What have you done to your bus this week?

[Scott & Heather]

I love reading the random projects that some of you are currently working on. I'll prime the thread with my weeks projects:

1. Installed several ceiling tiles and beginning to finally cover plywood ceiling with something.
2. Installed weatherstrip around exterior door
3. In the process of installing a fantastic vent fan Sean was generous enough to just give me gratis (thanks Sean).
4. Pulled out my 30 gallon water heater and flushed it for sediment removal and preventatively replaced the heater element and reinstalled water heater.
5. Installed a new bathroom mirror/medicine cabinet.
6. Purchase and installed 4 day/night shades. Awesome upgrade to curtains IMO.
7. Installed lift struts under our bed platform.

Pics to follow:

[Debo]

I'm in the process of building my fresh water and black water tanks using the plywood and epoxy method, and it's going really well. My tanks will both be 86 gallons - which coincidentally was the biggest size I could get out of one sheet of plywood.

My thought process  for sizing was 2 people x 5 gallons per person per day x 1 week - 70 gallons (plus a little more for good measure.) All seams are epoxied and screwed together. Laying up the epoxy has been a time consuming process, but I'm very happy with the results. I've gained a new respect for the stuff as well. It's super strong, easy to work with, can be shaped and drilled, and can be used as a liquid or thickened into a putty. Good stuff for those "how am I going to fix that?" repairs.

[Seangie]

Scott -  You know all my bus drama for the past 2 weeks

1. Finished repairing the shower
2. Pulled out the Mini Split and installed roof airs
3. Cleaned up and moved the ducted roof fan over the bathroom

4. Fixed my clogged up valterra blade on my black tank. Yuck. (No need to post a picture of this!)
5. Fixed my leaky shower drain

6. Defrosted the fridge and freezer and changed to a right side opening door.
7. Cut a hole in the side of the bus to install dryer vent
8. New Air filter - see previous post
9. Changed desiccant cartridge in air dryer
10. Fixed LED Tail Light (thanks Manny for the great idea you had in your project post on the Eagles board)
11. Hookup of washer/dryer combo (in process)

Hmmm....Scott...did I miss anything?



-Sean

www.herdofturtles.org
1984 Eagle Model 10S

[belfert]

Why black A/C shrouds?  It seems to me they just absorb heat when you need A/C the most on a bright sunny day with no shade.

[goutoe]

Wow you guys are ambitious, I spent last weekend replacing 3- 3" dump valves, then I discovered the toilet was seeping so I ordered a new toilet hope to get it today, should be an easy fix, then I am going to replace rear mud flaps and the sweep broom on the rear bumper so it looks like I will be on my back under the bus again, I am giving alot of thought to a pit in my barn, but I need to save some money first, one thing is certain when you own a bus there is always something to do!>>> John.

[markdonc]

I buffed all the unpainted aluminum body panels. I started Sunday afternoon & finished Monday after lunch.

[Seangie]

Why black A/C shrouds?  It seems to me they just absorb heat when you need A/C the most on a bright sunny day with no shade.

Cause they look sexy
I agree with the heat absorbtion.  Was thinking of maybe painting the tops in a reflective color to help ...maybe. 

Would be interesting to see if the additional heat from the black shroud makes much difference. It was 86 and sunny the other day and while we are semi shaded the roof is in the direct sun and ACs were kicking out 55 degrees no problem.  I think the bigger problem will be if the black shrouds get dried up and start cracking and falling apart sooner from the addl heat.

Bontragers had them brand new - A 15k Mach 8 heat pump and a 13.5 k Mach 3 plus AC unit. Only had the black and sold them both to me for 1k.  So I couldn't say no.  It was a blessing for sure.

Wow you guys are ambitious, I spent last weekend replacing 3- 3" dump valves, then I discovered the toilet was seeping so I ordered a new toilet hope to get it today, should be an easy fix, then I am going to replace rear mud flaps and the sweep broom on the rear bumper so it looks like I will be on my back under the bus again, I am giving alot of thought to a pit in my barn, but I need to save some money first, one thing is certain when you own a bus there is always something to do!>>> John.

John - Scott and I have been blessed to have the time to do all these projects.  Seems that God managed our work schedules such that we would have time during the week to get all this stuff done.  Its been a huge blessing staying here.  There is a house being rebuilt on site and the contractor has given us full access to all the tools, we have plenty of power, water, ladders and even a tractor (made it easy to get those roof airs up there).  Plus - when you have another competitive bus nut parked 20' away from you for3 weeks its easy to get motivated and make time.

Maybe next year we will throw a "Work on your bus" rally!

-Sean

www.herdofturtles.org
1984 Eagle Model 10S
(Last day in SW Michigan)

[Jeremy]

For me this week...for the first time in over a year I've been able to post an update in the Projects section!

Jeremy

[Oonrahnjay]

    This week I did my most important yearly maintenance task for the bus -- I took The Management on vacation; we went exactly where she wanted to go and did what she wanted to do.  Now I'm entirely clear to spend time and money on the bus for a whole year!   

[Dave5Cs]

Finished installing MCD roller blinds and solar blinds on all windows.Now am workind on just an Oak valance at the top. Deep cleaning after that and install new vinyl we got for free at an estate sale last week. Fulltiming can sure take a toll on that stuff with 3 cats.
Still have to install all my radius rod bushings I  got from Luke sometime soon. Just been to darn hot.
Dave5Cs from Galaxy S III

[bansil]

updated my project page, lots to clean and finish

mount solar for fridge batteries and actually mount my shore cord so we don't just throw it out the window when I take Lisa in search of wine, seafood and turtles in a few weeks

[Iceni John]

I've been scraping scraping scraping, scraping all the !@#$% paint off the roof, using a hot air gun and a small putty knife.   It's now almost done, just one panel left to do, then I have to wire-brush the remaining paint off a million rivet heads.   In some places the old paint comes up easily, in other places I have to fight for every inch (sort of like trench warfare in WW 1), but might and gritted teeth will prevail.   Once the roof's down to bare aluminum I'll sand it with coarse grit paper, use self-etching spray primer on the rivets, then prime and paint it when the weather cools off but before the first winter rains come.

All this is because I need to attach the outdoor-rated electrical boxes on the roof for the solar panels' down-feed cables and for the 1/2" PEX to the panels' washdown outlets and the eventual solar water panels.   I have to get the cables and PEX in place before I can begin to panel the two windows on each side that I've blanked over, and I have to insulate and panel the walls before I can make the interior divider walls for the closets, shower and loo.   I had planned on having a minimally-functional interior by the end of the year, but at this rate I'll have a repainted roof and not much else done inside.

Tomorrow I may drive to SolarTec in Northridge CA to check out their PV panels.   They quoted me a price yesterday of $0.81 per watt for some cosmetically-blemished Sharp made-in-USA panels.   They say that the color of the individual solar cells in not a uniform blue, but they all perform to Sharp's specifications.   I don't care what they look like, just as long as they do what they should.   If I can get all my panels for just over $1600 I'll be as happy as a pig in poop.   And I can (just) fit all eight panels in my car, saving on trucking costs.   Yeah!

Per ardua ad astra.
John  

[belfert]

In the past week to 10 days I did the following on my bus:

1. Fixed the intermittent wipers on the driver's side.
2. Removed some unneeded air lines and plugged the connection.
3. Worked on the engine hatch inside to make it seal better.
4. Bought the remaining parts to finish the interior heating system.
5. Found that one of the tag axle tires is wearing badly on one edge.  Looking at that closer this evening.

[Scott & Heather]

Wowzers! There's a lot of bus drama going on all over the country! Makes me feel like I'm part of a bigger crowd 

[pabusnut]

I didn't get even one tiny job done on it this past week ---but it did make a great guesthouse for two teenage girls(i.e. it was close enough for the WIFI and had A/C and a toilet!)