There are two possible resolutions to the air-speed problem with the back vents. One is to clear away the plastic blockage and replace it with a strongly fastened mosquito mesh. The other is to simply do away with a filter at the back and rely solely upon the front filter combined with frequent blasts of air from the blower. It might also be a good idea to replace the mushroom vents with flapper vents though I'm afraid a strong wind might just snap the louvres.
Realizing my planned external solar input (could even be wind input) needed a bracket made so that the power plug could hang downward, I started to drill some of my steel bracket. The first pilot hole went through readily enough with my new rechargeable drill. Enlarging the hole went well until I got close to the required size. Then cutting got incredibly slow with my being able to do a couple of seconds work between half an hour of letting the work and the tool cool down. That was pretty slow.
The reason I want to have the solar input cable out of sight is so that nobody messes with it. That's pretty much the same for everything on the bus. I've hidden just about everything out of sight. Sure - if you look you'll see a waste barrel if you look at the rear wheel arch. I'm hoping that rapidly gets covered with road debris and mud, thus becoming unrecognizable. Otherwise, I'd just drill a hole in the bus skirt and put the connector through that.
In the end after seeming to get nowhere for a very long time, I finally managed to get the hole large enough for the cigarette lighter socket to fit. The next stage will be attaching the gizmo to the skirt. For some obscure reason, the skirt where I want to attach the socket is screwed on rather than riveted. I'll do the same with my mount, just in case. When its installed, I'll slop some silicone goop over the connections after everything is correctly connected. To be safe, I'll probably add some kind of safety feature so that if something is plugged in with reversed polarity, a fuse blows.
I must admit to being disappointed with the amount of work completed today but on the other hand, much of what I need to do involves going underneath. That, of course, is not my favorite thing to do.
Looking at the busses at work, I noticed they all have locking covers over the fuel tank. That seeming like a good idea, I mentioned that on one of those God-foresaken bus conversion groups online. Of course, the answer came back to buy a new fuel hatch door with a built-in lock. Idly, I looked those up and they were all very small. They were also very expensive. Thus I measured the lock on my fuel door and found it to be close enough to 3/4 of an inch. It also had a non-locking cam closure. Looking on eBay, I saw several in various different sizes. None in the size I want though so I'm thinking my next best stop will probably be the local hardware store. Cam locks are not exactly uncommon and in fact, most fuel doors have cam locks. According to eBay prices they range from about $5 upwards. That's way better than $20 for a new door!
Honestly, those bus conversion forums are all totally nuts. They are chattering on one at the moment about how much it costs to repaint a bus. Figures were quoted in the thousands. Most people with any sense use a roller and a pot or two of paint from the hardware store. Mine cost probably $200 to paint - not $10,000 as some quoted. As a defense against such a ludicrous suggestion somebody said they managed to get into a campground where only new motorhomes were allowed. My question is - if somebody is prepared to reject my good money by refusing to let me camp on their land - why should I even care? It's their business and money that they loose. I just mosey on and find somewhere cheaper or free. Besides, how are they going to know the age of your vehicle unless you're dumb enough to tell them? It's possible to disguise the age anyway - all it needs is (if you're that desperate) to put a sticker in some prominent place claiming some fictitious manufacture date. No business has a right to inspect your vehicle or enter your vehicle and even a policeman cannot unless invited or in possession of a search warrant. That includes lifting the hood. I'll go further - the bus groups are full of nonsense. One has to be very suspect of anything said there. I wouldn't mind betting most posters don't even know anybody with a bus.
Just as I thought I'd got the bracket to fit just right, it refused to allow the socket I wanted to mount through the hole. It worked just find for my test socket but for the one I wanted to use, no way. That's frustrating and means more work tomorrow.
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