04-30-16

04/20/2016

Added more slats, about 2/3 done here

First layer of plastic has been installed.

Full moon tonight 🙂

There is plenty of room for me to lay down horizontally and a little more head room than I expected.  I know some of it will go away after all the insulation is installed and we put in a foam mattress, but it looks like it will still be roomy enough for guests and to be used as storage.

Second layer of plastic was installed.   This plastic is mainly for wind protection while driving until the sheet metal can be installed.  It also keeps our the rain.

The mezzanine is covered!

I was able to drive 45mph down the freeway without any problems last night moving the bus from the makerspace back into RV storage.

04-19-2016

I got the front-most supports cut and installed.

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It was supposed to rain that evening, so I started working on a temporary covering to cover the two gaping holes on either end of the bus.

The rain ended up being much more severe than expected.  Also, instead of gradually increasing, it hit hard right from the start.  I ended up getting drenched and I ended up needing to 4 layers of plastic plus a 12x24ft tarp.  I didn’t get home until 3:30am. It was not a fun night.

04-16-2016

We took down the upper front wall in preparation for the upper loft build.

The curved supports were cut out of HDF counter tops.

Sitting on the ‘Mezzanine”

04-09-2016

More styrofoam to sell.

Driving the bus will be a lot easier again now that I can see out the right side.

The lower right wall is fully insulated now.  It is 5 layers thick, each layer is 3/4.

04/02/2016

Last week we riveted sheet metal to the bus frame but it was not secure enough.  This week we took down the sheet metal and reattached it in a much better way.

We installed a furring strip down the length of the bus.

1/4″ 4ft x 2ft MDF boards were screwed to the furring strip with insulation in between as a spacer.

This is where the emergency exit used to be.

Prepping the door for installation.

Here you can see the 53.5″ rib supports, the 3/4″ angle iron trusses, the exterior furring strips, insulation, and MDF boards.

The sheet metal is screwed into the MDF first.  The sheets will then be riveted to each other and to the frame of the bus.  Last time we riveted, the rivets had to bear weight right away.  This time we can rivet much slower and more methodically.

Cutting away old rib support so the door can fit flush against the exterior metal skin.

 

The old bus door is now framed in as a window.

We still have a few holes to fill in, but the side skin in coming together.

We will build exterior stairs to reach this door.

This temporary door will be replaced soon, but we are glad to have it in the mean time.