My Bus Journey

A bunch of little things

5/27/2022

I handled several smaller updates this last week before moving on to insulation and adding those lovely bamboo floors.
1. Coolant lines
I obtained the right brass bends to properly reroute the coolant lines after removing the back and front heaters.

2. Air line
I had previously removed the air ride seat because it was bulky and I wanted something smaller and that could swivel. This meant that a pressurized air line was cut and flung around when the bus was turned on. As a solution, I found a pressure fitting for the tubing in plumbing that I then adapted to a larger ball valve for a pneumatic tools. For now I am keeping it closed and capped. But this stray air line turned into a possible source to air up bike tires and such. And I was able to conveniently tuck this inside the storage space below my bus that is empty after removing all the lift equipment. All I need to do is remove the cap and screw on whatever attachment I want.

3. Lock doors
Security has been a concern of mine and how I want to lock my doors. It is not prefect yet, but my bus is now lockable. For the back and side doors, I took the simplest approach, drilling holes in the handles and connecting piece of metal then securing a lock through the holes. The main doors now have a BIG 'OL LOCK on them! When drilling the 3/8" holes for the carriage bolts, the two inner screws ran into some thinking supporting steel beams, which led to getting a diamond drill (I couldn't find a 3/8" metal hole saw). After getting through all that, I had a partially used spray foam canister that I decided to fill that section of the door with to keep moisture out and slightly dampen some sound. Since the two doors don't sit flush, I placed a piece of wood behind one side of the lock, which I will replace with some welded metal sheets in the near future. But in the meantime, it is very secure.

4. Miscellaneous stuff
It rained a lot last week, which was an opportunity to identify leaks. I found some small drips here and there which were easy enough to treat with Flexseal puddy since it was wet. But there was one area that was just gushing a stream of rain in the corner in front of my main doors. Long story short, I spray foamed those leaks into oblivion! And it worked. :) I have been in the bus a couple more times while it rained and all seems well (fingers crossed).
No photographed -- I also climbed underneath and completed the dirty task of removing the remaining tubes from the old AC units. I swear I had dirt and debris all over, including inside my ears! So glad that bit was done. The silver lining was becoming even more familiar with the underneath of my bus.

5. Got it running again!
I had trouble getting my bus started again a few weeks ago and have since removed a LOT of wires. So I was anxious to double check I hadn't removed anything I shouldn't have. I was methodical about tracing wires before cutting...but I am not an electrician.
Get the bus going again wasn't so straightforward. Finishing the coolant line reroute was part of it. Then I had to filter and add there coolant that came out of the lines (approx. 5 gallons!). I have also been dealing with some oil leaks. It took about 2 gallons to get to the middle of operating range. Last, I went a head and got two deep cycle marine batteries in case it was a battery issue. So after all these steps, I got her running again and she is doing great -- and no electrical issues! Yah!!
So this is what she looks like at the end of this trip.