BusBuilding

Again and again, the question, “What oil should I use?”

I have pages and pages of information on this, but as Grant says,

The magic oil words for Detroit engines:

• - 40 wt.
• - CF2 spec
• - Low Ash
• - Formulated for use in Detroit 2 stroke diesel engines.

[mci-bus-nuts yahoo board]

If that leaves you wanting, a much more thorough explanation from Tejas Coach Works, with decades of experience.

And the final authority, straight from the factory:

Detroit Diesel - Lubricating Oil, Fuel and Filters - 48 Page PDF Document

Inquiring about why he sees so few conversions on the road compared to factory RVs, NCBob wonders about the ratio of bus conversions to Class A RVs cruising around America…

For a moment I thought I was the only one out there on the road. So you don’t misunderstand, there are a great number of folks driving our great highways who are wonderful RV’er’s and I’ll tip my hat to them. We, wonderfully enough, are a sort of a maverick group who want to take the hobby one step further. We want to not just enjoy the hobby….we want to build a better way to travel.

I welcome the camaraderie of every blessed soul who enjoys the joys of open highways and the solitude of quiet campgrounds.

There’s always room at my campfire for all who enjoy the RV lifestyle and a special spot in my heart for those who toil for perfection.

Could but that we could achieve it……………..

Nicely said, NCBob.

[Bus Conversions Magazine Forum]

In discussing his wallcovering, Zin describes on the skoolie.net forum that what can be done can be undone.

The walls went up very easy, as the carpet is so very light. The ceiling was a little more tricky and i ended up cutting the carpet in 28″ strips to go in between the ceiling seams.

As for removal, I already took one piece off one of the walls to get inside the plywood for adding some electrical wiring. (Planning is for sissies) It was pretty tenacious, but it came off in one piece and didn’t require much in the way of preparation to hang the replacement piece.

Phew, that’s a relief!

(I know the photo isn’t of his wallcovering, but I liked the light on the floor.)

We bus converters have a long, lonely road sometimes. Well, all the time, it seems. It’s one thing to design and build things yourself that are in your control, but when one has to start interfacing with component manufacturers and RV dealers, the road can become rather trying. It seems that the entire RV industry is geared toward the supply chain. Manufacturers make stuff, sell it to a distributor, which sells it to a dealer, which sells & installs it for the end customer. And many customers don’t even get the chance to figure out if what they’re being sold is right for them.

…the entire RV industry is geared toward the supply pipeline…

Neither manufacturers nor dealers give the customer much to go on to specify their products, and I guess most dealers figure out how to install stuff as they go along. With the research I’d already done, I knew more than the dealers I talked to about the very products they were trying to sell me!

So in my frustrated Googling I came across Chris’ Bryant RV site, which has a motherlode of Service Manuals covering many of the major manufacturers’ products from Awnings to Reefers, from Air Conditioners to Furnaces. There’s also an only slightly smaller section for RV appliance Owners Manuals.

Hats off to Chris, who also has some great tips on his companion RX4RV RV Service and Opinions Blog. I’d actually discovered his blog awhile back when I decided to grit my teeth and wade into rv.net’s Open Roads Tech Issues Forum to try to find some answers that still remain somewhat elusive.

Thanks, Chris!

New Steel - 1 1/2″ 14ga. square tubing, primed & ready for building the framework

Framework welded! Roof hole to be cut when ready for installation

Gwometts, surrounding the 10ga. Marine Wire

Insulation back in…

Ceiling Reinstalled, and paint/wibbits/caulk on the roof!

From an article on the FMCA’s (Family Motor Coach Association) 26th annual Southeast Area Rally:

New floor plans are a draw, said Ryan Hollan, sales rep for Haberson RV Pasco in Holiday. “It used to be living room, entertainment/den, then kitchen. The latest models have moved the kitchen to the front.”

In conjunction, the TV has come down to eye level after hanging from the ceiling behind the driver and front passenger seats. “It’s more of a living room feel than an RV feel,” said Hollan, a veteran RV sales rep.

[St. Petersburg Times]

As previously mentioned in Evangelina’s Floorplan, I decided on a front galley three years ago.

Surely I wasn’t the first, but still.