Driving "Miss Gloria"

[joeblack5]

Very nice, I think if you need to go big coaches are the way to go.



enjoy,
Johan

[MarkyDee]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Very nice, I think if you need to go big coaches are the way to go.

enjoy,
Johan

I really love my coach ... well, until the starter solenoid fuses to the contacts. Then it ain't so much fun. I'd give alot right now to have a dognose bus....

[MarkyDee]

Originally Posted by MarkyDee

I really love my coach ... well, until the starter solenoid fuses to the contacts. Then it ain't so much fun. I'd give alot right now to have a dognose bus....

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/be...s-26537-6.html


If you are wondering why I said what I said....

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

Well...still making progress here. Sometimes I don't know if I'm moving forward or spinning my wheels. I guess that's part of being a bus nut.

Anyway, I've got some more photos to share.

I'm posting a photo I think I may have already posted but I do this because I want folks to notice the table. I bought this table at the local Goodwill. At first, I thought that I could use it in the bus as is but then I realized that the duct work for the HVAC would be in the way. I studied it a long time before thinking that I should just sell the table on C'list and build one of my own. But just the other day, it occurred to me how to make it work and it was so simple that I couldn't believe it.

I cut the end off of the table to make it the right size for use between the original bus seats that I had kept just for the dinette. I fastened some nailers to the bus wall to support one end of the table. Then I removed the legs on the other end and moved them inwards so that we could get our knees and legs under the table without banging them silly. The other two legs that came off of the end of the table I had cut away, also got cut down so that I could fasten them into the places where I had removed the.... oh wow, it's just getting too complicated to describe! Study the photos.

I've always been amazed at the way any flat surface on a project like this will start collecting all sorts of flotsam and other junk.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

The problem with cabinets in a bus conversion is that they are often way too big to get in through a window and certainly get in through the door. SOOOO, you have to build the cabinets in place. Here are a few photos showing the evolution of my kitchen cabs.

In this case, I took the interior of the wall and removed everything right down to the frame. I then fastened in some OSB so that I would have something beefy in which to mount the cabinets.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

I plan on a half wall at the forward end of the cabinets so that I can make a solid boundary between the kitchen and the "living room." I didn't finish the half wall because I want to decide where to put 110v electrical outlets and USB charging ports.

Here are a couple of photos showing the half wall.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

Finally, I started fabricating the mounts for the drawer slides and the faceframes. I don't want any cabinet doors on these base cabs. Instead, I will build all drawers because I think it will be much easier to live with drawers. These are going to be deep and huge because I will need to put my mom's airfryer and pressure pot in them and then close them up so they don't get thrown into the floor when we're running down the road.

[Drew Bru]

Attachment 34623

Originally Posted by WoodenYouKnowIt

I will build all drawers because I think it will be much easier to live with drawers. These are going to be deep and huge because I will need to put my mom's airfryer and pressure pot in them and then close them up so they don't get thrown into the floor when we're running down the road.

Wise decision. We ended up installing drawers inside two of the base cabinets, in the other we put an upper shelf for a more organized storage solution.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

Attachment 34623


Wise decision. We ended up installing drawers inside two of the base cabinets, in the other we put an upper shelf for a more organized storage solution.

I like that idea - is that something you constructed?

[Sleddgracer]

another idea

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Sleddgracer

I like that idea - is that something you constructed?

Yeah, it was one of my last projects before I gave my woodshop away and we moved into the bus.

[Sleddgracer]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

Yeah, it was one of my last projects before I gave my woodshop away and we moved into the bus.

nice job

[Steveshow]

Any updates?

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

YES! ...coming very soon.

The bus has gotten put on hold for a couple of months because of a variety of other family issues, not the least of which has been trying to sell the house we're in. We've been waiting on the close to have the funds to move to the next stages of the bus. We closed last week and so now, we're off and running again.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

Ok, here we go with some of the latest happenings on the old Prevost.



We had already decided some time back to go with a composting toilet. But binge watching YouTube vids about both commercially available and home made, we decided that making my own was the way to go. There was already this little bitty potty room at the back of the bus and we thought, "Rather than take it out to put the bathroom somewhere else, I would just convert the one that was already there. So that's what we did.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

We had to decide whether we were going to poo in a Home Depot bucket or a Lowe's bucket. I think in the end, we decided to use the Lowe's bucket for the dirty. We have more of them than Home Depot buckets but if HD ever makes us mad, well HECK! We'll just change and put it all on social media. We'll show them by golly!



At any rate, we have been scratching our heads over how to separate the pee from the poo. This is important because if the two are not separated, the toilet will stink to high heaven. Finally, we ordered a urine separator from Germany because that's the only place we could find one. It will take some time for it to arrive here so for now, we're letting the poo room rest while we turn out attention to other projects.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

I have not been wanting to go with the standard bead board ceiling that so many others have done on their bus conversions. Not there is anything wrong with them but I just had other ideas in mind. For one thing, I wanted at least some of the ceiling to be perfectly flat and level so that I could have cabinets in the kitchen and cornices/window boxes in the living areas. Having flat ceilings would save me from having to contour all my panels to a curved surface. It would also give me a place to run all my wiring - both 12v for the interior lighting and 110v for home appliances and other gadgets. This was the original idea:

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

In trying to apply this idea in the real world, I've been bouncing ideas around for a very long time. I didn't know how I could make wood work. One problem is that drilling holes in Prevost metal is very difficult. And I would have LOTS of holes to drill. Finally, I thought about welding a subframe to the Prevost cage but I had to make certain that there was cold steel that I could use. So much of a Prevost is stainless steel and many other sections are aluminum. As it turns out, the actual overhead curved sections of the roof are indeed cold steel. I can weld to them.



I started by welding angle iron down the insides above the windows. Then .... actually I don't know how to describe it. Study the photos and you'll figure it out.

[WoodenYouKnowIt]

Finally, we (my brother, my best friend and I) started hanging plywood under the metal frame that we'd built.

[PNW_Steve]

Regarding separating urine, we used this urine diverter: https://www.ebay.com/itm/URINE-DIVER...XG_qx6P2A-_eqw

It has worked well.