Walls and Bed

[Champagne]

Hey guys. I am embarking on the next phase of my build. I am looking to frame out the walls and then put in a bed frame. I have found all kinds of different methods here on the forum but figured I would run a couple questions by before just going for it. My bus is one of the fiberglass shuttles. As you can see in the photo, I still have one of the metal bars for seat attachment. I have seen videos of people just angle grinding these off, but I also recall reading a thread where people incorporated this into their build (can't find it now).

So first question is, remove the bar and just build off of the fiberglass frame with self tapping screws? Or try to build off of the bar and/or minimal metal framing? If building off the bar, any suggestions how to screw in to the metal?

My current plan is to put in some wood strips (probably 2x2) between the windows vertically and then some 1 in foam board on the lower section below the windows, and then some type of plywood wall to cover the foam. As you can see live left a gap between the walls and floor to squeeze this in. One thing is that I would still like to work on the electrical easily, and currently that runs right through this gap.

So question 2 is, where should I run the electrical lines? In front of the insulation and try to cover it up later? Or behind and try to make an access point? Also want to keep safety in mind for this of course.

Thanks for the help!

-Champagne

[Mountain Gnome]

If building off the bar, any suggestions how to screw in to the metal?

Lowes has a "drill block" that will help you keep a drill bit on a curved pipe. It will also let you drill a hole directly into a 90° corner of wood.


It's about 1" × 1" × 6" or something, and I think it is blue (?) or comes in blue packaging.


It also says that it will guide your drill bit and make perfect 90° angle holes in wood. It does not. It says you can use the marks on the side of the block to line up the hole in the perfect place. You can not. It ruined some thing I was working on (forget now) with some rare piece of material that I only had one of (I forget now), and I could have done a better job barehanded and by eye, so it ended up as a projectile that landed in the back corner of the garage behind the old Chrysler 318, or I'd send you a picture of it.


Anyway, drill your holes in the tubing (stainless steel, I presume), then use sheet-metal screws or self-tapping screws. Do yourself a favor and get the ones that use the square-bit drive, or the hex-head ones that use a regular socket driver.

[Champagne]

Originally Posted by Mountain Gnome

Lowes has a "drill block" that will help you keep a drill bit on a curved pipe. It will also let you drill a hole directly into a 90° corner of wood.


It's about 1" × 1" × 6" or something, and I think it is blue (?) or comes in blue packaging.


It also says that it will guide your drill bit and make perfect 90° angle holes in wood. It does not. It says you can use the marks on the side of the block to line up the hole in the perfect place. You can not. It ruined some thing I was working on (forget now) with some rare piece of material that I only had one of (I forget now), and I could have done a better job barehanded and by eye, so it ended up as a projectile that landed in the back corner of the garage behind the old Chrysler 318, or I'd send you a picture of it.


Anyway, drill your holes in the tubing (stainless steel, I presume), then use sheet-metal screws or self-tapping screws. Do yourself a favor and get the ones that use the square-bit drive, or the hex-head ones that use a regular socket driver.

Thank you for the suggestions. I have seen videos of people using those blue jigs, but sounds like from your saying it's not worth it. When you refer to the tubing are you referring to the whole body or just the metal framing? My bus has a fiberglass body, except for the metal framing around the windows and this one bar that was for the seat attachment. As far as I can tell, anyway. Also apologies for the wonky pictures. I uploaded them from my phone and it seems the first one has flipped upside down somehow.

[Mountain Gnome]

I guess I didn't read close enough, or see the pics well enough. For some reason I was thinking the stainless-steel round tubing they use for hand rails. I guess you are talking about steel tubing in the walls. And I bet they are square/rectangular tubing.



Yes, drill into those. I wouldn't hang anything off the fiberglass walls, especially if they are the exterior walls. You need to add wood studs/strips or more steel tubing (I went with mild-steel framework in my bus for many reasons)


As for the jig, I went to look for it to drill into a 2" diameter stainless steel round tube, and couldn't find it, so I did it by hand. It was easy with a very small punch-mark to center the bit (but not too deep, or the hammer would bend the tubing). No I don't think it is worth it, except if you need to drill a hole directly into the middle of a 90° angle.

[Simplicity]

I think fiberglass anything can make good shells, but as for rigidity and vibration resistance, I would lean heavily to attaching framing to anything except the fiberglass.

If those metal studs are part of a frame that attaches to a solid floor, yes, I'd likely take advantage of them, yet if they are simply attached to the fiberglass, I'd build a separate internal frame and secure those metal studs to that.

I think this would give you the most solid framing and eliminate tearing your fiberglass apart from structural movement.

Best of luck.