91F today

Inside and outside the bus today, the temperature was similar - about 91F. That’s a huge step forward from before I painted the roof with elastometric paint. Today the plan was to install the second vent cover in replacement of the last remaining mushroom dome. I also tidied up areas where I’d gone over the tape with the white roofing paint. Plus a few areas where paint was flaking.

That’s how the vent covers look from outside - to the side of the solar panels. The right hand cover doesn’t quite lay flat every time but since I put a sink strainer on the inside, I should not be bothered by insect invasions.

The plan was to work on bolting down the microwave and to install the digital code unlocker on the front door. Neither of those came to fruition for very different reasons.

As the caulk was still setting on the vent, I didn’t operate the vent in order to get cool air blowing through the bus. That meant it was a bit muggy to be working inside. There’s a difference between sitting and reading a book and working on something like a microwave. It gets pretty stiffling pretty quick.

The microwave was pretty much a no-go for the moment. I wanted to unscrew and remove the cover before checking to see where I could drill holes to attach brackets or straps to secure it to the countertop. The first three screws came off easily. The rest were security screws. That means that I have to go to Harbor Freight to get a security screw bit set. That just involves an hour or two driving. I might do that tomorrow.

The digital keypad was another thing entirely. In order to remove the paneling inside the cockpit firewall I have to clear up all the tools, detritus and parts lying on the floor. In the hot cockpit that was a bit much. That’s a job for both a cooler day and a morning especially since I have to close the door in order to work in the cockpit.

Today I have something special for you that I very rarely post... Videos. The first video is of the vents from the inside. The second is of one vent and the third is of the vents from the outside. They make a bit of noise but not as much as it seems from the video.

This is where the vents are located - the wiring probably looks fearsomely complicated and a little untidy but without hiding it all behind panels where its just as untidy, there’s no real way of getting it any prettier. Bear in mind also that I’ve added things as I’ve thought of or found a need for them. Hence two fuse boxes not just one. By the way I used the same style of blade fuse that the bus uses. 

With the fan operating it’s possible to see out the back of the bus. The sink strainer should ensure no insects enter. I’d been baffled as to how to make a mosquito-proof mesh that was not flat until I saw the sink strainer in Walmart. 

This is from the outside. I had to use digital zoom so it’s probably not the clearest video but it gives you an idea of what I have. A future expansion will be to plug in an extra solar panel allowing me to have more power. My next electrical thing will be to measure my solar energy. I know I have 35W of panels but I don’t know how much they are typically producing. When I can work that out then I’ll know whether to get a 60W panel or whether I could get away with as low as a 25W panel.

In other news I had a discussion in which it was mentioned that perfection gets in the way of good enough.  I notice a lot of people are striving for perfection with their bus conversions and spending a lot of money on them. That baffles me because of several things:

• In the view of all the insurers I’ve met, it’s only ever going to be an old bus no matter what’s put in it or how expensive or extensive the conversion and will be valued at the scrap value of a bus.
• If one can afford to spend many thousands on a bus conversion - I see them costing many thousands to do then one might as well just buy a secondhand motorhome. I nearly did!
• A bus conversion or a motorhome is only one other road user’s careless driving away from the scrapyard.
• Most people don’t have much money yet I’ve heard of huge loans being taken out to convert a bus with only a faint and poorly researched idea of how the loan is going to be repaid

I’m so glad to be so close to completion. Aside from the microwave bolt-down, the digital door unlocker installation and the purchase of a portable solar panel, the only other things I’d like to do are...

• Remove the stray white wire under the bus that seems to come from the transmission to the defunct external speed sensor and maybe remove the defunct speed sensor.
• Work out why the speedo drops out from time to time. My guess is a loose cable at the speed sensor in the transmission. That has to wait for cooler wasp free weather.
• Add a tow hook and wiring to pull a trailer.