I'm back with more updates! Last time I wrote a little update log we were fitting insulation and fastening the sub-floor.
Winter is now upon us and the first nights where we hit sub-zero degrees celcius are as well, luckily the bulk of the insulation is in the living space now!
Edges and gaps are all sealed up, cutting out the triangular shapes really wasn't fun though...
To prevent thermal bridging we're putting on a thin sheet of stick-on sound insulation that seems to do the trick; we had condensation and frost forming on all the aluminum frame without this.
(I have to thank my grandma for bringing to my attention that aluminum tape alone won't do that which I thought it would; you learn every day and luckily this lesson was given on time : ))
Two new windows were fitted on the side, open-able, blinds and bug nets all built in!
I made sure they matched the size of the previous ones, installation was a breeze as we got to use the existing window frames. There's still the smaller rear window to replace, camper windows are really *really* expensive and I ran out of budget again.
Electrically speaking a lot of progress has been made as well.
I've re-routed a lot of the wiring that goes to the rear tail lights, reverse light, etc to fit within existing cable channels. A secondary feed and new fusebox have been added to reduce stress on the 50 year old wiring as much as possible. A few heavy duty relays make sure this doesn't lead up drawing power when the main breaker is off as it completely bypasses any of the existing systems.
We finally have a functional RPM gauge that reads the alternator pulses, it's not 100% accurate but at least we know about how fast the engine is spinning.
Most switches and buttons on the side and dash have been replaced or repaired where possible. Every added circuit has been labeled with a small name tag and number.
I'm keeping a written manual that contains the information on what each number means, what voltage it runs at (24v/12v) and what fuse size is expected.
There'll still be two more fuse boxes to handle all the smaller accessories. One 12v and one 24v; I'm almost out of slots on the main one and prefer having individual circuits for each device so a short can be diagnosed
A lot of late night pondering later and I finally decided on a spot to mount the single DIN radio as well. There were pre-drilled holes in the fiberglass above the driver into the false ceiling, big washers and a M6 few bolts later had the radio mounted.
It's easy to reach while driving for me since I'm on the taller side, my partner might have a bit more trouble but we'll see once the new driver seat is in and she has the license to drive "heavy trucks" as this is re-inspected at a reduced number of passengers compared to it's original +-72.
Speaker boxes are on the checklist, up front we'll use two 6" x 9" speakers in custom enclosures and a premade bass box behind the seats.
Two 24v amplifiers will be wired up alongside a crossover switch that allows running just the music system off of either the starter batteries or house batteries.
It'd be a shame to have a really well built audio system you can't use while parked without draining the battery.
There's cabling running into the living room that allow for charging the starter batteries from the inverter/shore power.
This so we can have a charger on it while it's not in use without having to open the battery box on the outside, simply clamp on and charge.
Of course having the shore power plugged in is best when stored during the winter or we'll drain the house batteries when there's little sun/snow on the panels.
Framing for most large structures has been done, kitchen countertop, shower cabin, bathroom and couch.
I didn't like making pocket holes so instead I used about 150 L-brackets and wood glue to fasten this all. As is there's little to no play in it, once the paneling is on it'll be strong enough to drop a whole horse on without as much as a wiggle coming from the structure.
I'm still deciding where I want the desk to be, I'm settling to have it be at the passenger side wheel well and keeping some space behind it to secure an office chair when not in use/driving.
We've even slept in the bed a few times by now, it's genuinely comfortable and it feels unreal waking up in it.. even if it is like waking up in an ongoing construction zone lol
When having my sibling over him and his partner spent a week in it and noted it was "very comfortable and big" so that put a rather large smile on my face.
In the rear garage there's now actually space to plan. All our firewood which we stored there temporarily has been moved out/burned up for heating.
A quick test fit using a smaller 150cc scooter was done to gauge how close we are to fitting full-size motorcycles; we're close but ever so slightly lacking for cruisers/bigger tourers (Which is what I ride..). I'm planning on making pathways for the front wheel to scoot forward over the main diesel tank to make up for the 10/20cm we need.
This did make it easy to see how I can fabricate the two auxiliary fuel tanks. One for the diesel stovetop/(water) heater and one for normal benzine that'll go to a small generator's extended run cap so we can run it for over 72hrs non-stop which should charge our entire battery pack a few times over.
I've never welded a fuel tank from scratch and I am aware of how delicate it is, proper precautions and testing will be done before mounting them. Venting will be provided for both and they are nowhere near any warm components/electrical systems.
After all of this hard work we took it for a short spin around the village!
Mainly to test all the things we added, welded, bolted down stay when the chassis flexes. Nothing moved or got bent out of shape which was of course a giant relief.
Having a functional camera at the rear that doesn't have 3 seconds of latency helped a lot when parking.
Progress isn't blazing fast, I'll admit I'm sometimes wondering if I'm walking in circles but it does really feel like we're approaching the next step.
I'm also having to divide time/budget between other hobbies/projects, several motorcycles/cars (some almost as old as this bus) require attention too.
And at last; mechanically I'm figuring out a lot about the B58 chassis; I'll try to get this all compiled and put on a website sometime in the future alongside the build.
There's a few others out there and I figure sharing obscure knowledge is better than letting it die out.
If you read all of this... thank you? :)
