Underbody storage!

A few days ago, when I was in Tractor Supply, I casually picked up a couple of their flyers. Today while sitting in the car waiting for time to go into work, I read that flyer.

Imagine my surprise when I found people were selling ready made underbody compartments. Most seem to be 18 inches tall which would hang 4 inches below the skirt. I've seen busses with storage compartments dangling down. Still, it gave me ideas.

I'm going to put the replacement compartment in for the existing hillbilly cable compartment. I've built it to take two batteries. That should provide all the 12v power I should ever need.

I'm tempted to put extra storage under the bus but I'm going to stick with just the rebuilt compartment for now. The goal is to be operational not perfected.

Noting the wetness in the front of the bus, I looked into getting a dehumidifier. It seems dehumidifiers start at $60 and go up. The $60 model is a Peltier system. Reading further, the Peltier system works by transferring heat from one side of the Peltier element to the other. The colder side attracts condensation that drips into a collection tray while warm air wafts out of the other side. Many Peltier dehumidifiers use fan cooling but given clever design, the fan can be eliminated and convection used to circulate air on the hot side. The other side should not need circulatory assistance.

The Peltier elements run best off 9 - 15 volts. In order to save bother, I've ordered 5a solar panel. Plugged straight in, that should run the dehumidifier at zero running cost. In terms of total cost...

The future dehumidifier will cost just $27.12. The solar panel can be retasked to keep batteries fresh too. I could even retask the Peltier into a diy fridge!

Close to the end of internal construction

Well, probably. I have a feeling I might want shelves in my storage closet, overhead bins and more storage at the front but its looking good!

Today I mounted all of the cupboard doors in the dinette/kitchenette. A couple of doors gave me a little trouble. The one that I thought would be the hardest turned out to be the quickest and easiest.

During my drawer installing progress I had to straighten the first drawer I ever installed. It's now perfectly straight. The next things for the dinette/kitchenette will be to put latches on all the cupboard doors and on all the drawers plus handles on doors and drawers. Then it'll be fastening down the countertops, finishing the painting and putting vinyl floor tiles on the countertops.

Using the lift on lift off hinges I got via eBay from Britain solved a lot of problems. They were easy to install too - just drill a hole and screw them in. I used a section of angle bracket to help with this.

In order to paint and clean the dinette/kitchenette properly, I need to clear it of supplies. The floor is currently quite cluttered with paint pots and wood. I could shift the stuff to the bathroom but I wouldn't have space to work in the bathroom.

The solution - to build the planned table for the bedroom. I have a feeling I will be cutting wood to fit, assembling it, painting it then installing it. The leftover plywood from my drawers has given me enough for my table and there's enough left over for a mini shelf over the bathroom washbasin. Great for toothbrushes etc!

I have a feeling internal construction might be done very soon. My original projected date was January 1st, 2015. I'm about 7 months behind schedule!

Oh no! Another catastrophy!

After yet another sleepless night, probably due to the extreme heat of late, I stirred myself from the realms of slumber to commence work on the bus. Arriving at the bus (and conveniently not mentioning m'ladys most excellent breakfast), I pulled out my new drill bit to commence putting patches over the last four inch diameter holes the hillbilly owners had considered it to be a jolly spiffing idea to make. Uh oh... I bought the wrong size drill bit.

At a casual glance, a quarter inch bit looks a lot like a 3/16 bit though the 3/16 bit is a shade smaller. My rivets are 3/16 so clearly I couldn't use a 1/4 inch bit and hope for the rivets to be snug. I hunted but could not find another 3/16 anywhere.

In desperation, I pulled out my angle grinder and replaced the cutting disk with a grinding disk and had a go at regrinding the tip of my drill bit. Sadly, after testing it, the drill vibrated badly as I was clearly far enough off center foir my sharpening not to have worked well.

Clearly that meant a visit to Lowes. Another couple of gallons of fuel I could have been very happy not using. Still, wandering around Lowes I looked for lift on, lift off hinges - which they did not have. Then I looked for solutions to my closet rail problem.

Lowe's had two pieces of white chain. One was plastic and clearly decorative. The other was metal and claimed to support 35lbs. I looked at the unsealed ends of the bent wire used to make the chain and chuckled. If that would support 35lbs then I'll be joining Obama on his next flying pig hunting session!

The chain in general was disappointing. My thoughts then turned to rope. Not to use in a glorious entry to the next world but to use as a closet rail. Hung and tied to eyes attached to the ceiling, that could work quite well. Still, its way too early to think about that yet.

I returned home feeling quite yucky. It wasn't nausea at having to spend money though that will do it. It was more either to do with the heat or perhaps needing to see the optician.

After dinner and in the fading light, I drilled holes in aluminum plates that I then riveted over the four remaining inch diameter holes. I did the usual thing - drill, spray with anti rust paint then after that had dried, applied silicone goop and riveted.

All four holes now having been attended to, my attention turned to the unholy mess the hillbillies had made of creating an underbus storage compartment. Their workmanship is absolutely appalling. The door is a solid sheet of aluminum. The hinge doesn't quite work. The door is bowed and where its bowed, leaks rainwater. The compartment is made of plywood which looks to be in poor condition.

The plan for the storage compartment is simply to remove it and rivet the door over the nasty hole they cut in the body. That's a job for another day though.

Just one photo today. I took it then Android stopped recognising the camera and I had to restart my phone, by which time, dripping with sweat and being chased by hoards of mosquitoes, it was time to stumble through the pitch black into the house.