MCI Bus Conversion RV Motorhome

Bus Conversion Page 4

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We’re On The Road Again!

In the last few weeks we have made major strides on our bus conversion project, and I’m delighted to say that we have reached the point where we can move in and get back to our fulltiming lifestyle. There is still a tremendous amount of work left to be done, but after three months of living with friends, it is well past time to be on our own again.

After removing the original bus windows back in Michigan and covering the sides with plywood sandwiched over 1½ inch sheets of Styrofoam insulation, then skinning them with fiberglass sheathing, we discovered that the driver’s side was coming apart. Apparently the Liquid Nails construction grade adhesive we were assured would do the job didn’t. In Kingman, Arizona we repaired the problem, and re-skinned the side with the fiberglass, this time using Weld-Wood adhesive, which has proven to be far superior to the Liquid Nails.

The next chore was a frightening task - cutting holes into the brand new fiberglass skin we had just installed to put in dual pane RV style windows. With the help of friend Tim Moran, we first scribed the outline of the new RV windows, then used a drill to open a pilot hole, and a jig saw to cut out the window openings. The task went easier then expected, and we began to install the windows.

This was a long involved series of fittings, shaving just a bit here and there, refitting and trimming again, until the windows slid into place. Miss Terry’s 20 years of experience in the window business really came in handy on this portion of the job. The windows are attached both with screw-on trim rings and butyl tape, and then all openings were sealed with silicone, to give us a tight, leak-free setting.

Our windows measure 26 inches high by 54 inches long, and are equipped with emergency opening devices in case of fire or accident. They are jalousie style, which crank open. We prefer them to the sliding windows found on most motorhomes, because they can be open even when it is raining, something we would have appreciated in the humidity of south Texas and Mississippi last year. We installed one window on each side at the rear for the bedroom. Up front, three were installed on the curb (passenger) side of the bus, and one more behind the driver’s seat. The result is a lot of light, which helps combat the tunnel effect of this long 40 foot metal tube.

After living for three years in a motorhome with carpeted floors, we were tired of the constant vacuuming they always needed. Terry and her Dad laid down a beautiful versalock birch floor made by Shaw over the fiberglass flooring supplied by Radiant Technologies and Penske Composites. The floor is free floating and installed in less than a day. The result is a tight, comfortable floor that adds to the overall light and airy feel of the bus and is comfortable to walk on. Since it comes with a twenty year warranty, we’re confident the floor will probably outlast us.

Tim and I mounted the generator in the bay once occupied by the bus air conditioning system, though time constraints have prevented us from finishing the connections to complete the installation yet. While most buses use a diesel generator, we already had acquired an Onan gasoline model, and will use a boat gas tank for its fuel source, saving us the several thousand dollars a diesel genset would cost. The generator compartment is insulated by a super thick sound and heat proof insulation supplied by Radiant Technology in Dallas, Texas www.radiant-technology.com.

My father-in-law, Pete Weber, and I next tackled the 120 volt electrical system, installing an automatic switch box that allows automatic switching from shore to generator power. The next installation was an Electrical Management System (EMS) supplied by Progressive Industries in Cary, North Carolina (919-462-8280). This is a device no recreational vehicle should be without, and I don’t know how we lived without it before.

The EMS comes in both a portable or hard-wired configuration, and we went with the hard-wired version. It protects the coach’s electrical system from over and under voltage, provides four mode surge protection, as well as protecting our electrical system and appliances from open grounds or neutrals, and reversed polarity. When we plug the bus into shore power, the EMS begins to blink, and does not allow power to reach the coach for just over two minutes while it analyzes the incoming electrical connection for any problems. If a dangerous situation is detected, the system shuts down and does not allow electricity past it to harm anything inside. The EMS comes with a remote display that constantly scrolls to report incoming voltage on both lines of our 50 amp circuit, tells us the amperage we are using, and scans for any problems. Having gotten zapped once at a bad campground outlet in Missouri, I feel much better about the safety of our coach and our computers, televisions, and other electronic devices.

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We used a house style circuit breaker box, and installed separate circuits for computer, lighting, rooftop air conditioners, and the house style refrigerator we will be adding. Next to be installed was a Heart inverter, also supplied by RV Solar Electric. With the inverter installed, certain circuits were moved to an electrical sub-panel to allow us to use the refrigerator, television, and computer while running off battery power.

Twelve volt lighting came in the form of both flourescent and incandescent lights that we purchased at great savings from RV Surplus Salvage www.rvsurplussalvage.com in Elkhart, Indiana. We prefer the flourescent lights because they use much less voltage and operate cooler. We like a lot of light to work in, and installed a bank of six double tube flourescent fixtures down the center of the ceiling and in the bedroom, as well as extra fixtures in the bathroom and over the kitchen counter area. We still have more light fixtures to add, and the wiring is exposed, waiting for the ceiling to be further insulated and covered.

During her recent cancer treatments, Miss Terry would have paid a thousand dollars for the luxury of a bath, so we installed a 54 inch long mobile home size bathtub. We know our ten gallon hot water heater will not fill it, but we hope to add supplemental hot water capabilities down the road.

Cutting holes in the side of the bus for the hot water heater and furnace outlets was another frightening thought, but careful use of a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel accomplished the job easily, and we installed a Suburban furnace and combination gas/electric hot water heater. Both came from the surplus outlets in Elkhart, Indiana, again at considerable savings.

While at RV Surplus Salvage, we had also acquired a pair of 55 gallon fresh water tanks, and a single 90 gallon tank, which will serve as temporary gray/black water storage. We plan to replace the waste tank with a pair of 100 gallon separate gray and black tanks in the future. That will be more capacity than we will ever need, but will insure us plenty of room when we are boondocking or parked without hookups at an RV rally.

Installing the toilet was a relatively simple task, again taken on by Pete, and we followed it by enclosing the bathroom area. The walls are 3/8 inch plywood with 1½ inch Styrofoam sandwiched between for sound deadening. A bedroom closet was built backward from the rear wall of the bathroom. We have found that by careful planning and cutting, we are able to reduce the amount of scrap wood we have, and are using a lot of what is leftover from one project in another area. For example, the Styrofoam sheeting used to insulate the bathroom were leftover cutoffs from insulating the sides of the bus during the skinning process. With the bathroom walls up and a door installed, we added a simple shelf to support the stainless steel sink and to serve as a temporary vanity.

Construction of our bed platform was done with 3/4 inch particle board. As in other areas of the construction, this is probably overkill, but the bus is capable of handling the weight, and we are building this coach to last over many years of fulltime use. The platform is sixteen inches tall and wide enough to hold our queen size mattress, allowing for plenty of storage space underneath, which any fulltimer can tell you there is never enough of. The bed platform is somewhat higher than those found in most motorhomes, but still comfortable to sit on. Later on we will add hydraulic struts to aid in lifting the heavy platform top and mattress. Winter clothing, Terry’s sewing machine, and other items we do not need to access on a day to day basis are stored under the bed.

We had purchased three reversible Fantastic Fans, and installing them was one of the final steps before we moved in. Rooftop air conditioning units are still in our future, but the fans do a good job of providing both ventilation and a cooling airflow in most climates where we plan to travel. With the windows open partway and two of the fans running on low, we were comfortable inside on several days when the temperatures reached into the upper 80s.

With basic electrical and plumbing systems in, the bus is livable and we just could not wait to get into it and back on the road. Immediate plans include installing basic cabinetry and finishing the electrical system, then installing a refrigerator. We will be using a residential type refrigerator and running it off our battery bank and inverter when on the road. House type refrigerators are much less expensive than RV styles, are more efficient, and Miss Terry appreciates their added capacity.

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