Thursday, July 16, 2015

More problems!

Rather than work on a toilet that had me boiling with frustration yesterday, I worked on probably the last big thing in the bus - the front closet door. I wanted to see how much hardboard it would soak up from my supply. Stupidly, I measured it at the top and in the middle, concluding that it would be the same width at the bottom.

Having completed my usual ladder frame for big doors, I tried the frame in the doorway. Whoops! It fitted in the middle and at the top but not at the bottom which was 3\4 of an inch narrower. Inspecting the doorframe carefully, I could see the problem. The bottom of the 2x4 is more of Lowe's banana wood. It's warped and must have been warped when I used it. Now I know why the bottom of the front partition looks a bit off.

So, having ripped Lowe's a new one via Twitter, I trimmed 3\4 of an inch off the bottom cross member and screwed the frame back together. Then I attached the hardboard after cutting it to size. Sanding it to perfection outside the bus, I disappeared in a plume of brown dust.

Sadly I didn't manage to fix the door in place but I propped it up and took the best photo I could.

Maybe it's not visible in the photo but there is a definite curve for the last two feet of the 2x4 beam.

My attention turned to the toilet and without getting quite as irked as yesterday, I took a fresh photo. Clearly I'm going to have a problem opening the lid!

As can clearly be seen, the handle protrudes three inches into the path of a lifting lid. I'm going to have to give this more thought. Right now I'm wondering whether one of the $70 flush toilets would be a solution. Having said that, I don't want to make this $60 into a $70 toilet that cost $130!

There are two obvious solutions. The first is to leave the toilet as it is and open the door every time it needs attention. That doesn't sound too promising! The second is to split the lid, add two more hinges and only need to open the door when the grit bin needs work. Access to Hershey's Pot of Gold can be achieved anytime.

My hardboard supply turns out to be more than I need for the remaining cupboard and for the door but less than I need for the toilet unless I used two smaller pieces joined together. I might leave the additional piece off the toilet for now.

Looking at the bus, there's a bit left to do but its mostly small stuff. The big construction is over inside unless I add overhead lockers and other such fun stuff. I have to:
Hang a curtain at the end of the bed. This might need an upright and a cross beam.
Put up the closet chain.
Build a cupboard door and 6 or 7 drawers for the kitchenette
Put a second coat of purple on the kitchenette and redo the white.
Paint the bathroom white and green
Fasten the shower base in place.
Add shower curtains.
Paint the cockpit blue using primer and paint.
Clean the bus thoroughly. The cockpit is very bad.
Build a table for the bedroom.

After that, there's plumbing and electrical as well as bus maintainance.

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