Big Old Bus RV Conversion

Description

My dad bought an 1960's Wayne bus some 20 years ago with the intent of renovating it into an RV. He spent large amounts of time and effort and a good bit of cash and had the bus running and rolling around, but unfortunately it was never completed or made habitable, It was given to me so I intend to make the bus my own and add some cool tech to it.

Details

My dad was going to have to move the bus or lose it so he said he would give it to me rather than loose it if I wanted. So I scrounged up some cash and paid to have it towed because I didn't have time to get it going then. Towing would have cost $400-$500 but I got a friend to do it for $120 in his big ass truck to the back of a storage place for 50 bucks a month. Provided I'm not living in it, I could come and go as I please while working on it. It sat there for about 6 months before I really did much, then circumstances dictated that I needed a new place to stay. Rather than keep renting a apt I figured it would be a solution/project to live in and convert the bus! So, fist order of business was to get the bus moveable and get all of my junk moved out of my apt. and into bus, and then get it moved to the RV place down the road. Fortunately for me, my dad was and is a good mechanic, he rebuilt the engine when he bought it and it fired right up with a little bit of time an effort. Also the key was long ago lost to the ignition so I had to pick it, it was kinda fun actually. Changed oil and did some basic checks for major problems, nothing too bad, brakes needed bleeding and exhaust is being blocked on one side from some sort of old exhaust engine preheating thermostat. Nothing that would stop it from rolling down the road after sitting for 10 years, albeit carefully. After moving the bus and my stuff I set up for my first night, pretty rough but no worse than camping. I am currently working on making the bus livable, but I do have some tech ideas rolling around.

Here's list of possibilities:

Nixie Tubes- I love the way they look, might do part or all of dashboard with em
Solar Panels- Free power, flexible panels for the roof
Atmospheric Water Generator- Free water
Cameras- Security and surveillance
Projector- I'd like to mount it on entrance side for parties, Instead of a "drive in theater" I could have a "driving theater"
Lasers- Turret with Camera
Drones- I'd like a sunroof with a docking station of some kind for Quads, RCs and etc..

Components

2 × Window from Lowes A window?

1 × Water heater

2 × Lumber 2x2x8

100 × various brackets

2 × FRP for shower

Project Logs

Collapse

Door Handle and Lock
Conrad • 03/02/2015 at 21:49 • 0 comments

This weekend its cold and rainy, so instead of working on the windows, I decided to work on the door and added a lock using some scavenged garage door parts donated by my cousin who owns a garage door repair service. I just kinda made the handle and lock work with the box of junk parts, kinda a weird job considerng one door swings out and the other inwards and the large gap between the two. I also redid where the door attaches to the frame because the screws were all rusted out and the hinge was loose and attached some weather striping to help with the seal along the edges and a floor piece along the middle of the door for a seal. I still need to go buy a different type of bolt and maybe the locking mechanism, you can see where they are not a very good fit and one is not same type of bolt. Also the pad lock is going to be removed and rest of center seal added.
Quick Heater Mod.
Conrad • 03/02/2015 at 19:18 • 0 comments

I have been useing a propane heater that uses the green Coleman canisters with an adapter that lets me hookup a 5 gallon tank with a hose instead of the little tanks into the base of the heater. The problem with this is the heater is designed to sit on the Coleman tank that I replaced with a hose and is now unable to stand on its own plus the heater turns off when unlevel. I have been kinda hanging it up and propping it on top of various things most unsafely,very very frustrating when your cold! So I decided to take an old telescope tripod and attache the heater to the top for a base. Here's the result!
Install AC
Conrad • 02/13/2015 at 18:09 • 0 comments

Bought a new window unit to cool the oven/bus had to remove entire window to install. I also added a 2x2 across the top of the ac for support as there is no window to pull down and seal it. I used parts of the window i took out to make the upper window. Looks ok for now but could use some fine tuning later. I have to get this thing going its getting hot in there!
Cold and Hot Water!
Conrad • 02/11/2015 at 21:30 • 0 comments

Got water heater, hooked to extension cord and on top of my mini-fridge in this pic.
(Update 2-16-2015)
This weekend I moved the water heater to a more secure location on top of the wheel well, while it seems like that may not be a stable location, I attached a pallet to the top of curved well with some wood to metal screws and now I have great flat spot for the heater! Although it sits a little higher than I'd like, I intend to eventually build a cabinet or sink around it that should lower about 3 or 4 inches by removing the pallet a when I add a more secure frame and mount.
Back Windows
Conrad • 02/11/2015 at 21:25 • 0 comments

The back windows are busted out and I really don't want to special order these $$. So I bought the smallest ones they had at Lowes $40 each is my kinda price! Installing them on a curved bus is a bit tricky though, I used 1x2s to bridge the gap between window and curved metal. I still need to add the curved side support frame. I am going to make a small template and use 4x1 or 6x1 along the curve and a 2x4 going vertically on the side, then fill gaps with foam and trim it out. I also intend to build a shelf directly under the window so you will not see the metal bracket sticking out in the picture.