Project Huckleberry

[hatchetman-SKO]

Standard view of my custom seat mounts that I fabricated this weekend.

All materials were scavenged from my local scrap metal yard. Square tubing 1.75"x1/8" for the main frame, 3/16" diamond plate to serve as the surface to connect the floor mount to the seat mount, and some 1"x1/8" square tubing in the middle of the seat mount for a bit of over-engineered stiffness. I had planned to have a single 3" square tubing pedestal to connect the floor and seat mounts together but decided to go with 4 individual pedestals oriented so that I can easily access the bolt hole locations. Also pictured are the 1/4" flat bar "washers" that I plan to use underneath the bus for optimal security of the seat.

Btw, I do plan to cut through the subfloor (plywood and insulation) so that the metal frame of the seat mount will bolt directly to the metal floor of the bus. I realize this may compromise some of my insulating properties but I plan to put a partition between the seating area in the front and the living area in the back anyway since the front of the bus with all the windows is so difficult to insulate anyway.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Upside down view. Paint not quite dry yet. Note the raised surface of the diamond plate faces down toward the floor and up toward the seat so that the two flat surfaces were used for the pedestals.

The reason there is a gap on two sides of the seat mount is because the diamond plates were pre-cut and the seat mount is wider to accommodate the bolt pattern. The diamond plate for the seat mount is welded on two sides and the 1"x1/8" square tubing is welded across to stiffen the sides where the plate did not reach.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

View of the pedestals that connect the floor and seat mount together. I plan to use grade 8 1/2" hardware to connect the seat to the mount and the mount to the floor. The holes for the mounts were drilled with my inexpensive Harbor Freight bench drill press using a very nice stepped drill bit (Norseman, made in USA). Low speed with lots of cutting oil.

 

[Tango-SKO]

Not really necessary to remove the flooring but definitely use some serious steel below the floor to bolt through. Think quarter inch thick 4 x 4 washers.

 

[Twigg-SKO]

Not really necessary to remove the flooring but definitely use some serious steel below the floor to bolt through. Think quarter inch thick 4 x 4 washers.

Agree with Tango. You don't need to remove any flooring and I see you already have the "washers". I think most would call them spreader plates.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

One piece vinyl floor cut last weekend (pictured), its now glued down after a few straight days of rain. Next step interior walls!

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Agree with Tango. You don't need to remove any flooring and I see you already have the "washers". I think most would call them spreader plates.

I appreciate the advice but I'd already designed the seat mounts with the height assuming they would be bolted directly to the floor. Holes cut and ready to receive the seats. Driver's seat, co-pilot's seat, passenger bench seat, and fuel sender access hatch.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Interior wall framing going up. There will be 3 walls mounted along the border between pairs of windows and secured to the ceiling rib above. The base is secured to the 1/2" plywood floor. One separating the driving area from the living area (for moving vehicle safety and insulation), one separating the living area from the bedroom, and one separating the bedroom from the garage. All walls are exactly 1 11/16" thick using 1.5" studs, 1.5" of insulation, and 3/32 plywood paneling on both sides. Wider walls have an additional vertical stud, all walls have door headers, and horizontal support at the window level.

I made the door openings as tall as possible except the garage one. I didn't see a reason to make it any taller than the rear hatch but it is as wide as the rear hatch so that I can get material in and out. I plan to have a removable section of the bed frame to aid in getting wider material in if necessary in the future. Plus with a shorter door opening on that wall I can have a nice shelf in the bedroom.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

All the walls are done. Looking front to back.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

I forgot to mention that before putting up the walls I made sure to use spray foam crack filler to fill in all the spaces between the foam board and the bus metal, all along the ceiling as well as the sides.

The rivet holes in the ribs and screw holes along the window frame were just the right size to get the crack filler nozzle in and to get them filled up for more insulation. I ran a test using a infrared thermometer in full sun and there wasn't a really big difference between an insulated rib and a non insulated one (probably because the hat channel is conducting the heat from the edge of the bus too well) so I didn't bother insulating all the ribs just around the windows and edges of the foam board.

There will still be a 3/4" gap between the insulation and the wall paneling along the sides and ceiling created by the furring strips to minimize heat conduction. I could put more insulation in that gap.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

I used a spiral drill bit and a dremel tool to cut the curvature of the wall panels. I got them close then cut them to fit around the chair rail and furring strips in place for a better fit. After I burned my dremel out I used a more heavy duty rotary cutting tool but in any case I highly recommend the spiral drill bits, a good addition to my tool box.

For estimating the curvature I used a single 12" tall 45" wide (bus interior width is 90.5") piece of foam insulation. I cut it to fit the curve noting the window and furring strip locations. This was good enough to make the initial cut for all 12 wall panels and worked well for me. I plan to use quarter round trim so I didn't have to be perfect.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Bed frame complete. It consists of 3 pieces, one on the left and one on the right 24" wide made of 1.5" boards and is 21" high. The middle piece is 40" wide with a support in the center is removable if it becomes necessary in the future. The plywood you see in the photo is 12" wide, the reason for that is that the remaining 48" is the width of a plywood sheet and if the part that is hinged was the full 60" it probably would hit the ceiling before it could be opened enough.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Here is the middle part, the supports on the top and bottom pivot so that it can fit through the opening. The left and right parts of the bed frame are also screwed to the floor for security.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Hinge tops in place. Shouldn't be able to feel the hinges under the memory foam mattress. The bed frame is 60"x88", 88" wide so that we don't loose stuff on the side of the bed

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Left side hinge top.

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Middle hinge top.

 

[Tango-SKO]

I don't know about the bed yet...but those look like some mighty fine hidey holes!

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

Moving into the main living area you can see how I covered the wheel wells with 1.5" of insulation and how I started the kitchen area on the left. Where the blue jugs are is where the sink will be. One jug for fresh, one for gray.

 

[Likwid_Kaneo]

Looking great!

 

[hatchetman-SKO]

I don't know about the bed yet...but those look like some mighty fine hidey holes!

Did you have any specific concerns about the bed? I'd love to benefit from your experience. It is quite sturdy with the supports about 20" in every direction and with the 9-ply birch plywood top.