Meet our new bus... Mr. Beefy!

[musigenesis]

I regret not giving the inside of my bus a monster power washing at any point. I was irrationally worried about causing further rust damage, which was silly given how many extra drainage holes I had in my floor at the time, and how much water was already coming into the bus on a regular basis.

[TheHubbardBus]

I wouldn't have power-washed your bus either, musigenesis! I'd be afraid it would dissolve before my eyes!


(I can say this now because of all the awesome work you've done. That's what makes it funny )

[Sevier]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I regret not giving the inside of my bus a monster power washing at any point. I was irrationally worried about causing further rust damage, which was silly given how many extra drainage holes I had in my floor at the time, and how much water was already coming into the bus on a regular basis.

Ohh Musigenesis, we will all have our regrets/wonderings of why the f*#k we did or didnt do it one way or another!

[Sevier]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

@Sevier,

Clean... yeah. That took some doing. And it did NOT happen all at once. We've cleaned the interior more times than I can count, to include blowing out w/ compressed air, vacuuming, scrubbing, power washing... and I kid you not... we STILL find bits of insulation or pockets of crud just about every time we're in there. Like you said - years upon years of nastiness. It seems like every time we'd clean, a fraction of the mess would just relocate to a different spot.

Our exterior wasn't really dirt. The big pain there were all the stickers / silicone / glue.

We purchased a power washer specifically for the bus build, and it's been a Godsend. Definitely one of the most useful tools we've bought thus far.

The gap is one thing we cleaned by hand (covered w/ towels or plastic while washing). Just elbow grease. I didn't use any cleaners because I didn't want to get moisture in somewhere I couldn't easily get it out. Compressed air helped also. Make sure to wear a mask, that stray fiberglass is a nightmare. It's still not what I'd consider clean-clean, but clean enough to fill w/ insulation which is what we'll be doing.

We didn't have any glue, but if we did, I'd probably see if it came up easy w/ a wire wheel since we were using that to prep the floor anyway. On the exterior we did the solvent shuffle on the sticky stuff.



Another very useful tool that's served multiple purposes has been a heat gun. That might help w/ the glue??

SO helpful, thankyou!!! I feel encouraged, knowing there isnt something wrong with us, or with our bus, it just takes time and multiple cleanings.

We hit the glue covered floor with a power washer (brilliant piece of equipment!), 6 hours, one inch strip after one inch strip, slow and steady. The depth of the glue was significantly reduced, but will still have to sand or wire wheel. They all just seem to smear the glue around, so it will be multiple phases, including the use of more yicky solvents.

The front of the bus is the nastiest bit, but successfully got the entire heater out and all those metal covers over gaps and transmission hole. We just scrubbed and wiped by hand for hours. And those gaps, we'll take a wet/dry vac to them, and, like you, our hands. There are actually slits at the bottom of a number of them, so some water drains, but do not want to leave sitting water, thats for sure.

Before we begin build out, when I think I cant get it any cleaner, we'll also set off some chlorine dioxide bombs.

And yes! We've been wearing full face respirators for 12 straight days - mold and toxic chemicals and who knows what living microbial critters in all that crud - no way!

[peakbus]

Nice work! Have you tried the clear LED lights at night yet? I have been considering the same thing for use in the rear for more backup lighting. Wondered how much light they cast from up there or if LED pods would be better.

[TheHubbardBus]

@peakbus, thanks so much. Please check PMs.

[EastCoastCB]

Bout to start thinking about getting the glue up from our floor.
harsh chemicals sound like the way to go.

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Bout to start thinking about getting the glue up from our floor.
harsh chemicals sound like the way to go.

So your floor is the same as Sevier's? Just rubber on steel?

[IDIaddict]

What a cliffhanger! I am waiting for the fun interior stuff now!

[TheHubbardBus]

Hey all, been a while since we posted.. thought it might be a good time to catch up.

Paint complete, windows completely rebuilt and back in with new seals added.. We're leak free. New LED lights to replace the old. We intentionally want to keep it looking like a school bus but also know we have to follow the laws...

He's starting to come back together. This feels like (and actually is) a pivotal moment.. now we really start the 'Build'!

[TheHubbardBus]

This may be a bit out of sequence but... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We've had our awesome AC waiting on the sidelines for some time.

The first one was damaged in transit, fortunately we caught it before the delivery driver left and put it back on his truck (refused delivery) Once the new one arrived it was time to figure out how to get this behemoth onto the roof. Don't have a lot of friends nearby and as always, we like to do things ourselves . Jody found the solution, we rented a manual fork lift for a few hours.. Fit nicely along side the bus.. then under as we moved the forks above. Got it done just before sunset!!


Love the low profile of the @colemanusa Mach8 Roughneck unit.

[NavyVet]

Looking good. Hope to see y’all out there, somewhere

[TheHubbardBus]

Next up was our roof rack. This will support our Solar panels (one in the back, two in front of the maxxfan). We don't really have room for a roof deck and frankly we're ok with that. We'll be traveling with our fur babies and if they can't be with us then it's not as much fun. For supports we used recycled rubber strut supports common in commercial HVAC.
I didn't go back and review, not sure if we've posted this already.. but we replaced our rear emergency hatch with a tinted glass version. So we still have the emergency hatch but we can see out of it from our bedroom. With this option we don't have the excess heat coming in as it does from non-tinted options.
Also you can see our @MaxxAir fan .. that's not all dirt, some of it is the plastic covering which we'll leave on until we're ready to hit the road

[TheHubbardBus]

We all know one of the issues we all face is that buses are Loud inside. If it's metal on metal rattle or just the hallow tin can effect. We selected @knukonceptz to help us out. We had our first instance of in transit theft.. be they were surprised when they opened the box only to find a bunch of killmat.. we got a miss match of what look like tv mount hardware pieces. Knukoncepts too care of us!!

Covered the bus insides and already noticing a difference.

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by peakbus

Nice work! Have you tried the clear LED lights at night yet? I have been considering the same thing for use in the rear for more backup lighting. Wondered how much light they cast from up there or if LED pods would be better.

@peakbus, I know this question is from a looong time ago. But I finally have the answer I promised you, though no pictures yet.

We used SoundOff 7" clear leds, and the light output is what I'd consider usable in some circumstances. They're no substitute for off-road driving/spot lights due to orientation, (relatively) low light output, and a very wide angle pattern. But those same negatives turn to positives for finding back-road turn-offs in the sticks, illuminating low-hanging vegetation or structures you might run into overhead, or setting up a campsite with some subtlety. I'm not disappointed in the choice, and at least in the front, I can't think of anything else I'd rather have replaced the red flashers with). Plus, aesthetically speaking, they look tits! (since you're not looking into the light from ground level, you can see each led illuminated in a grid. The appearance is quite pleasing).

[Oldyeller]

Nice bus. That was the size I was originally looking for but I had to settle for a 35 footer and lop off 7' of the rear.

I like the color scheme you chose but if you're like me the color is less important than that you get it painted and that's behind you.

Can your A/C run off your house batteries or will you use it only when hooked to shore power?

[TheHubbardBus]

Just to add a little more info to what Sharon posted above regarding the CLD (constrained layer damper) tiles pictured above, as well as other techniques we're using with the same goal in mind... QUIET THIS BUS!

We have yet to make our maiden voyage, but I know from past experience in other vehicles how much of an impact ambient sound/noise can have on either relieving or adding to the stress of cross-country driving. To us, a quiet and acoustically-neutral interior is as important from a comfort standpoint as thermal insulation. So alot of what we've done and will do is guided by that desire.

CLD tiles (we used KnuKonceptz, there are many other brands) are basically a layer of adhesive elastomeric rubber (butyl) 'constrained' by a layer of stiff aluminum sheet. When adhered to a vibrating surface (in our case, the exterior wall sheet metal), shear forces are produced within the butyl rubber layer, attenuating the input energy (structure-borne noise from the bus itself, sound from outside it, sound produced within it, etc).

We did not cover 100% of the interior surface area for three reasons... 1) They're far from cheap, 2) they're very heavy, and 3) the law of diminishing returns kicks in long before 100% coverage is met. After much research we determined that 50% coverage would provide good performance without breaking the bank or the scales. And from what anectodal testing we've done so far, we're very happy with the result.

[Oldyeller]

Originally Posted by TheHubbardBus

Just to add a little more info to what Sharon posted above regarding the CLD (constrained layer damper) tiles pictured above, as well as other techniques we're using with the same goal in mind... QUIET THIS BUS!

We have yet to make our maiden voyage, but I know from past experience in other vehicles how much of an impact ambient sound/noise can have on either relieving or adding to the stress of cross-country driving. To us, a quiet and acoustically-neutral interior is as important from a comfort standpoint as thermal insulation. So alot of what we've done and will do is guided by that desire.

CLD tiles (we used KnuKonceptz, there are many other brands) are basically a layer of adhesive elastomeric rubber (butyl) 'constrained' by a layer of stiff aluminum sheet. When adhered to a vibrating surface (in our case, the exterior wall sheet metal), shear forces are produced within the butyl rubber layer, attenuating the input energy (structure-borne noise from the bus itself, sound from outside it, sound produced within it, etc).

We did not cover 100% of the interior surface area for three reasons... 1) They're far from cheap, 2) they're very heavy, and 3) the law of diminishing returns kicks in long before 100% coverage is met. After much research we determined that 50% coverage would provide good performance without breaking the bank or the scales. And from what anectodal testing we've done so far, we're very happy with the result.

Yea, that type matting is expensive. Years ago I looked into Dynamat for use in a pickup truck. Given my finances and its cost I decided against it. I seem to recall in my research the company suggested 40% coverage was sufficient which is in line with what you decided on.

Initially, on the floor of my bus I'm going to use 40" square, closed cell matting that I've had for years. I have enough to do the entire floor of the bus. The advantage of this is it will be fast, easy and I won't be locked into anything as it's a simple interlocking matting. It will provide sound deadening and insulation to some degree which I'll see when I hit the road. I'll have a seam down the middle of the length of the bus and I'll be able to easily peel it back to determine if anything 'bad' is happening to the floor. Since I'm very familiar with how the material looks, feels and lasts I'm very comfortable with the idea of using it.

I think you'll find the material you chose will work pretty well.

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

Nice bus. That was the size I was originally looking for but I had to settle for a 35 footer and lop off 7' of the rear.

I like the color scheme you chose but if you're like me the color is less important than that you get it painted and that's behind you.

Can your A/C run off your house batteries or will you use it only when hooked to shore power?

Yeah, We're VERY happy that's behind us. But I'd be lying to say the color wasn't pretty important

As far as the A/C, no... without turning our entire rooftop into a solar farm and adding much more lithium and inverter capacity than we desired, it would not be practical / possible. Plus there's the innefficient irony of needing to park in the sun to power a device required to mitigate its effects

I'm in the process of catching up on our progress, so I'll describe in detail soon, but we've installed a rotary switch between our shore power input & generator input, with the A/C powered by an isolated circuit. Switch it one way and the shore-power input becomes the source for the A/C circuit, while the generator feeds the inverter/charger. Switch it the other way and the roles are reversed. So if we have shore available, we can run the A/C solely off it, while everything else is powered by house system (charged via solar and/or generator). If we're boondocking and require A/C we switch it the other way and can run the A/C until gennie fuel runs out. And if we're boondocking and have to run the A/C that long, we failed before we started ;)

[TheHubbardBus]

Originally Posted by Oldyeller

Initially, on the floor of my bus I'm going to use 40" square, closed cell matting that I've had for years. I have enough to do the entire floor of the bus. The advantage of this is it will be fast, easy and I won't be locked into anything as it's a simple interlocking matting. It will provide sound deadening and insulation to some degree which I'll see when I hit the road. I'll have a seam down the middle of the length of the bus and I'll be able to easily peel it back to determine if anything 'bad' is happening to the floor. Since I'm very familiar with how the material looks, feels and lasts I'm very comfortable with the idea of using it.

I'm getting ahead of myself again (work's done, just not yet documented), but we used something similar in the flooring, though it's stuck in the middle)