Reese's On Recess

[Scooternj]

My AmTran wiring looks really clean compared to a lot of the pictures I've seen of other buses'. A LOT less of it too. I guess in that regard I got lucky.

So was mine...until I gutted it and got 30 bucks for the copper.

 

[Josiahdr]

Probably I can't foresee them having more than 20 people who wire the busses and they were probably trained by the same group of guys who clearly don't give a rats ass.

Haha yes I couldn't agree more lol. And then to top it off they went crazy on the screws and the bolts for the wheel chair rail. Spent some serious time grinding those suckers out and then prying the bars up and out as you can watch in the video.Also had the wife help me out on removing some more wiring, we are going to tackle the fuse panel in the next couple of weeks. I will have more info on my website as far as the rewiring plans go.

Quick question though, My goal is to make everything accessible as far as the plumbing, electric, and other inner workings are concerned. Should I be worried that the running lights and brake lights will be behind the ceiling and covered with spray foam? Or should I go with making them accessible?

 

[nat_ster]

Quick question though, My goal is to make everything accessible as far as the plumbing, electric, and other inner workings are concerned. Should I be worried that the running lights and brake lights will be behind the ceiling and covered with spray foam? Or should I go with making them accessible?

I'm putting brake light wires and others in a conduit tube.

That way no harm can come to the wire, and others can be pulled in for future upgrades / expansion.

The way I strapped the interior of my bus, running a pipe front to back is simple.
Largest I can run in the wall is 1.5 inch OD.
In my attic I can run 8 inch OD.

Nat

 

[CaptainInsaneo]

I'm putting brake light wires and others in a conduit tube.


Nat

Leave a piece of clearly labeled unattached wire in there to fish things through at a later date and time. If and when you do fish new piece of wire through it attach a new dummy wire along with the actively fished wire so you can repeat this process and always have a fishing wire in the conduit. Use at least 3/4" conduit.

 

[nat_ster]

Leave a piece of clearly labeled unattached wire in there to fish things through at a later date and time. If and when you do fish new piece of wire through it attach a new dummy wire along with the actively fished wire so you can repeat this process and always have a fishing wire in the conduit. Use at least 3/4" conduit.

I leave a twine, but wire works too.

In commercial applications we use twine. No wires are pulled in till the construction is complete.

Nat

 

[CaptainInsaneo]

I just use a long scrap piece of wire, usually thermostat wire or a twisted pair from an old ethernet cable as nothing sucks more than your twine snapping I haven't had to deal with t-stat wire snapping ever.

 

[Josiahdr]

Cool thanks for the tips! Going to run some type of conduit to hold the wires as well as run a dummy line for added repairs and expansions as you guys have mentioned. It sounds like a better way to go just in case something goes wrong it will be easier to fix. Better safe than sorry.

Tomorrow we will be heading over to remove the windows and reseal them with automotive seam sealer. I was reading a few posts about it and that seams to be the stuff to go with.



Going to look for a uv resistant one if possible. Any tips on the cheapest place to buy it at or is there a better alternative?

 

[Josiahdr]

 

[Tango-SKO]

The best seam sealers are the OEM automotive type and usually available at auto paint supply houses or online. They are not cheap but you get what you pay for and to me, sealer is a critical item. One such brand is McKanica. I just had to remove a fender well I had previously sealed up and it was tough going . It may as well have been welded on.

The good stuff is 100% UV proof, waterproof, remains flexible forever and is paintable.

 

[nat_ster]

I could be wrong, but I think Old Trunt used sikaflex brand.

No clue which one. Here is a bit of discussion on the topic.

Which Sikaflex? | MIG Welding Forum

Nat

 

[Josiahdr]

Cool! Thanks for the tips guys. Only got to do 2 windows last week but have a good game plan for tomorrow. Huge learning curve currently but I figure just tackle each problem head on and it will figure itself out. Got a new video out from last week removing and replacing the 2 windows. As you will see I had to go and research how to make the caulk look nice. You will see in the video I did a horrible job but going to clean it up tomorrow as well. You live and you learn right school of hard knocks has taught me well so far.

 

[Josiahdr]

Windows have been removed and re installed. Didn't take as long as I thought only about 3.5hrs total.

Also scraped the wheel chair lift it feels like there is more room in the back now. Will have some pictuers up in the next couple of days. Here is the video from Tuesday.

 

[Josiahdr]

Going to be removing the heater in the back of the bus tomorrow. Any tips on making it a smooth process with the coolant lines?

 

[Trask97140]

I used hose clamps when disconnecting, then pulled the hose out my front door (down hill) and drained it all into a bucket... had a little bit of residual that leaked onto the floor but wasn't bad. Im sure there are better methods out there though.

I thought my wiring was bad...


Thank you 1978! Haha.

Cheers.
Trask

 

[Josiahdr]

Ya I ended up starting at the back right underneath the heater. drained those tubes then went to the front where they come through the floor. All in all I only got splashed a little and none was spilled inside the bus which was my primary concern. Will have a video of the process finished in the next couple of days when I get a chance to edit it.

Man oh man I wish mine looked like that lol. Hopefully I will be able to make it much simpler.

 

[Josiahdr]

Here is how I rerouted the coolant lines. Let me know what you think?

 

[Josiahdr]

Looking at options for my sub floor going to make it as floating as possible what are the main things to look for as far as the insulation and to address squeaking?

 

[Josiahdr]

So I am in the process of winterizing the bus just wondering what all you guys are doing or suggest. I Already have filled the tank up and added a winter stabilizer as well. Going to just leave it parked all winter and not run it at all and going to disconnect the batteries and store them inside. I will be changing the fuel filter first thing next year anything else I should do??

Edit: BTW Happy Thanksgiving!!

So we went to the bus yesterday and drove down to the bp which is about 3 miles down a gravel frontage road. Luckily there was basically no snow on it just some mud and a whole bunch of pot holes. Read More

 

[Josiahdr]

SOLAR ?'s

Hey All,

Long time from my last post. If you haven't been following on our youtube channel or website you haven't missed much. Not much is going on right now with winter.

I have started looking into my solar set up and have come up with this as my master plan.

Canadian Solar 250 watt poly solar panel x 2

Morningstar TS-45 TriStar 45 Amp Charge Controller

Morningstar Remote Temperature Sensor

Tristar Digital Meter

AIMS Power 3000 Watt 12V Pure Sine Inverter Charger

Crown 305 Amp-Hour 6V Deep Cycle Battery x 4

Just want to get your guys opinions.

 

[Josiahdr]

So I have decided on what I want to do for solar.