Buster the '05 Ford E450

[mattbus]

@whywalk Fridge is the Engel MT35F-U1 AC/DC Fridge/Freezer. Not cheap, but it was just what I was looking for.

Been working on the bathroom and some plumbing this week. I finished off the shower walls with poly wall panels and installed a Dura Faucet RV style shower faucet and shower head. The plumbing is easily accessible from under the kitchen sink.









I also drilled a hole and installed a section of 1 1/2" PVC for my Nature's Head toilet vent. The outside cover is a little PVC cover I picked up on Amazon.

[dan-fox]

Are you sure that you don't want to take your toilet vent out the roof? I honestly believe what some folks say that overall they don't smell too bad but there will be moments.

[CaptSquid]

I, too, have a Nature's Head. I don't have it vented outside and I don't have any odor emanating from it.

[mattbus]

@dan-fox @captsquid I guess we'll find out! I've seen many skoolies, RV's and tiny homes with Nature's Head vented out the side as well so I'm thinking it will be fine, but it's something I can always change down the road if it is a problem.

The bathroom is mostly finished now, I just need to hang the shower curtain which will go around the two open sides. I also might move the exhaust tubing to the other side of the toilet, but it's a really tight fit between the wall so I may try to modify the exhaust fitting to make it a little more low profile to fit between the toilet and the wall.









Other small updates have been insulating the rear wall and installing the water inlet hatch.

[dopamine16]

Awsome shower room, i was going to vent N-H underneath the bus, but out the side dosent look to bad ow that i seen you do it. but 1 1/2" seems a bit large to me, hope i can find one no bigger than 1", I dont see how the smell could be a problem unless you plan on sitting outside next to it with nose to ass. That tube does look like its going to be a problem with shower tho. Does the vent tube have to be that large or can we reduce it to smaller one.?

[2martins]

Originally Posted by mattbus

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and comments. Definitely motivating!

@jtgt25 I think some setups you do need to loop it, but I guess I'll find out when I start driving mine more! I'm just assuming since their were shut offs, that it was how they turned off the rear heater in the summer time since there is not another switch or anything. I'm going to do as much as I can with solar/battery banks but not sure if I'll be able to work out a fully viable heat solution that way yet.

@Rusty Definitely a bit OCD, haha. I take all my tools back in and clean/organize things every few days. I'm not sure if it wastes more time putting everything back, or looking for them when I don't put them back... haha.


Dry fit the sink and faucet. I really need a new jig saw, the sink hole required over an hour of cutting and sanding


Sink looking a lot better than the one in my home kitchen...

What are you going to do about the gap between the back of the counter and the windows? I see water and crumbs getting back there which I don't want but haven't seen addressed in other builds yet.

[mattbus]

Back at it! Been busy with work and travel, so I mostly took the winter off from the bus. Now that the weather is getting a bit better I'm hoping I can get this thing wrapped up for at least a couple trips this summer/fall!

A few small progress updates from this weekend. Finished up the stairwell with some rubber matting from Home Depot and trimmed it out. Assembled the futon/bunk bed, and re-configured / roughed out where the fridge and stove/oven with go. This JUST fits when the futon is in bed mode, and also works out a little better because now I can open the fridge without rolling it out.

The top bunk is going to be modified a bit so that the front will be open enough to climb up into, but most likely will be storage most of the time, while still being able to sleep a person if need be.

[o1marc]

Nice work. I see 2 potential outside showers, one from the kitchen and one from the bath.

[TheArgobus]

Originally Posted by mattbus

@whywalk Fridge is the Engel MT35F-U1 AC/DC Fridge/Freezer. Not cheap, but it was just what I was looking for.

Been working on the bathroom and some plumbing this week. I finished off the shower walls with poly wall panels and installed a Dura Faucet RV style shower faucet and shower head. The plumbing is easily accessible from under the kitchen sink.









I also drilled a hole and installed a section of 1 1/2" PVC for my Nature's Head toilet vent. The outside cover is a little PVC cover I picked up on Amazon.

Hey Matt, looks great, we're planning a similar shower bathroom combo (although ours is one window shorter). Do you have a link to the poly wall panels you used, or to something similar?


Also do you find that the toilet space is too narrow when you're sitting on it?

[mattbus]

@TheArgobus Thanks! The panels are from Home Depot, it's one of the two poly panels they had in stock at my local store. It goes on with a FRP adhesive that they sell too.

The toilet space is totally fine, my shoulder just about touches the wall though. Definitely sit on the toilet and move it around first before you bolt it down or anything.

[onemanarmy]

Looking great so far. How much water are you going to carry? Gonna have hot water too? Any AC?

Will be following.

[ermracing]

Originally Posted by mattbus

We bought the same stove for our build. I like how clear they make it that it's for OUTDOOR use.... Looks like it will work fine. Great work on your build!

[mattbus]

@onemanarmy Thanks! 30-gallon freshwater and 30-gallon grey water tanks. A little on the small side, but I don't plan on being on any super long trips or being off the grid for too long in the near future. I'm planning on hot water, but I might skip it for this year since I'm anxious to take it on some trips! No plans for AC right now.

@ermracing Nice. Honestly, I'm planning to carry it outside to use when the weather is good. But I think with a window cracked open and the vent fan turned on, it should be alright inside as well. I don't want a ton of grease/cooking smells inside all the time either. But it's super portable, so easy enough to put outside on a small table.

[mattbus]

I bolted the bunk bed to the back wall today with four 6"x3/8" bolts. I had to make some little wooden spacers between the wall and the bed rail to keep everything straight and flush, but it's super sturdy and solid. I still plan to anchor it to the floor, but it's already way more solid than I thought. The kitchen area is more or less done, for now, and hopefully it stops raining so I can hang the grey water tank this weekend.

[mattbus]

Got the grey tank installed and the drains plumbed. I bolted "superstruts" into the bus frame, and hung the tank with six threaded rods. I padded the top and bottom of the tank with some left over rubber I had from the stairwell, and slid PVC tubing over the threaded rods to keep them from rubbing/wearing away at the sides of the tank. I drilled holes in the top of the tank and installed uniseals and slid the drain pipes into those while I hung the tank. Also installed a vent in the top and 1" drain valve. I used Hepvo drains under the shower area, and another one vertically under the sink.

[TheArgobus]

That’s looking real good. Did you through-bolt the bracket to the superstrut or did you just drill right into the metal? Looks solid and secure. Also where’d you get the tank? Where’s the fresh tank going? Looks great.

[mattbus]

@TheArgobus The struts are bolted directly into the frame with self-tapping metal lag bolts, so I drilled smaller pilot holes into the frame first then bolted the struts right into the frame. There is special hardware you can buy just for the struts to that lock into the track, it really did come out super secure. The tanks are from Valterra, they look like they've gotten pretty expensive on Amazon though now. The freshwater tank is going in the back of the bus, update on that coming soon.

[mattbus]

Water! And no leaks! The "city water" is all hooked up, and it feels awesome to see the sink and shower running! All the drains working as expected, and no leaks so far. The lines for the future hot water heater are capped for now, and the fresh water tank isn't hooked up yet, but most of the plumbing is ready to go. There is a check valve after the pump, keep the city water from going back to the pump.

[mattbus]

Installed two 15 amp power inlets today. I wish I had space to put them a little farther away from the water inlets but I was a bit stuck between the window, the back of the bus, and the interior cabin area.

I also hooked up the fresh water tank and now I'm just waiting on a fill hose from Amazon. I'll mount/support everything once I'm sure it's all working without leaks.

Started some wiring as well, I got the toilet fan and roof vent fan wired up and working, and will wire up the water pump next. The fridge is plugged in as well.

I had originally planned to do my own battery banks, charger, inverter, etc. but in the end, I went with this Yeti 3000. Obviously, I could have built something more powerful, cheaper, and more upgradeable but... I really like the idea of everything in this self-contained unit - batteries, charger, inverter, monitor, and solar charge controller. Another thing is, I'm not planning on full-timing really, so it's great I can just take it out of the bus and bring it in the house as a massive battery backup/generator replacement. Not to mention lithium is a huge benefit and not having to worry about battery health is going to be great. I've seen a lot of GoalZero haters, but I think the simplicity and flexibility are worth it for my setup. I didn't get any solar panels yet, but since the charge controller is already built into this model, it's just a matter of adding panels. Also, a promo code saved me 15% which was pretty huge in this case.

[farok]

Looking good!