A pictorial history of the Bus conversion

Every now and then we meet someone who wants to know how we did the bus conversion and such. For some they want all the details and others just want a summary.

For this reason I thought I would post a (not so short) pictorial summary in just one post.

Click on the photos and that will open a new tab taking you to the original post that goes into a bit more details. Feel free to ask questions. I will get Rob to answer the questions as usually any questions are too deep for me.

First we had to find the bus

Stripping the bus out

Our son Dean & Rob stripping the last bus seat out

In the process of dropping the floor

Lifting the roof

Lifting the roof was such a big job. Rob is 6'4". We opted to only drop the floor on the driver's side for the slide out. The kitchen and ensuite were built upon the original flooring.

Strengthening the chassis

Making good use of our forklift to lift the beams for raising the roof

Cutting hole in wall for slide out and planing the interior

Fibreglassing the front

Strengthening the roof

Of course the door frame needed lifting too

Removing the rear window to make way for back slideout

Mechanical Details

Much later we did get the mechanic to give it the bus the once over and that took more work than we had first hoped for... but that's way after getting the chain fixed. Eventually we had to get the chain hand made in America for us... took ages.

This unusual chain needed replacing

The springs needed work too!

Back on the outside of the bus

We replaced all the top half of the bus sides with aluminum panels. We installed windows according to purpose.

First panel goes up

A new door has to be made to fit regulations

Installing windows and power points

Working on the skylight

Strengthening the bin where we are going to house the lithium batteries

Painting the roof

Installing the solar panels  - all 32 of them

Lithium Batteries to harness all that solar power

Installing water tanks including this one partially under the bed

Paint job done on sides

Two Slide outs

Making the slide out for the lounge

Using the forklift to help put the bed slide out into place

Bed & side steps under construction. Bed has to be high to go over rear mounted motor

Slide out for the lounge under construction

Bed slide out is more complicated

Fitting the ensuite, kitchen etc

Putting up the ceiling, wiring and insulation

Unique tilt cupboard above bed for storage (we store most of our clothes in here)

Making the mould for fibre glassing the ensuite

Installing and fitting out the ensuite

The kitchen in progress

The fridge and the lounge are amongst the last things installed.

Redesigning the dashboard

In writing up this post I realize that a post on the kitchen never got written up. I hope to suss that out from our private journals & photos and add this chapter into the blog soon.

This is basically the bus to motorhome conversion in a nutshell. There are many little details not included such as the sliding table and the unique tilt cupboard above the bed that go to make it a little bit different. If you have noticed any else I have left out or have any questions then feel free to make it known in the comments below. I love to get comments as it makes me feel that at least someone is actually reading what I write. 

Installing a new stainless steel water tank

Rob has made a whole new water tank this time out of stainless steel as the plastic tank just couldn't cope with the pressure and thus leaked and has now been removed.

Stainless Steel Water tank installed under the bed

I was too wrapped in wedding plans for our daughter to take much notice and didn't take any photos of the whole unit sadly and Rob rarely ever thinks of photos along the way.

Rob & I with our beautiful daughter

However he has installed it and now you can see a part of as it fits neatly under the steps leading up to the bed. The white 'board' you see is the inside of the bed riser and the orange is part of the original flooring and cover over the motor. We use this space under the bed as most RVer do, for bulk storage.

Stainless Steel Water tank peeks out from under steps

Even though our motorhome is finished and we've even done a 5 month trip in it (To Tasmania), we are back to working on improvements in the motor home. We also had suspension type airbags installed recently too to help make it a smoother ride.

The bed frame when it was under construction

Just a recap of the  bed under construction. It was complicated by the fact that the bed is on a slide out above the motor engine. Here you can see the metal frame in an upright position. You can read about the construction of the bed here if you missed it earlier.

So now it is my job to clean up after Rob and get things packed and ready for our next trip. He is a clever guy, but cleaning up is not his strong point! Rob still has a few odds and ends he wants to do before our next trip too! 

What improvements have you made after a trip or two to your rig?

Shakedown trip - On our way at last

A lot of little things that had us wondering if we were ever going to get the bus on the road. Eventually we can leave. On Saturday, we make a little stop past a friend for a bit of advice and then finally we are truly on our shakedown trip to Newcastle, just 240km or 15 miles.

We've sprung a leak

Rob, being the cautious guy he is, decided to pull over after about 80km and take a look around, check temperatures of the tyres etc when he noticed some serious oil leaks on the ground. Murphy had one more trick up his sleeve and it was the most serious one yet. He really threw the spanner in the works. We had stopped in a dead zone as far as reception goes and we were quite worried about moving the motorhome at all but we knew that only a few kilometres up the road was the town of Wilton.

 
So with great trepidation, we very slowly drove to the town and parked as soon as it was safe. We tried numerous times to contact the mechanic but being a weekend, we knew it was very possible that it could be Monday before we could get hold of the mechanic. We decided to top up the oil and move around the corner to a quieter side street and we camped there for the weekend. Though we hadn't planned on sleeping there, we are still trialling the motorhome and that was something we were able to do anywhere we happened to be.

Making the most of it

So we decided to relax and enjoy ourselves as much as the situation called for. We found a lovely shady tree nearby and sat and read after a wander around the historic church and graveyard there. Being a hot 39 degrees, we appreciated every bit of shade we could before we headed inside and tried out the air con and the various aspects of the motorhome.

Wilton Church

On Sunday, we decided to unhitch the car & go out and visit the area and call in at a cousin of Rob who lived about 15 minutes away. so he could come and fix the problem which ended up being faulty clamps on the oil hose hidden behind the turbo.

We finally made it to Toronto (Newcastle) mid afternoon yesterday in 36 degree heat (That's 96.8 F)!

Camped in Rob's sister's driveway

Various delays

The whole experience of converting a bus into a motorhome has taken a lot longer than we ever expected. Three major delays being basically caused mainly by delays from manufacturers: the chain, the slideout mechanism and the reconditioning of the engine. Two major health issues didn't help either, my cancer diagnosis and Rob's lung clots which had him in hospital for 5 days just as I am starting to recover from cancer.

Now we can really get started in living the rest of our lives and for us that includes lots of road trips. We plan to spend Summer in Tasmania.

Shakedown trip & blasted Murphy

We had planned to start our maiden trip just days after our launch BBQ party. However old Murphy was a very unwelcome visitor, in fact he stayed around and created mischief several times in the following week. I went through a stage where I fervently wished we had never started this bus conversion. I wasn't able to voice thought as I didn't want to bring Rob down as he had to bear the brunt of the responsibility of sorting out all the hassles and I am sure there were times that he felt the same! I think Murphy had decided to move it with us for a while.

A big part of our problem was getting this engine reconditioned

It basically started  a couple of months earlier with getting the engine reconditioned and adding a turbo onto the job. We were first given a 3 week window for the job. The mechanics had so many problems themselves with the job. First it was much harder to remove the engine than expected. Parts needed were not the ones listed in the Mitsubishi manual - they had changed the parts and hadn't bothered to note the changes in the manuals and to make matters worst, the bus is a grey import so many parts are not necessarily kept in Australia. 6-8 weeks later the specialist engineer doing the job collapses at work and had to be rushed to hospital so a replacement engineer is needed. Finally the mechanic gets the engine back and there are more hassles in getting back into the engine area as room needs to be made for the turbo addition which makes it too tight to fit in the same space.

I can't believe I was so caught up that I forgot to take any photos of the BBQ

We were so confident that the bus would be back weeks earlier that we 'booked' a date for a BBQ launch party. Even the day before the party, it seemed as though we were not going to have the bus back in time. We decided we would have to blow up a photo and post that where the bus should have been. Thankfully we get a phone call that we could pick up the bus just hours before the party. There was no time at all to clean it up let alone pretty it up for showing, so a sweep and a borrowed doona off the spare bed in the house had to suffice for 'interior decorating'. We were just happy to have the bus there at all. The party went on to be a huge success.

We weren't going to be able to leave within days of the party as originally planned as Old Murphy stuck his head out again. We had a few things such as fixing. When Rob picked up the bus on the day of the party, he drove it home and then he found he was locked inside the bus, The door handle had broken in such a way that the mechanism inside the latch was broken. In the end we had to completely replace the handle. I haven't had time to remove the hand written note to push (as you turn) yet!. (Yet another little job for on the road.)

We had to replace the door handle completely

Another problem was that we couldn't figure out why the hot water wasn't firing up. It was just one hassle after another, so now the maiden trip was rescheduled for the Friday.

Whilst Rob is fixing all these little problems, I am tearing my hair out trying to pack the motorhome. I have a list that I have modified with each previous trip (in the caravan). It itemizes every little thing from toothpicks to the cooker. I am so glad for it esp with starting the motorhome from scratch. I was NOT convinced that EVERYTHING was going to fit in the bus, but I realize now in hindsight that I have room left over, but I am being miserly with using up that 'spare' space.

I am also trying to work out where the most practical place for the stuff to go, which is quite a challenge. I have moved the mugs 3 times already!

For our destination, Newcastle was chosen as it is far enough away to give it a decent first run and close enough to run home to fix any problems and to pack anything I have forgotten before we started our major trip to Tasmania.
Visiting Newcastle was also a great opportunity to catch up with family and friends as well. The awning arrived during our delayed week but it will have to wait until we come back from the shakedown trip as will a few not so important jobs - some of which Rob can do once we are really and truly on the road. There are just too many important things that need to be done first. We did get the name signs up though since Signarama Miranda sent a young man to adhere the stickers on for us and they look great!

So Friday comes along, I am starting to calm down a bit and can even get some regular housework done whilst waiting for Rob. Murphy has yet more tricks up his sleeve for us: The wiring for the towed car was about 6 inches too short - the people fitting the A frame didn't allow for turning. Next the indicator lights etc wouldn't work o the towed vehicle. We couldn't work that one out so the motorhome has to go off to the auto electrician to get him to sort it out. Apparently when the mechanic took the engine out, he cut the wires and must have forgotten to rejoin them in his haste to meet our deadline. At least it was a simple job - the wonderful auto electrician  at Figtree Auto Electrics didn't even charge us to fix it for us! So rather than stress we decided to stay home one more night. At last everything is ready to go. We decided it was better to leave first thing in the morning.

It is ridiculous just how many little hassles, old Murphy shoved our way. They were annoying rather than insurmountable. We needed a holiday just to de-stress from preparing for our holiday. I am so thankful it is not always so difficult - all just part of the teething problems!

Murphy had one more trick up his sleeve... find out what in the next post! (This post is long enough!)

Cutting down the “to do” list

This past week has certainly been a busy one.
For starters we had arranged a thank you BBQ for all our family & friends who have supported us in one way or another. We booked the date about a month ago when it seemed that we would definitely have the motorhome back and we’d have enough time to clean it out, pretty it up and start packing it ready for its maiden trip.

The engine that caused so much angst has come back

Well, it seemed a reasonable time frame at the time. We weren’t to know that it would still not be here until the day of the party. The engine reconditioning has dragged out to be a much more complex job than everyone expected and to top it off the poor specialist doing the job collapsed at work and has been in hospital since. So the company had to find another person to finish the job.

In the meantime, Rob did other work especially around the house in preparation for leaving for several months away, such as slashing the paddocks, clearing the gutters and downpipes, clearing the leaf litter under the windbreak etc.

Even without the motorhome, he was able to work on the Grand Vitara which is our towed vehicle. He put up a person barrier (like a mini bumper bar) to guard shins from the hitching point for the A frame towing bar as well as a stone guard frame he made himself and I sewed up the screen part.

Getting the stone guard frame set up on the car

So obviously with a big BBQ party to cook and arrange, I had my work cut out for me before the party. Since the party, I had the inevitable clean up to do and then the exciting part of starting to pack the motorhome. I would not manage either the party prep nor the packing if I didn’t rely on lists to keep me on track.

My very comprehensive RV packing list

I am now half way to getting everything into the motorhome. I have forgotten just how much stuff we had kept ‘permanently’ in the caravan let alone the foodstuffs and clothing etc that need to go in each time.Thank goodness I had made a packing list and modified it each time we did a trip. It covers pantry staples, soft furnishings, toiletries etc.

Next is the shakedown trip! Believe me there's more drama ahead!