Meet our new bus... Mr. Beefy!

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

Whatever you do DON'T reverse the polarity of either sub. If you do you will create a dichotomy in the multiverse and all of reality will collapse. The only thing you can do at this point is hold your breath . . . FOREVER. The fate of all of the universes depends upon you.

Is this a cryptic way of saying that if I get high enough, I won't notice the difference?

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

Is this a cryptic way of saying that if I get high enough, I won't notice the difference?

I don't know, if you have a roof deck that might work.

[syntaxterror]

Hi Any progress on MR.Beefy?

[Retired Roughneck]

Congrats, i drove mine home over a mountain and was nervous! but it did great! you'll dig the short bus cuz you can drive them anywhere. we stopped at a subway like we were in a car LOL. we do more state camping than RV parks. we like trees instead of being in-between 2 big RV's or trailers LOL
what else is cool is that you can design your own interior!
have fun!

[TheHubbardBus]

Back after another long hiatus. The next few posts will cover the work we've done over the past 6 months. Before that we were dealing with more life-issues that put Mr Beefy on the back-burner. I just recently injured my back, and I'm really hoping that doesn't result in yet another delay, but it is what it is. I'll know more in a couple weeks. Until then we're plugging along as best we can.

First up is our 'connectivity hub'. This includes a Peplink mobile modem/router, a POE switch (primarily to drive wired security cams), and a HomeSeer Pi G3, which serves as the brains for our home automation / security system. The bracket I bent up myself using a vice for a brake. Can you tell? (lol). Yeah, not exactly square, but at least it's symmetric, and best of all it looks just fine from the front. All these components are 12VDC, which was really important as they're all either 'always-on' or 'often-on', which if they were AC would mean our inverter never being allowed to enter sleep/standby mode.

Starklink wasn't even a 'thing' when we conceived of this layout, but we should be able to integrate it cleanly when/if needed. If nothing else this just gives us plenty of redundancy. The Pepwave (Max BR1 MK2) allows for 2 cellular carriers, along with WIFI-as-WAN functionality in places where we have access to public WIFI. The coax (LMR200) runs are terminated above the roof, but we don't yet have antennas mounted, and won't until after summer when we (hopefully) put up the solar panel racks / catwalk.

[TheHubbardBus]

Next came covering the walls in our 'bedroom' area. We used 1/4" cedar T&G, adhered with liquid nails & brad nails, and finished with 3 coats of oil-based polyurethane. Unfortunately, a lot of this won't be visible once our sofas/bed is in place. I initially planned to wait on this until it was done, and only do this where it would be exposed, but it was so light and easy to put up (and we had a lot of it), I went ahead & did the whole things. Where it ends is where our cabinets will start.

Eventually we'll be trimming around all the edges with aluminum corner guard.


Sorry all upside-down... quirk of this site.

[TheHubbardBus]

The heater / electric / dash panel area to the left of the driver's seat was particularly challenging & frustrating. In previous pics I show this entirely removed. The problem with this area is it's essentially a direct portal to the outside world (via the electric / fuse panel), and due to it's nature, is hard to insulate (thermal & sound).

My original plan was to build over / around it using wood / rigid foam insulation. But there's little room to spare between this & the driver's seat, and the angles required would make it very tricky even if this were not the case.

We ended up using more of the 1/4" cedar T&G we used for the bedroom area, glued into sheets and then cut to 'decorate' the OEM cover (after repairing/repainting the same). Each piece was backed by 1/8" rubber, and then secured to the OEM cover with aluminum rivets (should have used brass). 3 coats of poly like the bedroom area.

Any 'cavity' within this area that wasn't part of the heater ducting was insulated with left-over Thinsulate.

The panel itself was screwed on, but we used cork/rubber strip insulation between the panel pictured and the heater/dash assembly it's mounted to. Between this and the 'stiffening' provided by all the wood/rubber, we successfully cut down on the noise this area generated considerably. It's now a dull thud when you tap it with your knuckles, instead of sounding like a cymbal.

Walnut trim pieces surrounding the incoming shore power breaker panel, as well as a laser-etched memorial to our recently-deceased pup George (not yet shown), pretty up the areas we couldn't easily cover otherwise. This was left-over material from our ceiling trim.

Eventually we'll replace the stock 'top' (where the switches are) with one we build. But for now it looks & functions OK (aside from the big hole where the document 'pocket' no longer fits).

[TheHubbardBus]

Sharon's in charge of aesthetics, and here are a couple great examples of her recent projects. First is the speaker cover for the bedroom area. It's a picture from our wedding! The first version was color, but we ended up getting a copy made in black and white, as it really seemed at home w/ our color scheme. We've gotta tweak the cover's frame a hair to get it to fit properly, and complete the edging surrounding it, but it should be complete shortly.

Second are the 'caps' that cover up the gaps, where present, in our ceiling trim. These are walnut 'tiles', with decorate inlays (cut with a laser) added. For such a small item they really go a long way to making the ceiling pop.

[TheHubbardBus]

The next bits were the stuff surrounding the driver's side heater/electrical/dash area. As the floor was raised - including the platform we built upon which the driver's seat is mounted, none of these components fit anymore, so all had to either be modified or built from scratch.

For the metal pieces we could modify, we prepped / painted all after cutting them as needed, then used CLD tiles on the backside to deaden the sound they make. This worked really well. I also lined the edges that my be contacting portions of the OEM wiring harness with rubber trim.

The one piece we couldn't modify was the slotted-vent-like structure running most of the length along the bottom of the heater assembly. Here we replaced that part using baltic birch, screwed / glued, and painted (outside our interior 'black', inside with FireGard). This isn't pictured here, but will show up in later photos.

[TheHubbardBus]

Our first wall! There will only be one more. This is the forward wall separating the driver's seat from the bathroom. The wall does not go all the way up to the ceiling except where it (will) join the cabinet, yet to be built, above the driver's seat. This was for a few reasons, but the main reason is I didn't want the front speakers blocked. It's basically just a sheet of 3/4" baltic birch, sanded / poly'd, and secured along the edge with a combination of pocket screws, wood screws, and 'permanent' polyurethane adhesive (similar to 3M 550 FC).

Additional bracing will be added as the build progresses.

I won't go into what it took to figure out the curve. But I will say this is version 2.0.

[TheHubbardBus]

The bus came with 2 engine-driven AC units. We nixed the (larger) one in the rear, and are keeping the front unit, though we're moving it a bit forward so it's directly over what will be the passenger's seat beside the front-most passenger window.

These two brackets are what the interior portion of that AC mount to. Originally, these were both riveted to the interior sheet metal, with the uppermost also riveted into one of the two steel 'rails' that run the length of the bus. Since we gutted the interior sheet, we needed a different plan.

Now the lower bracket is both screwed & riveted into a steel beam I created and installed before the ceiling went in, while the uppermost is screwed through a wooden spacer, and into the aforementioned rail. All rivets were steel/steel, all screws were fine-thread wood-to-metal.

Every screw head was topped with poly adhesive to keep it from vibrating out. So you can see how many there are! BUT... this AC unit will sit directly above the passenger seat - which will usually be my wife. So after days of worrying, I decided all those screws still weren't enough to make me comfy.

So.... before the AC unit is hung, we'll be adding two additional 3/8" grade 8 bolts to the upper bracket, that go all the way through to the outside skin of the bus, backed with fender washers.

[TheHubbardBus]

Now for our first cabinet! The cabinet over the driver serves dual duty housing a few of our electrical system components, namely our solar charge controller (with room for a 2nd if we ever need to). To that end it's ventilated using two 4" DC fans (one push, one pull). The breaker / cutoff switch for the front panels lies underneath, along with a remote speaker for the uhf / vhf radio. The pull switch for the horn solenoid is mounted here as well, along with the SeeLevel control panel. I used the switch on the SeeLevel panel as a master on/off for the ventilation fans, instead of using it to control our water pump as designed (we'll have a switch for that elsewhere).

We also framed out the driver's window with walnut. Included in these trim pieces are hardwired alarm contacts for the driver's window.

[TheHubbardBus]

Here the electronics go in & the cabinet comes together.

The SCC, bus bar (for combining solar panel inputs), and fuse block (output from the SCC) are all tucked in a corner. We used press-in threaded inserts in the wall where we mounted the SCC, so it's easy to install / remove if needed without worrying about stripping out wood threads. The house & bus wiring harnesses that run behind the cabinet are 'hidden' by a single piece of 1/2" baltic birch pocket holed to the floor, easily removed if we need to access this area.

[TheHubbardBus]

All the wires running down behind the driver's seat posed a new challenge. This is also the point where the driver's seat-belt mounts (the vertical portion). In OEM configuration there are 3 threaded bosses welded into the bus frame for this purpose. So we needed both a wire chase and a way to still use these mounting points.

Our solution was to build up the edge of the window trim rear of the driver's window, add a nailing strip (more like a screwing strip) to the wall we had just put in, and use a piece of 1/2" plywood for the 'cover' to the newly fashioned wire chase, spanning the two. This puts the face of the wire chase ~ 3" out. Into this cover were drilled 3 holes matching the location of the seat-belt mounting points.

We had already built 'extensions' for the seat-belt mounting points by welding together a pairs of 'long' nuts, with all-thread in the middle. These extensions come out perfectly flush with the face of the wire chase cover once everything was complete. So we can properly torque the seat belt components without deforming/putting pressure on the cover, and there's a solid connection to the frame of the bus.

[TheHubbardBus]

First cabinet needs a first cabinet door. Sharon to the rescue. She decided to make this her first shaker-style cabinet door (real shaker, not faux plywood) - which would also be her first cabinet door period. It turned out incredible, if I say so myself. I told her I'd like a Kraken, to go with our pirate theme, and boy did she deliver! Frame is Walnut, center panel is 1/4" baltic birch ply. The image was created by the laser etcher she used for the inlays on the ceiling 'tiles'.

Hinges are soft-close Blum. We tried a couple other brands, as I wanted hinges that held the door up by themselves when opened, but couldn't find anything that would work with the manner in which we constructed the cabinet face. That said we couldn't do better than these, so once we add struts (a way-down-the-road project) for this purpose, we'll be GTG.

The latch was found on Amazon, & we bought enough to do all our future cabinet doors + spares for repairs. We have spent HOURS looking for latches. I wanted marine-grade slam-latches more than anything. But it seems every one made - no matter who makes them - is offered solely in black plastic, white plastic, or stainless / chrome. These have a plastic inner housing / latch, but everything user-side is metal (aluminum). They appear very well made and sturdy. Not slam latches, but the next best thing. The 'button' is flush when closed. When you push it, it pops the button out (which now acts as the handle), while unlatching the door. Pretty slick.


Color change in the wood between first pics & later is the addition of polyurethane.

[TheHubbardBus]

The house battery box was my our 'real' welding project (aside from the seat-belt studs). I was so stoked with the way it came out, I painted it gold!

It's designed to hold up to 2 Battleborn GC3 (270AH each) batteries. All the holes you see in the bottom are drilled / tapped to match the mounting points these batteries come with. So... 18 #12 screws each! We only have one such battery at the moment, and have no plans on purchasing another unless needed. But I wanted to have the ability to easily double our capacity if required. It could obviously be used with other batteries w/ minor modification, so we're not married to the GC3s. But their size/dimensions/layout are perfect for our needs, so building this box specifically for them seemed worth the effort.

I installed riv-nuts to allow plywood 'panels' to bolted on as covers. This allows easy access to the batteries, as well as easy-er access when / if I ever need to remove the whole assembly. As you'll see in future pics, this box sits directly on top of a transmission access panel. So while I doubt I'll need access to it often - it could happen - and when it does, I need a way to remove this entire assembly within a reasonable time frame.

[TheHubbardBus]

The cover 'panels' were cut square to match the dimensions of the battery tray. This is how they ended up coming together. Not perfectly square, but pretty darn close. I still can't believe I welded this. It's all downhill from here

Inside of all these was coated with FireGard, outside is poly. I got a little sloppy with the drill holes breaking out the 'good' side, but eventually the exterior will be finished with a final layer of 1/4" cedar (we're going to fashion it to look like a treasure chest).

Additionally, a 3/4" bb ply floor was built to bolt on to the bottom of the battery box. This forms a 'floor', filling out the space surrounding the transmission access panel, under which loose-fill insulation will be placed. In one of the pics you can see this insulation stacked in place.

[TheHubbardBus]

The battery box is secured by 3/8" bolts at 5 points... 3 holes through the firewall, and 2 through the floor in the rear. Getting nuts on those holes through the firewall was a pain, but the result is rock solid / not going anywhere. If / when I need to access that panel I'll be cussing this decision, but it's still doable. All the bolt holes were sealed from both sides (butyl rubber inside, rubber sealing washers outside).

Somewhere along the line I also put the driver's eat in, apparently. Forgot all about that! The bellows were a recent addition as well to prevent kitty paws from getting in kitty-paw-removing places. It's in it's rearmost position here. In actual use it won't be touching the wall.

[TheHubbardBus]

Here the battery box covers are in place, and I've mounted the uhf/vhf radio face. The main radio unit was mounted (remotely) & wired in long ago, under the dash.

The seat-belt assembly has also been installed, though in these pics I still need to air up the seat so I can tighten the floor straps as required. This is the first time I've been seat-belt legal & safe since we gutted the bus!

Note the battery isn't installed yet. We won't be doing that till closer to completion, and after summer (our plan is to remove it/them during summers when not being used as we live in an oven).

[fo4imtippin]

Glad you are back and with a vengeance! Hopefully that back heals quick so you can finish.



Very cool setup with the pepwave. I always get excited on the bits you are working on that i want to skip over things like plywood floor and stuff. I wanted to wifi-as-wan setup, so started looking at the peplink, but found out that my android tablet could ethernet tether its wifi connection, so my plan is to just have a little pfsense router with 4WAN ports and use a 12v POE switch like yours to power my access points.


I like the work on your driverside console, looks really smooth!


The little electronic cabinet above the driver is real nice. I have been designing my 12v circuts on paper, and its going to be a tough fit for everything, Being able to have your seat spaced from the driver window a bit, makes that cabinet a great use of space.


That battery box is real nice! really getting all your cubic space out of that driver area.


What radio do you have there by the driver? I eventually want to get my ham license (so ill leave room to add a mobile unit). For now, i already have a GMRS license which covers the whole family, so im hoping to run a mobile repeater that the kids can hit while dirtbiking, or excursions away from basecamp.