Interior assembly, looking for tips, tricks, input, do's and dont's...

[Carbone]

I am getting very close to having my MCI-8 interior completely gutted and ready for assembly. As I have pondered the endless possibilities of wall coverings and electrical layouts I was wanting to get any input I could. I have the floor plan finalized and I am probably struggling most with wall coverings (type and or thickness) and what insulation to use. I have seen some wall coverings attached directly to the frame and some have had 1-2" spacers behind the panels. Planning on 3/4 over the original floor. Any input is greatly appreciated, preferably the "I wish I would have done this" stories. 

[Gerry H]

   Hello: Bet you wish there was an instruction manual on how to do things right the first time. I know I do!
   I'm converting a 1992 Prevost LeMirage XL-40 and am currently working on my interior walls. My kitchen and bath cabinets are done except for the rear of the bus, so I'm working on running electrical boxes and conduit, drains, and water lines all behind the wall (not everything drops straight down thru floor) so my walls are 2+ inches deep to accommodate handy boxes, conduit, and 1-1/4" PVC drain pipe for my kitchen sink run.
   I put 1/2" foil faced rigid insulation up against the inside frame walls, screwed 2x4's to the frame, and used 3/4" T&G Sturdi-floor plywood for my walls. There's room for more fiberglass insulation after all the stuff is run behind it. Also included a front to rear conduit for DC wiring (both sides) since by code that can't be ran in same conduit as AC wiring. So much to think of and just as many ways to do things.
                          Best of luck with yours. Gerry H

[robertglines1]

plumbing dictates more of your lay out than any thing. locate your waste tank usually in last bay and figure out toilet(usually straight drop) into tank. Try to keep plumbing as simple as possible and remember poo flows down hill.  Tape on floor works to see how much room you actually have and need for bed couches shower etc. For example tape out queen bed then see if you still have room to make it up.  tape moves easy walls don't. Card board box to resemble furniture also moves around easy now. If you make walls (side ) to thick you loose valuable floor space. Your only 92 inches wide at bottom now much less at top. remember curved sides.  Just some suggestions.  have fun    Bob

[chev49]

wouldn't hurt to get conversion books....

[4905 doc]

While wiring my bus, I added a couple of spare 12 volt wires and a 12/3 wire through the ceiling. turned out to be a good thing when time to add another roof air, and some 12v accessories in the rear that I had not planned for.

[robertglines1]

first conversion was a Mci 8. Loved that bus.  Bed room: make sure you use correct size matress. Easiest to put on raised platform same height as step up in bus floor above engine. Make sure to hindge so you can get to access pannel later to get to accesories on back of engine.  A walk thru bath with pocket doors is easiest next. then kitchen. This lets you keep all your plumbing in a small area. Keep all your sewer-water and electric service hook-ups drivers side rear in front of drive axle. That will be compatible with campground set ups. There is a tunnel that is a cold air return that runs down the center of the floor and will end just in front of where your bed will finish toward front. Would make a good utility tunnel.  Put as much insulation in roof as you can /it is your greatest heat/cold loss area.The stock fiberglass is about useless. Anchor everything-nothing like flying missles in a accident.or just a brief quick stop or sharp turn. Keeping bus air? Now is time for these decissions. Gen set location?

[Carbone]

Thank you for the great input. My 3 roof airs are installed, gen set is installed, holding tanks are in place, I have RV couches, RV furniture, shower stall, kitchen cabinet base, still deciding/looking for a fridge but pretty sure I located a low hour black Norcold. My thinking was having everything before final assembly so I can put it in loose and that will give me the option to move things around or take advantage of a few inches of floor space here and there before walls go up and final commitments are made. Again, thanks for the tips!

[Hi yo silver]

Hey Bob,
I'm impressed with the great advice you gave.  You are the perfect guy to ask, since you are on your third conversion. Uhhh, were you goin' to tell him about the free shower the first time you drive it in the rain and apply the brakes? ...heehee!! You never should never have told me that story! I just couldn't resist.
Dennis 

[robertglines1]

FYI:  contact cement and starfoam don't mix!  I know that because I used it on a slide topper with foam on top then contact cement to hold the rubber roof on. we were in a rain storm with strong winds that blew rain under slide awning. The contact cement over time had reacted with the foam making pockets that water collected in.  I pulled slide in went a short distabce hit brakes.   Water down back.  I laughed::. could have went other way. I changed roof to steel when I got home. lesson learned. Some lessons have to be learned the hard way. Then you slap your own head!  Bob  we were camped at Disney Ft Wilderness for a week when this happened.

[Uglydog56]

Here's my nickel: run your electrical conduit first (as previously described) because running it after is a pita, which I am in the middle of.  Also, I recommend putting all the stuff that drains to a tank on the same side of the bus you can, ie shower, bathroom sink, kitchen on one side (curbside), toilet on other (streetside), to simplify plumbing.  My bus has stuff kinda all over, and now I'm having to reroute it all just to add a couple of things.  Also put in at least 5 extra circuits each ac and dc for the stuff you didn't know you wanted later. 

[akroyaleagle]

Run a lot of exta wires from front to rear (engine compartment) in the coach. We didn't do enough when we converted it. I think we ran 15 or so the first time, ran out quick, added more, ran out again. The last time I ran about 3 dozen. So far I still have quite a few. I use 14ga.

It is unbelievable how many you end up needing over the years. Leave about 10' on each end.

Make sure to include all the AC outlets you may need. It's nice to have them in places you don't think about during the conversion.

[Busted Knuckle]

I highly recommend that you consider having it spray foamed insulated! 3-4" (or more) in the roof and 2-3" in the walls.

It might be a little on the high side, but you will reap the rewards later with the great heating and cooling benefits from it.

Also I agree with an extra conduit or two front to rear and extra wires in them.
Maybe even 1 or 2 additional ones front to middle and middle to rear for unexpected additions in the future that may or may not need to go the whole distance, but could if needed if connected in the mid junction box.
  BK 

Also make detailed diagrams/drawings of what is what to be kept safe for  future reference!
  BK 

[eddieboy]

As I started my conversion, I used 3/4" on the floor with tongue and groove on the ends.  I also went overboard and primed the bottom and edges of the plywood before glueing and screwing it down.
Ed

[Mex-Busnut]

Most honorable Mister Carbone sir:

I am certainly no expert on this subject, as we are on our first conversion. You have a ton of great guidance from others in the previous posts with far more experience than my awesome and skinny self.



However, before you do ANY of that, do yourself a huge favor and borrow, rent, steal or buy a power washer. You will need an assistant for this. Check the entire body, roof and even floor on the inside, while somebody is spraying it from the outside. We found a multitude of invisible leaks, that would have been terrible to try to fix once the insides are installed. Even our rear inside fiberglass shell leaked like a sieve. (We found a number of hairline cracks in it.) We also found that all of our windows leaked terribly, between the window frames and the vehicle's sheet metal. I am very happy we got all of that fixed before we started on our interior!

My two pesos' worth!   

[Kevin Warnock]

This advice about leak testing with a power washer is advice I have never seen, despite reading these posts for a decade now.

I love this idea! Has anyone else tried this?

Thanks for posting this idea!

Kevin Warnock
http://KevinWarnock.com - my blog