What a disaster!

The angels wept today and did drench the surface of the earth with their tears. Menwhile, an icy blast and possible Snowmageddon quietly began. Yes, folks, today was bitterly cold and wet. Not a good day for doing anything on the bus. Thus, today was mostly a shopping day.

In Walmart, I picked up a couple of things, the most interesting of which was for $10 a miniature cordless electric drill. It seems to charge off 6v. 20 years after everybody stopped putting NiCad batteries in things (aside from the Chinese) and it has a NiCad battery. Now normally I use a full-sized electric or cordless electric drill. Most of the time that's just fine. For my breaker box compartment it's just too big. I can't get the drill in, in order to get the holes in the right place to attach the compartment to the frame. I figured if I takes an hour a rivet hole, that drill will be worthwhile. I only need it in order to install 6 - 8 rivets! There was a better version available at $15 but I figure if this little fellow can do the job and since it's a job I probably won't have again then there's no point in spending more.

After I weld the next bits on my breaker box compartment I'll have to replace the paint that burns off so I bought more paint and some cheap brushes. At 68 cents a brush, it really isn't worth wasting gasoline on them to wash the paint out. While on the paint thing, I also got some appliance paint. I figured I can try derusting my microwave, spraying it with rust killer and then appliance paint. I know it still works - it just doesn't look pretty!

Remembering what the guy I read about the other day had said, I bought some paint thinner. The grey paint is peeling off quite well in some places. I can simply brush the loose paint off and wipe down with thinner before repainting. If the fellow mentioned online was correct then it might be the solution to problems like this:
I shall be rather glad to be in a position to register this bus as a motorhome. I feel that's getting ever closer. I could have done that with the old hillbilly compartment but wanted to redo it anyway. I am waiting on delivery of my screw eyes and rivnuts right now. These will help me to complete the shower. Then I will have a shower with a funky water delivery system but a shower nevertheless. Other than that, water disposal is taken care of with a bucket but I want to go to stage 2 and have at least one underbody tank. The proper breaker box compartment is a huge step for electrical supply and having seen the old compartment was probably little short of essential.

A 12v electrical system is not as yet planned out but the concept is there. Ideally, rather than a battery, I'll use a supercapacitor setup. That kind of thing can be left alone and it'll be just fine. No worries about overcharging nor about the cells wearing out. 

I said last year that I wanted this bus done by April. It definitely looks like being this April rather than last April. If I can only get a good weekend then I can get the underbody compartent done! It is literally a tiny bit of welding, a tiny bit of painting and some rivetting and bolting away from being done. After that it's a tiny bit of plumbing, some riveting and application of restraints and the waste water system is done. Then there's erecting the shower curtain, cleaning inside and it's done.

For the future I'd want to install my 12v system, possibly an underbelly water tank and way off in the future, possibly a black tank. Then of course there's the bedroom and kitchen ventillation and that is all that I can reasonably hope to want. 

Meandering toward perfection

Not feeling much like doing anything today I started by gathering up most of the garbage in the bus and by putting it all out in a big cardboard box. Then I gathered all my tools up and put them in the tool box. Now I might be able to find things. I put together a box of consumables such as paints, sealants, glues and lubricants and a box of electrical stuff.

Next I ventured outsde and derusted then primed a piece of angle iron that I found yesterday in the bushes. That will make excellent angles on the new breaker box compartment. I didn't do any welding - pretty much because I didn't really feel like doing any.
After that, I took an old enameled steel table top that I'd found in a junk pile and cut the steel for the sides of the compartment. They're roughly cut and will have the final cuts next time around.
Thinking about filling the hole in the side of the bus left by the hillbillies, I remembered the remains of the seat back that I used parts for filling in where a window was missing. It should be the same thickness as the bodywork steel. In any case, it's about the same size and will need minimal trimming to get it to fit.

After this, things remaining to do...
1. fit the 120v inlet socket.
2. Install two or perhaps all 3 of my 15 gallon drums as waste water tanks.
3. Fit drawer separators so things can be stored in the drawers easily and so china doesn't get chipped in transit.
4. Install a 12v battery system powered by a 30W solar panel.  That could use a NIMH battery setup. In fact I prefer NIMH to both lithium and lead acid.
5. Tow hook and tow wiring.
6. Rewire the schoolbus flashers to be brake lights and indicators.
7. Install a front door unlocking system.
8. Weld some steel over the lower window of the back door as a security measure.
10. Install a shower curtain.

That's about it. After removing the I beam underneath the bus, I eliminated my step which made getting in and out more challenging. To aid me, I spent $12 on a set of folding steps from Walmart. They work though I have to put my knee on the floor of the bus and hoist myself up. 

In terms of registering the bus as a motorhome, I might as well complete the forms and get that underway.

Now I'm really getting there.

It might not look exciting but it is a significant step forward. The plumbing descends from my shower via a U bend to a bucket placed underneath the bus. It might not be very high tech but it does mean I can now claim my bus has adequate plumbing. The pipes are held in place by clips attached to the brackets I welded the other day. The aim is to install the barrels I bought the other day but this is dependent upon finding the right plumbing adaptor. Now that could be very hard to find so for the moment I'm sticking with a bucket. 

As you can see, the pipe comes down, ending in a cap that protrudes slightly below the skirt. This is not intended to remain so but is rather useful for locating where to place the bucket. One thing I will add is a hook to hang the bucket from so that it won't blow away. In summer, evaporation should see the level of the effluent reduce through evaporation.

When I went shopping the other day, I bought a little gas cooker and some cooking items. These will make a huge difference as the gas will take care of the biggest power drain in any home. Cooking uses absolutely the most power. I have not tried a raw food diet but I gather raw food involves no cooking. It does require refrigeration though which is a constant power drain.

It really is a nifty little gas cooker. The kettle is nifty too. I don't as yet have an extraction vent above the cooker. This, by the way, is the bathroom vanity and not where the cooker will be situated. I was thinking of having it situated there when I'm gas cooking and just leave the microwave where it's currently situated. Thinking about it, and in view of my adventures with the roller blind, it might well be better just to swop the microwave and gas cooker around as required. That way I could put just one vent.

The cooker had all kinds of wacky reviews, mostly centered around being unable to find gas cylinders and the price of the gas cylinders. They were right next to the cooker, in Walmart and were $2.40. The small print says 8.8oz of gas and the cooker says that a single cylinder can last up to 1 hour, 15 minutes. I presume that's on low. Given that most meals take 15 minutes or frequently less to make, that doesn't seem to be much of a probem to me. In any case, this bus is intended for electrical plugin operation, not off-grid though I'm making sure it can be used off-grid.

Going back to an old problem - the china I had was all 9 or 10 inch round plates. I found that they are now 88 cents each in Walmart. My solution to the china not fitting my drawer was to give my existing china to m'lady who sadly did not want the matching mugs that I'd struggled to obtain. In Walmart are some 8 inch square plates. I might get a couple of those and a couple of square dishes too. That way I have something that won't roll in the drawer.

Today I turned my mind to the blinds. I bought a single blind the other day. It was way too wide and I'd reckoned I might be able to cut it down with my angle grinder. Thus it was - I cut it down and it actually worked. The edge on the cut side is a little ragged but that really doesn't matter. I'd like it to be smooth but I'm not prepared to pay massive amounts of money to buy a smooth blind of the right size. It's way overlong but that shouldn't be a problem. I did think about mounting it but the light had already gone by the time I considered that. Funny how that always seems to happen when I get to the interesting bits.

If you notice, at the top of the picture are two of the wobbling flower solar decorations. I won't be carving those up as they were gifts but having seen inside one, the wobble is caused by a magnetic coil that's charged by the small solar cell built into the base. I looked at the coil and am wondering whether one taken from such a decoration could be the solution to my front door unlocking problem.
Areas of the paint had peeled on the outside of the bus. That has been referred to before. Today I pulled out a pistol drill with a paint removing brush. I brushed areas where the paint was flaking and found the flaking to be of a local nature. I suspect I'll have to spot brush the whole bus wherever the paint is flaking and reapply the paint. Eventually it'll all stick. I found some cheaper spray paint in the dollar store but it seems to be slightly lighter in color which might not be a problem after a couple of weeks weathering.

Today's big fail was Rustoleum self-etching paint. I tried it and it sprayed well for a second or two then started spraying lumpy paint. Then the nozzle suddenly frothed and it stopped spraying. No matter what I did, nothing helped the situation. I had a can of Rustoleum rust killer that did this a while ago. I'm not that keen on Rustoleum - its just not good paint. It's cheap and that's its only virtue.

I looked again at the hillbilly cable compartment. The cable comes down on the left, very close to the front of the compartment. As I'm not needing to carry a big battery now, I looked at the compartment and looked at my massive construction and decided I could get away with a much smaller compartment. I will have to build a new, smaller compartment. 

Looking at the body ribs, I'd been worried about putting rivets in case of water ingress. Looking at the construction, they're not sealed at the ends anyway. The only question is how thick they are. I'm going to assume they're 15 gauge like the rest of the body. I can probably weld that quite satisfactorily. I think building the new compartment which will be purely a breaker box compartment with a plugin either underneath or on the side, I won't build it completely then try to weld it on. I'll build it in pieces, welding each piece into place. It won't have any great weight to carry which is a huge bonus.

Thinking about batteries again, the only thing I really need batteries for is to charge my cellphone, tablet and or a mifi pad. That could be achieved by simply charging cellphone charging batteries from a small solar panel. Those are cheap enough and put in a tin box insulated against fire, I could charge a couple.

I can't really see needing to charge much else. Charging my camera could be interesting. It's probably time to change camera systems. I suspect my 10 year old monster is not as good as a secondhand 5 year old marvel of technology. The thing holding me up there is that it's paid for and would barely fetch a single peanut on the secondhand market. My income wouldn't result in donation being a worthwhile tax deduction either. In fact last year I got back more in tax refund than I paid in tax!

The huge hole in the side of the bus will have to be filled. I'll have to see what I can do about that. I want to do something better than just rivetting a patch over the side but I suspect that's going to be the most expeditious solution.

The big news though is that today I consider it worth sending off to get my bus registered as a motorhome. I hate to think how much money I have spent on things I didn't end up using in my conversion process. Still, that's probably the same for everybody. Not everybody gets it right first time, particularly when there's nobody else in one's immediate and trusted circle doing the same thing.

I need to finish doing the blinds, to put something over the bathroom windows to maintain privacy and to put up a shower curtain. As far as the blinds are concerned, I can either put pairs of trimmed blinds over the windows or put cloth curtains with velcro attachments.

Looking at the paintwork today, the pain was peeling in the middle of the logo that said 3800 DT466. The first logo just came off very easily using just finger pressure. The second - on the other side needed a screwdriver and broke as it came off. They're off now. I might give the same treatment to the International logo on the front. I cleaned up where the logos had been and sprayed grey paint after filling the attachment holes with rivets. I don't know about my readers but I just don't like carrying other peoples' advertising. It's like shirts - if a shirt has a logo on it advertising some company or other then that shirt had better be free if I have to wear it for work or if it's outside of work then some company had better be paying me to wear it.

Retitling forms

A few days ago - before I hurt my back, I picked up the form to retitle my bus as a motorhome. This is South Carolina DMV form 4038. Looking at it, it seems that they're mainly interested in the purchase of components for kit vehicles. They ask for receipts but somehow I think they won't be interested in receipts for lumps of wood and tins of paint.


The main thing they're probably going to be looking for is whether it looks like it will be converted back into a bus while nobody is looking. I gather a minority of bus hobbyists will buy a bus, register it as a motorhome and then put the seats back in, taking advantage of cheap insurance.

Needless to say, I've recycled some of the stuff that came with the bus and obtained other bits elsewhere - Lowes, Tractor Supply, Home Depot, eBay and been given a pile of stuff too. Largely though, it's been wood, paint, fittings and so on - nothing in itself all that expensive. Had I paid somebody to do what I did in my own spare time then the bill for the work done would be many thousands of dollars. I'd say the most expensive things have been the tools I've had to buy such as my welder, sander, angle grinder etc.

I could probably get away with the bus as it is save for putting up window blinds and shower curtains. For the blinds, there are some very cheap folded paper blinds that look very usable. For the shower curtains, Walmart and the dollar stores look possibilities too. Aside from that, I need to do a massive tidying up inside the bus and weeding through my stuff.

One of the things I saw while in Walmart was rectangular plates. The crockery set I have is usable but the round plates are a bit too wide for the plates drawer. My mistake - I measured correctly but forgot that the floor of the drawer would have thickness. Thus, the drawer is the thickness of the drawer bottom too short. Needless to say, I didn't have my tape measure with me last time I was in Walmart. The existing plates are nothing special - they cost me theprincely sum of $10 for the set! I bought a set of 4 but the reality is that I only need two plates - one for me and one for m'lady.  

Invaders from Mars arrived today.

Or perhaps that's what m'lady and her dogs thought when they ran, screaming, for the hills when they saw me in my welding outfit.

Today my welding was much better. Indeed it looked a lot closer to what a professional would do.


On the whole, I was happier with today's welding. Unlike last week I sprayed my welds with rust killing paint because welds are more prone to rust. I'm not sure how much more welding I should do but as I'd become tired, it was time for a break. After that the sun went and hid itself below the horizon. Talk about inconvenient!

I don't know what that website I was reading yesterday was on about but I find welding easiest at about a 45° angle. I suspect like everything else, most of these websites are set up by self taught welders each of whom uses a different technique that they swear is the one and only correct way of welding.

During today's welding I was getting on so well that I exceeded the welder's duty cycle and it shut down to cool off. I was getting some lovely thick welds. It seems a welding rod is good for about 4 - 5 inches. I even managed to build up to fill a 1/8 inch thick gap where I oopsied in my construction. On the whole, this is pretty confidence building.

I'm reasonably confident that today's welding will hold up to the test of use. My next task will be to remove the old hillbilly cable compartment and door then to install my own. Before I do that, I'll probably cut sides and a base for it that can be attached when its in situ. Those will probably be riveted into place.

Meanwhile, I put more silicone caulk on one of the roof seams while standing on a stepladder. I suspect I might need to add more. There's definitely a minuscule leak there.

While I welded, I connected my Peltier setup to my solar panel. Every now and then I'd go back to it and feel to see whether one side was warm and the other, cold. By the end of the day I'd not noticed any difference. This does not surprise me in the slightest. My luck with electronics is never high. Things that should work or are reported to work rarely do. In fact, it used to be 50/50 whether purchased ready made electronics would actually function. These days the percentage of DOA electronics is lower but they still exist. Electronics always seems such an absurdly hit and miss area.

I was reminded of a website I saw before I tried my Peltier setup. The Useless World of tge Peltier Effect Dehumidifier https://secretscotland.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/the-useless-world-of-the-peltier-effect-dehumidifier/ in which was documented one fellow's miserable experience of Peltier equipment. Drawing only 60 W and claiming only 600 ml collection per day (conventional claimed 300 W and 5 litres per day) the numbers seemed reasonable.

Sad to say, the reality has not been anywhere close.

In fact, having run the new dehum under various ambient temperatures and humidity levels, it barely manages to fill its little 600 ml tank in a week, let alone a day.
I really wasn't expecting anything spectacular from the Peltier unit but was hoping for more than *nothing*. Still, I can experiment. It could be that my 5W solar panel wasn't producing enough to tickle a 60W element - which is the most likely reason.

So, over the next week or two I intend to finish installing my cable compartment. Having done that, I'll be in a position to file to have my bus reregistered as a motorhome.

Plastic planks and other thoughts.

Now the shower base is not sitting in the drivers seat, its possible to see the seat! There's stuff left to move before I can drive it though.

Speaking of driving, a letter arrived from my insurance company reminding me my bus insurance is due in September. The problem is that it was sent to my old address. I have no idea how many times I will have to tell Progressive that I've changed address. I have told their head office, adjusted it on their online system, told their local agent and yet they persistently get it wrong. Perhaps I'll change insurance companies?

Meanwhile, I cut up my remaining plastic plank to use for two of the four sides of my shower base. I need to make the base solid enough to hold the shower pan in place. The idea is to use plastic planks and simply glue them together and glue them to the floor.

As the plank is not wide enough at 7 inches, I had to cut it into 7.5 inch sections to glue together to make a 7.5 inch wide section. I thought after that since I need more plastic plank to complete the mount, it might be better to buy a treated wood plank. If it rots then I can replace it but that might be a long way in the future. PVC planking is most definitely not cheap! Wood, on the other hand, is far less expensive!

I glued almost 3 feet of plastic plank together. At 7 inches wide, that's about 28 inches. I have reservations about the strength of the glue. Indeed, I'm giving serious consideration to simply using wood planking, painting it and hoping for the best. The plastic wasn't wasted as it was all offcut anyway.

I might pick up wood plank tomorrow, together with some 30A cable, 15A cable and some conduit. It's time to get the electrics completed so I can get my bus registered as a motorhome. The original idea had been to have 50A cable but it seems hard to obtain. I can always change cables later!

Interestingly, Eric in Canada has found that there are a lot of homes now being registered with no electricity. http://lesguis.com/wp/?p=4927 That's interesting and makes me wonder how much of an issue my incomplete plumbing and electrical system will be in terms of reregistration.

Final coat!

Doesn't it look lovely? That's the final coat of paint on my dinette countertop. After this, its touch up only.

Of the major construction, things remaining to be done:
1. Erect the closet chain.
2. Add the shower base mount.

After this, its plumbing and electrics.

Speaking of electrics, last night when I couldn't sleep, I looked up Peltier coolers. It's a very neat technology that can cool up to 20c below ambient temperature. It's horribly inefficient but holds promise. For a small, 1.5 cubic foot fridge, its twice as inefficient as a dorm model. The Peltier units are neat though because they can be installed into just about anything.

Again, last night, I looked up energy usage of common appliances. Now I know why with Eric's massive 1600 watts of solar and wind power, running a 1200 watt coffee maker is such an achievement.

A lifestyle change toward low power usage is in order unless I want to haul out a generator every time I run the microwave! Clearly I need to be thinking more in terms of non intensively cooked foods. For example, fresh fruit, hot drinks, bread and canned meats. Things that don't have to be kept really cold nor cooked much.

This morning, before work, I looked at my breaker box. Again, it looks as though it will be a better option to put it closer to the point of use. Under the kitchenette countertop there appears to be sufficient space to house it. There's a handy body rib it can be screwed to and its close to the hole the hillbillies made for their power input.

The downside is that situated under the countertop, the breaker box will be behind my fridge or cooler. The upside is that my 50A cable can be really short as can my 15A cables. In fact I'm wondering whether I could get away with 30A. I suspect I probably can but for the purposes of the box, I'll aim for 50, put a 30A main fuse and see what happens.

I'll probably rebuild the hillbilly door to their underbody compartment and rebuild the compartment to take a couple of 105Ah batteries. The socket for the 50a input will be accessible underneath the bus, out of sight. The water input and waste water will be concealed also. I want my bus to look like a bus from the outside.

Thinking about plumbing, I'm not sure whether to have piped water to go into my holding tanks to be pumped manually to the point of use or whether to have a separate tap. Both options have merit though the former requires less components.

It's all getting quite exciting! Once the electrics are done, I can get on with changing the registration.

Little things that took forever

I only achieved three things today!

The first was to hang the closet door, fitting a catch and a door handle. As the catch rattles, I'm probably going to have to wedge the door when driving or its going to send me potty - assuming the rest of what I've done doesn't also echo and rattle.

The next was to secure the toilet seat to the plywood. I didn't get it quite in the right place but it'll do. I might replace that toilet eventually.

The final thing was to cut some sheet steel. This was the steel that came from the sole seat back. I used my little angle grinder and cut it to fit the space intended. Then having shaped it to perfection, decided to spray Rustoleum rust killer on it. The blasted spay nozzle must've clogged! First off it squirted gas and no rust killer then it gushed rust killer all down the side of the can and into my hands. Now, even though I cleaned up with gasoline, my fingernails still make me look like I'm some kind of born again Goth. I'll have to see if I have a spare nozzle from a used up spray can to replace the nozzle. That usually works!

There was enough rust killer on my hands and pooled on the work surface to complete the task. By the time I'd returned from cleaning myself, the stuff was dry. The next task was to slap some white Rustoleum on the steel.

Not wanting to use a new brush, I found an old brush that had been used for latex paint. It had been washed but as they don't come that clean, it was somewhat stiff. I used that and coated one side and the edges.

In the distance, thunder began to rumble so I called it a day. Tomorrow I want to paint the other side of my steel and possibly fit it. Then I will probably clean out the bathroom area and slap a coat of primer on the walls though I'll probably have to wipe them down with a wet rag first. They are dusty from construction though nowhere near as dusty as the cockpit!

The shower will be interesting to install as I need to find some way if mounting it. I also have to fit a drain!

Rain came down briefly and after it had cleared, I went out and looked again at the toilet. I installed hinges and a handle on the section I removed that goes over the grit bucket and left it at that. I will have to reinstall my hinges on the other part of the toilet when I cut the top in half. For the moment, it looks pretty good. I might trim the wood under the seat slightly just in case but otherwise, its very usable.

I can't really afford to spend too much time on the toilet when there's so much to do. Work starts back in just about a month. I have to get as much done as possible before that. I'm reasonably confident that I'll be able to complete the interior by then. Insurance is coming up too. I need to get enough done that I can change the registration to motor home before I end up having to buy a silly kind of insurance again.

Just as I was locking the bus for the day, I realised I could complete the front of the toilet. I had a 6 foot long strip of 11 inch wide hardboard. I trimmed off a section and nailed it into place. Now the toilet looks a load better!

Tomorrow looks a lot like I'll be fastening the sheet metal in place. It's galvanised so I don't really need to paint but I did because there was a patch of rust that I had dealt with. After that, the marathon act of clearing the bathroom and painting the walls, ceiling and washstand white. The toilet is a paint job in itself. The walls have to be swabbed with a wet rag because of all the dust. I'm definitely getting there!