My better late than never build thread

[Bjorkinman]

Hello all! I've been a member here for quite some time but have never started a build thread, mostly because I was trying to film and actually complete the build. I guess what I'll do is start from the beginning and make posts when I can to continue the story.

Around 2021 my family and I started road tripping out west from Atlanta and absolutely fell in love. We already homeschool our 3 kids so that wasn't ever a hindrance. Here's a small pic of the trailer we had at the grand canyon. We spent 40+ nights living out of it over two years and traveled about 9,000 miles. We had a blast - I got my feet wet in the conversion scene with an old M1101 Army trailer; it had a 12v fridge, slide out kitchen with built in blackstone griddle and propane tank, propane on demand hot water heater and shower, outdoor shower curtain, cassette toilet, and huge awning. It worked great for us.

After our second road trip in 2022 we got home and my wife got what Ill call "road sick" she wanted to get the heck out of Atlanta and back on the road. Well, after suggesting I convert a bus she agreed. Little did I know I'd still be working on it 3 years later.. I searched for about 6 months and finally found my unicorn, a 12 valve cummins 8.3 MD 3060 pusher with storage bays, the only problem was I had to go get it from Montana. (There's a YouTube video of that trip here ) Spoiler, the trip went fantastic, not a single hiccup in 2600 miles.
The plan was to bring it home and start building, then sell our home/quit my job and move in to my moms to finish, but God put a stop to that and in hind sight that would have been the worst possible option. Lucky for me, I work a 12 hour shift kind of job nights and weekends involved, so nearly every bit of the conversion has taken place in the back gravel lot of my job - I know, I know.

Here are some pics when I went to get it, the original ad pic, the owners (really nice folks- they had the oil sampled before hand and drove 2 hours with the bus to the airport to pick me up for the sale.) Me driving home in Montana day 1, I was so excited! The bus already had a good start at the conversion process.

 

[Mr. Beefy]

I was really hoping you'd do this. I keep catching glimpses of your work in other people's threads (like your plumbing), and it looks awesome. Staying tuned...

 

[Bjorkinman]

I was really hoping you'd do this. I keep catching glimpses of your work in other people's threads (like your plumbing), and it looks awesome. Staying tuned...

Thanks!

 

[Bjorkinman]

Once the real work began, I started by gutting what was there, removing all interior sheet metal and got everything down to bare. The previous owners had already installed 2" of polyiso on the floor with 7/16 ply on top, I eventually added another 2" pink foam and 3/4 subfloor.

I coated the stairwell (no after pic) and storage bays with Sherwin William macropoxy (expensive! Leftovers from the work paint crews coating industrial oil and gas tanks)

My next project involved sourcing a 20 gallon RV propane tank for 200$ on Facebook marketplace

The tank install went pretty well, with a learning curve along the way being my first real fabrication to the bus. I welded and bolted strut to the frame rails and bolted the tank to the strut. Its held up nicely. Ill go into more detail later about the actual propane system installation, but if you're wondering, Proflex was great to work with. So far I've filled this tank 1 time and it runs our stove/oven, and our gas/electric water heater when we need the electricity elsewhere or aren't connected to shore power.

The next major project was the front door. I followed Chuck Cassady's example on this. I will say, the Rec Pro brand windows are just trash. All of them. I bought two and hate both, the window on the door came loose (the crank mechanism broke) on our first trip and I had to duct tape the crap out of it until I could fix it. Now its a non opening window thanks to JB weld. The other window is in our bathroom, its a slider and the sliding action is just trash. Lippert brand windows seem to be the only ones I've used worth anything.
I used a continuous hinge for the door and it worked very well, and seems extremely sturdy, the only thing I still need to solve is some kind of catch so the door doesn't slam open or shut in the wind. Also, the lock/latch also is trash. I've rebuilt it once already. If I did it over, I'd have just worked out a way to use a real lockset.

 

[FawnaFox]

I'm excited to finally see your rig! It's so strange to see your bus.. not done up like in your profile pic..

 

[chumcity]

Ooh I can tell this is gonna be a good one great foundation
And yes rec pro windows suck. I used a few on my tiny trailer I build a few years ago and they leak...

 

[Bjorkinman]

I ended up finding a really good deal on solar rails, if memory serves, I bought 4 14 ft rails for under $200 delivered! They are Unirac and so far have held up great. I took the advice from sojourners way YouTube channel (Jonathan) and ordered his brackets. I through bolted every other bracket through the support channels and sheet metal screwed the others. It was here that I discovered 3m 5200 fast cure adhesive sealant, this stuff is the best. I honestly feel like I could have used this and screws and been just fine. I’ve used it on any and every Seam/punture/flange etc.

I also replaced the front roof vent with a Maxx air deluxe (non remote control) using the roof vent inserts Skoolie.com sells. Oh, my propane door, hat channel inserts for the roof raise, upper front led flasher deletes also came from them. So far their products have been really good. A tip for the Maxx fans, you need to install a voltage conditioner to regulate voltage, the fans are picky and they will often burn up the board with voltage irregularities. I purchased a Drok brand on Amazon and installed them on both. The rear roof vent I ended up moving back behind the end of the solar rails - I cut some leftover sheet from the roof raise and patched the original opening, then cut in a new opening in the rear. I found that making my own simple things like window delete metal and roof vent inserts was way cheaper than Skoolie.com, not that they aren’t a great option. I will comment on the flasher deletes with the LED lights, those are very reasonable and I doubt you could build them cheaper, they’re really bright and shine in a beam pattern so your vision is a good couple hundred feet or more. I put those on a switch panel that I’ll share later.

I also swapped my headlights for These and I’ve been really happy with them. They are 10 times brighter than the factory halogens.

I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s address the elephant in the room, the roof raise.
I was very apprehensive about tackling the roof raise and I watched every video I could get my hands on - obviously the Chuck cassady ones, but also artsy reclaimed, they had the same bluebird rear engine I do and they did things really well. A few things I’d say to anyone about to do a raise, have a buddy, level and Jack the bus enough to take the bounce away, pick a nice day with little wind.
I ended up fabricating the jig to keep the hat channels plumb and square that cassady mentioned and it was an absolute game changer, the whole bus is in perfect line front to back.

It’s a 1x2 with angle iron welded to fit tightly around the hat channel profile. I left space to make welds happen and when you really tighten the clamp it all comes together tightly. Move from corner to corner first then start welding in the hat channels in random places so everything pulls in square. This was the best tool to have for the entire raise and it wouldn’t have ended up nearly as good without it.

I will mention, 99% of this build has been me by myself with no help, and had I not been too intimidated by lifting the roof alone, I likely could have done that as well.

As mentioned the bus is parked at my work and when I cut the roof free and started lifting my butthole puckered up and I called a few work buddies to come give me a hand for the actual lifting, this hour of help has been the extend of my assistance for the build.

I used the same all thread and pipe welded to the four corners that most people use, they worked great. I lifted 16” and I feel like it’s been the perfect height, I’m about 5’8” and I can reach my hands up fully without touching the ceiling, even with the 4” of foam and subfloor.
I’m out of time tonight, but I’ll resume with skinning the bus on the next post!

 

[Bjorkinman]

I'm excited to finally see your rig! It's so strange to see your bus.. not done up like in your profile pic..

It’s even weirder to me to see it how it is now! Like I’m in shock and disbelief that I made it!

 

[chumcity]

I also swapped my headlights for These and I’ve been really happy with them. They are 10 times brighter than the factory halogens.

Could you check the link to those headlights? seems to be broken.

I would love to get some new headlights on my bluebird...

 

[Bjorkinman]

Could you check the link to those headlights? seems to be broken.

I would love to get some new headlights on my bluebird...

Headlights

 

[chumcity]

Awesome I didn't even know those were just a standard truck size

 

[fishe160]

It’s even weirder to me to see it how it is now! Like I’m in shock and disbelief that I made it!

Lol I resonate with this! My timeline is similar to yours, it's amazing looking back at what's been done, "wow that looks hard".

Thanks for the thread, looking forward to the rest of your build like the others said.

 

[Bjorkinman]

With the roof finally lifted, tarping became my most hated endeavor in life. It just plain sucks to try and keep a 38 ft rig effectively tarped easily or quickly. I’m sure most of you can relate because a bus sized workshop is a rare luxury.
I started the finish work at the back and worked up from there to ensure the galvannealed sheets would lap so the road wind flows with the seams. I really wanted to lift the bus below the back window, but above the front window (obviously) - I see a lot of busses lifted above the rear window but I think it breaks up the lines.

I more or less just put 1x2’s in locations where I needed rivet lines, and where the rear would be stable and solid. To bend the sheets, I used large pipelines here at work that lie close to one another, I made the bending beginning and end marks and wedged the sheet in the pipes and bent it until it fit how I wanted lol. A slip roller was just too much money for a few bends. It worked great.

It’s amazing but as you start adding rivets it really settles into place. The ratchet straps worked really well too.

Skoolie.com sells window deletes for these windows. I just cut a cardboard template and made a metal piece that I tack welded then seam sealed.

Once the back was finished the sides went a little faster. I had to pre plan where my windows would go and plan for space in the ribs and weld in supports at the top and bottom for the windows. I messed up with my floor plan and had the windows in the wrong spot, I ended up removing them and patching the holes on both sides, several days loss of time but that’s okay. It was worth moving them.

So the sheets were 48x120 which fit the 16” roof raise perfectly. I removed them and patching upper rub rail and eventually riveted that back on top of the bottom of the sheet. I did remove all the rivets along the top which I believe was a waste of time. Done again I’d have just pryed open the upper roof and wedged the sheet in then sealed with 3m 5200. Lifting and positioning the sheets by myself was very difficult. I laid a couple 6x6s against the bus and lifted the sheets by myself so it rested on them. I was able to hook the ratchet straps to the sheets and then use the straps to lift the sheet into position. I did make myself a rivet jig so that all the rivets fell exactly in line. I think the best benefit to having two people would be having someone hood the outside firm while the other drills through the inside for each rivet hole. I would likely have cut my install time by half with a helper.

It was around this time that me and my kids went camping for a couple nights in Franklin TN - I needed a break! We had a lot of fun, the wife was at the beach with her girlfriends so we took advantage of a last minute trip ourselves.

The window you see at the rear was replaced by a 48” moved as close to the back as possible. My master bed is positioned between those windows so we can sleep with our head to face the best view.

Back to work and I reached the toughest part of the skinning. Around the front.
It also turned out amazing if I do say so myself.

 

[Bjorkinman]

I basically used a bunch of poster board sheets and made templates. I didn’t like the first front sheet I made so I scrapped that one and this was the second attempt. I did apply sealant to the front because it would be getting battered by rain while driving. So far it’s been dry.

I had a shop make a few bends for my drip edge above the door, I should have made it a bit larger.

Here you can see the moved window in the back.

I’ll post more but gotta run for now! Thanks for following!

 

[FawnaFox]

Roof raises! I'm glad yours is done tastefully and.. actually done right.. I see too many that are done poorly or on a bus with a roof that doesn't need it... IMO I don't really like roof raises, but I can appreciate their utility.. for me it's more of a stylistic thing.. it starts to look less like a bus.. but that's just my opinion.. no disrespect to people who do roof raises!

 

[chumcity]

Nice utilization of that concrete wall! Looks super clean (as expected )

for me it's more of a stylistic thing.. it starts to look less like a bus..

Definitely on the same page as you, I love the classic school bus windows and the proportions feel more right. That being said I think you pulled it off really well with all the windows being at the same height.

 

[Crlefley]

Great stuff @Bjorkinman. What did you seal the seams with (the paint on your first initial pictures post roof raise). Thanks!

 

[Bjorkinman]

I used macropoxy 646. It’s a sherwin williams two part coating - I work in oil and gas and they use it to seal metal piping and tanks. Too expensive for me to buy outright but when the paint crews can’t take it with I’m there to help lol

 

[Bjorkinman]

With the roof raise completed, I turned my attention to framing the interior and wiring. I found a place called Imeca here that sells plywoods and lumber for way cheaper and better quality than Home Depot. I paid 42$ per 4x8 sheet of birch ply. They also stock Baltic birch which I used a ton for my cabinets and other sections where I wanted extra strength. There really is no comparison of anything to the Baltic birch, it’s nearly twice as heavy and contains way more ply’s than other plywood. It looks great as exposed end grain too.
That being said, I ripped the normal birch for hours until I had enough to run the strapping, Chuck cassady style, two thick and longways.

This was one time the kids were able to get in and help, they had a blast running screws into the strips.

By this point I had already installed the 4” of pink foam for the floor, glued in and weighed down with subfloor glue. I ran new wire and replaced all the exterior marker lights and turn signals. I also added switches for flood lights all around the exterior- they are powered by the coach batteries and each side, rear, and front are on a switches at the drivers console.

I will say, I can see keeping the original driver window because the tinted RV window is too dark for night time driving. Half the time I’m backing up at night I just open it and hang my head out Ace Ventura style.

The electrical planning has been one of the tougher parts of the build, especially when you spray foam, because you really only get one chance to get it all right. I spent a lot of time mapping out and planning for what I wanted where. I taped everything with gorilla tape to hold it close to the wall, I will say, if you spray foam use more tape then you think you need, the foam gets behind the wires and likes to push them out.

This is a pic of the breaker panel covered in painters tape. My passenger side bedroom window is to the rear, this panel lives in my closet behind the clothes rack along with all my solar disconnect and 1 of 2 12v fuse blocks.
Things I’d do differently with regards to wiring, I’d have added more outdoor receptacles (I only put in 1) and I’d have run a plastic conduit with a pull wire on both sides. I think I would have added two more solar panels too. If those are my only regrets I’d say I’m doing pretty well.

 

[Bjorkinman]

Before spray foam I ended up cutting the wheel wells and making a few inches of space to fit the two 100 gallon water tanks in front of the engine compartment. If I did it again, I would have placed the water tanks in front of the wheel wells, one against each wall left and right. So far it rides fine but I think its just a little too much weight behind the rear axle. The tanks are segregated from one another when I want them to be, so i usually drive with only the front tank loaded, I only fill the back when we intend to boondock or go more than a few days without water.

In this picture the wells aren't cut yet, but cutting them allowed me to fit 2" XPS between the engine and rear tank, plus a 3/4 sheet of plywood. I also fit a 3/4 between the tanks, and one in front of the tanks; the floor resting on top is really solid.

I've only paid someone once, it was for spray foam and it was worth every penny. I did the math and it would have cost the same to do myself. $2800 They sprayed 3" all around.

Spray foam is amazing. Its so rigid, and the noise reduction from the road and from outside noise is reduced so much. This was easily one of the best decisions of the entire build and I would do it the same way every time. Getting to this point was such a huge milestone for our family, this meant that all the metal work and fabrication was pretty much done and we could start making a home out of it. I really got a huge boost of motivation. Seeing a shell with wood and wires everywhere and then two hours later it looks like something completely different was one of the coolest experiences.