| Author | Message | ||
| George Martinez (Foohorse)
Registered Member Username: Foohorse Post Number: 97 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 174.48.6.180  Rating: N/A |
OK here is an Idea that newbies like myself will no doubt greatly benefit from. and will also let the more experienced members share their {I should have done it this way} advice. Lets build/convert a bare shell 40' bus for boon-docking full-timer use. this thread should help condense some of the great advice from the archives in an easy to find package. Debbie and Joe Cannarozzi I hope you list all the threads of the really top Quality work you have shared here that may be hidden away in the archives now, if not to much trouble of course. | ||
| macgyver (91flyer)
Registered Member Username: 91flyer Post Number: 580 Registered: 11-2004 Posted From: 173.217.11.76  Rating: N/A |
Well... I think the first question that will get asked, and so, I'll ask it... What's the budget?  -Mac | ||
| George Martinez (Foohorse)
Registered Member Username: Foohorse Post Number: 98 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 174.48.6.180 Rating: N/A |
Good point lets say $45,000 to $50,000. labour is free, blood and sweat can't be figured into it. like most projects if it goes over budget on really good Ideas well we will have to bite the bullet and go with it. | ||
| Larry Nelson (Larryn4106)
Registered Member Username: Larryn4106 Post Number: 53 Registered: 8-2008 Posted From: 173.30.186.230 Rating: N/A |
Sorry, but 40' is 5' too long for my fantasy virtual campground..... | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 1156 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 66.82.162.16  Rating: N/A |
45,000 to $50,000 No need to toss currency in the air like this administration, Folks into bus camping as a hobby usually have more time than money. A $20K max budget will do fine for pretty lazy converters (buy not build interior furniture) , and half of that will work for the dedicated BUS NUT. Full comfort conversion , all the goodies , requires digging and thinking , not mere cash. Anyone can simply purchase a diesel noisemaker for $7000 , but a 6KW propane OHNO at $500 or a reefer take out Yamaha at $300 plus $500 for a rebuilt bus alternator will give better DC charging for a boondocker than any noisemaker + battery charger off the shelf. If one just wants a shoebox, Custom Coach built fine conversions , many by bus standards have no miles and can be simply purchased for $50K and will have a resale value unmatched by backyard conversions. Your Way?, FF | ||
| gary throneberry (Garhawk)
Registered Member Username: Garhawk Post Number: 36 Registered: 3-2007 Posted From: 68.119.106.143 Rating: N/A |
OK George, I'll start off with purchasing the bus. How about a 1989 RTS 40 footer with 6V92 DDEC from southern California (no rust zone) at a cost of $3900? | ||
| George Martinez (Foohorse)
Registered Member Username: Foohorse Post Number: 100 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 174.48.6.180 Rating: N/A |
Fred thank you for the very good news I guess I imagined worse, I also did not specify that if it can be done for less that's great. also the purchase of the fine built shoebox in my mind is boring, lacks imagination, and in my opinion takes away the best most satisfying part of this hobby. So Fred Buddy please finish the electrical system and what you believe it can be done for so that we can keep the budget on track. those sine wave units you got sound great, would solar play a part in your ideas? Thank you for helping me build this, I really do listen to what you have to say here and your idea about the wide dump truck steer tires for the rear sounds cool, I will wait for your research into that before I invest in rims and tires. Gary your bus sounds great so would a GMC PD 4905 Buffalo named Phoenix not that I'm partial or anything, I guess any Bus will do for this Virtual project including A 35 footer so that we don't exclude Larry Nelson from his Fantasy camp-ground we may have to think smaller that's all. but lets not deduct the $3,900 from our budget since we already have the bus and are beginning to start the conversion. Fred is starting us off to a great start with the electrical which in my mind seems like the correct first step in a primed and painted {interior} shell. | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 1158 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 66.82.9.100 Rating: |
The most basic first step is a 75W solar panel and charge controller. This allows the batteries to survive sans power chord.Solar makes the option of where the bus is kept wide open. Even if its in your back yard the hassle of not mowing the power supply is worth the price , and it WILL be part of a finished conversion. Beware of my electrical setup to copy as I ONLY use marine grade tinned electrical wire , terminals and other gear. The marine stuff is OK with the USCG but most is far too expensive to stick in a dirt house , so lacks house code approval. The RV mfg chose the dirt house code as the cheapest and most common with cheap labor for their home grown "code". I only worry that I produce the finest trouble free electrical system for MY coach , and don't give a hoot about the RVIA. Be warned , some code lover will find using the best as "Illegal". So copy MY WAY of electrical stuff with knowledge of the "risk". There is a fine Transit board ,with many fine transit conversions, but a transit is not my first choice . For me a coach needs to run at speed 75mph+ and have nice big empty bays to carry STUFF. No not conversion junk, tanks, water heaters, furnaces ,air cond parts but personal goodies. Creating a conversion , My Way, is OPEN, EMPTY BAYS , which does take more effort , more building , but does have other advantages. EG should the furnace crap out its easier to repair by removing a cabinet face inside , than spending a half day in a cold bay while its snowing. Water and waste cap will need to be more limited than folks with 400G of FW and 400G of black for a month of bear hunting in the Yukon. Scrapping the interior is not a requirement , certainly we kept half the overhead racks and modified them on the other side to fit the galley. The stock interior is easy to keep clean and works better than rug glued to the wall and ceiling Really depends on what you want the coach to DO? For us a couple of months is all we can get touring , so the volume to store my old mirror hung dice , and the brides wedding dress is not needed.Light and air IS , so no blanked out sewer pipe sides either. Seats 9 with driver, feeds 8 with no sweat , sleeps 2 was our need. With massive counter space Her requirement. FF | ||
| George Martinez (Foohorse)
Registered Member Username: Foohorse Post Number: 103 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 174.48.6.180 Rating: N/A |
Fred thank you for the time you are taking to help me out here. I will agree with you that the marine grade wire is the way to go. incidental the old Rolls Royce cars used tinned wire and I hardly ever see issues with it even after decades of service. I am planning to live in this bus for a couple of years. my plans are to liquidate, close shop, hit the road and meet the fine people this hobby attracts. find the quite and beautiful places that are left in this great country so that I can refresh my soul and write a book. so I need this conversion to be a full-timer, I learned this term here. I believe that the sequence of the work should be as follows lay out the wiring / electrics bus is 24V but I was thinking of adding a 12V alternator for the house electrics if the consensus feels that this is a benefit, then insulate and apply sound deadening material, followed by the plumbing, ceiling treatment, walls and appliances. I have gutted the bay where the old a/c components used to be I removed the compressor from the engine bay and I am thinking this would serve as a possible tool box location? or? hear is my challenge I could go at this as you put it (MY WAY) but I am sure that advice from others would help tremendously since this is my first bus ownership, first converting project, hell even travelling in one for that matter, so you can imagine my handicap since I do not have a frame of reference to make sound decisions from. I do know what sounds good to me from a technical aspect for instance a generously sized bank of gel batteries so that maintenance, damage from caustic fumes, and explosions lol could be kept to a minimum. plus the benefits of long life and extended intervals between charging is desirable. solar panels to help keep the bank healthy and generator use to a minimum, advice on what is the best fuel type here would be useful since I do not have a stove, furnace, or generator yet. My interior needs are fairly simple it should be able to sleep two humans when needed I'm single. sleep two canines of the Dachshund variety in their own beds, small kitchen we are easy to feed, bathroom. and a sound system to match the Metropolitan Opera house. so sound deadening / insulating material is a must. this Bus has to deal with Florida's heat and Alaska's cold. and even a desert wind storm here and there. | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 1159 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 71.43.14.193 Rating: N/A |
so I need this conversion to be a "full-timer", I learned this term here. FT is a very broad term , that can cover the parked folks that must have a power pole to live , to the boondock forever folks that will spend really big bucks for better battery monitoring and charging and quite costly high acceptance AGM batts. Most folks seem to chose to live well at a 50A-240V power pole , and install a noisemaker for a couple of days camping with air cond. Its pretty hard to run concert level sound for long with just a battery set, just as the choice of heating methods will be far different if you have ZERO electric, and need to be gone for a week. What is your desirement list? Heat for what extremes? Air cond ??? Food and water duration? Deep freeze to hold the bear meat, and Bambi's Mom? Holding tanks for a dishwasher and laundry room to operate as you travel? You have to make a list. The best way to go figure is to visit a get together like Jack's New Years party. There will be hundreds of folks that did it "My Way" all are purpose built to solve the lifestyle problem for that owner. All want to live well, and you will find a load of different answers to the same problem . The sledge hammer approach to the coach is probably the most common, smash it apart and build another house inside. Having built boats , this certainly is NOT, My Way , but you need to get some background in what can be done , before the sledge gets into motion. What do you think you need? The FMCA is a group that has get togethers , go visit ALL the bus ones in your area. Coaches , Skoolies , or Transits all will have problem solving ideas to steal. Also go to a couple of boat shows , to learn how pros have been putting a gallon in a pint pot by multiple use of space for 5000 years, FF | ||
| George Martinez (Foohorse)
Registered Member Username: Foohorse Post Number: 105 Registered: 1-2010 Posted From: 174.48.6.180 Rating: N/A |
Fred you have relay opened my eyes here. I have been so preoccupied and even somewhat stressed-out with the building of this bus due to a feeling / mindset that since I can do anything on vintage English or exotic Italian cars I should be able to create a bus I can live in since I am mechanicly inclined and my brother in law is a GC that can build an office complex. Now thanks to you I can see how foolish this was. You are correct, I have to sit and see myself in the life I am planning for, being on road and staying sometimes where there is no pole I have to envision what are the things that will matter most while motoring and boondocking, I believe if I get those right I will be fine for camp grounds where there are power hookups. and going to those events you mentioned is my first step. I won't need the deep freeze for Bambi's Mom though. I look forward the day when meat can be grown in a lab through DNA manipulation instead of via murdering animals, but on till then I can't wait to meet you at one of those events and buy you a beer and steak dinner. thanks again Fred |
