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#1 - This is how the bus looked when I brought it home from
Wyoming.
Not too bad for being 34 years old.
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Progress Shots
Updated December 12, 2003
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#2 - Interior before the hard work of stripping out seats and
luggage racks.
Thats Christine trying out the seats.
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#3 - Here I am stripping off all the old
paint at a local body shop. What a messy job.
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#4 - My brother Jamie helping with the
sanding. (He's been a lot of help!)
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#5 - Even my parents got into the sanding.
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#6 - The bus is painted and I can finally
start putting things back on.
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#7 - The bottom part of the window frame was welded to the steel support rail of the bus
while the top rail is aluminum, so I just bolted the new window frame to that.
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#8 - This is a good picture of the new outer skin installed (note the two vertical
braces in the center where the old window was). I used 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 square steel tubing to make all
my frames and braces.
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#9 - This shot shows the new air bags and 30/30 spring brake chamber from a semi truck.
I needed to cut off the original chamber mount and move it back 2" so the new chamber would clear the
bulkhead.
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#10 - Here is a picture showing the front of the bus with the new headlight
assembly in place. By cutting down the R&M fiberglass assembly I was able to mount it like
the original recessed headlights.
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#11 - Here's what the 8v71 looked like when I first got it home. Lots of
leaks and grime from 30+ years of use.
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#12 - This is my motor after steam cleaning, replacing gaskets and seals,
painting and a little detailing.
(Note the Williams Air Throttle and stainless steel lines).
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#13 - Another view showing the motor with the new v730 Allison Automatic
installed and my polished bumper.
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#14 - This is a better view of the v730. The large
round part is where
the torque converter is housed.
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#15 - On to the progress inside the bus. Here you see
the spray foam insulation
after it has been shaved
down flush to the structural ribs.
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#16 - I used 3/8" CDX plywood to sheet the interior
living space. I wanted
something heavy enough
to be able to mount the cabinets and flexiable enough
to be able to
bend it to follow the curve in the ceiling.
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#17 - After the walls and ceiling were sheeted I could start on the bed.
I framed the bed with leftover 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 tubing and built up the floor to cover the
humps from the wheelwells. This reduced the headspace some but was a compromise that worked for us.
Before covering this area of the floor I installed bat insulation to keep out the heat and noise.
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#18 - Now I'm at the point where I can remove the old vinyl
and
the seat rails from the floor, fill in all the holes and
gaps and put down 1/4" underlayment.
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#19 - This is a view of the drivers area in progress. The gauges I used
are the VDO Industrial series gauges. The console on the right has my guages and valves
for the air leveling system and also the park brake valve.
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#20 - Here you can see I removed all the old fiber insulated
wires and replaced
them with modern vinyl insulated wires.
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#21 - This is the rear control panel. I eliminated about 50 old wires
that really had no purpose any more, I also mounted my voltage regulator in this
compartment for ease of wiring.
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#22 - The bus is sitting in the drive way at home.
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#23 - Finally getting a start on painting the bay doors. As you can see
here the rear four bay doors are painted silver and have the new polished stainless
rub rail covers installed.
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#24 - I just wanted to show my grill which I made from 3/4" stainless
steel tubing. The end caps on the tubes were made from 1/2" stainless steel acorn nuts.
I used mu lathe to turn the hex part of the nut down for a pressed fit.
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#25 - View of the rear bay which I designated for holding tanks, hot
water heater, water pump, and plumbing of course. I used Pex tubing for my water supply
lines, red tubing is for hot water, white for cold. Hot water heater is a heat exchanger
120 volt type. I love the idea of making (free) hot water while going down the road.
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#26 - Just another view of the tanks bay. Both views are curb side.
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#27 - All that plumbing leads to the bathroom. The bathroom is layed
out with the toilet and vanity on drivers side and shower and cabinets on curb side.
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#28 - This is the space saver vanity we used. Our bathroom is quite
roomy.
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#29 - Very small tub and shower. But it works for us.
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#30 - Our custom made shower door. We purchase a standard shower door
assembly and had to cut down by 7 inches and found out the glass had to be made because
tempered glass can't be cut.
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#31 - From the rear of the bus looking forword you can see the closet
and TV/DVD and satellite receiver. Need to make door for the closet yet.
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#32 - Standing in the bathroom looking to the rear is the bedroom area.
Still need to make cabinets above and on each side of the bed. We have a mirror for the
blank spot above the bed, but thought we should wait until after the cabinets are built
to put it in. You know how that goes!
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#33 - Installed hard wood floor in the kitchen and also bedroom area.
The base cabinets we purchased in unfinished oak. As of yet they are not stained.
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(Till next time...)
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