Sweet As - The 2006 Chevy Collins Makeover

[Epomethius]

I saw the light and am going to have a single regulator and bypass the ones that came with the stove and water heater. Which meant getting copper, sold by interior diameter and level of flexibility, and fittings which are sold by the pipe’s OD. Definitely less irritating to learn about this before buying and getting home. Plus be sure to get the desired thicknesses because there is a choice.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by Epomethius

I saw the light and am going to have a single regulator and bypass the ones that came with the stove and water heater. Which meant getting copper, sold by interior diameter and level of flexibility, and fittings which are sold by the pipe’s OD. Definitely less irritating to learn about this before buying and getting home. Plus be sure to get the desired thicknesses because there is a choice.

copper fittings that are sold as 1/2" are sized to fit the OD of 1/2" ID copper pipe

[Epomethius]

Did some sink work and other plumbing stuff. I like the repurposed redwood undermount for the sink. You can see the shims I used to get everything copacetic.

A neighbor’s memories of traveling around in a VW bus were reawakened and in serious contention for Impulse Action of the Year award bought a super cool, 2 piece windshield 26’ rv. Old skool gas engine that sounds killer. First night took it out for some camping action.

Less than $10k. Needs tires, maybe other stuff though maybe not. Has solar, all the rv stuff. While there are certainly things I like more about and can do better in the bus , be honest before buying and deciding to convert. I’m kinda frugal, doing the stuff outside of mechanical and still I’m at $15k.

[Epomethius]

Kitchen check in.

The first pic has wheelchair lift door in front and rear door is to the right. The counter is old redwood fencing. The boards covering some of the sink are to add counter when needed and are not attached. The drawer faces, from the top, are from a scrap waiting since 2005; next two are taken from that found drawer; the last is doubled up wood previously used on the larger shelves, what used to be there, as backstops and support. Can you tell I am excited to finally be using these treasures? Full disclosure: the first and last are actually cabinet doors. The bracket on the right is part of a larger plan to make getting the bikes in smoother, something long anticipated. See that board on the window? That is to make it so I don't have to worry about it and handlebars doing the nasty too violently. While the heater (a barely visible black box on the floor towards the right) is a pain too unless the pedals are just right, I'm more interested in leaving than taking the time to make it so.

In the second picture we are looking at the found white counter top, courtesy of one of those bike rides at Joaquin Miller. It is cardboard inside, which made for gushy cutting. Meaning a couple seconds of easy and then stickyish. The three black thingies on the wall are switches. One for the fridge, one for the propane solenoid and alarm, and the last for the water pump. They have a little light when on, very sophisticated. The wide piece of wood with all the holes is the face of the drawer which resides over the mighty fridge slider currently occupied by a vacuum and some tools in a box. The holey drawer's bottom has more and larger holes, all of which are to assist with fridge air circulation. Ideally enough to make a difference. You can just make out the propane locker sitting on the plywood shelf closest to the rear door whose lower window is partially blocked by the white 5 gallon bucket and on the far side of the blue pex. The smaller rectangle of ply on the propane locker itself is the lower part of what will hold the L5 water heater, the end of the line for that pex. Definitely taking off the smaller section of counter when using the water heater by the way, which is the second reason for the seam, the first being getting access to the propane locker's insides. That trim which runs the back of the counter lengthwise is also stunningly old, and is what remains from a mirror mounting project. Its job is to help keep the removable piece in place in a removable manner. I planned on using eye hooks to connect the counter's front to the 2x4 underneath. However, the cardboard counter has no real place to screw into, which makes eye hooks, etc pretty flimsy. I think I'll remove some cardboard and glue a piece of wood in the newly created void. The propane alarm is just below the plywood holding the locker, white, and is nearly lost in the black of the floor.

To come is a less deep counter covering most the area in front of the door. I can only go part of the way across at a normal height because of the bike seats. That'll be where the stove sits.

I threw out some scraps today. First time since starting this thing last November. Did some cleaning too.

Can you feel the anticipation???

[Epomethius]

Macro stuff is all done, including the tank. Hooray!!

Turning on the pump had too many leaks: is pex + hose clamp + brass pex fitting not protocol? I ended up breaking some hose clamps as I strove to stop the drips.

It's more $ to get a crimp tool than swap out the particular fittings with sharkbite ones. Not sure what to do next.

[Ravendancer]

Make sure your engine and wire are all good before ya blast off.����

[Epomethius]

Right on Ravendancer!! Target date is 19th or 20th.

Folks, I have the home depot 500lb sliders for the fridge. I've had a time of it figuring out how to secure the fridge and drawer while travelling. Currently I have a barrel bolt and seat belt on the R and L sides. Think positive.

I've learned since assembling the drawer that locking, heavy duty sliders exist, though I don't know what the locking mechanism is rated to withstand. For instance, https://www.ovisonline.com/22-Heavy-...0-L-P1902.aspx

[Epomethius]

The bus is awesome save for the house battery. Outside Flagstaff is an easy spot to do some improvements and one of them is to put in a more robust system.

One thing, where the rust did make a difference, is the windshield replacement I did just before leaving. Specifically, there is some on the upper left and right sides of it which made the gasket not seal as well. Better would have been to have the windshield replaced at a body shop as the place where I went, in the no rust Bay Area, didn’t have the means for remediation.

[The bus stops here]

Originally Posted by Epomethius

Casey,

Re: potential window leaks. I did take off the metal, yeah there was some evidence of rust. Still, I chose to play the Game of Hope and blazed forward recovering with plywood. So far so good.

Taking the side panels was simply a lot of unscrewing. I had a dream of covering the insides with a dynamat copycat; I considered the time to benefit and chose to leave on time. This time, week after week I hear myself saying “One more week”.

I hear you about the floor. Truth is it is a shoes on floor in the front and none in the back. Meaning I didn’t change the floor at all except to put a small rug in the back. Actually it was an extra towel at first lol.

I am leaving in my original plywood and covering with insulation and vinyl planks. I know it's not the pure-ists way, but I'm going to risk it. On the positive side, I bought the bus while it was raining and drove it for 2.5 hours in the rain and no leaks. Negative, it is Minnesota.

[Epomethius]

Glad to hear about the smooth sailing.

Today I stopped at some places to ask for advice on my electric dysfunction and what’s available.

The solar place suggested a single 200ah 12v agm for a minimum of $350. Or a 100ah lithium that’d also need a $650 device to drop the 140 amps coming from the alternator to 50 so as to not go over the battery’s 50 amp limit.

Either way a better battery isolator, recommending Samlex acr 160.

The RV repair place offered a pair of 6v 200 ah lead acid for $150/each.

Neither place was very concerned about the 21 feet from the alternator to the battery vis a vis voltage drop.

There’s no real place inside and the starboard rear has a ton of under storage. So I’m off to get super strut and make a bay.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by Epomethius

Glad to hear about the smooth sailing.

Today I stopped at some places to ask for advice on my electric dysfunction and what’s available.

The solar place suggested a single 200ah 12v agm for a minimum of $350. Or a 100ah lithium that’d also need a $650 device to drop the 140 amps coming from the alternator to 50 so as to not go over the battery’s 50 amp limit.

Either way a better battery isolator, recommending Samlex acr 160.

The RV repair place offered a pair of 6v 200 ah lead acid for $150/each.

Neither place was very concerned about the 21 feet from the alternator to the battery vis a vis voltage drop.

There’s no real place inside and the starboard rear has a ton of under storage. So I’m off to get super strut and make a bay.

I am late to the party.

I just wanted to toss out there: Costco and Sam's Club have GC-2 6v 215a/h batteries for around $90.

[Epomethius]

Great tip for sams club or Costco. Costco is 145 miles out of the way, however sams has them here and has a daily membership. Plus paying for cores the total is $245 for a pair of 6v 215 ah batteries.

The place for them is nearly done too. Thank goodness as my cordless batteries are running low.

[cheese]

nice bus! I just scooped an 07 duramax short bus.. have you torn the ceiling off? I am having a heck of a time with whatever these running board looking things are..

[Frochevy]

Originally Posted by cheese

nice bus! I just scooped an 07 duramax short bus.. have you torn the ceiling off? I am having a heck of a time with whatever these running board looking things are..

Hey I have a 2007 Chevy Express van Collins with an LMM Duramax. I've torn my ceiling off. What are you asking about?? Mine had tons of screws. The panels also had adhesive that I had to pop loose with a pry bar before the panels would come down ...

[cheese]

Originally Posted by Frochevy

Hey I have a 2007 Chevy Express van Collins with an LMM Duramax. I've torn my ceiling off. What are you asking about?? Mine had tons of screws. The panels also had adhesive that I had to pop loose with a pry bar before the panels would come down ...

i made a new post so i don't hijack this one. here


http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f27/20...tml#post331438


thanks for the reply!

[Epomethius]

The batteries are in. Construction on the road! Next up is the hookup itself. Photos are taken while standing outside the wheelchair lift door. I ended up with 6 bolts holding the super strut beams. Really stout fore/aft. I need to add some bracing for side to side as there is a small bit of flex possible.

[Epomethius]

New batteries are in, the fridge is running and I’m eating fresh food again. I went to a number of places and happily was referred to Tim, who was terrific and appreciates custom done. Here are some notes I took.

There are circuit breakers in the engine bay, battery side.

The 2 gauge wire that powered the lift goes through one of the circuit breakers.

Don’t get below 11.5 for house
Once at 11.8 start engine
12.6 is a fully charged battery w/o alternator
When charging via alternator will range from 13.8 (when temps are warm) to 14.7 (when cold)

Thus, over some days/weeks can get an idea of draw.

The starter battery was apparently appearing low because the 2nd agm didn’t have a good ground.

The alternator was looked at because the color of the copper was suspiciously not as coppery colored. No issues; it is putting out 170 steady amps.

He used two voltmeters: some giant thing and a second whose leads could extend 30 feet.

His explanations were solid, used pure copper joiner, gave options, heat shrunk over the crimps, has quality tools, etc. He is outside Flagstaff. Pm me if you want his number.

[Epomethius]

I’m looking for photos / info on undermounting a spare tire in a cutaway. Any leads?

[Epomethius]

After a long time laying under and much measuring it looks like the right idea is to move the muffler to behind the driver’s rear wheels so I can really get the tire up close to the floor.

[HazMatt]

I'm not seeing what benefit, if any, relocating the muffler to behind the wheels will net you.
There are some good Pro/Con points on just deleting the muffler, raised in:
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...2&share_type=t