That it's absolutely free. In the intervening days between working on the bus and my last entry and subsequently I have come to several realisations.
But first let's return to the exciting events of the other night. No believable news has been forthcoming about events next door. The loud truck has not returned. Some guys in jeans and black tee shirts were seen climbing all over the cabin. Other than that, there has been a complete lack of news. It's one of those things that will forever have to remain a mystery!
I thought about the plumbing system and realised there are two issues. The first is that if the tanks are installed crosswise then there will be a lot of strain placed on the fastenings on acceleration and braking. The second is that breaking fastenings could be disastrous. This has prompted two new lines of thought.
The first line of thought ties in with something else I have read about. Somebody posted that a composting toilet really stinks if urine is introduced to it. Thus, one thought was to reinstall the small handbasin in the bathroom that I removed and plumb it to a tank installed underneath the toilet side of the bathroom. The handbasin is an ideal height to use as a urinal! Having one tank under each side would mean more distance between the ends of the chains used to fasten the tanks and the tyres or the fuel tank. That's a bonus in that a broken chain is less likely to damage a tyre or the fuel tank.
The second line of thought is to put wedges in place so that the tanks can be aligned longtitudanally. Now I have seen people using plywood wedges but to be honest, having seen the hillbilly plywood, I have no intention of using plywood. Perhaps plastic or steel would be a better bet.
A further thought was a method of emptying the dirty water tanks. As I often park on sandy ground, an electrical valve that allows me to empty the tanks without actually getting out to open a valve is very tempting. There are some systems that allow that but they're mostly 24v.
The important things to complete are the plumbing, the electrical breaker box, the ventillation, the 12v system and the front door unlocking system.
Just thoughts.
Showing posts with label hillbilly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hillbilly. Show all posts
Friday, March 25, 2016
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Probably the worst welding in the world!
Yesterday I was reminded of my 2 year anniversary of meeting m'lady. Needless to say I'd had subtle reminders for the past week or two. I'd been finding notes written in Sharpie on my dinnerplate that I'd discover after doing my usual plate-clearing feat. I found notes in my lunch bag, reminding me of it all. So yesterday it was suggested that as it was forecast for 20% rain for Sunday, maybe we should head out on Sunday. That would leave me with all day today to work on the bus.
Well, today I started by cutting the steel for the infilling for the old cable compartment. That was pretty easy and after a little careful grinding, it was just the right size.
The plate, usefully, kept succumbing to gravity so in order to counter the effects of gravity which seems to be somewhat of a problem, I used existing hillbilly holes, some of my defective 10-24 bolts, washers and nuts. That held it all in place quite nicely.
Being mindful of the speed with which I can cut through 15 gauge steel with my 6011 1/16th welding rods, I worked quickly to weld the steel together. Now the steel I am welding in comes from the sole surviving seat back that the hillbillies left in the bus. That has been really useful supply of steel as it has been used for several things. Needless to say, I achieved the feat of cutting holes in the steel without too much problem.
I did get better as I went along though I had to pick up the pace a bit in order to complete the job before I ran out of welding rods. It was touch and go most of the time! I managed to burn quite a few holes and then had to sit there and build up the steel in order to fill the holes.
I don't think my welding will win any awards - aside from the booby prize. Maybe a Rotten Tomatoes award for ugliness. It does work though even though it looks nasty.
The biggest problem I had was that the steel sheet warped and moved a bit. It's nowhere near flush which might or might not be a problem. I might have to trim my compartment in order to fit it around my wonderful workmanship.
As it was getting gloomy - it had been overcast all day and I'd had to try a whole load of different tactics to be able to see what I was doing. My welding helmet is a little too dark to be honest. It's fine in bright sunshine but not in cloudy weather. In the end I found the hand-held eye guard worked best as it allowed me to see the area around the weld while blocking the really bright light.
Having put all my tools away, I wire-brushed the welds on the outside and slapped some primer on everything. Needless to say, as soon as I'd done that, the 20% rain arrived a day early.
With luck the rain won't harm the paint. I need to get underneath to prime the steel on the back. Judging from the smell of burning rubber when I was welding, the back of the bodywork has some rubberised paint on it.
With luck, I might be able to get the compartment installed tomorrow though I'm not counting my chickens. Today's welding took rather longer than I had anticipated to be honest. Had the weather not looked like rain then I would have welded the final strengthening pieces on the compartment. I never thought to check whether my main breaker box will fit nicely beside my distribution panel. If it does, perhaps it might be simpler just to finish infilling the hillbilly compartment and simply putting a socket box there instead.
Meanwhile, my screw eyes arrived today. Too late to do anything with them today though. I now have everything I need to be able to complete the shower curtain fittings. Well, perhaps almost everything - I might need some S hooks.
Well, today I started by cutting the steel for the infilling for the old cable compartment. That was pretty easy and after a little careful grinding, it was just the right size.
The plate, usefully, kept succumbing to gravity so in order to counter the effects of gravity which seems to be somewhat of a problem, I used existing hillbilly holes, some of my defective 10-24 bolts, washers and nuts. That held it all in place quite nicely.
Being mindful of the speed with which I can cut through 15 gauge steel with my 6011 1/16th welding rods, I worked quickly to weld the steel together. Now the steel I am welding in comes from the sole surviving seat back that the hillbillies left in the bus. That has been really useful supply of steel as it has been used for several things. Needless to say, I achieved the feat of cutting holes in the steel without too much problem.
I did get better as I went along though I had to pick up the pace a bit in order to complete the job before I ran out of welding rods. It was touch and go most of the time! I managed to burn quite a few holes and then had to sit there and build up the steel in order to fill the holes.
I don't think my welding will win any awards - aside from the booby prize. Maybe a Rotten Tomatoes award for ugliness. It does work though even though it looks nasty.
The biggest problem I had was that the steel sheet warped and moved a bit. It's nowhere near flush which might or might not be a problem. I might have to trim my compartment in order to fit it around my wonderful workmanship.
As it was getting gloomy - it had been overcast all day and I'd had to try a whole load of different tactics to be able to see what I was doing. My welding helmet is a little too dark to be honest. It's fine in bright sunshine but not in cloudy weather. In the end I found the hand-held eye guard worked best as it allowed me to see the area around the weld while blocking the really bright light.
Having put all my tools away, I wire-brushed the welds on the outside and slapped some primer on everything. Needless to say, as soon as I'd done that, the 20% rain arrived a day early.
With luck the rain won't harm the paint. I need to get underneath to prime the steel on the back. Judging from the smell of burning rubber when I was welding, the back of the bodywork has some rubberised paint on it.
With luck, I might be able to get the compartment installed tomorrow though I'm not counting my chickens. Today's welding took rather longer than I had anticipated to be honest. Had the weather not looked like rain then I would have welded the final strengthening pieces on the compartment. I never thought to check whether my main breaker box will fit nicely beside my distribution panel. If it does, perhaps it might be simpler just to finish infilling the hillbilly compartment and simply putting a socket box there instead.
Meanwhile, my screw eyes arrived today. Too late to do anything with them today though. I now have everything I need to be able to complete the shower curtain fittings. Well, perhaps almost everything - I might need some S hooks.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
New ideas keep hitting me!
Two members of the genus Sasquatch strolled past as, wrapped up against the arctic cold, I stepped into the freezing outside world. The aim today was to work on the breaker box compartment with a sub aim of marking the steel to cut to infill the rest of the hillbilly hole.
Last night, as I dreamed of things to be, things that might be and things that couldn't possibly ever be, I had an idea. Why not add brackets to the back of the box in order that extra securing points may be employed. Thus, the first order of the day was to locate some suitable steel, which I derusted manually, welded into place and sprayed with rust killing spray.
While I was at it, I re-welded the seam that was a bit loose that I'd welded yesterday. Yesterday I tried using my welder at the lower amperage setting since I was using thin rods and having a problem of burning through steel. That kinda-sorta worked. 40A was too low to be really useful. 70A is a bit high because extreme care needed to be taken that the rods didn't burn a hole in the steel.
Hunting around, I found my white paint. I set to and gave the assembley a white topcoat, hoping that it really won't matter much that some of the undercoat got burned off by the welding process. As rain is forecast for tomorrow, I placed an upturned planter over the assembly.
Then, looking at the sheet steel I placed behind the hillbilly aperture, I realised that it would probably support the edge of the compartment. I also realised that by being very careful I could probably stitch weld the steel into the hole after it's cut to size.
At least I found a use for the duct tape I had in the bus. It was well on the way to not being at all sticky! The steel for this operation was donated by a seat back from the bus that the hillbillies had not removed. Those with longer memories will recall that I removed it and the handrail that was attached to it in around April.
I sprayed around the perimeter of the aperture with orange paint in order to make an outline for cutting. Then, mindful of the fact rain was forecast and this is probably not galvanized steel, I sprayed inside with white paint.
The next step will be to mount the breaker compartment in place and secure it from the front and the back. I had planned to drill holes in the tops of the sides but there isn't room to get the drill inside the box to be able to drill vertical holes. That's as of right now. In the future I might find a smaller electric drill and be able to do it.
If I put the steel infilling behind the bodywork panelling then I could weld it to the edge of the flange on the compartment and it would act as a support. I could rivet the steel over the front of the aperture too. That would solve the problem and old vehicles do have patches riveted over them. This bus is a splendid example, what with all the patches I've rivetted over hillbilly foolishness. I could butt-weld the whole patch into the aperture with the aperture (albeit with a cutout for the breaker compartment).
As far as locating the inlet box, that could be placed under the compartment or to the side. At the side, it could point downwards or go out through the side of the bus. The advantage for going out through the side is ease of access. The downside is it looks like a power socket. On the other hand, from 20 feet not many people would really notice anyway - particularly with a grey vehicle.
The paint is definitely peeling in places. I did read that somebody prepped their bus by wiping down the paintwork with paint thinner. That sounds promising and I might try that where the paint peels off. In fact that sounds easier than brushing down to bare metal, priming and painting. I can try it and if it doesn't work, I can try something else. It's not as though it has to be instantly perfect. It has to be comfortably livable inside - which it will be when the shower curtains are in place and it's all cleaned up.
12v electricity is a long-term project that will be installed at some future point. After infilling the hole in the side and installing the breaker compartment I might move on to installing the waste water barrels. I have considered various options and come to the conclusion that nylon cargo straps are the way to go. There seem to be three ways of securing barrels. I have seen some ideas that use plywood cradles but that just seems nuts having seen the way plywood under the bus just rots.
The three ways are to use chains anchored to the skeleton and wrapped around the barrels, to use nylon cargo straps and to use plumbing strap. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Cargo straps are pretty universal, easy to install and easy to obtain. Chains are equally easy to obtain but harder to tighten and install. Plumbers strap probably needs a special tool to apply that I don't have.
Discounting plumbing strap, I'm left with chains or cargo straps. Chains are excellent and very strong but only as strong as the weakest link. As the tanks will be pretty close to the back wheels (unless I can situate them further forward) then there is a possibility that the chain could drop down and get wrapped around the wheel with catastrophic consequences. Nylon straps would just snap at 300lbs pressure. They'd also be kinder to the plastic barrels. Thus, catastrophic failure is not as likely. Some question how well the straps will last but protected from UV and kept dry (the only wet will be road spray) there is no reason why they should not last a good long time. Doubling them up would add extra security. The attachment points for the straps could easily be steel plate with a hole drilled in it that's simply riveted to the body skeleton.
Tomorrow, if it's raining as promised, it's unlikely I'll be able to do much outside the bus. As far as I know, the rivnuts and screw eyes I ordered on Friday won't be here tomorrow. Those will complete the shower curtain attachments. Another thing that could be done is to work out some way of raising the 3 gallon cooler that forms the basis of my shower in order to increase the efficiency of the impeller pump.
Last night, as I dreamed of things to be, things that might be and things that couldn't possibly ever be, I had an idea. Why not add brackets to the back of the box in order that extra securing points may be employed. Thus, the first order of the day was to locate some suitable steel, which I derusted manually, welded into place and sprayed with rust killing spray.
Hunting around, I found my white paint. I set to and gave the assembley a white topcoat, hoping that it really won't matter much that some of the undercoat got burned off by the welding process. As rain is forecast for tomorrow, I placed an upturned planter over the assembly.
I sprayed around the perimeter of the aperture with orange paint in order to make an outline for cutting. Then, mindful of the fact rain was forecast and this is probably not galvanized steel, I sprayed inside with white paint.
The next step will be to mount the breaker compartment in place and secure it from the front and the back. I had planned to drill holes in the tops of the sides but there isn't room to get the drill inside the box to be able to drill vertical holes. That's as of right now. In the future I might find a smaller electric drill and be able to do it.
If I put the steel infilling behind the bodywork panelling then I could weld it to the edge of the flange on the compartment and it would act as a support. I could rivet the steel over the front of the aperture too. That would solve the problem and old vehicles do have patches riveted over them. This bus is a splendid example, what with all the patches I've rivetted over hillbilly foolishness. I could butt-weld the whole patch into the aperture with the aperture (albeit with a cutout for the breaker compartment).
As far as locating the inlet box, that could be placed under the compartment or to the side. At the side, it could point downwards or go out through the side of the bus. The advantage for going out through the side is ease of access. The downside is it looks like a power socket. On the other hand, from 20 feet not many people would really notice anyway - particularly with a grey vehicle.
The paint is definitely peeling in places. I did read that somebody prepped their bus by wiping down the paintwork with paint thinner. That sounds promising and I might try that where the paint peels off. In fact that sounds easier than brushing down to bare metal, priming and painting. I can try it and if it doesn't work, I can try something else. It's not as though it has to be instantly perfect. It has to be comfortably livable inside - which it will be when the shower curtains are in place and it's all cleaned up.
12v electricity is a long-term project that will be installed at some future point. After infilling the hole in the side and installing the breaker compartment I might move on to installing the waste water barrels. I have considered various options and come to the conclusion that nylon cargo straps are the way to go. There seem to be three ways of securing barrels. I have seen some ideas that use plywood cradles but that just seems nuts having seen the way plywood under the bus just rots.
The three ways are to use chains anchored to the skeleton and wrapped around the barrels, to use nylon cargo straps and to use plumbing strap. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Cargo straps are pretty universal, easy to install and easy to obtain. Chains are equally easy to obtain but harder to tighten and install. Plumbers strap probably needs a special tool to apply that I don't have.
Discounting plumbing strap, I'm left with chains or cargo straps. Chains are excellent and very strong but only as strong as the weakest link. As the tanks will be pretty close to the back wheels (unless I can situate them further forward) then there is a possibility that the chain could drop down and get wrapped around the wheel with catastrophic consequences. Nylon straps would just snap at 300lbs pressure. They'd also be kinder to the plastic barrels. Thus, catastrophic failure is not as likely. Some question how well the straps will last but protected from UV and kept dry (the only wet will be road spray) there is no reason why they should not last a good long time. Doubling them up would add extra security. The attachment points for the straps could easily be steel plate with a hole drilled in it that's simply riveted to the body skeleton.
Tomorrow, if it's raining as promised, it's unlikely I'll be able to do much outside the bus. As far as I know, the rivnuts and screw eyes I ordered on Friday won't be here tomorrow. Those will complete the shower curtain attachments. Another thing that could be done is to work out some way of raising the 3 gallon cooler that forms the basis of my shower in order to increase the efficiency of the impeller pump.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Fighting real nastiness
Today started with my cutting and welding into place, the sides of the new breaker box compartment. My first side was cut too short but I welded it in place anyway. Then I realised that was actually fortuitous. Being 1/2 an inch too short meant that instantly I had a solution to my drainage problem. Welding was problematic but the first side went on well enough. The second side isn't as secure as it really needs to be but as it's just a side that protects against spray rather than being a side that performed a structural function, it's not worth seating over.
Really and truly, I got a bit fed up of welding today. I spent an inordinate amount of time welding before I found dropping the power of the welder down to 40A meant I was less likely to burn through the metal. I might return to welding tomorrow. It's probably going to annoy me that it's not done as well as possible!
After completing the compartment the next order of the day was to paint it and stand back to admire my handiwork. Having suitably admired my handiwork and run around in circles in the yard yelling "Yay. I am the champion", it was on with the next task. The dreaded hillbilly cable compartment.
As can be seen, the wood looks a little suspect. The cable of my electrical system has acquired a nasty lot of white mold on the outside. Needless to say the whole compartment smelled badly.
Removing the compartment was a huge battle. Just about every bolt was badly rusted. All the screw heads stripped trying to turn them so in the end they all had to be removed using my angle grinder. Having done that, it was already dusk but here's a photo of the now empty compartment.
The wood that made up the old compartment was in truly amazing shape. I'm totally baffled as to why it hadn't just fallen out on the road a long time ago. I have a hard time believing that compartment could ever have held anything heavier than a fart!
The wood is not fit for anything other than a bonfire. I didn't go underneath the bus to see if the bad wood had caused rust - that's a job for tomorrow. I did however try the new compartment in place and it fits in very sweetly. The power inlet will hang down a little below the bottom of the skirt but not hugely. It'll make easier access. I did think about using a proper TT-30 inlet but for some unknown reason, TT-30 inlets are either unavailable or horribly expensive. I'm sticking with my NEMA 6-30 twist-lock inlet instead. I could probably go down to a 20A inlet but to be honest, I think if I am plugged in, 30A will give me more and better options. I don't need huge amounts of power but I can see that a microwave could well use up 10A leaving very little room for anything else.
I spent a while worrying about putting on the new door and putting the infilling up on the side, where the old door went before deciding it wasn't worth worrying about. I'll face that when it's time. For now the task is to install the new breaker compartment. The door can wait! Tomorrow there might be a holdup as I have to put more undercoat on some of the compartment and topcoat on the whole compartment. Ideally I'd paint it white but as I only have black topcoat, it'll have to be black. While the undercoat is drying, I can tape a sheet of steel behind the aperture the hillbillies cut, spray around the edges with orange paint and when that's dry, pull it out and trim the steel with my angle grinder. From there I can tape it into place and weld it in. That welding might well take all day or even several days.
After completing the compartment the next order of the day was to paint it and stand back to admire my handiwork. Having suitably admired my handiwork and run around in circles in the yard yelling "Yay. I am the champion", it was on with the next task. The dreaded hillbilly cable compartment.
Removing the compartment was a huge battle. Just about every bolt was badly rusted. All the screw heads stripped trying to turn them so in the end they all had to be removed using my angle grinder. Having done that, it was already dusk but here's a photo of the now empty compartment.
I spent a while worrying about putting on the new door and putting the infilling up on the side, where the old door went before deciding it wasn't worth worrying about. I'll face that when it's time. For now the task is to install the new breaker compartment. The door can wait! Tomorrow there might be a holdup as I have to put more undercoat on some of the compartment and topcoat on the whole compartment. Ideally I'd paint it white but as I only have black topcoat, it'll have to be black. While the undercoat is drying, I can tape a sheet of steel behind the aperture the hillbillies cut, spray around the edges with orange paint and when that's dry, pull it out and trim the steel with my angle grinder. From there I can tape it into place and weld it in. That welding might well take all day or even several days.
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