Kazetsukai's Build

[kazetsukai]

Looks like its coming along nicely, man.

Yeah. Its weird almost- we're running out of TODOs...

We got the fridge used, and.... it didn't work when we got it in. We ordered a new control board and display, popped those in yesterday. Fired right up. Replacing the water and air filters over the weekend.

I have filtration on the way into the fresh tanks- I think I'll add reverse osmosis filtration past the pump for drinking water/ice cubes. Not sure if I'll use the fridge ice maker or a separate unit for clear ice.

Dry foods / spice-rack mega-update, we have all the racks in for the kitchen! These came out 100x better than I had even dreamed of.


On each end there's a large, deep and wide drawer that slides out enough for the puck in the ceiling to illuminate.

Over the sink:


Over the door:


Then the three center racks are double-deck drawers. There's so much room here I don't know what to do with it all!

 

[kazetsukai]

Test, my post disappeared!

EDIT: Wow. Wonder if other folks with Firefox are going to get redirected to page 8.


EDIT 2
Okay, Firefox got a 301 to page 8 from page 9s URL. This permanent redirect was cached, so any attempts to navigate to page 9 redirected me back to page 8. Probably a Firefox bug.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Everything looks good on my end.

 

[TJones-SKO]

Yeah. Its weird almost- we're running out of TODOs...

We got the fridge used, and.... it didn't work when we got it in. We ordered a new control board and display, popped those in yesterday. Fired right up. Replacing the water and air filters over the weekend.

I have filtration on the way into the fresh tanks- I think I'll add reverse osmosis filtration past the pump for drinking water/ice cubes. Not sure if I'll use the fridge ice maker or a separate unit for clear ice.

Dry foods / spice-rack mega-update, we have all the racks in for the kitchen! These came out 100x better than I had even dreamed of.
View attachment 42968

On each end there's a large, deep and wide drawer that slides out enough for the puck in the ceiling to illuminate.

Over the sink:
View attachment 42969View attachment 42970

Over the door:
View attachment 42974View attachment 42975

Then the three center racks are double-deck drawers. There's so much room here I don't know what to do with it all!
View attachment 42971View attachment 42972View attachment 42973

That is some great storage space! Nice work!

Ted

 

[Native-SKO]

Your overhead pantry is a wonderful idea. How are you "locking" it for travel?

 

[plfking]

These came out 100x better than I had even dreamed of.

Great job......I really like those.

 

[banman]

x2 -- really like your open drawers design.

 

[kazetsukai]

OK everyone... some news. On my way back right now from SW NH, I just pulled the trigger on a shortie for my tool/bike/laundry hauler. We'll be picking it up next week...


It was just too perfect for our use case. I am really doing a double-take on this...

 

[Native-SKO]

Congratulations ... are you going to start a new thread for it or keep it here?

 

[musigenesis]

These look fantastic (as does your whole bus, of course). I can't quite process where these are from all your pics, though. You have to duck down under these cabinets to get from the front into your kitchen? In one of your earlier pics I thought I saw these cabinets without drawers in place, but one side of those was open for a passageway. Do you have cabinets like these on both ends of your kitchen?

 

[EastCoastCB]

OK everyone... some news. On my way back right now from SW NH, I just pulled the trigger on a shortie for my tool/bike/laundry hauler. We'll be picking it up next week...


It was just too perfect for our use case. I am really doing a double-take on this...

Ah, you've got the same bus VIRUS (lol) as me. I started with a fullsize then got a shorty as a runaround/driver. Bus accumulation-19 haha.

We should revive the bus ride game!? Or at least when stay at home stuff is lifted.
https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f20/the-bus-ride-game-17567-19.html#post380548

 

[kazetsukai]

Ah, you've got the same bus VIRUS (lol) as me. I started with a fullsize then got a shorty as a runaround/driver. Bus accumulation-19 haha.

My family is likely to think I'm nuts and stage some kind of intervention. No matter the rationale. Ugh!

We should revive the bus ride game!? Or at least when stay at home stuff is lifted.
https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f20/the-bus-ride-game-17567-19.html#post380548

I was going to say, the "quarantine edition" of this is just going to be how many places in the yard I can get the thing into. Parked by the greenhouse. Parked in with the chickens. Facing my big bus. Parked next to my big bus.


You know, having a vehicle you can stand inside of at the grocery store or Home Depot opens up some interesting possibilities I bet.



Anyone replace floor joists under the cab? For the most part the shortie is doing pretty well in terms of rust. For a CT bus, anyway. Certainly not as pristine as my International. But there is one joist that looks like its starting to fade. Can I use square tube of the same width?



Pics incoming!

 

[kazetsukai]

The shortie is an '06 GMC.



It has been modified pretty heavily already, most notably the rear...



The guy I'm buying this from is clearly a gearhead, knows his stuff, knows his way around an engine compartment. Its gasoline, I believe the engine is the GM 6.0 Liter V8 Vortec L96. The way this thing sounded when running... didn't sound like a bus.



He's been using it to haul ATVs and dirt bikes. Knew his way around 12V electrical too- that rear door lowers using a winch!



He thinks the door is stronger than what the bus could support weight-wise and having stood on it I think I agree.



I'm thinking, rip up the floor, remediate the surface dust, paint the floor, then install a motorcycle chock and e-track along the edge. On the driver's side will go laundry, tools/storage and on the right will go the bike.


Once we've moved out of our house I may take a second pass and do proper insulation/etc.

 

[musigenesis]

Anyone replace floor joists under the cab? For the most part the shortie is doing pretty well in terms of rust. For a CT bus, anyway. Certainly not as pristine as my International. But there is one joist that looks like its starting to fade. Can I use square tube of the same width?

I've found it pretty easy to shore up or replace "questionable" joists with angle steel. It's easier to attach (with bolts or welding) since you don't have to worry about crush tubes or anything like that.

 

[kazetsukai]

These look fantastic (as does your whole bus, of course). I can't quite process where these are from all your pics, though. You have to duck down under these cabinets to get from the front into your kitchen? In one of your earlier pics I thought I saw these cabinets without drawers in place, but one side of those was open for a passageway. Do you have cabinets like these on both ends of your kitchen?

These cabinets are over the engine compartment in the rear. I don't have a rear bedroom, I have a (rare from what I can tell) front bedroom, with a rear kitchen. The kitchen countertop houses my fresh water tanks, which sit on the engine box, with access in the center.

Old picture:


WAY older picture of the same spot in the rear:


Between the wheel wells is where my shower ended up.

 

[musigenesis]

What is that stuff riveted/screwed on the back?

Edit: I mean on the back of your new shorty.

 

[musigenesis]

These cabinets are over the engine compartment in the rear. I don't have a rear bedroom, I have a (rare from what I can tell) front bedroom, with a rear kitchen. The kitchen countertop houses my fresh water tanks, which sit on the engine box, with access in the center.

Old picture:
View attachment 43116

WAY older picture of the same spot in the rear:
View attachment 43117

Between the wheel wells is where my shower ended up.

Ah, makes total sense now. That's a brilliant and unusual way to deal with the rear engine layout - I don't think I've ever seen anything but a bed over that.

 

[kazetsukai]

What is that stuff riveted/screwed on the back?

Edit: I mean on the back of your new shorty.

Its some kind of shower backing/material. Probably going to replace that with sheet metal if I can...

 

[musigenesis]

Its some kind of shower backing/material. Probably going to replace that with sheet metal if I can...

It's the worst thing I've ever seen on a skoolie. This is why they don't let us into RV parks!!!

 

[kazetsukai]

Ah, makes total sense now. That's a brilliant and unusual way to deal with the rear engine layout - I don't think I've ever seen anything but a bed over that.

I think what it came down to was, my RE design had those triangle air intakes which made it difficult to mount a queen/king sized bed. So the bed would have to be forward of those, wasting a lot of space, and it would render the rear door useless. The combination of those two problems lead to me giving up on a rear bedroom.


Took a while to convince my SO, though.


And ugh... we saw a video that came out about a week ago of a build called the "broccoli bus". 2-3' longer than my bus, but their layout is unbelievable. Sometimes it feels like others have used their space so much better than we did. If I didn't know from experience that A) their build likely cost double if not triple my own, the under storage enabled them to put all the infrastructure I had to fit into the cabin below and C) That a 1.5' - 2' roof raise basically gives you half another bus of room... I'd have taken a pretty heavy hit to my pride.


I don't look down on other / budget builds, in fact I think they're the most impressive of the bunch in a lot of ways. And I know we have some better capabilities in terms of mobility (and even smaller rigs beat us there). But man, sometimes you just get floored seeing what others have done.



Sometimes I wish I could start over with a 40 footer, an 8.3L Cummins, and a top-grade transmission. Who knows, bus life for me has always been planned as a transition phase. If we like it enough...