Converting a MCI bus into an RV...

[ka0tyk]

 

[havasujeeper]

Question for ya:

Is the sofa mounted to the floor, along with seatbelts? If so, how did you accomplish that?

 

[ka0tyk]

Question for ya:

Is the sofa mounted to the floor, along with seatbelts? If so, how did you accomplish that?

it will be. In the floor there was an existing rail that is welded to every frame support where the original seats were mounted. I'll be attaching both to those rails, not just bolting to the plywood. I'll also be attaching some lap seat belts I purchased to that rail as well.

You can see the rails here:

When we toured a few of the high end coaches one of the things I looked at was seating. The majority of them had a similar if not worse passenger seating situation... a poorly built RV couch or wooden dinette mounted to a wooden box that sat on top of a full length subfloor. Also our original bus none of the seats had seatbelts. I'm sure some will chime in with their opinions.

As far as drivers seat I purchased a new one to replace the worn out original seat.

 

[ka0tyk]

Starting on the ceiling. We installed our air conditioning, covered hatches in the roof with some aluminum plate. 3m 5200 sealed everything. Mounted the toilet and sprayer. Cranking away!

 

[ka0tyk]

This is a big moment in our bus build. It finally has its own lighting. (On one side of one room at least, technically two zones… kitchen and living room). It might sound like something silly but it almost feels “alive” now. Something about working at night on it with flashlights etc and now we can actually see. We will have a total of 48 of these little led lights in the entire bus ceiling along with dimming functionality. It really picked up the spirits tonight while putting in the ceiling.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Wow. Quite the project. Impressed with what you are doing

 

[RichL]

I might have missed it but what specifically are you using for the ceiling paneling/planks?

 

[ka0tyk]

I might have missed it but what specifically are you using for the ceiling paneling/planks?

It’s a grey shiplap material we found at Home Depot. It was one of the first things we bought for the bus actually and we have kinda based all our interior decisions off of it. It sold out pretty quick we ended up going to 3 diff stores back in like January for it. It has a distressed look to it and I think it works great for a ceiling material. Not something you’d want to touch as it’s rough.

 

[ka0tyk]

Having your arms over your head the whole time sucks…

 

[ka0tyk]

also snagged one of these little guys

 

[ka0tyk]

Took it for a quick spin and a wash.

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[69hondo]

View attachment 1008594

get them wheels polished. LOL

 

[outboard_256]

get them wheels polished. LOL

Are those steel or alum? If steel its probably just painted silver and that's the best they are going to look.

 

[ka0tyk]

Are those steel or alum? If steel its probably just painted silver and that's the best they are going to look.

alum alcoa. They do need some love.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

Have you thought about adding a roof top vent and prepping it (110v power) for a possible future A/C? Would be MUCH easier to do now and if you don't need or want it, you still have a nice and functional rooftop vent which is really nice for convection ventilation.

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[RVR SWPR]

You have built a mansion inside of your Bus,incredible.Really looking forward down the road when we read the thread “Building our new home on a awesome property”.Also,really class the way you constantly use the words “our” &”we”.

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[ka0tyk]

Another weekend. We did tile, more grass cloth. I welded up the tv mount for the front, the bunk beds and ladder.

 

[fmo24]

Are you mounting the individual recliner for a passenger seat up front? Bus is coming along beautifully

 

[Singleton]

Are you mounting the individual recliner for a passenger seat up front? Bus is coming along beautifully

Based on this build, I bet you that recliner rotates within a year (After all other other projects are completed).
Also an automated stair covering gets deployed when the bus hits Drive and does over 15mph.

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[Duramax]

Cabinets came in. All 1/2 cab ply no ikea like we were thinking.

View attachment 1000141

Your truck is sick! Cool RV too! =)

 

[cold_one]

Its July now. I guess you didn't get it done for your June trips. How far are you along now? Are you still working on it?

 

[zhandfull]

View attachment 1016819

I really admire the fact that you make shit happen and so quickly. In my mind I know that I can still make shit happen but it's a much slower process when you get older.

 

[ka0tyk]

Its July now. I guess you didn't get it done for your June trips. How far are you along now? Are you still working on it?

bus is wired up with power. Plumbed for drains and supplies. Just finishing up some odds and ends here and there. We have a week left. Sorry for the lack of updates moving along at cheetah speed.

 

[ka0tyk]

On the road!

 

[ka0tyk]

Knew the tires needed some help. Found out the hard way. $200 for roadside used and we are back on the road.

We have a set for us in Albuquerque and we made it.

 

[ka0tyk]

All new firestones! $4000.

 

[havasujeeper]

Do you think if you had ample time, you could have found them any cheaper?

As with everything these days, I guess this is the norm?

 

[ka0tyk]

Do you think if you had ample time, you could have found them any cheaper?

As with everything these days, I guess this is the norm?

high load rated highway tires aren’t cheap. Plus there’s fet and I had them mounted and balanced. Sales tax was cheaper. There’s a lot of truck stuff in Albuquerque. Mack, kenworth etc all here.

 

[havasujeeper]

I bet it feels good and safe with new shoes all around, right?

 

[outboard_256]

That sucks to start a vacation with a $4200 tire bill. Hopefully the rest of the trip is smooth sailing.

 

[ka0tyk]

It was always in the back of my mind that it needed tires. I’m not gonna let it ruin our spirits it was a little setback and part of the adventure as a whole. We celebrated with steaks.

 

[ka0tyk]

and tonight we are making cookies in our convection oven.

 

[ka0tyk]

The kids enjoyed the tour of the place. They had giant tractor tires and little tiny ones. A full retread facility etc. it was pretty cool. Redburn tire.

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[ka0tyk]

 

[evantwheeler]

How are those Furrion AC units doing keeping you cool? You did two 15.5k units, or three?

 

[havasujeeper]

I just want to know where you at now? I guess I'm living vicariously thru you?

 

[ka0tyk]

I just want to know where you at now? I guess I'm living vicariously thru you?

wichita Kansas with family. We had a little get together party with some friends and family here with bus cookies drinks etc andthey all checked it out. It was good because it finally gave me an opportunity to clean it inside and out. We have noticed driving around that all the construction dust is still coming out and I’ve never really washed it before. Just a quick power wash and a rinse. This time I scrubbed all the greasy fingerprints off of the sides and I cleaned all the bays etc.

 

[hallett21]

Congrats! Did you upgrade the driver’s seat?


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[ka0tyk]

Congrats! Did you upgrade the driver’s seat?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought a new takeoff seat from a Peter built. But the mount was different had to wait until after the trip.

 

[ka0tyk]

2600 miles so far! We are in Hershey pa.

 

[RVR SWPR]

If you have time.Hershey Chocolates tour. Kids will never forget the day they toured Hershey Chocolate.If open?

 

[Done-it-again]

How are those Furrion AC units doing keeping you cool? You did two 15.5k units, or three?

taking a guess. it’s not cooling down with 2 units.

 

[Ol Man]

Now that you have been able to enjoy it for a while, can you make comments on:
1. Driveability. Are you happy with the handling. Ride comfort.
2. Passengers while traveling. How is the family enjoying the seating, walking around, etc.
3. Floor plan. Is it working like you hoped.
4. A/C's. How are they doing on the road and at the campground..

From the videos, looks like you guys are having a wonderful time.

 

[ka0tyk]

So some good questions…

AC on the road:
We chose to keep the two carrier AC units with the belt driven compressor on the motor. They work EXTREMELY well and we’re designed to keep 56 people cool… so for the four of us plus the added insulation it actually works really well. Even in high temps

AC stopped:
Our two furrion 15.5 units do great in areas where we see 80ish temps. Not that great when we were crossing AZ when we saw 120. Then again I don’t think three of them would have helped either. It’s just a large metal roof bus that gets hot in the desert sun. Not a big deal we don’t really care for vacations in 120* heat anyways.

What we still have to do:
When we left we had quite a few unfinished tasks… lighting system wasn’t complete and we had no running water. I never got far enough to even pressure test it. On the road first day I finished the lighting and water. We had a small leak with a bad pex crimp but easily just took off the clamp and redid it. Sealed up solid now 0 leaks. We didn’t have self water. The pump filter etc were all missing a few fittings just ran out of time. First dinner stop I ran into Home Depot and finalized that. We now have full hot water unhooked and hooked. Drains are good. Electrical has been done for a while and tested. We have ran our generator twice. Once at a party when we only had a 15a plug and we needed to run the AC and once for lunch at a park. It’s worked flawlessly and our 8 gal tank still is full.

shower has been great but we have a small leak at the retractable door. I sealed the inside with silicone but when the door closes there is like a self wiping strip and it runs down inside on the other side of the seal and leaks out. Not really a big deal so far I’ll apply silicone on the outside bottom and drill a small hole on the inside so it can drain. I am 100% glad we went with its size it’s been really nice not to have to cram in a tiny shower.

we are rethinking the kids bunk room drawers. They’re 30” deep and when fully open they block the center walkway. So it’s a little awkward to use. We will probably ditch them and go with a flip up bed like ours so we maximize the under bed storage… 77” wide 30” deep, 12” tall on each side. It’s a lot of storage room possible.

we need to finish our pocket doors, closet door, and upper cabinet doors. No biggie.

we need to finish the front drivers area.

kitchen wise everything is good.
Living room everything is good. Recliners have been great.

I want to put a new ac compressor and fan belt. Easy to do. Serp belt looks fine. Oil change obviously.

all in all everything actually has gone quite well. We brought probably too much stuff, that will get better with more trips and experience. It drives good, we avg about 10-11mpg currently. Not too bad. We have put in about $900 in fuel and we are currently in cape cod with a full tank 3000 miles away. Pretty impressive for our first trip.