gas or diesel? What's the length inside from the driver's seat back? It's nice that it has the framing under the floor that allows you to re-lay new flooring without much difficulty. I like the windows as well, lots better than school bus windows.

its a 7.3 diesel. Behind the drivers seat is about 16 and a half feet. I can see why people would like either. The shuttle bus is built way different and is fundamentally a different chassis

[Switch3d]

second vent in and both are now sealed up. looking to get the whole roof resealed by the end of the week with some luck

[Switch3d]

Did the tropicool last week and now back working on the side trying to figure out the layout

[o1marc]

That top pic just convinced me not to use the Tropicool I bought for mine. Noting the less than smooth finish, that will collect dirt and never look clean.

I wonder if it would have flowed better in warmer temps. Where are you located? Go to the UserCP and fill out your profile, adding your bus info and location makes it easier to answer concerns.

[Switch3d]

Originally Posted by o1marc

That top pic just convinced me not to use the Tropicool I bought for mine. Noting the less than smooth finish, that will collect dirt and never look clean.

I wonder if it would have flowed better in warmer temps. Where are you located? Go to the UserCP and fill out your profile, adding your bus info and location makes it easier to answer concerns.

I wouldn't knock it until you try it. The picture is after a second thiccc coat and was still drying. I would never anything other. this stuff is pretty rad

[Switch3d]

Progress in the interior before traveling for Christmas. Hoping to get a lot finished this coming week

[Switch3d]

Got a lot done in the past few days. By the end of the week I'm hoping to have the the barebones of everything so I can work on the plumbing and electric

[TheHubbardBus]

Looking great! Gotta feel good getting all that wood in and it starting to look like your dream