How's everyone replacing their door

[Frogpondfoug]

From Manitoba

 

[Sleddgracer]

From Manitoba

that's a big place

 

[musigenesis]

I'm just leaving my original bus doors in place for now (with the addition of a hasp and padlock on the outside). I'm building an insulated bulkhead wall behind the driver's seat and turning the cab into more or less a porch, so it's not a concern that the original doors aren't airtight.

To be honest, it's also just too much damn fun to open those doors with the switch.

 

[Sleddgracer]

I'm just leaving my original bus doors in place for now (with the addition of a hasp and padlock on the outside). I'm building an insulated bulkhead wall behind the driver's seat and turning the cab into more or less a porch, so it's not a concern that the original doors aren't airtight.

To be honest, it's also just too much damn fun to open those doors with the switch.

I was reading that in some jurisdictions at least ( might even have been my own area?? ) that to be reclassified as a motor home, a person must be able to walk upright between the living quarters and the driver's area - l don't have any idea of how you plan to separate the two areas, but thought it might be something to keep in mind

 

[HazMatt-SKO]

Fine and dandy for Quasimodo, but what recourse for us six-footers..?

 

[musigenesis]

I was reading that in some jurisdictions at least ( might even have been my own area?? ) that to be reclassified as a motor home, a person must be able to walk upright between the living quarters and the driver's area - l don't have any idea of how you plan to separate the two areas, but thought it might be something to keep in mind

Uhhhhh ... I guess I could just slouch. Seriously, if that's a rule I'm selling my bus.

 

[Sleddgracer]

I was reading that in some jurisdictions at least ( might even have been my own area?? ) that to be reclassified as a motor home, a person must be able to walk upright between the living quarters and the driver's area - l don't have any idea of how you plan to separate the two areas, but thought it might be something to keep in mind

I think it was covering moving van type conversions

 

[ol trunt]

Like several other Skoolies I wanted to keep the school bus look and to be able to see through the top and bottom of the door. The front half of the original two piece door folded out and the rear door folded in blocking the space where I wanted to put the genny and house electric controls. I ended up buying the innards of a "parallelogram plug" door from a shuttle bus, welding my original doors together and mounting them on the new hardware.

Jack

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[Sleddgracer]

Like several other Skoolies I wanted to keep the school bus look and to be able to see through the top and bottom of the door. The front half of the original two piece door folded out and the rear door folded in blocking the space where I wanted to put the genny and house electric controls. I ended up buying the innards of a "parallelogram plug" door from a shuttle bus, welding my original doors together and mounting them on the new hardware.

Jack

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.[/QUOTE

some quality work on your bus

 

[ol trunt]

Thanks. The door is one of my favorite toys.

 

[milkmania]

Like several other Skoolies I wanted to keep the school bus look and to be able to see through the top and bottom of the door. The front half of the original two piece door folded out and the rear door folded in blocking the space where I wanted to put the genny and house electric controls. I ended up buying the innards of a "parallelogram plug" door from a shuttle bus, welding my original doors together and mounting them on the new hardware.

Jack

That cardboard painted up nicely!

 

[ol trunt]

LMAO! Sometimes the mock up is good enough to just paint and keep.
Jack

 

[WLDNWALT]

Bus Door

I removed the lower glass and welded 1/8" sheet metal in both doors. Left the glass in the top on both doors.
I may change the door out eventually but it works for now.
Just wanted to make the door more secure, I was in the bus in 2 minutes using a pocket knife and cutting the window seals.


The door is locked with a master trailer lock, looks like a hockey puck.

 

[ThemadTurk]

Has anyone seen the Skoolie with the door made of plywood with fiberglass over it? Looks like the original door but is treated marine plywood, bus door glass and fiberglass. I'm thinking about going that route.

 

[WanderingLass]

We replaced ours with a 36" camper door. Ours had already been replaced with a 22" when we bought it - with an opaque window!! That made for an interesting drive home when we first bought her!! We did, of course, make the opening wider but with all the other structural work we had to do, that was the easy bit! We ordered it through our local small RV shop and I think paid around $500 for it which included a screen door.

 

[Stan350]

This site has been a great resource and I took inspiration for our door from these builds:
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/somewhereinusa-6318-3.html
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f10/one-piece-skoolie-door-6272.html

Here is the thread for the plywood and fiberglass door:
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/our-bus-our-home-8024.html

Hopefully this post is of some use for the OP. I did basically what he is inquiring about. Here is the finished product (hopefully some day I'll get around to creating a post with our entire build when it's done): http://www.skoolie.net/forums/members/15833-albums1773-picture21787.jpg
I welded our door into one solid piece and used the original hinge. Our door was hinged in the middle, instead of a two piece door, so I removed the hinge and welded some tubing between the panels to make it solid and ~36" wide. I flipped the original front hinge around so that it would open outward. I kept the original sheet metal with the upper windows but just paneled over the lower windows and filled it with rigid foam insulation. I welded some 1" angle iron around the inside of the door frame to create a place to close the door against and hold the weather stripping. We used a household door handle with a push-button keypad on it and it seems to work well. I inserted a wooden block into the door frame to make it easier to install the door handle. This is a poor picture, sorry: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/members/15833-albums1773-picture21786.jpg
I did preload the door a little bit against the weather stripping and it doesn't rattle going down the road. We drove the bus from MN to MO and back this past winter and never had a problem; however, we do put a strap on the inside of the door handle as extra security while driving.
The original hinge does seem strong enough to hold the weight of the full door but it was made to hold both panels since it was a folding door originally so I don't know if the hinges from a split door would work as well. We've only been using it for 8 months and the paint is rubbing off of the hinge, particularly near the bottom, so it could be a little heavy.
Building a door using the original door works well for warmer climates but creates problems for those of us in colder areas. Due to all of the metal in the door and the frame, we had condensation problems during the winter in MN and MO. The metal conducts a lot of cold from outside so we had lots of ice build up and persistent moisture on all metals parts. I intend to rebuild the door this summer but this time make the frame out of wood to reduce thermal bridging and, hopefully, make it a little lighter. I plan to use the same design because we do like the look/style of the original bus door.
I also plan to remove the angle iron from the door frame and replace it with wood also.
When we rebuilt the door we also decided to do additional alterations since our bus was more rusted than we initially thought. We ended up moving the door behind the front wheel, like a typical RV (our bus is a 1995 Amtran Genesis with a flat front), and making a new set of stairs. With the original stairs relocated, I decided to use that space for a storage box for our propane tanks and other stuff. It is nicer entering the bus in the middle of the living space and not having to step around the engine shroud. http://www.skoolie.net/forums/members/15833-albums1773-picture21788.jpg

 

[Rivetboy]

My plan on my 28 foot bluebird is to remove the door put in some removeable floor panels to have a place to bolt my wifes seat. The space in the stairwell will be used for the generator and the engine battery.The new door will be a regular RV round corner door with the screen door. This will be installed right in frint of the right rear dually.

 

[Ronflow]

I'd like to get a commercial steel door with frame. like one half of this pair - tempered automotive glass of course

Sleddgracer and those wanting full insulated glass should be aware the the glass alone for this type of door weighs approximately 97.5 lbs. The door without the glass (if you use the narrow vertical stile type door), which is actually made out of aluminum, is around 50 lbs. The standard framing for these doors has a 1 3/4" face and are 4"-4 1/2" in depth. You can use the piano hinge (the door industry calls them continuous hinges) made by Pemko, Roton (Hager),Select and many off name brands but you need to make sure what your fastening the hinge to can take the weight. I really like the looks of these doors and if you get one that is blank you can add just about any type of lock/latch and handles you like. These doors can be custom made to any size you want.

 

[Sleddgracer]

Sleddgracer and those wanting full insulated glass should be aware the the glass alone for this type of door weighs approximately 97.5 lbs. The door without the glass (if you use the narrow vertical stile type door), which is actually made out of aluminum, is around 50 lbs. The standard framing for these doors has a 1 3/4" face and are 4"-4 1/2" in depth. You can use the piano hinge (the door industry calls them continuous hinges) made by Pemko, Roton (Hager),Select and many off name brands but you need to make sure what your fastening the hinge to can take the weight. I really like the looks of these doors and if you get one that is blank you can add just about any type of lock/latch and handles you like. These doors can be custom made to any size you want.

yeah, they are heavy suckers - I've had to move them around on job sites - that's why I mentioned door AND the frame made for them