The Bus



Floorplan
Floorplan

The Icy Sanctuary
Outside

Design

The interior layout is shown in the floorplan. My strategy was to keep everything as open as possible so as to avoid the fate of most RVs - i.e. ending up a hallway on wheels. The typical RV layout is a narrow walkway running down the center from front to rear, with a series of alcoves, appliances, storage and furniture lined up along either side. It's terribly cramped. I also wanted a full-size kitchen and bathroom, much better suited to full-time living than the closets normally found in RVs.

Light Bulb

One feature that I did particularly like in commercial RVs was the over-cab loft. It's a very efficient use of space. I would hate to dedicated that much of my limited floor area to a bed. Stacking the sleeping area and the cab gives up some headroom in each, but since neither is used standing and both are used intermittently, it isn't much of a sacrifice.

Outside of just providing amenities, there are two immediate problems with full-time life in an unmodified school bus. One is that the ceilings are low and the space is cramped. I'm short enough to at least stand up straight, but anyone much taller than me would have to stoop. The other is that school busses have terrible insulation. Once you account for all the glass too, the amount of heat loss is absurd. In some climates it might be acceptable, but the heating costs during a Michigan would be unreasonable.

The best way to deal with all this is in one fell swoop: a sawzall, a welder, and major structural changes.

Tools

Initial Construction

After stripping the original interior, the next step was to raise the roof. This was as large a project as one might suspect. I ground off the front cap and the rivets along one seam in the roof. My dad and I cut through the ribs and hoisted the roof up onto a wooden scaffold, which would support it until I completed enough welding for it to be free-standing again. I welded in spacers at each rib, framed a loft extending over the cab, and built a very heavy-duty support structure at the transition.

From the rear wheels forward, I now have an extra 2' of vertical height. 1' is lost to the raised floor under which my water and waste tanks are stored, but the extra 1' of headroom makes a world of difference in how spacious the bus feels. The extra height also gave enough room to build the loft I had hoped for.

The transition in roof height also provides a degree of separation between the living area in the front and the kitchen and bathroom in the rear without actually closing them off.

Files Linking Here

Floorplan
10 Jan 2010
Floorplan
Updated: 10 Jan 2010
Categories: the bus

This is the basic floorplan of the bus.

Original Passenger's Side
18 Jun 2009
Original Passenger's Side
Updated: 18 Jun 2009
Categories: the bus

The bus on pickup day. See also the driver's side.

Original Driver's Side
18 Jun 2009
Original Driver's Side
Updated: 18 Jun 2009
Categories: the bus

The bus on pickup day. See also the passenger's side.

Fully Deployed Solar Array
23 Jun 2010
Fully Deployed Solar Array
Updated: 23 Jun 2010
Categories: antenna, pictures from Ryan, solar, the bus

Outside of the bus; this shot shows the solar tracker in fully deployed position.

Solar Array From Behind
23 Jun 2010
Solar Array From Behind
Updated: 23 Jun 2010
Categories: antenna, pictures from Ryan, solar, the bus

Outside of the bus; taken through the transition window, this shot shows the solar tracker in fully deployed position.

Pages Linking Here

Finish Painting III
Outside
23 Jun 2010
Outside
Updated: 23 Jun 2010
Categories: the bus

Finish Painting III

This was one of the largest jobs on the bus. The painting is almost done; there is mostly just detail work left. I also need to build an antenna platform, and reinstall my solar array.

Instrument Panel
Cab
14 Sep 2009
Cab
Updated: 14 Sep 2009
Categories: the bus

Instrument Panel

The cab ended up being one of the later projects on the bus.

Telegraph and Touchscreen
Telegraph / Touchscreen
13 Jan 2010
Telegraph / Touchscreen
Updated: 13 Jan 2010
Categories: computer, electronics, telegraph

Telegraph and Touchscreen

Meet Suzy. Suzy is an authentic late-1800s telegraph, attached to a USB port with the aid of a microcontroller and the magic FT232 .

Loft
Loft
14 Jan 2010
Loft
Updated: 14 Jan 2010
Categories: the bus

Loft

I built a loft in the bus, over the cab and extending over the hood (see the floorplan).

Interior Front
Main Area
14 Jan 2010
Main Area
Updated: 14 Jan 2010
Categories: the bus

Interior Front

The main area is located forward of the kitchen and aft of the cab (see the floorplan). It's the primary living space in the bus.